Friday, May 20, 2011

The Monk who sold his Ferrari

This book as most of books in my Little Inspirational & Self Help Books  lense comes in a story form. The first six chapters tells of the storyteller's mentor having a heart attack in the middle of a court case and how he goes in search of a way to improve his life. He thus meets with the Sages of Sivana. There's even a funny story to help you remember the steps. The story goes like this
You are sitting in the middle of a magnificent, lush, green garden. This garden is filled with the most spectacular flowers you have ever seen. The environment is supremely tranquil and silent. Savor the sensual delights of this garden and feel as if you have all the time in the world to enjoy this natural oasis. As you look around you see that in the center of this magical garden stands a towering, red lighthouse, six stories high. Suddenly, the silence of the garden is disturbed by a loud creaking as the door at the base of the lighthouse opens. Out stumbles a nine-foot-tall, nine-hundred-pound Japanese sumo wrestler who casually wanders into the center of the garden.
As this sumo wrestler starts to move around the garden, he finds a shiny gold stopwatch which someone had left behind many years earlier. He slips it on, and falls to the ground with an enormous thud. The sumo wrestler is rendered unconscious and lies there, silent and still. Just when you think he has taken his last breath, the wrestler awakens, perhaps stirred by the fragrance of some fresh yellow roses blooming nearby. Energized, the wrestler jumps swiftly to his feet and intuitively looks to his left. He is startled at what he sees. Through the bushes at the very edge of the garden he observes a long winding path covered by millions of sparkling diamonds. Something seems to instruct the wrestler to take the path, and to his credit, he does. This path leads him down the road of everlasting joy and eternal bliss.

A summary of what the story means
Magnificent, lush, green garden.
The garden represents our mind. Like a beautiful garden we should plant and nurture positive thoughts. A gardener always never allows the weeds to grow and take over his garden. The weeds here symbolize the negative thoughts and the lush flowers symbolize the positive thoughts. Like a gardener who constantly fertilizers his plants with the best manure, we should constantly fertilizer our mind with positive affirmation.
Towering six stories red lighthouse
The lighthouse symbolizes the power of goals and the importance of discovering your calling in life. By setting and writing down the goal. By reviewing daily, you keep yourself on the right path. Like the lighthouse which guides the ships even in stormy weather, your written goals will guide you on even if there are obstacles in your way.
Nine-foot-tall, nine-hundred-pound Japanese sumo wrestler
The sumo wrestler will be your reminder of the power of kaizen, the Japanese word for constant self-expansion and progress. We should constantly look for new ways to improve our life. Even Sun Tzu has a quote on this in his Art of War Manual.
"Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions." Chapter 6. WEAK POINTS AND STRONG verse 32
The pink wire cable covering the sumo wrestler private parts
The pink wire cable will serve to remind you of the power of self-control and discipline in building a richer, happier and more enlightened life. Many thin, tiny wires placed one on top of the other will make a strong wire. Alone, each one is flimsy and weak. But, together, their sum is much greater than their constituent parts and the cable becomes tougher than iron. Self-control and willpower are similar to this. To build a will of iron, it is essential to take small, tiny acts in tribute to the virtue of personal discipline. Routinely performed, the little acts pile one on top of another to eventually produce an abundance of inner strength.
Shiny gold stopwatch
Shiny gold stopwatch is a symbol of our most important commodity - time. Don't waste even one minute of your day. Develop a deathbed mentality. Do the important things in your life that will improve your life in the future. Use the 80/20 percent rule. What this means is concentrate on 20 percent of your activity that will bring you 80 percent satisfaction in the future. Spend more time with your family, watch the sun going up. Believe me after waking up early and watching the sun rise I have a better day the whole day. That is why I believe that is the reason why most religion worships early facing the sun. Try it really relaxes your mind. Never be a prisoner of the past but be the architect of the future.
The fresh yellow roses
The blooming flowers is a reminder of the ancient Chinese proverb, "a little bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives you roses." The meaning is when you work to improve the lives of others; you indirectly improve your own life in the process. When you take care to practice random acts of kindness daily, your own life becomes far richer and more meaningful. I think everyone have heard of this saying what goes around comes around. Cultivate friends and nurture family. Develop an optimistic outlook of life.
The path of diamonds
Serves to remind you of the final virtue for enlightened living. By carrying this principle with you through your daily work, you will enrich your life. The path of diamonds symbolizes our present path that is one rich in diamonds. Slow things down. Enjoy the beauty and sacredness of all that is around you. You owe this to yourself." Never put off the things that are important for your well-being and satisfaction to a later time. Never chase the greener pasture on the other side and sacrifice the one over here. This I have to be true. I have always worked really hard thinking the more successful I am in my job, the more money I will receive, the happy I will be. Lately this I found not to be true. Yes I am wealthier now but I still have to work even harder to keep my job. I have no time for my family. Always remember that the path you are walking on right now is beautiful and studded with diamonds.
This book provides an approach to living a simple life with greater balance, strength, courage and abundance of joy. Made me realize the most important people in my life, my family. And that how hard I work for my boss, at the end of the day he will be smiling to the bank and I will get the same salary at the end of the month. And my family will see me lesser and lesser.
The author's website http://www.robinsharma.com/

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