November 26, 2025 • 17 mins
Alongside praise for that book and his earlier work, MegaLiving! The core of the text focuses on a conversation between two former trial lawyers, Julian Mantle, who has undergone a miraculous physical and spiritual transformation after a heart attack, and his colleague, John. Julian relays the timeless wisdom and ancient rituals he learned from the Sages of Sivana in the Himalayas, including principles of self-mastery, discipline, time management, and serving others. Through parables and detailed explanations, the excerpts advocate for a holistic approach to life, emphasizing personal development, finding one's purpose, and embracing the present moment to achieve inner harmony and lasting fulfillment.
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You can listen and download our episodes for free on more than 10 different platforms:
https://linktr.ee/book_shelter
Get the Book now from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Monk-Who-Sold-His-Ferrari/dp/0062515675?&linkCode=ll1&tag=cvthunderx-20&linkId=442b5ab1bc85738ae4d66844ac0ae008&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
Produced by:
https://www.podcaistudio.com/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, let's dive in today. We're really unpacking something special
for you, a deep dive into the monk who sold
his ferrari, our mission to walk you through the whole
incredible story, just like Julian Mantle told it.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
We're aiming to extract all that wisdom he brought back
from the Himalayas, the Seven Virtues, his whole transformation.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
And you really have to start with Julian himself before
the monk part. I mean, this guy was the top lawyer,
brilliant making seven figures, you know, the whole package.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Oh yeah, Armani suits, private jet and that famous shiny
red ferrari.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
He was the image of success.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
It was just an image, wasn't it. Underneath he was
apparently a.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Wreck, totally driven by stress Karenoia, pulling insane eight to
ten hour days. He'd lost his humor, his sense of purpose,
just running on fumes until.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
He couldn't run anymore. The wake up call pretty dramatic.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Brutal, a massive heart attack right in the middle of
courtroom seven.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Collapsed right there, and he was.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Only fifty three, yeah, and apparently looked much much older,
like maybe seventies.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
The stress just ravaged him. It was a stark picture
of a life completely out of whack. You know, all work,
no life.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
So faced with that life or the law, he actually
chose life.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
He did, and he didn't just quit his job.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
He went all in, sold everything everything, like the mansion,
the jet, the mansion, the private island he owned, the
plane and yes, even the prized Ferrari liquidated the whole identity.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Wow. And then he just disappeared, vanished.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Headed off to India. He called it his spiritual voyage,
looking for answers money couldn't.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Buy, and then science for three years.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Three years until he showed up again, completely out of
the blue, at his old protegees office. That's John who
narrates the book.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
And the transformation must have been just shocking, unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Apparently the man who walked in looked decades younger, radiant,
no stress, lines, serene, full of energy. Yeah, wearing a
simple long red robe and a blue hood, nothing like
the old Armani Claude Julian. It was a total, almost
impossible change.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
So what happened? What did he tell John?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
He explained that the heart attack wasn't just physical, It
was like a rupture of his inner core. His whole
being was broken.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
So India was about healing that inner core exactly.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
He went looking for these legendary monks, the ones rumored
to live vibrantly past one hundred years old.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Did he find them straight away?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Not immediately.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
First he met a Yogi Krishnan. And get this, Christian
was also a former high powered trial lawyer from New Delhi.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
No way, what are the odds?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Right?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
And Krishnan gave him this crucial first piece of the puzzle.
He reframed Julian's collapse. Oh, so he told him something
like failure. It's essential for personal expansion that every setback,
even a heart attack, holds a deep lesson.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
So it wasn't an end, but a beginning, a necessary step.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Precisely that idea shifted Julian's perspective and gave him the
drive to keep searching for the main group the Stages
of Savannah.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
And that search wasn't easy, I gather.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
No, it took him seven days to trekking through treacherous
Himalayan terrain, a real pilgrimage.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
But he found them this hidden community he did.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Savannah a place of incredible peace and beauty. He said,
And there he met Yogi Raman, the elder.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Sage, the man in the red robe.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Well, likely one of them. Yogi Raman was the one
who agreed to teach Julian their ancient system for enlightened livings.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Okay, so this is where the core wisdom comes in.
