The Monk
Who Sold His Ferrari
By “Robin
Sharma”
Blurb at the back: a wonderfully crafted fable tells the
extraordinary story of Julian Mantle, a lawyer forced to confront the spiritual
crisis of his out-of-balance life. One a life-changing odyssey to an ancient
culture, he discovers powerful, wise and practical lessons that teaches him the
art of living.
When I visit the local used-books
sellers here in Karachi, I mostly have the list of books I am there to
purchase. But occasionally, I either hunt for a new book myself or ask the
seller (Habib bhai to whom I’ve become a regular customer) to recommend me some
books. Not much of an English reader himself, he still has, however, some
knowledge about books that he sells. Robin Sharma has been one of the few
writers he encouraged me to buy and read, but I always found myself reluctant
for some reason. Maybe Sharma seemed to me as a very typical self-help book
writer, a genre I am not interested in. But this one time, I asked Habib to
recommend me one of his best books as a starter – and that’s how I got The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.
The title is very alluring and
seeking-attention type. If it were lying on a shelf, you might stop and give
this book a closer inspection, but then you might pick it up, or just leave it
lying there. I don’t like the title of this book; it is too forward and
wantful. However, what matters with all the books, the best ones and the
mediocre ones, is that what does it hold inside them – and this book has
something freshly spiritual on offer.
Julian, after giving up
everything he owns (his Ferrari, too, of course), sets out of a journey to
ancient Sages of Sivana, who then becomes his spiritual teachers, and helps him
find the purpose of life and the happiness attached to that purpose. In his
time up there on the mountains of Himalayas, Julian learns seven key virtues through seven symbols, through
which he discovers his own true self, and is then able to reflect on his life
and see clearly how lost he had been all his life. After his own enlightenment,
he returns to his attorney and best friend, to teach him all the things he
learned and in turn, help him balance his life before it is too late. This
entire book is this story and their 12 hours of constant conversation laid in
out in 10 chapters.
I could relate, in some ways, the
journey of this book to the famous and important book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and the message of this book to equally
important and insightful book The Power
of Now by Eckhart Tolle. So, in a nutshell, this book is a toned-down and
simplified combination of the above two books. Putting Julian, a very wealthy
but intrinsically indigent person, at the center, this book tries to teach its
readers to step inside of themselves and explore the world with-in as the
outer-world pleasures are short-lived and unfulfilling.
Spirituality and wisdom are few
of the words that may sound very alienated to most of the people today.
Alienated because they wouldn’t know what it really means, or what exactly does
it add in your life. These people might relate these words to old dead people,
or the living cleric and other religious people. And that is because it has
never been taught to this modern, fast-paced, and YOLO (you only live once)
generation. No wonder most of us, down the road in our lives, suddenly face
crisis where we don’t know what we have done and where are we headed or fail to
find meaning both in your achievements and in your failures. Julian was one of
us too.
And what Julian does after he has
been through the hustles and bustles of his life, and has completely lost the
touch with himself, which is to seek a more spiritually led life, this book
teaches us to do it a bit earlier in our own lives. While story may seem
made-up and surreal at many occasions, at the core of this tale lies the
message of turning our fullest attention and care, for a while, only at our
inner selves, and see what we find there. Because most often, what lies within
is far more important and valuable than what lies without.
But how successful is this book?
Well the numbers of copies been sold may tell you that it has been very
successful since its launch in 1996. But what really determines a true worth of
a book is how the reviewers of the book found it to be. For me, this is a great
and insightful book for those who are completely unfamiliar to topics of
spirituality and its essence. However, what makes this book difficult to read
and keep oneself interested in is its being superficial, overly philosophized,
and more prone towards sounding impractical.
The conversations feel like they
have been acted to promote what Julian has learned therefore it less real; the
content is too philosophical and selfless which makes it hard for the reader to
want to follow it; and all of it is just too easily said that it sets itself up
as a probable failure if you think about applying it. But – but, the good news
is that it is true and very much practical and life-changing. The 7th
chapter where they talk about The Garden is
fascinatingly charming and insightful. Thus, there are very important and key
teachings of Buddhism and spirituality, alas – it is not written with more
realism. Don’t let the superficial-ness of this book shoo you away from the
essence of wisdom and self-discovery.
An excerpt:
“Never forget the
importance of living with unbridled exhilaration. Never neglect to see the
exquisite beauty in all living things. Today, and this very moment, is a gift.
Stay focused on your purpose. The universe will take care of everything else.”
If there is one topic we all
should be learning, and be keen to learn immediately, it is the study of
ourselves. Enlightenment only comes when you study yourself, for from within us
we can set the term on which we would judge the world outside is. And the world
outside us is very tragic, cruel and highly uncertain, therefore we need to set
the terms right and try to untangle our own values and characters. Avoid the
childishness of this book, or rather see its eagerness to teach you such
unnoticed and abstract topics behind being so childish - and read this book.
My praise for the novel:
If
its eagerness and superficiality of its conversations be excused,
This
is a simple and important book to start on your much-needed, spiritual journey.
Ratings: 3.5/5 ***
Ejaz Hussain
November 30, 2019