The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari:
A Blueprint for Living Your Best Life
Excerpt From Discover Your Destiny with the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A blueprint for Living Your Best Life

by Robin Sharma

Julian sat down in the center of the Truth Circle and crossed his legs. The room looked mystical as the candle flames flickered. Julian looked enormously peaceful and his gaze seemed to connect with a deep part of me. It almost felt as though he were looking inside me, calling for the most noble and real part of me to reveal itself.

"Many years ago, in the East, there was a band of monks who had a huge golden Buddha statue that they idolized. They would pray to it, meditate around it, and cherish its presence in their lives. A time came when the place where they lived faced the threat of attack from foreign invaders. Each of the monks feared that they would lose the prized possession of their community, so they all began to think of ways to protect it. One of the monks came up with a simple yet seemingly effective plan: the monks would work together to place layers of mud over the golden Buddha in an attempt to cover it up and hide it. And the plan worked: the invaders did not find it."

"Very interesting."

"But there's more, my friend. Years later, a young monk was taking his morning walk when he saw something shimmering amidst the mountain dirt he had passed by so many times before. He called out to his monk sisters and brothers and they began to peel through the layers. And as they moved through each layer of mud covering up the golden Buddha, more and more gold began to show. Finally, with all the layers removed, the full glory of the golden Buddha could present itself. They beheld a priceless treasure."

"Great story," I acknowledged.

"Well, it serves as a powerful metaphor for us in this schoolhouse tonight. You see, life is all about getting an education. Each day life will teach you the lessons you need to learn if you pay attention to it. The problem is that most people don't. The problem is that most people are asleep, unconscious. As you now know, they remain at Stage One of The 7 Stages of Self-Awakening. But as you awaken and move through the stages toward reclaiming your best self and the ultimate end-state of enlightenment, you will be getting to know your original nature. Each day will provide you with opportunities to move through another layer of the mud that is covering up the brilliance and gold that you truly are. And that's why the primary way to get back home and close The Integrity Gap is self-discovery and performing the inner work I often speak of. You must make the time to confront your resistances and examine yourself when frustrations or fears surface, rather than making it about others and avoiding self-responsibility. When you blame others for the things that anger or irritate you, you lose a precious chance to get to know more of the shadows that are running you. You lose the opportunity to go deep and bring what was within the realm of the subconscious into the realm of the conscious, where it can be healed and released. Every person alive today has layers of mud covering up our authentic selves. Some of us have more layers to move through than others. We assume these layers as we leave our authentic selves and join the crowd."

"And this process is known as enculturation," I added.

"Correct. The purpose of life is to remove the layers so more of the gold within us can shine and see the light of day, just as more of the golden Buddha peeked out as the monks removed the layers. And the exciting thing is that every act of courage, every act of goodness, and every act of self-responsibility will have an immediate payoff for you: each time you do what you know is the right thing and follow your truth rather than the dictates of the crowd, a little more of the mud covering up who you truly are begins to shine. Each time you act with love rather than fear, you become more of who you were meant to be. Every time you reach for your dreams and listen to your heart, you remember a little bit more of who you are. This is how you get to know yourself. This is how you play your highest game. This is how you live your destiny."

Julian paused. "So what I must teach you today-the most important lesson you can learn on Schoolhouse Earth-is that the purpose of life is to close The Integrity Gap. Ideally, there would be no gap and the person that you present to the world would be the person you truly are. Ideally, the person you present to the world would be a perfect reflection of your authentic self. You would have no fear requiring you to pretend, in an effort to fit in and be loved. You would have so much self-love that it would not matter what others thought of you. So long as you were true to yourself, all would be good. And that, my friend, is what real success as a human being is all about."

Robin Sharma's methods have made him a world-renowned expert on personal and professional leadership, performance, and self-discovery. Through his company, Sharma Leadership International, he has shared the stage with Bill Clinton, Christopher Reeve, Deepak Chopra and Dr. Phil. Contact info: 1-888-RSHARMA or robin@robinsharma.com