Status
Available
Call number
Publication
HarperPerennial (1998), 216 pages
Description
With more than four million copies sold in fifty-one languages, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari launched a bestselling series and continues to help people from every walk of life live with far greater success, happiness and meaning in these times of dramatic uncertainty. The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari celebrates the story of Julian Mantle, a successful but misguided lawyer whose physical and emotional collapse propels him to confront his life. The result is an engaging odyssey on how to release your potential and live with passion, purpose and peace. A brilliant blend of timeless wisdom and cutting-edge success principles, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is now, more than ever, a guide for the times, as countless Canadians dedicate themselves to living a life where family, work and personal fulfillment are achieved in harmonious balance.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Andorion
I read this book for a challenge. One of the worst things I have ever read.
A badly written, ultra-orientalist regurgitation of common sense, factual inaccuracies and downright dangerous declarations.
1. Most of the points of "wisdom" in this book are everyday commonsense points repackages for
2. The Eastern Mysticism bit is so overblown - everything is 5000 years old, everything is mystic - its utter rubbish. India is not the land of wise sages dispensing ageless wisdom - sure we have our share of philosophers, but so does most cultures. This entire "bunch of ageless people living on the top of the mountains" is a very old, very overblown myth.
3. Some things are hilariously inaccurate - no sandalwood does not grow on top of the Himalayas, and no vegetarianism is not "how nature intended things to be" All those carnivores are supernatural or something?
4. Some things are downright dangerous
a. be totally fearless. No. Fear can be healthy. It often functions as a survival mechanism.
b. Sunbathe in the Indian Sun. No. If you don't have a lot of melanin, that's how you get cancer. Even if you do, and you try this at anytime except winter you will die of a neat combination of sunstroke and dehydration.
c. Do not think negative thoughts, don't even allow them to enter your mind. No. That's how you become narrow minded. Rather consider the negative, find out whats causing it, examine it in detail, find out how to deal with it. See? I can write self help book too!
5. Weirdly enough in this entire lecture this book never talks about how this magical monks get things to eat. Do they practice agriculture? Hunter gatherers? Not really stated. As a fantasy reader such shoddy worldbuilding offends me.
6. Also among so much advice, there is nothing about sex or relationships except the standard "spend time with your loved ones" line. Seems to be a pretty glaring omission in a book about life.
So in conclusion, this book does not deserve the status of a book.
A badly written, ultra-orientalist regurgitation of common sense, factual inaccuracies and downright dangerous declarations.
1. Most of the points of "wisdom" in this book are everyday commonsense points repackages for
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credulous readers. 2. The Eastern Mysticism bit is so overblown - everything is 5000 years old, everything is mystic - its utter rubbish. India is not the land of wise sages dispensing ageless wisdom - sure we have our share of philosophers, but so does most cultures. This entire "bunch of ageless people living on the top of the mountains" is a very old, very overblown myth.
3. Some things are hilariously inaccurate - no sandalwood does not grow on top of the Himalayas, and no vegetarianism is not "how nature intended things to be" All those carnivores are supernatural or something?
4. Some things are downright dangerous
a. be totally fearless. No. Fear can be healthy. It often functions as a survival mechanism.
b. Sunbathe in the Indian Sun. No. If you don't have a lot of melanin, that's how you get cancer. Even if you do, and you try this at anytime except winter you will die of a neat combination of sunstroke and dehydration.
c. Do not think negative thoughts, don't even allow them to enter your mind. No. That's how you become narrow minded. Rather consider the negative, find out whats causing it, examine it in detail, find out how to deal with it. See? I can write self help book too!
5. Weirdly enough in this entire lecture this book never talks about how this magical monks get things to eat. Do they practice agriculture? Hunter gatherers? Not really stated. As a fantasy reader such shoddy worldbuilding offends me.
6. Also among so much advice, there is nothing about sex or relationships except the standard "spend time with your loved ones" line. Seems to be a pretty glaring omission in a book about life.
So in conclusion, this book does not deserve the status of a book.
