The Monk Who Sold His Neighbor's Ferrari
with the current level of bastardization and plagiarism going around in the market, it would be only too easy to mistake this wholly remarkable piece of art to be inspired by one mr. robin sharma's hugely successful book in the sense of being a servile plaudit, a serene product description or a damning critique of the same. however, belonging to the fast swelling cult of persons who want to exhibit their individuality (for instance, by idolizing plato and demonizing nietzche, being perfect strangers to both), i am happy to announce that it is none of the above. in fact, i have not read the book at all, nor talked to anyone who has (which incidentally says a lot about the literary tastes of my circles). hence, i am proud also to declare that i am totally unbiased about mr. robin sharma as i have not been prejudiced by anything he might have said in that tome!
nevertheless, however hard i try to conceal this fact, it is tortured out of me by a great love for truth. the title is not wholly mine. it is a happy combination of the popularity of the book that is much less suggestively titled " the monk who sold his ferrari " and the increasing crime rate in the locality. before plunging into the throes of philosophical observation, it is vital to inform the innocent audience that a prior knowledge of the original unfortunately precludes the access to this piece. those who have imbibed those high ideals emphasised in that book might find the air of this essay frivolous and even a bit ridiculous!
since it makes arbitrarily more sense to present the virtuous monk who sold his neighbor's ferrari in contrast with his more commonplace cousin who sold his own, we shall do the same. now, though we are adventurous enough to produce a generous quantity of crap about something we hardly know of, it is useful to have some background material on the same. since we know nothing of monks or ferraris in any great detail, going by the public pulse, one can conclude that the book has something to do with motivation and lotteries for tickets to success. the monk in question, seemingly was prepared to sacrifice his ferrari for something quite etherial in return, like happiness, a sense of success or peace of mind. we must willingly compliment him on his strength of character in getting rid of his material treasure in return for something quite immaterial (sic) (instead of taking the metal baby for a fling with a gorgeous filly and a bottle of Rothschild's to complete the picture).
honestly, my proclivities for self elevation nonwithstanding, the idea of a monk selling his ferrari is quite inspiring and admirable. we are not talking about any troglodyte living in rat infested caves in an unrecorded age who might have regarded the metal monster with considerable doubts about its edibility. the true monk of today is to be revered above the heroes of yesterday who had passed through the fire since he fully knows the pleasure quotient of his sacrifices. unfortunately, i donot possess a ferrari since noone i know of has such a fine sense of taste in his gifts (we usually gift each other cheap deodourants or dubious cd's, the gifts heartily complementing each other) and consequently have no idea of the tortures that a mind has to undergo before selling his ferrari. but on the whole i persume that unless the ferrari in question is entirely metaphorical, our enlightened friend deserves a pat on the back.
the actual existance of this monk character is a highly nontrivial question. he might be giving company to the seven rishis of lore in the himalayas or on the other hand might be my next door neighbor (who bought a ferrari and sold it when i was asleep). he might even be called something like " Julian Mantle ", though that is speculating far too much. no matter what, this concept, as an idealization would, i believe benefit tremendously if extended to that of a monk who sells his neighbor's ferrari as readily as he would his own. this, while seeming monstrously uncivil on first sight, can be realized on contemplation to be nothing more than a natural extrapolation of a combination of the ideas of detachment and cordial neighborhood maintanance. die hard capitalists may feel the concept reeking of evil socialism and christians may point out the testament that forbids you from stealing your neighbor's ass. but selling a ferrari is pure capitalism for the government has nothing to do with the whole affair at all! one can very clearly see the market forces at work here. and let us remember that we are well beyond coveting our neighbor's ass (except in extraordinarily alluring circumstances) and that this is for his own benefit.
the quest for knowledge and wisdom has known to overshadow all other pursuits in many extraordinary cases as history points out. the tales of mephistopheles and faustus, and much nearer home, milinda hold testimony to this. when we hear about the monk who was pure and detached enough to sell his ferrari (which he might have acquired after years of hardwork in narcotic and liquor trade), we assume that he is, in a burst of philanthropy, donating the proceeds towards charitable foundations such as " the association of people with embarassing health problems " or " the monkeyman beneficial trust for unevolved primates " or something equally honourable. the weakness in the advertising potential of this action is that it is too boringly dull. on the other hand, a monk who sells his neighbor's ferrari is a wholly new and exciting guy. it brings into our eyes, not the sight of mr. Robin Sharma chewing his pen in the labours of thought for putting down the next line of the book, but of robin hood prowling in the forests of sherwood with his merry company, robbing the obscenely rich and giving the proceeds to the obscenely poor.
doomsday pundits who point out that the evidence for decadence of civilization is its recent lack of heroes and role models can be aptly refuted by the new monk. selling something that is your own implies subscription to the parochial views of physical property. there is a certain feudal rigidity about such property division that reminds one of tyrranical earls crushing down peasents under their heel in pools of grime and blood. the greatest philosophy that has ever been postulated is that of global ownership and preservation of resources. the neighbor whose ferrari was sold is of course free to take a ride in it anytime he wants. the truly enlightened one is who not only knows that nature does not facilitate easy transit of ferraris from this life to the next, but also proceeds to bestow his noble vision on the spiritually blind. it will be a great honour for me to be the first follower of the hypothetical monk. i shall, with tremendous pleasure, sell my neighbor's car, though it is not a ferrari and contribute the proceeds towards the welfare of the most penurious members of the society, of whom i happen to be the lucky leader. though initially, i am not sure if the response to this admirable transition will be as enthusiastic as it deserves (especially among car owners), soon wisdom shall prevail - neighbor's cars will be sold in the black of the nights, trade shall blossom, charity swell and humanity will be emancipated.
