Book review of Think like a Monk by Jay Shetty

Book review of Think like a Monk by Jay Shetty: The book "Think like a monk" is a self-help book written by Jay Shetty. It was published on 8 September 2020. Here I'm going to share my point of view or you can say book review of Think like a monk.

Before doing book review of any book, that person has to read the book first. Some days back I have read the book "Think like a monk" written by Jay Shetty. Though this is his first book but I found some many things interesting about the book and useful too.

In our lives there has been lots of chaos and challenges which have made having calm, balance and peace quite difficult. In many cases, this has been particularly difficult because of our ways of thinking. There has been lots of fear and negativity and there have been opportunities for us to better connect with our intention and purpose and find greater meaning in life.

But before directly jumping to the book let us know something interesting about the author of this book Think like a monk in short.

"Jay Shetty" About the author

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Jay Shetty, a social media superstar, a storyteller, a social media influencer and host of the podcast ‘On Purpose’. The former monk, is on a mission to share way. Jay has created over 400 viral videos with over 5 billion views, and hosts the #1 Health and Wellness podcast in the world, ‘On Purpose’.

Jay Shetty provides great frameworks which combine ancient wisdom with the practicalities of living in the modern world. He was a Monk for 3 years and he is able to bring to life stories which show how he developed his thinking and how you don't have to be a monk to think like a monk.

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The lessons monks learn are profound but often abstract. The author Jay Shetty transforms them into advice and exercises we can all apply to reduce stress, improve focus, improve relationships, identify our hidden abilities, increase self-discipline and give the gifts we find in ourselves to the world. He proves that everyone can - and should - think like a monk.

The book does not preach, it just lays out several different concepts and puts a "Try this" frame around it. The combination of anecdotes, ancient text references, exercises and diagrams really help to bring out the concepts but most importantly provide a practical framework to use.

Jay Shetty is a powerful storyteller and he uses the power of story nicely in the book. Just like any other self-development book, it does have concepts that you would have seen in other books.

However, lots of people read lots of self-development books and know these concepts at an intellectual level but don't necessarily do anything with this. Lots of people know about Morning Rituals and Gratitude but they still find it difficult to apply these on a daily basis.

I was deciding whether to read this book or not, then I read some of the reviews or opinion done by great people. And as soon as I read the review of the book "Think like a monk", I could not resist my mind from reading this book.

Some of the reviews that I've read are...

“Who better to help you find meaning in your life than a monk? Jay’s experience and wisdom are invaluable to anyone looking to improve their life and reach their full potential.”―ELLEN DeGENERES, television host, actress, writer, and producer

“Combining ancient wisdom with the practicalities of today, Think Like a Monk provides essential guidance for traveling a balanced path to success.”―RAY DALIO, founder, co-chairman, and co-chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates and New York Times best selling author

“Grab this book, find a comfortable chair, and let Jay Shetty take you on a life-changing journey. Jay guides us with warmth and clarity on a path to greater joy and purpose, offering wisdom that can be put into practice right now. You will want to share it with everyone you love.”―ROBERT WALDINGER, MD, professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and director, Harvard Study of Adult Development

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Reasons why one should read Think like a monk

How a person likes a book depends very much on what books they have read before and what season of life they are currently in. I have enjoyed reading this book because of the following five reasons.

1. Even though some of the concepts that jay talks about in the book like getting clear about your values dealing with negativity dealing with fear forgiveness even though these concepts are not new for me, but even I need to be reminded of them again and again. It's one thing to know about concepts and another thing to actually implement them so this book gave me the push and the reminders that I needed.

2. It feels good to know that some of the things that I'm already doing are being recommended by Jay Shetty as well. For example forgiving someone when they haven't even apologized to you. Forgiving is a great thing to do for your mental and physical health.

I highly recommend it when you forgive someone you're not doing them a favor but you're doing yourself a huge favor. Because when you hold a grudge it's very bad for you so forgiving someone when you forgive someone you get such a sense of freedom and relief.

Forgiving someone doesn't mean that you have to become best friends with them you can forgive them and still want to keep a distance.

3. I have enjoyed reading author's personal stories that he shares in this book which I wouldn't have found in any other book. Stories of how and why he became a monk, what was life like in the Mumbai ashram that he stayed at when he was a monk and so on.

Some of the stories I found very interesting. For example when waiting outside the communal shower in a line with the other monks. If the monk that was showering took more than four minutes which was the average time Jay would find it very hard to resist the urge to criticize that monk with the other monks that were standing in line with him.

Then there was the story of how the monks would laugh if they saw a new monk fall asleep or snore during a meditation session. These monks were also supposed to be meditating but instead they are laughing, so it was nice to see that human side of monks.

Monks are actually quite fun people. They laugh, they don't take life too seriously. We've seen the Dalai Lama laughing a lot and this is one of the less talked about side effects of meditation that it helps us to take life not too seriously and to take ourself not too seriously.

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4. Why I like this book is that Jay shares a lot of practical wisdom and exercises including meditations in this book. So he's not just talking in abstract terms and these exercises are highlighted in boxes so they are easy to find.

For example there is an exercise on how to practice forgiveness because it's not just a switch that you can turn on. Then there's an exercise to determine what are your values and are the people that you spend your time with aligned with those values or not.

If you're reading this book, I would suggest you to actually do these exercises take out your pen and paper and pause your reading and actually spend some time to do these exercises if you really want to benefit from this book. You don't have to do all of them maybe just pick one or two that you think you need the most.

Because knowledge is not power knowledge plus action equals power. Only reading the book is not going to change your life.

Best Quotes From Think Like A Monk By Jay Shetty

5. There are lots of quotes by other people in this book usually at the beginning of each chapter. for example

"The less time you fixate on everyone else, the more time you have to focus on yourself."

"fear does not prevent death it prevents life." by Buddha

"I became a buddhist because I hated my husband." by Pema Chaudran

"Our identity is wrapped up in what others think of us-or, more accurately, what we think others think of us." by Jay Shetty

"When people gain what they want but aren’t happy at all, it’s because they did it with the wrong intention."

If you’ve lost yourself in the relationship, find yourself in the "heartbreak."

Besides these quotes, his personal stories, also there are lots of stories from the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad-Gita.

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Conclusion

What a book yaar ! Never judged a book by its cover and ended up being so right ! fantastic book. From start to finish it is engaging, interesting, informative & certainly gives cause to reflect on many things.

He relates fascinating stories & observations from his time as a monk & the learning he took from each. Author Jay Shetty provides many great tools & techniques throughout the book & gives examples in which you might apply them, in our modern fast paced society.

This book provides some simple but really powerful ways to change your thinking which will help you train your mind for peace and purpose every day. I liked the meditation examples and also the Vedic Personality Test in the Appendix. Again this is provided with a frame to explore and try it out as opposed to being the exact thing you need to do and use.

If you want to have more conscious, purposeful living then I highly recommend this book. Remember though, reading the book itself will not change your thinking, it will be practical aspects of reflecting and trying out the various concepts within which will support you with your personal growth.

Friends, hope you are satisfied read this post on book review of Think like a Monk by Jay Shetty. Humble request, there's may be some typo mistakes, so please free to comment and guide. And do not forget to share with your friends and family. Thank you very much for your time, enjoy reading.