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LibraryThing member rajendran
This inspiring tale provides a step-by-step approach to living with greater courage, balance, abundance and joy. A wonderfully crafted fable, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari tells the extraordinary story of Julian Mantle, a lawyer forced to confront the spiritual crisis of his out-of-balance life. On
-- Develop joyful thoughts
-- Follow our life's mission and calling
-- Cultivate self-discipline and act courageously
-- Value time as our most important commodity
-- Nourish our relationships, and – live fully, one day at a time
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a life-changing odyssey to an ancient culture, he discovers powerful, wise and practical lessons that teach us to:-- Develop joyful thoughts
-- Follow our life's mission and calling
-- Cultivate self-discipline and act courageously
-- Value time as our most important commodity
-- Nourish our relationships, and – live fully, one day at a time
Show Less
LibraryThing member kaulsu
At first blush, this seems like a pretty trite book. However, think about what the definition of trite is: "overused and consequently lacking in interest or originality." Just because something is lacking in originality does not make it untrue. In fact, its overuse is probably due to the underlying
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truth. So make time for your family and be kind to your neighbor. Spend time in quiet meditation each day, going over the deeds—both positive and negative—that you have done; do something for others each day; and do something for yourself each day, too. Don't let the phone and email rule your life, take time to plan how you will spend your days. Live as if this is the last day of your life and you won't waste time on the unimportant things. Show Less
LibraryThing member blognaut
A unique book that uses a fictional / fable format to deliver powerful messages and techniques to living a purposeful life, fulfilling one's dreams and manifesting one's destiny! Excellent read!
LibraryThing member RUSARA101
Julian, a high powered attorney who spends most of his time pushing his stress levels, has a heart attack out of the blue. He immediately quits his job and goes off to seek a better life for himself. As part of his promise to help others, he returns to his old law firm to share his story of
Characters: Julian, the ex power attorney, seems to have taken things seriously when having his heart attack, but it seems rather unrealistic to go from being a power hungry attorney to living in India to seek your spiritual trueness overnight.
Frame: setting is strictly conversations in a non-descript setting; pacing is very layered and drawn out
Style: The tone of the book is very business inspirational - much like the Ken Blanchard books who tell inspirational stories to motivate other towards becoming better managers.
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learning inner peace and spiritual happiness from some monks who live high atop a mountain. Written very much in the style of an inspirational business book like The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard.Characters: Julian, the ex power attorney, seems to have taken things seriously when having his heart attack, but it seems rather unrealistic to go from being a power hungry attorney to living in India to seek your spiritual trueness overnight.
Frame: setting is strictly conversations in a non-descript setting; pacing is very layered and drawn out
Style: The tone of the book is very business inspirational - much like the Ken Blanchard books who tell inspirational stories to motivate other towards becoming better managers.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Steve55
I confess that I have somewhat mixed feelings about this book. I read it on holiday and began by expecting and hoping to read an insightful story. For the first few pages this seemed to be the case, however the book then changed direction.
In many ways the author of a book designed to help people
The alternative approach is to provide a change instruction manual which prescribes changes in the hope that these then create change from which new understanding will follow. The danger here is that unless understanding is changed, the result is the mindless application of prescribed rituals, or the rejection of them.
This book attempts to bridge these two approaches. It begins with the story of a lawyer forced to re-evaluate life following a major heart attack. However this story quickly becomes a rather simple framework for what is largely a monologue describing a set of self-change techniques.
At the point where the book transitions from a story to an instruction guide I almost gave up on the book, but was later glad that I didn’t. I found the pretext of the story strained almost to breaking point, but suggest that if this is overlooked the second half of the book contains some powerful advice for personal change. I did have the feeling of ideas collected together from elsewhere, but amongst them is a structure of practical changes that have the potential to profoundly change your outlook and achievements.
The measure of value of any such instruction guide rests not in what the reader is instructed to do, but in what the reader does with the advice. For my part, a little surprisingly, I have taken a number of the change suggestions and am applying them. The book therefore has had a greater impact than many.
We all come to and take from books, or any experience, something different. I recommend this book as one that will help you identify value for your own change journey.