with the current level of bastardization and plagiarism going around in the market, it would be only too easy to mistake this wholly remarkable piece of art to be inspired by one mr. robin sharma's hugely successful book in the sense of being a servile plaudit, a serene product description or a damning critique of the same. however, belonging to the fast swelling cult of persons who want to exhibit their individuality (for instance, by idolizing plato and demonizing nietzche, being perfect strangers to both), i am happy to announce that it is none of the above. in fact, i have not read the book at all, nor talked to anyone who has (which incidentally says a lot about the literary tastes of my circles). hence, i am proud also to declare that i am totally unbiased about mr. robin sharma as i have not been prejudiced by anything he might have said in that tome!
nevertheless, however hard i try to conceal this fact, it is tortured out of me by a great love for truth. the title is not wholly mine. it is a happy combination of the popularity of the book that is much less suggestively titled " the monk who sold his ferrari " and the increasing crime rate in the locality. before plunging into the throes of philosophical observation, it is vital to inform the innocent audience that a prior knowledge of the original unfortunately precludes the access to this piece. those who have imbibed those high ideals emphasised in that book might find the air of this essay frivolous and even a bit ridiculous!
since it makes arbitrarily more sense to present the virtuous monk who sold his neighbor's ferrari in contrast with his more commonplace cousin who sold his own, we shall do the same. now, though we are adventurous enough to produce a generous quantity of crap about something we hardly know of, it is useful to have some background material on the same. since we know nothing of monks or ferraris in any great detail, going by the public pulse, one can conclude that the book has something to do with motivation and lotteries for tickets to success. the monk in question, seemingly was prepared to sacrifice his ferrari for something quite etherial in return, like happiness, a sense of success or peace of mind. we must willingly compliment him on his strength of character in getting rid of his material treasure in return for something quite immaterial (sic) (instead of taking the metal baby for a fling with a gorgeous filly and a bottle of Rothschild's to complete the picture).
honestly, my proclivities for self elevation nonwithstanding, the idea of a monk selling his ferrari is quite inspiring and admirable. we are not talking about any troglodyte living in rat infested caves in an unrecorded age who might have regarded the metal monster with considerable doubts about its edibility. the true monk of today is to be revered above the heroes of yesterday who had passed through the fire since he fully knows the pleasure quotient of his sacrifices. unfortunately, i donot possess a ferrari since noone i know of has such a fine sense of taste in his gifts (we usually gift each other cheap deodourants or dubious cd's, the gifts heartily complementing each other) and consequently have no idea of the tortures that a mind has to undergo before selling his ferrari. but on the whole i persume that unless the ferrari in question is entirely metaphorical, our enlightened friend deserves a pat on the back.
the actual existance of this monk character is a highly nontrivial question. he might be giving company to the seven rishis of lore in the himalayas or on the other hand might be my next door neighbor (who bought a ferrari and sold it when i was asleep). he might even be called something like " Julian Mantle ", though that is speculating far too much. no matter what, this concept, as an idealization would, i believe benefit tremendously if extended to that of a monk who sells his neighbor's ferrari as readily as he would his own. this, while seeming monstrously uncivil on first sight, can be realized on contemplation to be nothing more than a natural extrapolation of a combination of the ideas of detachment and cordial neighborhood maintanance. die hard capitalists may feel the concept reeking of evil socialism and christians may point out the testament that forbids you from stealing your neighbor's ass. but selling a ferrari is pure capitalism for the government has nothing to do with the whole affair at all! one can very clearly see the market forces at work here. and let us remember that we are well beyond coveting our neighbor's ass (except in extraordinarily alluring circumstances) and that this is for his own benefit.
the quest for knowledge and wisdom has known to overshadow all other pursuits in many extraordinary cases as history points out. the tales of mephistopheles and faustus, and much nearer home, milinda hold testimony to this. when we hear about the monk who was pure and detached enough to sell his ferrari (which he might have acquired after years of hardwork in narcotic and liquor trade), we assume that he is, in a burst of philanthropy, donating the proceeds towards charitable foundations such as " the association of people with embarassing health problems " or " the monkeyman beneficial trust for unevolved primates " or something equally honourable. the weakness in the advertising potential of this action is that it is too boringly dull. on the other hand, a monk who sells his neighbor's ferrari is a wholly new and exciting guy. it brings into our eyes, not the sight of mr. Robin Sharma chewing his pen in the labours of thought for putting down the next line of the book, but of robin hood prowling in the forests of sherwood with his merry company, robbing the obscenely rich and giving the proceeds to the obscenely poor.
doomsday pundits who point out that the evidence for decadence of civilization is its recent lack of heroes and role models can be aptly refuted by the new monk. selling something that is your own implies subscription to the parochial views of physical property. there is a certain feudal rigidity about such property division that reminds one of tyrranical earls crushing down peasents under their heel in pools of grime and blood. the greatest philosophy that has ever been postulated is that of global ownership and preservation of resources. the neighbor whose ferrari was sold is of course free to take a ride in it anytime he wants. the truly enlightened one is who not only knows that nature does not facilitate easy transit of ferraris from this life to the next, but also proceeds to bestow his noble vision on the spiritually blind. it will be a great honour for me to be the first follower of the hypothetical monk. i shall, with tremendous pleasure, sell my neighbor's car, though it is not a ferrari and contribute the proceeds towards the welfare of the most penurious members of the society, of whom i happen to be the lucky leader. though initially, i am not sure if the response to this admirable transition will be as enthusiastic as it deserves (especially among car owners), soon wisdom shall prevail - neighbor's cars will be sold in the black of the nights, trade shall blossom, charity swell and humanity will be emancipated.
posted by Praveen at 12:00 AM
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