The Monk Who Sold Ferrari: Book Review
I liked the book: it is a self-help book for every person, be it a college student or a company manager.
The writer has tried to explain complex things like materialism and spiritualism with the help of taking fictional characters as suitable examples.
Julian Mantle is a layer earning in seven figures, is the owner of a mansion, and possesses a Ferrari. Despite having worldly prosperity, the person is unhappy. Julian Mantle, the lawyer, becomes a victim of stress; as a result, he suffers a heart attack.
The fictional lawyer disposes of his mansion, Ferrari. He moves to the Himalayas in search of a spiritual quest. In the Himalayas, he meets sages of Sivana. The fictional lawyer receives teaching from sages. He learns seven virtues and is further asked to propagate these virtues to other people. The writer has all love for the fictional character because he promises the sages of Sivana to propagate spiritual learning, and he does so.
The writer uses a simile to equate a human brain to a garden where various thoughts are like flowers. Hence, to control the mind, one may allow only good thoughts like the gardener plants only beautiful flowers having good fragrance. So having a peaceful mind, one must guard and do not allow the thoughts which cause unhappiness. The character learns an exercise. He keeps a rose before him and sits in a quiet place, just concentrating on the rose and meditating upon the rose so that his mind fills with beautiful thoughts. What is the relevance of this exercise? This exercise helps a person in controlling their mind against entertaining useless distractions. This process, when done with utmost devotion, stabilised the mind.
The sumo wrestler and ten rituals: the Japanese idea Kaizen explains never-ending improvement. Therefore, learning and getting better is another virtue of the sivana system. This virtue is further achieved by following the ten rituals of radiant living.
- The ritual of early awakening- after a sleep of six hours, the person must get up and see the sunrise.
- The ritual of solitude- observing silence after waking up
- The ritual of physically doing an exercise to regulate blood flow.
- The ritual of live nourishment- intake of a vegetarian diet of fresh food
- The ritual of abundant knowledge- stimulating the mind by reading or studying
- The ritual of person reflection- always working and trying to do better
- The ritual of music- listening to music to remain in a good mood
- The ritual of spirituality- writing and chanting a mantra
- The ritual of congruent character- writing the principles, following them in spirit
- The ritual of simplicity- giving importance to priorities and keeping one’s mind away from unnecessary clutter.
Besides this, taking the examples of Sumo wrestling, the writer elaborates that mind and body, to remain healthy, must entertain good thoughts that keep the mind fresh. Serving others selflessly is another way to keep one’s mind and body healthy.
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