In many ways the author of a book designed to help people
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change, what are often termed ‘self-help’ books, faces a dilemma. For the help to be successful it has to be self-help, that is it has to come from within the reader. The use of stories or parables that awaken understanding in the reader derive their power in this way. However after reading the story the reader is then left with the question of what to do with this awakened understanding; how do they actually change? The alternative approach is to provide a change instruction manual which prescribes changes in the hope that these then create change from which new understanding will follow. The danger here is that unless understanding is changed, the result is the mindless application of prescribed rituals, or the rejection of them.
This book attempts to bridge these two approaches. It begins with the story of a lawyer forced to re-evaluate life following a major heart attack. However this story quickly becomes a rather simple framework for what is largely a monologue describing a set of self-change techniques.
At the point where the book transitions from a story to an instruction guide I almost gave up on the book, but was later glad that I didn’t. I found the pretext of the story strained almost to breaking point, but suggest that if this is overlooked the second half of the book contains some powerful advice for personal change. I did have the feeling of ideas collected together from elsewhere, but amongst them is a structure of practical changes that have the potential to profoundly change your outlook and achievements.
The measure of value of any such instruction guide rests not in what the reader is instructed to do, but in what the reader does with the advice. For my part, a little surprisingly, I have taken a number of the change suggestions and am applying them. The book therefore has had a greater impact than many.
We all come to and take from books, or any experience, something different. I recommend this book as one that will help you identify value for your own change journey.
Show Less
LibraryThing member MonicaParsons
Interesting, inspirational, easy to read, practical and enriching.
LibraryThing member SunitaDcunha
It's a beautiful book I have ever read. It hooked me on right from the first page to the last. Lot's to learn about how life should be actually lived. Cheers !!
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
Interesting. Re-launched title. All about a Lawyer being told about what is really important in life by an ex-lawyer who learnt all about it at a monastery.
LibraryThing member shenoychandrika
This book could work wonders in your life if you can read and follow everything written in it. The best part of the book is the fable which minds all the entities that can help you reach your destiny and meet your dreams!!
LibraryThing member Berly
I read two books for my Black Belt Test: Mindfulness in Plain English, by Bhante Gunaratana and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, a Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams and Reaching Your Destiny by Robin S. Sharma. I will be reviewing the latter book.
This book tells the tale of Julian Mantle, a lawyer
• “Develop Joyful Thoughts
• Follow Our Life’s Mission and Calling
• Cultivate Self-Discipline and Act Courageously
• Value Time As Our Most Important Commodity
• Nourish Our Relationships, and
• Live Fully, One Day At A Time.”
Although the writing can be somewhat forced at times, the pearls of wisdom far outweigh any stylistic flaws. The structure of the book is an all-night conversation between Julian and John. Julian relates a story, which goes something like this:
You are sitting in a magnificent, lush, green garden. It is tranquil and silent. In the midst of this beauty you notice a tall towering lighthouse. From a door at the base, out stumbles a nine-foot-tall nine-hundred-pound Japanese sumo wrestler. He is clothed in pink wire cable. He finds a shiny gold stopwatch, but slips on it and falls, knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he is greeted by the fragrance of roses. He goes to the bushes and then sees a long winding path covered by millions of diamonds. Something tells him to take this path.
Each of these elements in the story represents a lesson to be learned. For example, the lush garden represents the mind. Just as we would yank out any weeds growing in our garden, so we must guard against them in our mind. The weeds of the mind are negative thoughts. They stand in the way of our true potential and happiness. The lighthouse represents your purpose in life. It must be tall and bright for you to see it, for you cannot hit a target you cannot see. The sumo wrestler represents self-mastery or Kaizen and the wire he wears stands for self-discipline. The clock he trips upon reminds us not to waste time, for it is precious. The roses remind us to selflessly serve others and the diamonds on the path symbolize the jewel of living in the present.
