The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari:

A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams And Reaching Your Destiny

By Robin S. Sharma

Introduction

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari was written and published by Robin S. Sharma, a renowned
author and speaker of life management. He self-published The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari,
which was then picked up for wider distribution by HarperCollins. His works has been published
in over 60 countries and in nearly 70 languages, making him one of the most widely read
authors in the world. Robin is the CEO of Sharma Leadership International Inc., a coaching and
training firm.

This book is not about a smooth sailing adventure to success. It is about learning how to reach
your goals while living the life. It is about Julian Mantle, a man with power and prestige, a
successful lawyer who has everything but decided to leave his luxurious life behind and goes to
Himalayan Mountains to search for life changing odyssey.

Yogi Raman helps him understand the true meaning of success and purpose in life. After some
time, he comes back to fulfill his promise to share all the teachings that he learned from Yogi
Raman

The book mainly describes the seven virtues for a life overflowing with inner peace, joy and
wealth of spiritual gifts.

Characters:

Julian Mantle – A lawyer who sold his Ferrari to become a Monk.

John – Julian’s colleague and best friend.
Yogi Raman - one of the great sages of Sivana
Yogi Krishnan – Yogi from Delhi turned Monk like Julian
Jenny – John’s wife

Summary

John, an associate of Julian in the past, tells the story of what happened to Julian and how he
narrated his experiences in his Himalayan Journey. The story develops around the two of them
in the form of conversation inside John’s room.

The story started with an undesirable scene, where Julian Mantle had a heart attack and the
doctor advised him to choose between working and living. Then, he decided to leave his
practice and sold his Mansion and Ferrari and went to India. In his Journey, he met Yogi
Krishnan, who was a lawyer that became a monk. Julian went to Himalayas and joined the
sages of Sivana to search for inner peace.
There, he found Yogi Raman, one of the great sages of Sivana, who teaches him various things
to enlighten his life. After mastering all the teachings of Yogi Raman, Julian went back and met
his best friend John.

Julian reveals the seven virtues one by one through narrating a story that leads to seven
symbols that he will discuss to John.

First is the “The Magnificent Garden” which symbolizes the virtue of mastering your mind, that in
order to improve your quality of life, you have to control your thoughts. It’s impossible to remove
negative thoughts from our mind; however, it can be substituted by positive thoughts.

Second is the “Light House” which represents the virtue of following your purpose. Without goal
setting, you will not achieve anything. You have to find the purpose of your life and then have
the courage to act on them. You have to do things that break through your comfort zone and
feel empty to let new knowledge in.

Third is “The Sumo Wrestler” which represents virtue of practicing kaizen. Kaizen is the
Japanese method for improvement and optimization. As you grow, you have to master yourself
in order to master your life. You don’t have to set your limits. Continue learning and improve the
things that have to be improved.

Fourth is “The Pink Wire Cable” which symbolizes the virtue of living with discipline. Do not be
concerned with the judgment of others as long as you know what you are doing is right. Also, do
not compare yourself with others instead compare yourself today and yesterday and then think
of your mistakes and correct them.

Fifth is “Golden Watch” which represents the virtue of respecting your time. Time is a non-
renewable resource so you must learn the art of time management. When you set a plan today,
do it today. Focus on your priorities and maintain a balance. You must also have a time for the
things you love to do. Time leads to life mastery, without it, all the virtues are nothing.

Sixth is “The Fragrant Roses” which symbolize the virtue of selflessly serving others. In order
to achieve wholeness, you should live for others. Learn to act with kindness and generosity.
Live to give, It will not only improve your life, it will improve the lives of all those around you.

Lastly, “The Path of Diamonds” which symbolizes the virtue of embracing the present. Never
sacrifice you happiness for your ambitions. You must learn how to live the “now” while achieving
your goals. Do not be a prisoner of the past. Rather, become an architect of the future. You
have to savor the journey and live each day as your last.

After narrating the seven virtues, John was enlightened. He also promised Julian to share it to
whoever needs it.
Plot

Rising action: Julian was living an imbalance life and had a heart attack. He sold his Mansion
and Ferrari and went to India. Mantle found his peace in Himalayan Mountain through the help
of Yogi Raman

Climax: Julian wants to share the seven virtues that he learned to his best friend John. At first
John was hesitant to listen to Julian because he was really surprised.

Conflict Resolution: Julian started to pour the tea into a cup until it overflows and told John
that he will be like the tea if he’s mind is not empty for a new knowledge and that is how Julian
got the attention of John.

Conclusion and Evaluation

The book clearly discussed the value of seven virtues. While reading the book, I found myself
reflecting and it gave me some realizations about my decisions in life.

My favorite part is when Julian mentioned the positive pressure. It is true that no one wants to
be a failure so we must treat the pressure as a positive one. I just realized that instead of being
pressured, why can’t we just think of it as a challenge?

Now, I see pressure as a motivation to do better. We should set our goals and make ourselves
clear about it. We must forget the past, live the present and build our future.

Success is not just about fame, money, and status but is also something we cannot buy;
happiness, inner peace, kindness and gratitude.