Upset By The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

[Kazman]

Ok I get why people like this book and find it inspiring but I couldn't take it anymore when he said that "the monks of Savana thought passion was extremely important". I'm not finishing it now? Take that, book. 

It is so clear that this book is intended to speak to the individualistic westerner (stage orange) looking to boost his or her career, and not deliver a deep honest message of spirituality. It is not even elegantly done, it is just a conversation between two people, it could just as well have been in the form of a manual.

The Buddha would smack all those Savana Monks hard on their heads with his Zen stick until they forgot who they were. If I went to India looking for truth and found a very secret society of monks and they told me to keep a journal for inspiration and visualize positive images I would be soooo disappointed.

[Loreena]

You mean it's begun to sound like some sort of a clichè. Like a typical commercial book that is meant to cater to the usual needs of the public.  

[Kazman]

@Loreena spot on. Also, a key point in most spirituality is work on detaching from being run by your passions, and when he said the monks taught the very opposite it just felt way too artificial for me

[Leo Gura]

Make sure you grasp spiritual teachings at their root, not at the surface verbal level.

Passion IS important.

Being "run by your passions" means a totally different thing.

[Esoteric]

@Kazman Yeah, I read that book some years ago. It is really a shallow self-help book portrayed as a spiritual book. What I remember that caught my attention is the exercise where you look for negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. It's really not getting down to the core of things. 

[Kazman]

@Esoteric thaaank you this is what I wanted, someone with a relatable experience!

I think a lot of the contents are good, and very helpful for most people, but just as you say, thinking positively does not get to the core of things. 

I guess what rubs me the wrong way is that the book puts its own advice on a pedestal, as carried from old mystic traditions, when it leaves out the very core of what those traditions taught and the potential hazards and nuances of the advice that is given. 

I think I would've actually loved it some years ago but now I think it could be very misleading.

[Mondsee]

9 hours ago, Kazman said:

I'm not finishing it now? Take that, book. 

Haha I'd be much more worried for your anger towards a book than for the content of it!

[Kazman]

@Mondsee haha right?

i felt a bit bad and might finish it in a couple or days, it's short anyways

[Natasha]

@Kazman Leo released a video a few months ago on the 10 things we don't know we want, and one of them was to be dispassionate. I have been actually gradually incorporating those things into my life (even experienced samadhi) and the levels of my peace, contentment, and happiness have been increasing. When you live from the plce of Being and not a personal story, nothing is forced, things just fall into their places and you exerience a lot of beautiful synchronicity around you - this is living life to the fullest. Here's the link to the video:

    

[Mondsee]

10 hours ago, Kazman said:

@Mondsee haha right?

i felt a bit bad and might finish it in a couple or days, it's short anyways

...in any case, the book doesn't care! 

[Kazman]

@Natasha i really enjoyed that video, sounds like things are going well for you, congrats ?

[Vercingetorix]

@Kazman regardless of the book being good or bad, If you want to make the most of the situation, start investigation why do you feel upset that the book doesn't live up to your expectation? every negative emotion is a trace of the ego
Hint: it's about control.


 

[Kazman]

@Vercingetorix I also thought about this, it's soo true.