At the end of each lesson, Sharma has included a summary page sharing the symbol, the virtue learned, the wisdom behind it, the techniques to use and a quotable quote. For me, the first lesson about the garden was particularly significant and provided immediate confirmation that the lessons within this book are important and true. I had been having difficulty remembering the sequence of some of the Taeguk forms and I realized while reading this book that I had a negative voice in my head telling me that I couldn’t learn them. Within a day of silencing this nasty voice and replacing it with the positive twin “could,” I was able to master my forms. There were immediate benefits and lessons from each of the symbols, but obviously they are lessons that must be learned and practiced continually in order to see changes in my life. In fact, the book states that any desired change must be practiced for 21 consecutive days before the new thought/attitude/behavior will stick.
While reading this book, I dog-eared many pages and highlighted lots of passages. I am quite sure I will be reread this book many times. Below I have shared just a few of my favorite words of wisdom from The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. (I could go on for pages!)
• Never regret your past. Rather, embrace it as the teacher that it is. *
• There are no mistakes in life, only lessons.
• Begin to live out the glory of your imagination, not your memory.
• The price of greatness is responsibility over each of your thoughts. –Churchill
• Stillness is the stepping stone to connecting with the universal source of intelligence that throbs through every living thing.
• Everything is created twice, first in the mind and then in reality.
• Imagination is more important than knowledge. –Einstein
• The only limits on your life are those you set yourself. –Yogi Raman
• Failure is not having the courage to try.
And most interestingly:
• The Chinese character for “crisis” is comprised of two sub-characters: one that spells “danger” and another that spells “opportunity”…the ancient Chinese knew that there is a bright side to the darkest circumstances—if you have the courage to look for it.
Obviously, I highly recommend this book! It will bless your life.
* If no author is listed, the quote is attributed to Julian.
This book tells the tale of Julian Mantle, a lawyer
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whose life was unfulfilled and out of balance. He suffers a heart attack, a wake-up call, and abandons his life in search of meaning. He travels far and ultimately winds up studying with the Great Sages of Sivana. After learning many lessons, he returns to the United States to share his newfound wisdom with his former legal associate, John. The practical lessons within this jewel of a book teach us to: • “Develop Joyful Thoughts
• Follow Our Life’s Mission and Calling
• Cultivate Self-Discipline and Act Courageously
• Value Time As Our Most Important Commodity
• Nourish Our Relationships, and
• Live Fully, One Day At A Time.”
Although the writing can be somewhat forced at times, the pearls of wisdom far outweigh any stylistic flaws. The structure of the book is an all-night conversation between Julian and John. Julian relates a story, which goes something like this:
You are sitting in a magnificent, lush, green garden. It is tranquil and silent. In the midst of this beauty you notice a tall towering lighthouse. From a door at the base, out stumbles a nine-foot-tall nine-hundred-pound Japanese sumo wrestler. He is clothed in pink wire cable. He finds a shiny gold stopwatch, but slips on it and falls, knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he is greeted by the fragrance of roses. He goes to the bushes and then sees a long winding path covered by millions of diamonds. Something tells him to take this path.
Each of these elements in the story represents a lesson to be learned. For example, the lush garden represents the mind. Just as we would yank out any weeds growing in our garden, so we must guard against them in our mind. The weeds of the mind are negative thoughts. They stand in the way of our true potential and happiness. The lighthouse represents your purpose in life. It must be tall and bright for you to see it, for you cannot hit a target you cannot see. The sumo wrestler represents self-mastery or Kaizen and the wire he wears stands for self-discipline. The clock he trips upon reminds us not to waste time, for it is precious. The roses remind us to selflessly serve others and the diamonds on the path symbolize the jewel of living in the present.
At the end of each lesson, Sharma has included a summary page sharing the symbol, the virtue learned, the wisdom behind it, the techniques to use and a quotable quote. For me, the first lesson about the garden was particularly significant and provided immediate confirmation that the lessons within this book are important and true. I had been having difficulty remembering the sequence of some of the Taeguk forms and I realized while reading this book that I had a negative voice in my head telling me that I couldn’t learn them. Within a day of silencing this nasty voice and replacing it with the positive twin “could,” I was able to master my forms. There were immediate benefits and lessons from each of the symbols, but obviously they are lessons that must be learned and practiced continually in order to see changes in my life. In fact, the book states that any desired change must be practiced for 21 consecutive days before the new thought/attitude/behavior will stick.
