Book Review… A mystical journey for the times

Apr 06, 2014 News

Book: The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma

Critic: Dr Glenville Ashby

Author and inspirational speaker, Robin Sharma, is a gifted transmitter of timeless wisdom. The message conveyed in The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, isn’t new, but is brilliantly re-wrapped and presented in “fabled” style.

The book cover of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

Ever since Indian swamis eyed the Western market to sell their wares, the spiritual seeker in the West has become transfixed and determined to enjoy a more fulfilling existence.
Today, the media circuit is replete with motivational speakers and courses in self-enlightenment. It has become big business, opening the door for detractors who question the motives of these teachers.
For sure, timeless truths are sometimes overly commercialised, as snake-oil gurus offer “quick-fix” solutions to problems.
Refreshing, though, is Sharma. He creates an interesting tale where the protagonist and lawyer-turn-mystic, Julian Mantle, lectures to his erstwhile legal partner, John.
The story of Mantle is a compelling one. He is successful, a legendary exponent of rare court room skills and theatrics. He is unchallenged. The best. But fame comes with a heavy price that nearly costs Mantle his life. In an existential moment, he is felled by a massive heart attack.
Mantle retires, sells his possessions, including his prized Ferrari, and leaves for India where he absorbs the pearls of wisdom in a community of savants called Sivana.
It is epiphanical, a period of study, reflection and learning. He returns, rejuvenated, slimmer and more youthful in appearance. Gone are the petulance, avarice, insatiability, and self-centeredness. It is a transformation incredulous to John, to whom Mantle transmits the wisdom he was taught at Sivana.
Mantle is engaging, simplifying the keys to unlocking the human potential, while cautious of not being burdensome.
During a night-long session, when the rest of the household is fast asleep, Mantle, dressed the part of the perspicacious monk, and with mala (prayer beads) in hand, honours his guru at “Sivana,” and teaches John, who is more and more intrigued by the mystic pathway.
The teachings are steeped in allegory, almost Zen-like. Some of the dictums linger after the last page is read. “If age only knew, if youth only could,” Mantle counsels. Then the mantra: “I am more than I appear to be, all the world’s strength and power rests inside of me.”
Mantle goes on a tear to a rapturous listener. John is advised on reconfiguring his life, replacing old habits with new practices. It appears simple, but success requires discipline, fearlessness and acknowledgment of his shortcomings.
The advantages of quietude, concentration, contemplation, visualisation, the intonation of the word (mantras), pranayama (rhythmic breathing), exercise, vegetarianism, and gratitude, are all spelled out.
“Practice and more practice,” John is told, if he must reconfigure his life.
In the end John is told: “No man is free who is not master of himself,” made famous by Epictetus. He must embrace “kaizen” (never–ending improvement), and “joriki” (mental concentration) as his watchwords.
The truths of “Monk” are indisputable, and Sharma’s decoding of Zen Buddhism makes it an easy study. But questions linger.
Mantle sought this wisdom after a brutally traumatic experience.
What ”Monk” does not mention is that “Saul-like” moments are the real catalyst for inner transformation.
Yes, Mantle did mention: “When the student is ready, the master will appear.”
But that “readiness,” is for the most part precipitated by a searing trauma.
Anything short of that arguably triggers ephemeral spells of spiritual indulgence. Alas, the fine work produced by Sharma can become a mere addition to collections – untouched – its pearls squeezed between cramped pages, awaiting only those baptised by pain and calamity.

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The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma,
Harper-Collins Publishers Ltd,
ISBN 0-00-255721-5
http; www.harpercollins.com/canada,
Available: Amazon.com
Rating: Recommended