The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams and Reaching Your Destiny

Assess the artistic merit of Yogi Raman’s fable. Is it “good” as literature? Does the usefulness of the fable depend on its artistic quality? Write your own fable illustrating the same Seven Timeless Virtues as Yogi Raman’s fable but using different symbols and telling a different story.

Julian describes Ten Rituals of Radiant Living to improve one’s life and develop discipline, such as The Ritual of Solitude and The Ritual of Physicality. Assess this list. Which rituals are the most essential? Which, if any, do you consider nonessential? Drop five of the rituals Julian learned from the sages and develop your own five to replace them.

By the end of the book when Julian shares all of his knowledge and leaves John’s house, John is determined to make lasting changes in his life. With specific reference to the wisdom Julian shared, what would John’s life look like if he masterfully adopted the wisdom of the Sages of Sivana? What would change? What, if anything, would stay the same? Create a one-week calendar for John demonstrating what a wise and disciplined week should look like for him.

In Chapter 11, John reflects that “Julian had discovered the secret of the Self” (171). The book also features ample discussion of self-discipline, self-mastery, self-talk, and selfless service to others. What is the “self” in The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari? What theory of the self, if any, does Sharma postulate?

Julian recommends that John adopt a “deathbed mentality” (168), meaning to live each day as if it were the last. What does this mean? Describe one single day in which you faithfully take Julian’s advice and adopt a deathbed mentality. Consider the activities you would spend time on, whether you would go to work or school, how much time you would spend with which people, and anything else that seems relevant. Is it possible to adopt a deathbed mentality throughout an entire lifetime? Why or why not?

Many satisfied readers of Sharma’s book are career-driven businesspeople. How useful is Yogi Raman’s fable and Julian’s advice to John for the business world? How does the wisdom of the Sages of Sivana translate to enhancing one’s working life? Is it possible to use this wisdom to become more effective in the workplace as both an employee and a manager? Who benefits most from this wisdom?

Imagine you are a Skeptic of Sivana: You received the exact same spiritual training as Julian but left the experience unconvinced and unchanged. Write your critique of Yogi Raman’s spiritual teachings as if you were an unsatisfied customer coming home from the secret village.

Julian explains that money has little to do with happiness, saying “this world is full of unhappy millionaires” (189) and that the sages themselves didn’t exactly have a balanced portfolio. Explain why Julian is correct about this with specific reference to the various aspects of Yogi Raman’s teachings. Then, write an opposing critique explaining why it is difficult or impossible to achieve the Nirvana of the sages without decent access to money.