THOUGHTS ON: The Monk who Sold his Ferrari and practical discipline

It is the fact that Robin Sharma's The Monk who sold his Ferrari is so practical that is its biggest recommendation. So often philosophical novels can be esoteric and inaccessible. This novel is practical in its spirituality and so is accessible by anyone.
Don't get me wrong. Sometimes doing your own thinking while reading a novel can mean you get the best, and most relevant, life relevations. But at times reading a book can be a case of yearning for practical suggestions. This is where The Monk who Sold his Ferrari excels.
This book highlights the importance of discipline. Instead of floating through life, meditating in response to feeling bad, for instance, this book recommends getting up with the sun, at the same time every day to meditate and think of all the things for which we can be grateful (among other recommendations). It's about cultivating peace and positive thought - as a lifestyle, not a response.
For the experienced, reading this book can be a mere reminder of what you know. But so few of us live truly enlightened lives, so reminders should be welcomed. But while there is a lot of well-known philosophies here that have been moulded into a practical guide to finding a peaceful inner life, there is also originality among the reminders. Using a sumo wrestler as a metaphor certainly stands out, for one ;)

SM

In defence of John Galt

It's the 50th anniversary of Ayn Rand's classic Atlas Shrugged this year. It's sold six million copies in its time, and the story of engineer John Galt who "stopped the motor of the world" by collecting successful business people into a business utopia, effectively rejecting the "looters", which is what Rand named the communities of people who seek free dependency on productive businessmen/women.

In a Financial Times article earlier this month, writer Charles Pretzlik asserts that the main character in the philosophical novel, John Galt, is not worth knowing. He says reading the 1,100 pages is "a joyless experience".

I disagree. Even if you fundamentally reject the philosophy within (Ayn Rand's own Objectivism) it is still worth reading.

It's always worthwhile putting yourself in another's shoes (which is a well-loved adage from To Kill a Mockingbird) and in my opinion, this book is an excellent opportunity to put yourself in the shoes of the business owners of this world. These people are often painted as shrewd, greedy and mean, while their positive aspects, like their businesses create jobs for example, are pushed aside. Ayn Rand paints them as heroes who have succeeded because of their intelligence, ability to think, and commitment.

Besides, you have to admire Ayn Rand. After all, in these times where it seems like there is nothing new under the sun and so much of what we hear is regurgitated or plagiarised or altered only slightly and delivered to us, she developed a philosophy of her own that has endured well beyond her death. Not only that, but she discovered a philosophy that rang true for her and she lived it. This is admirable in my book.

And while the book is something akin to a big concrete brick, Rand has created a unique and compelling story that is worthwhile finishing.

SM

Paulo Coelho's Warrior of the Light The seven deadly sins: Greed

Issue nº 138: The seven deadly sins: Greed

Dictionary definition: from the Latin Avaritia, a feminine noun: Excessive fondness for money, stinginess, meanness.

Catholic Church definition: Goes against the Ninth and Tenth Commandments (You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house). Inordinate inclination or desire for pleasure or possessions.

For the philosopher Seneca: The poor always want something, the rich want a lot and the greedy want everything.

A story of Priests of the desert: “Holy man” – said a novice to the Father Abbot - My heart is full of love for the world and my soul is free of temptations from the Devil. What is my next step?

The abbot asked the disciple to accompany him on a visit to a sick person who needed extreme unction. After comforting the family, the abbot noticed that in one of the corners of the house there was a trunk.

“What is inside it?” he asked.

“Clothes that my uncle never used”, said the sick man’s nephew.” He bought everything, always thinking that the right occasion would arise to wear them, but they ended up rotting inside it”.

“Don’t forget that trunk”, said the Father Abbot to his disciple, when they left. “If you have spiritual treasures in your heart, put them into practice now. Or they will rot away.”

Text commenting on the 1997 Asiatic economic crisis: The brokers bought and sold, convinced that the world would not change, because all they needed to do was to invest more and more and watch their fortunes grow. They didn’t care about the harm they were causing to the currency (Malaysia). Suddenly, 500 billion dollars disappeared out of circulation. When the time came to explain to all those who had lost their savings built up over the years and with much sacrifice, they replied: “it’s the fault of the market.” Actually, they were the market.

Death and Greed: Death and Greed watched the men working feverishly to find diamonds in a river. “I came here to take away some souls,” said Death. “Deliver me a third of these people and I will go away.”

“They belong to me, they are my slaves”, replied Greed. “I have nothing to deliver to you.”

