Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day

Translated as “Song of God,” the Bhagavad Gita exists “for all humanity,” as Shetty puts it (xiv), rather than for a specific religious group or tradition. It is the source material that establishes the definitions for the other Sanskrit terms below. Sanskrit is the classical language in which sacred Hindu texts and some Buddhist philosophy is written.

Breath is fundamental to the practice of meditation and other Vedic practices. It is “’the only thing that stays with you from the moment you’re born until the moment you die’” (xvii). It can calm the physical body, as well as soothe the psyche. As Shetty writes, “[c]ontrolled breathing […] is an immediate way to steady yourself, a portable tool you can use to shift your energy on the fly” (86). The practice of pranayama, specific breathing techniques, can “stimulate healing, raise energy, and [bring] focus on the present moment” (86). The first phase of just about any meditative practice is to focus on the breath.

Central to Buddhist philosophy and other monk-based traditions, detachment requires objectivity and distance. Shetty defines it as such: “Detachment is a form of self-control that has infinite benefits across every form of self-awareness” (164). He goes on to elaborate that the Bhagavad Gita “defines detachment as doing the right thing for its own sake” (164). It also “means escaping the hold of the senses, of earthly desires, of the material world” (164). If one is to Think Like a Monk, one must “practic[e] detachment. We realize that everything—from our houses to our families—is borrowed” (55). Thinking in that manner fosters gratitude and mindful appreciation of all one has for the moment one has it.

While this term cannot “be defined by a single English word,” Shetty takes it to mean “’your calling’” (94). He wants to make dharma “practical to our lives today” (94). He elaborates on a definition of dharma that combines “your natural talents and passions” with “what the universe needs” in order to create a life of purpose and meaning (94-95). He emphasizes the need “to demonstrate and defend our dharma” as it, in turn, “protects your joy and your sense of purpose and helps you grow” (120). Other translations often refer to dharma as “the way” or “the right way.”

This is the conscious undertaking of specific thinking and behavior in pursuit of a goal: “Your intention is who you plan to be in order to act with purpose and feel that what you do is meaningful” (71). Instead of living unconsciously, following the lead of others, or adhering to inherited values, living intentionally allows one to “sustain a sense of purpose and meaning that isn’t tied to what we accomplish but who we are” (78). Intention indicates both action and self-knowledge: “Living your intention means having it permeate your behavior” (79). In this way, intention becomes not only what one does but what one is.

This describes the principle that energy is cyclical, that one’s actions cycle back whether positive or negative. In illustrating what he calls the “circle of love,” Shetty invokes karma, “the idea that your actions, good or bad, bring the same thing back to you” (225). Karma explains, to an extent, the focus that Shetty (and monks, in general) place on gratitude and service. Grateful thoughts and generous actions cycle positive energy throughout the universe.