Product Description

An internationally bestselling fable about a spiritual journey, littered with powerful life lessons that teach us how to abandon consumerism in order to embrace destiny, live life to the full and discover joy. / This inspiring tale is based on the author's own search for life's true purpose, providing a step-by-step approach to living with greater courage, balance, abundance and joy. / It tells the story of Julian Mantle, a lawyer forced to confront the spiritual crisis of his out-of-balance life: following a heart attack, he decides to sell all his beloved possesions and trek to India. On a life-changing odyssey to an ancient culture, he meets Himalayan gurus who offer powerful, wise and practical lessons that teach us to: - Develop joyful thoughts - Follow our life's mission - Cultivate self-discipline and act courageously - Value time as our most important commodity - Nourish our relationships - Live fully, one day at a time

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10374 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Review
"The book is about finding out what is truly important to your real spiritual self rather than being inundated with material possessions." Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) "A captivating story that teaches as it delights." Paulo Coelho "[Its] principles have been fascinating and there were shared principles from writers such as Robin Sharma and Deepak Chopra. How does all that impact on a game of rugby? I can't answer that. All I know is it's enough to help me to proceed in a way that makes me happy enough to go out there and be proud of who I am and what I hope I can bring to this team." Jonny Wilkinson

About the Author
Robin Sharma is one of America's most widely recognised professional speakers and a rising star in the field of leadership and life improvement, attracting audiences of up to 10,000. He runs his own leadership development company, Sharma Leadership International, and has shared speaking platforms with people such as Bill Clinton, Deepak Chopra, Richard Carlson and Dr. John Gray.

Customer Reviews

A Bad MIx of Some Great Works
As one other reviewer, I bought this book because I liked the title. But that is where the similarity of our reviews ends.

The book is strange in the way the story develops, and the aide memoires used by Sharma are bizarre in the extreme. While I recognise the sense in providing some life lessons in stroy format, it does not gel well, and has a lot of mixed messages in the delivery (e.g. Julian Mantle (the monk) advocates the seeking of a simple life free from materialism, but then says that the techniques can be used to acumulate wealth, and material possessions.)

It is a poor blend of Napoleon Hills "Think and Grow Rich" - a more preferrable read - and some Eastern Mysticism. I think a lot of the impact is lost in the unfeasibility of the monks in the himalayan hills (not to mention the ease with which Julian apparently finds them!). It is like a blend of red wine and a single malt. Work well on their own, but have little business being put together!

It is my habit to complete a book, but this has been turgid going, and frankly of little or no value.

Some good ideas but badly told
I liked the ideas in the book (I am new to self help books) so these were new to me. Did not like the way it was told with fictional charictors who were annoyingly steriodtypically Americans ('Geee what a greeaaat idea' you were such a hot shot attorney') - if you get what I mean. Not bad but would have preferred if told in a more believeable way. The main charicitor goes away to find a better way to live but instead of telling the story of this 1st hand he is telling his friend what happend 2nd hand and his friend narrates the story (so he says Julian told me that this happend and that this person said this to him - its all a but he said she said...) I wouldnt really bother with this book there are better ones around.

Spiritual refreshment
Every so often you come across a book that provides you with the necessary enthusiasm to do something about the mediocrity of life and this is one of them.
I have no idea how long I'll continue to follow Robin Sharman's suggestions but right now they have changed my outlook. Using storytelling to get his points across makes the book easy to read and digest. Like an excellent meal I was disappointed to finish it but enjoyed the experience. Highly recommended!