THINK LIKE A MONK
(Published: September, 2020)
Author Jay Shetty
Reviewed by Jini Jain, Chartered Accountant
Jay Shetty is an award-winning host, motivational speaker and author who has been featured in ‘Forbes 30 under 30’1. During his teenage years, he found himself in wrong company but when offered an opportunity, he redeemed himself by grabbing it. At school one day, he happened to hear a monk deliver a talk that made him realise that he wanted to grow as a person and explore a new way of living. And he started living with monks and to like monks!
He later returned to ‘normal’ life on the advice of his mentor Gauranga Das so that he could share his experience and wisdom with the world. This book delineates the experiences that he underwent in the three years that he lived a monk’s life.
Think like a Monk is in many ways a self-help guide but more than reflecting on positivity, it makes you ponder on many other aspects that are essential to lead a happy and peaceful life in the urban set-up. Many people tend to be averse to the idea of a self-help book being a guide on how to live and feel that if they have read one, then why choose to read other such books? I would simply put it like this – while the premise of self-help books is somewhat similar, it is the art of narration and engaging the reader that makes the difference.
This book compels the reader to contemplate on certain introspective questions – Do we really know who we truly are? What do we want to become? What are we seeking? What is it that we truly value? The problem most of us face is that we do not intentionally decide on our values. In other words, we don’t pick what we deem as important. Usually, we simply accept and inherit what our society and the environment have sown and reinforced. When we live our lives trying to impress others based on values that we did not consciously choose, the result more often than not is fatigue and stress. A striking metaphor which his mentor Gauranga Das uses to illustrate what is self-identity is – ‘Your identity is a mirror covered with dust. When you first look into the mirror, the truth of who you are and what you value is obscured. Clearing it may not be pleasant but only when that dust is gone can you see your true reflection.’
The next question that comes up is why should we think like monks? Whenever we attempt a new sport or a new profession, we always look up to the masters in that field to know and adopt their thinking, habits, philosophy, etc. Similarly, monks are the experts when it is about training our minds and living a life with purpose. Jay Shetty makes a profound statement: ‘If you want to train your mind to find peace, calm and purpose, monks are the experts. Monks aren’t born monks. They are people from all sorts of backgrounds who have chosen to transform themselves. Becoming a monk is a mindset that anyone can adopt.’
Jay posits that humans have two mindsets: a monkey mind and a monk mind. These two mindsets are interchangeable. He brings out the stark contrast between the two. A monkey mind is one that overthinks and procrastinates, is distracted easily, seeks short-term gratifications, demands and feels entitled, is self-centred and is angry, worried and fearful. On the other hand, the monk mind looks for meaning and genuine solutions, controls and engages energy wisely, is enthusiastic, determined, patient, compassionate and collaborative. Controlling the monkey mind is not easy but it is possible; the author describes how to inculcate the monk mind throughout the book. The book is an effort to free you from the hypnosis of social conditioning and urge you to become the architect of your own life.
The book is divided into three sections – Letting Go, Growing and Giving – three seemingly simple fundamentals forgotten by most of us. We have to first let go of all the unwanted baggage that we probably are not even aware of hauling. Letting go creates the space to grow ourselves by training our minds. Finally, with our growth, we are better equipped to serve those around us. It would be correct to say that many concepts he touches upon are not new for us but he reminds us beautifully why we need to practice them continuously. Jay manages to move beyond abstract terms to practical wisdom with the fascinating stories from his time as a monk and the learnings that he imbibed from each episode. His book is full of anecdotes of his experiences during his years as a monk and how the principles can be applied in our modern, fast-paced society through the concepts and techniques that he has elaborated. Jay is not merely driving us into any fictional world of all things nice. He makes it relatable for the reader to identify himself in similar situations and overcome his mental roadblocks. No, the book does not promise overnight miracles. What it does promise is a sense of calm and how a change of attitude is all that it takes to have better clarity about who we are. Combining ancient wisdom with the practicalities of today, it provides essential guidance for travelling a balanced path to success and building relationships.
My favourite part of the book is when Jay talks about detachment. It is human nature to get attached to people and to material possessions. He states, ‘Detachment is not that you own nothing, but that nothing should own you. The greatest detachment is being close to everything and not letting it consume and own you. That’s real strength!’ Another great part is where he explains humility with the concept of salt. Radhanath Swami in a temple talk in London said that ‘We should be like salt – salt is so humble that when something goes wrong it takes the blame and when everything goes right, it doesn’t take credit. Nobody says that the meal had the perfect amount of salt’. An instant response to that would be ‘It’s easier said than done’. Indeed true! We all read and then try to implement, but we lack consistent efforts. In the words of James D. Wilson, a renowned author, ‘Knowledge is not power, knowledge plus action equals to power.’ Only our constant and conscious attempts can bring about a change in the way we perceive the outer events.
To conclude, Think like a Monk is a book that offers both conventional as well as unconventional wisdom in an attempt to make our lives more peaceful and purposeful which in turn can lead to more productivity. Some parts of the book seemed a little dull to me due to repetitive narration. However, considering the other great offerings of the book, it is certainly recommended to readers. Anxiety, negativity, disappointment, stress, deteriorating quality of relationships, media clutter, device overdose and inadequate sleep are ailments that bother most of us. In that sense, this book can help improve the quality of life of the twenty first century individual. Choose this book if you have not read this genre in a while, or if you need a change in your perspective of looking at the current events in your life. I leave a quote from the book by the famous poet Kalidasa as food for thought:
‘Yesterday is but a dream. Tomorrow is only a vision. But a today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.’
