Think Like a Monk

As a boy, Jay Shetty was like most of the other children his age. After graduating in Economics from London Cass Business School, he started working but without much enthusiasm. One evening, he agreed to go with a friend to listen to a lecture being given by a at his university, but he only went because his friend practically dragged him there.

After hearing the monk speak, Shetty was fascinated and felt the need to answer a call to “explore his inner world”. So, he decided to leave for India to join an ashram and become a monk. This is where he learned that “listening to the deepest part of ourselves, the one we often ignore, is the first step in allowing ourselves to accept who we really are”, which is the only way to become truly happy.

There, he also understood that being a monk is more a state of mind than anything else, hence the expression “think like a monk”, and so he decided to leave the ashram to go out into the world and share his knowledge.

What he shares with all his students and readers is the awareness that the wisdom taught by the monks is available to us all, and to access it we simply have to answer the many questions that life asks us.

Shetty teaches us that to adapt to the monk’s mindset, there are three stages. The first is letting go, by stripping ourselves of any external influences, which will help you make space for growth. The second is growth, and the third is service. Learning to look beyond ourselves, expanding and sharing our sense of gratitude and deepening our relationships. Meditation brings all these stages together, and must be cultivated and refined with practice. It serves to help us dig deep, get rid of everything we don’t need, and listen to our inner voice.