“The monk who sold his ferrari”, an international best seller book, authored by Robin Sharma that was published in 1997. This book is a fable that will encourage you to fulfill your dreams and reach your destiny. The monk who sold his ferrari describes the seven virtues which are required for a life of inner peace, joy, and a wealth of spiritual gifts. Sharma’s inspiration to write this book were mostly his father, Gandhi, and Benjamin Franklin.

Main characters:

1. Julian Mantle:the successful lawyer 
2. Yogi Raman:the monk who teaches Julian about the seven virtues
3. John:the narrator, also a friend of Julian

The monk who sold his ferrari is a fictional but relatable story about a successful lawyer Julian Mantle, with an extremely filled schedule and a list of priorities that center on wealth, power, and reputation. He had everything a person could dream of, a luxurious house, a private jet and of course, a ferrari. But even having it all, he was not satisfied but wanted more and more which led him to a point where the only things you could see in his calendar were the names of the cases, he’d defend. Julian didn’t have time to interact with his family nor did he have time or motivation to take care of himself, and as a result he got divorced. The amount of stress and pressure that came from his work had him have a heart attack. All though he was lucky enough to survive he had no choice but to quit his job. Not only that, but he decides to leave his previous luxury lifestyle behind by selling every materialistic thing he possessed, even his ferrari and travel to the Himalayan mountains in search of peace.

Julien was heading to this specific village, where also Indian monks resided. He’d heard that these monks live happily over 100 years with an energy of a young soul and were capable of healing and relaxing anyone’s mind. Julian started living there with them, and so the monk leader Yogi Raman decided to tell him a story.

The Story

Imagine sitting in a glorious garden, filled with all types of beautiful different trees, flowers and birds chirping around. In the middle of the garden, you’ll see a lighthouse from where a sumo wrestler wearing only underwear’s made of a thin wire comes out. As the wrestler wanders around the garden, he finds a golden stopwatch.  He tries to pick it up but fails as he slips and falls on the ground, lying motionless. After a while, he gets back to his senses, due to lovely smell of the rose. He looks to the left side and notice a path paved out of small diamonds leading to a place where he’ll find all the happiness in his life. So, he starts following the path, slowly getting out of sight.

When told this story to Julian, he was a bit confused because it didn’t made sense to him. The monk then said that the story has seven hidden biggest virtues of life and continued to explain the story.

Virtue one – The garden that represents one’s mind

If you sow good seeds and take care of your garden, you’ll witness a garden full of beautiful trees, plants, and flowers. If you neglect your garden by throwing garbage everywhere or simply stop watering the greens, eventually the place will look and feel like a dumpster.

Same goes with our mind. If you feed your brain with positive thoughts and motivate yourself, your brain will remind you of that beautiful garden fulfilled with good thoughts. However, if you think negatively and be too harsh on yourself it’ll soon turn into that dumpster.

Virtue two – The lighthouse represents goals in life

As we know a lighthouse shows the right direction to the sailors. And for you to follow the right path in your life, you must know your destination. Set a goal and work on achieving it. Now as the sailors may come across a storm, you might to face some difficulties as you’re heading towards your goal. The importance is that sooner or later you’ll reach your destination.  

Virtue three – Sumo wrestler symbolizes kaizen

Kaizen means the continuous learning and self-development. To develop your mind, body and spirit you have to cross your limits even if it means going out of your comfort zone.

Virtue four – The underwear made up of wire symbolizes self-control

A wire cable is made up of many strings. The strings by themselves might be weak alone but together they form a strong cable.  Now our self-control and determination are like those strings. Waking up early, eating healthy or exercising they all combined make both the mind and body strong.

Virtue fifth – The stopwatch that represents time

We are all given the same 24 hours in an entire day. 24 hours of opportunity and to make the most use of this given time. Now this does not mean that you should always work but rather enjoy and live your day as it is your last day.

Virtue sixth – The fragrance of the rose

It doesn’t matter how much wealthy you are as the satisfaction of helping others is priceless. Help others selflessly even if it is by handing a simple rose to another. You’ll notice how the lovely fragrance of the flower yet remains in your hands and bring you a different kind of joy.

Virtue seventh – diamond pathway represents enlightened living

Live and believe in the now factor. The present moments, whether it is saying hi to a stranger or spending time with your family are the real diamonds of our life. It’s the little things in life that matter the most.

These were the seven virtues that Yogi Raman taught Julien which changed Julien’s perspective of life. And as Julien promised, he spread out these hidden gems of the garden to the outer world, starting with his friend John.