“Think Like A Monk” Book Summary + Lessons + Inspiring Quotes

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“Think like a Monk” by Jay Shetty is a thought-provoking and inspirational book that urges us to be aware of our shortcomings and asks us to grow.

He urges us to take short but practical steps to live a meaningful and carefree life.

Think Like A Monk Quotes

-We can do what we want. Democracy grants us the freedom to do our bidding at a time and place of our choosing. But this cannot be addressed as true freedom.

-True freedom is not feeling the need to do any of these and living the way we want.

-The habit of defining ourselves with respect to the people around us will be detrimental in the long run.

-We start to act according to their perspective, and over time we stop being who we truly are.

-Every person has that element in his life that will bear the burden of failures but fade away when success is obtained.

-True Detachment is the ability to be close to the ones you like but not let them or your emotions take control of you. This represents true strength.

-Comparing, Complaining, and Criticizing will eventually act as the greatest inhibitors in the long run. They are cancers of the mind and need to be cut off completely.

-We pursue a lot of things we desire or those we need, but it is never the object we crave but the feeling it can give us.

-Everything in our lives is temporary.  When we learn to accept that, we will start being thankful for all the good things that happened to us, even if it was necessary.

-When you are qualified enough to have fluid control over your breath, you can cruise through any difficulties life throws at you.

-Negativity is a trait. It can define a person’s action but it cannot define the person itself.

-Negative emotions could overshadow a person’s true nature. Like the clouds cover the sun during gloomy weather, but the sun is there nevertheless.

-Negativity can take control of any of us, given that emotions drive most of our actions.  We should be careful while dealing with people drowning in negative emotions.

-We should never judge a person based on how he acts during the worst phases of his life. That is the result of clouded judgments and bad decisions.

-If someone hurts you, that is because they themselves are hurt. It is their pain that is being spilled over you.

-You should not seek revenge but help them and stop the hatred from spreading further.

-We should help others if we can. If we cannot, we must at least make sure we do not hurt others.

-We should take joy in the success and happiness of others. We can be happy only with our own fortune, which severely limits our happiness.

-The ability to unselfishly take joy in the happiness of others is called Mudita. Once we learn to be happy for others, we realize the joy in our life has increased multifold.

-We should always look for the good in others, as once we can start recognizing the good in others, we will also draw out the best in ourselves.

-Monks believe that routine frees our minds. They also believe that the biggest threat to freedom is monotony.

-People always complain about their poor memories, but it is not that we have retention problems; we have attention problems. We simply lack the necessary attention to remember the particular problem.

-Irony is in the fact that we feel disheartened when we are not returned the love we provide, but we ourselves do the same of others when we fail to reciprocate their love.

-The only thing that accompanies you from birth to death is your breath.”

-Family will leave you after a point of time, friends and houses change, and life is a platform for constant changes. Your breath is the only thing that sticks to you till death.

-Location contains energy. If we do something in a particular space, day after day, it gradually becomes easy for us to do it.

-Time contains memories. If we do something every day for a prolonged period, the memories are then sketched into our minds.

-Albert Einstein once said, ’If we are unable to explain something simply, we lack mastery over the subject.

-This world doesn’t lack toxicity. Toxicity originates from our hearts and our actions spread it.

-We should purify our own hearts of toxicity and then inspire others so that we can create an ideal environment for the people to live.

-Service is a life hack. It lessens any burden we bear. It can help alleviate any pain we suffer from.

-Service is helpful for both parties involved. We help others in need, and when the need arrives, they help us.

-We derive joy from service. Tumors like complaining and criticizing cease to exist. Our fears diminish, our gratitude increases, and our attachment to materialistic needs gradually dims out.

-Everyone has a story. Every action has a reason. It is our inflated ego that often chooses to ignore the plight of others.

-This world is full of a variety of people who gain satisfaction from pushing away responsibilities.

-Complainers, who complain at every given a chance but do not bother to look for solutions.

-Cancellers find fault in everything you say, be it good or bad. They can even turn around compliments.

-Casualties who blame the world for every misfortune they suffer. They believe the entire world is out to hunt them down.

-Critics who waste no time finding fault in others’ works, irrespective of whether they are qualified or not.

-We all need to break our ego because even if we fail, life will break it for us.

-True happiness can never be built on others’ misfortunes. The false sense of joy is just a farce that we desperately hold on to.

-The only way to live a happy, rich, and fulfilling life is by being present.

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