‘The Monk who Sold his Ferrari’ (I)
‘The Monk who Sold his Ferrari’ by Robin Sharma
This is a marvellous self-help book. Julian was once a hotshot lawyer but had a heart attack one day. He left his job and went to India seeking enlightenment. When he returned, his colleague, John, hardly recognized him as Julian looked much younger and lively. A long talk started between them, introducing wisdom of living to the readers.
To be honest, the teachings of the book may not be ground breaking. Nonetheless, it is still worth reading because it reminds us the importance of mind control, purpose of life, self-discipline, time management and so on. The author made the book more engaging by using dialogue between the inspiring monk, Julian, and the ordinary man, John. John often asked something that common reader may want to know when Julian said something too ‘deep’. Besides, the author is thoughtful that he condensed his teaching into a fable to make it more memorable.
To summarize, it is an unusual and useful book for guiding you through challenges fearlessly.
A most Extraordinary Garden:
1. If you care for your mind, if you nurture it and if you cultivate it just like a fertile, rich garden, it will blossom far beyond your expectations.
2. The worries and anxieties, the fretting about the past and the brooding over the future are all ‘toxic waste’ that most people put into the ‘garden of mind’.
3. Mind management is the essence of life management.
4. What separates people who are optimistic from those who are miserable is how the circumstances of life are interpreted and processed.
5. By controlling the thoughts that you think and the way you respond to the events of your life, you begin to control your destiny.
6. There is no such thing as a negative experience, only opportunities to grow, learn and advance along the road of self-mastery. From struggle comes strength.
7. The very fact that you have a desire or a dream means that you have the corresponding capacity to realize it.
8. The secret of happiness is simple: find out what you truly love to do and then direct all of your energy towards doing it.
9. Even ten minutes a day of focused reflection of your life will have a profound impact on the quality of your life.
10. If you want to improve your life and live with all that you deserve you must run your own race. What is important is what you say to yourself. Do not be concerned with the judgment of others as long as you know what you are doing is right.
Kindling your inner fire:
1. Lasting happiness comes from steadily working to accomplish your goals and advancing confidently in the direction of your life’s purpose.
2. By writing out your desires and goals on a piece of paper, you send a red flag to your subconscious mind that these thoughts are far more important than the other ones. Your mind will then start to seek out all opportunities to realize your destiny like a guided missile.
3. To make your desires come true, step one is to have a clear vision of your outcome. Step two is to create positive pressure to keep you inspired. One of the best is to tell everyone you know about your goal. Step three is to attach a timeline to your goal. i.e. attach a precise deadline to it.
The ancient art of self-leadership:
- Those who keep their minds open to new concepts will always move to higher levels of achievement and fulfilment.
2. Taking the time to master your mind, to care for the body and to nourish your soul will put you in a position to develop more richness and vitality in your life.
3. Do the things you have always wanted to do but didn’t because you tricked yourself into believing that you were too young, too old, too rich or too poor.
4. Truly enlightened people are prepared to put off short-term pleasure for the sake of long-term fulfilment. They tackle their weaknesses and fears head on. With time, things that were once difficult become easy.
5. Solitude and quiet connect you to your creative source and releases the limitless intelligence of the universe. The inner quietness brings with it a wealth of benefits including a deep sense of well-being, inner peace and boundless energy.
6. Read regularly. Some books are meant to be tasted, some books are meant to be chewed and finally, some books are meant to be swallowed whole.
7. To get the best out of a great book, you must study it, not just read it. Really consider it, work with it, become one with it.
8. The only way to improve tomorrow is to know what you did wrong today. Then come up with a clear plan so that it doesn’t happen again.
9. Start your day off well. The thoughts and the actions you take in the first ten minutes after you wake up have a very marked effect on the rest of your day.
10. Never forget the power of music. Spend a little time with it every day. When you feel down or weary, play some music.
11. When all your actions are congruent and aligned with the following principles, you will feel a deep sense of inner harmony and peace. These are industry, compassion, humility, patience, honesty and courage.
12. Failure tests us and allows us to grow. It offers us lessons and guides us along the path of enlightenment. Never fear failure. Failure is your friend.
一. 群眾運動的成功, 並不一定可以為一個國家帶來真正的出路。羅馬尼亞就是一個例子, 齊奧塞斯古在群眾運動中倒台, 但羅馬尼亞人民的生活卻只有象徵式的改變。
二. 阿拉伯之春的結果亦一樣, 群眾運動推翻了穆巴拉克, 穆斯林兄弟會透過民主選舉上台, 最後美國卻寧願看到軍事強人去取代不親美的民選政府。至於利比亞就更慘, 至今仍內戰不斷, 人民都懷念卡達菲年代。
三. 一個國家能推行怎樣的社會制度, 無不受到時空的限制。美國就全力在阿富汗與伊拉克做過這類實驗, 近期已自認失敗。
四. 其他國家的經驗顯示, 這類新政府都不太成功, 變成愈來愈依賴美國的緩手, 成了美國的附庸。這並非大多數中國人想看到的景象。