Death then touched the water with his magic rod and poisoned it. Little by little, all who were there began dying.

“Why did you steal all my slaves?” shouted Greed, angrily.

“Because you didn’t want to give me any”, was the answer.

In a speech: because of its inability to produce, the Jewish people are parasites, and their aim is to enslave other peoples. They use greed to manipulate the stupidity of the middle class (Adolf Hitler, preparing the ground for the Holocaust, which cost the lives of six million Jews).

Many centuries before, the Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon used to say: The Lord sent to Man his messengers, called diseases. Eternal Providence put me in charge of caring for their health. Let the love for what I do guide me at every moment. Never let greed, or the thirst for power, or the desire for recognition, blind me and make me forget that a man’s objective is to give the best of what he has to another man.

Advice from the Tao Te King: The five colors blind human eyes. The five notes deafen their ears. The five tastes harm the palate. Races and hunts set off furious and savage passions in the heart.

Goods hard to get cause wounds because of dangerous obstacles. For that reason (…) the wise man rejects the superficial and prefers to dive into the deep.

(next: Lust)

Copyright @ 2007 by Paulo Coelho
Warrior of Light Online, published by www.paulocoelho.com.br

Selected Warrior of the Light issues are available as free e-books (PDF format) from the Smink Works Books site

QUOTE: Robin Sharma

"First of all, begin to live out of the glory of your imagination, not your memory."

From the book The Monk who sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma

Paulo Coelho's Warrior of the Light - The seven deadly sins Pride

In this Issue
The seven deadly sins - Pride

The seven cardinal sins were eight, organized at the beginning of Christianity by the Greek monk Evágrio do Ponto, and defining the principal negative inclinations of the human being (it is curious that on Evágrio’s list, the most serious sin is gluttony…). All of them were able to take us to hell. In the 16th century, Pope Gregory made the first changes in the list, including “envy” but merging pride and vanity. In the 17th century the list was rewritten again, and “melancholy” ceased to be a sin, being replaced by “sloth”. Now we have today’s list as a basis on which the next seven columns will be based.
According to the dictionary: Feminine noun, pride comes from the Latin Superbia. It means haughtiness, conceit, arrogance, presumption.
According to the Catholic Church: Self-esteem that goes beyond limits and places itself above love for God. It goes against the First Commandment (You shall have no other gods before Me), and it was this passion that caused the rebellion of the angels and the fall of Lucifer.
In a Zen fable: The grand master of Tofuku noted that the monastery was busy. Novices ran back and forth, employees stood in line to receive someone.
“What’s happening?” he wanted to know.
A soldier came up to the master and gave him a card which said: “Kitagaki, the governor of Kyoto, has just arrived and is asking for an interview.”
“I don’t have anything to discuss with this person”, said the master.
Minutes later, the governor came up, apologized, crossed out what was on the card and delivered it again to the master.
It said: “Kitagaki asks for an interview”.
“Welcome”, said the Zen master of Tofuku.
On an aircraft carrier: “MISSION FULFILLED” (banner on the USS Lincoln on May 1, 2003, when President Bush announced the end of the major military operations in Iraq. On that day, the number of American soldiers dead came to 217. On the day that I am writing this column, the figure has exceeded 2,700)
For Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz: “When someone tries to discover who you are, using secondary things as a way of comparison, he finds a series of empty shells – which depend on each other to make sense.
“It is not correct to define yourself as a friend of Tom, son of Dick, an executive in such a post, doing this or that task”. Because all we will discover through this method are aspects of ourselves – aspects that are usually gloomy and incomplete, of someone who is trying to become visible at the expense of others.
“The only relationship possible is with the Lord; from then on, everything begins to make sense, and we open our eyes to a greater meaning”.
According to St. Augustine: Pride is not grandeur, it is swollen-headedness. What swells seems big, but really it is a disease.
Advice from the Tao Te King: It is better not to fill a vase completely rather than try to carry it if it is full.
When we sharpen a knife too much, its cutting edge will not be preserved.
When gold and jade fill a room, their owners will be unable to keep them safe.
When wealth and honors lead to arrogance, for sure evil will come soon after.
When we do our work and our name begins to become famous, wisdom consists of withdrawing into obscurity as soon as the task ends.

Copyright @ 2007 by Paulo Coelho
Warrior of Light Online, published by www.paulocoelho.com.br

Selected Warrior of the Light issues are available as free e-books (PDF format) from the Smink Works Books site