While reading this book, I dog-eared many pages and highlighted lots of passages. I am quite sure I will be reread this book many times. Below I have shared just a few of my favorite words of wisdom from The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. (I could go on for pages!)
• Never regret your past. Rather, embrace it as the teacher that it is. *
• There are no mistakes in life, only lessons.
• Begin to live out the glory of your imagination, not your memory.
• The price of greatness is responsibility over each of your thoughts. –Churchill
• Stillness is the stepping stone to connecting with the universal source of intelligence that throbs through every living thing.
• Everything is created twice, first in the mind and then in reality.
• Imagination is more important than knowledge. –Einstein
• The only limits on your life are those you set yourself. –Yogi Raman
• Failure is not having the courage to try.
And most interestingly:
• The Chinese character for “crisis” is comprised of two sub-characters: one that spells “danger” and another that spells “opportunity”…the ancient Chinese knew that there is a bright side to the darkest circumstances—if you have the courage to look for it.
Obviously, I highly recommend this book! It will bless your life.
* If no author is listed, the quote is attributed to Julian.
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LibraryThing member Morana.Mora
1.5 star actually. A bit more than "didn't like it", but still not good enough for "I liked it", so I'll just leave it at 1.5.
LibraryThing member parvita
I didn't like it. It is typical of a westerner who got "surprised" by the eastern values. Too much of a drama, IMHO.
LibraryThing member Awdhesh
I found this book quite ordinary. It may appeal to some people who are quite optimistic or may not have faced hard realities of life. The title of the book is quite attractive but the theme is quite ordinary.
LibraryThing member danoomistmatiste
I truly like the Bhagavad Gita style of writing. A narrative where a master is revealing the truth of living a full life to an eager student. I suspect that he is attempting to distill the wisdom of the Ancient Indian Religious texts by placing them in contemporary settings.
LibraryThing member PJSwanwick
Short on story and long on instruction, but an easy, rewarding readIn "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari," Robin S. Sharma clothes sound advice for spiritual and personal growth in a thin mantle of fiction that delivers much instruction but minimal entertainment. However, Sharma’s fictional approach
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makes for an easy read and good retention of his key principles.Spiritual/metaphysical content: The narrator spends one revelation-filled night with Julian Mantle learning the fundamentals of spiritual growth. Julian imparts everything he has learned from his time with the Sivana monks, cramming a lifetime of wisdom into their short time together. Sharma structures the lessons into seven chapters based on a short fable full of symbols. Each symbol represents a key idea from the Seven Basic Principles for Enlightened Living. Each chapter ends with an action page that summarizes the symbol, what you need to remember, and techniques to try, such as the Ten Rituals for Radiant Living.My take: Sharma calls his book a “fable” in the subtitle, but it is both more and less than that. The fable part takes place in the opening chapters of the book, in which we discover that the hard-driven attorney has moved to India, become a monk, and after three years has returned to pass on his wisdom to his protégé. That’s the extent of the story, and character development fares little better. As a work of fiction, the book leaves much to be desired.However, as a collection of easy-to-digest life strategies and pearls of wisdom, the book is quite satisfying. Sharma has organized the book around a short fable about a garden full of symbols (a fable within a fable), which makes it easy to understand and follow his 30-day plan to enlightened living. The give-and-take of dialog between Julian Mantle and his student rescues the story from the tedium of an instructional guide. If your primary goal as a reader is to quickly absorb the core of Sharma’s life improvement teaching, then this book is a great place to start.For more reviews of new age novels, see Fiction For A New Age. Show Less
LibraryThing member Avinash_maarga
I doubt if there is any book lover who has not read this. Robin teaches some of the greatest lessons of life in this wonderfully written fable. I read this book a long time ago, but I still remember every single detail of it. I can still see myself sitting alone in my room looking at a rose every
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evening. Show Less
Awards
Language
Original language
English
ISBN
0006385125 / 9780006385127