How did they teach it? Through lectures? Scrolls?
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Actually through a story, a mystical fable Yogi Raman told,
filled with symbols designed specifically to be easy to remember
and packed with meaning.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Clever. So what's the first symbol?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
The first symbol is the extraordinary garden. This represents your mind.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Okay, the mind is a garden. Makes sense.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
The core idea is simple. It's fertile ground. What you
plant is what grows. If you plant positive, nourishing thoughts,
you get a beautiful garden. But if you let toxic
thoughts take.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Root, worry, anxiety, negativity, exactly, you get weeds.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
They choke out the good stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
And and some pretty stark numbers about this, didn't he
about how many thoughts we have?
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yes, staggering numbers. The average person has something like sixty.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Thousand thoughts a day, sixty thousand.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
And here's the kicker.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Apparently ninety five percent of those thoughts are repetitive day
after day and overwhelmingly negative.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Wow, ninety five percent negative and repetitive. That's that's kind
of terrifying. Yeah, you can see how Julian the lawyer
got trapped in that cycle.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Absolutely the tyranny of impoverished thinking, as the book calls it.
So the sages gave him tools to well weed the
garden and plant better seeds.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Practical tool, very practical.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
The first is the heart of the rose technique.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Okay, what's it involved?
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Simple daily contemplation. You take a fresh rose, find a
quiet place and just gaze gently at its center, its heart,
focus on its texture, color, fragrance.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
So it's like a mindful and iness exercise exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
It stills the monkey mind that constant chatter and builds
concentration a daily ritual.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Okay, that sounds doable. What else?
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Then there's opposition thinking? This one's it sounds intent?
Speaker 1 (05:01):
How does it work?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
The idea is the moment a negative thought enters your mind,
you consciously replace it with a positive, uplifting one.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Instantly, instantly, every single time. With ninety five percent of
sixty thousand thoughts, potentially being negative. That sounds exhausting, right, that's.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
The challenge, but the Souch has insisted that with practice
it becomes automatic. You're essentially retraining your default thought patterns.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
I can see the logic, but yet requires serious discipline.
Is there a third mind technique?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Yes, the Secret of the Lake. This is about creative
and visioning.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Visualization.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Ah, like visualizing your goals precisely.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
You vividly picture your desired outcomes as if they've already happened.
See yourself being calm, healthy, successful, whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
You're aiming for.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Why does that work?
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Because the mind apparently works in pictures. By creating that
mental blueprint, you're telling your subconscious what reality to create.
The site just said everything is created twice, first in
the mind, then in reality.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Okay, mind is a garden, controlled and cultivated. What's next?
In the fable?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
The second symbol the lighthouse?
Speaker 1 (06:08):
A lighthouse? What does that represent?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Purpose?
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Following your dharma? Your true calling in life?
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Dharma? So like finding your mission?
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yeah? Yogi Roman's point was stark. You will never be
able to hit a target that you cannot see. You
need clarity on what you're aiming for and for Julian.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
This meant looking beyond just money. Right.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Absolutely, it wasn't just about career goals. It was about
setting clear objectives for his mental well being, his physical health,
and his spiritual growth too.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
A holistic purpose makes sense. Did the say, just give
him a method for like, actually finding and achieving that purpose?
They can feel a bit vague.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Otherwise, they did a very concrete five step method for
goal setting and achievement.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Okay, let's hear it's step one.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Step one, form a very clear mental picture of your outcome,
really visualize.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
It, got it, vivid mental image.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Step two, create positive pressure people about your goal. Make
a public pledge that accountability helps you stick to it.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Ah, the don't want to look bad motivator. Okay.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Step three, attach a firm deadline to the goal. No deadline,
no urgency true.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Step four, This one's.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Crucial, especially now, commit it to writing. Physically write down
your goals, maybe even create a dream book with pictures
and affirmations.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Writing it down makes it real. I like that, and
the fifth step.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Fifth step is the engine for making it stick. The
magic rule of twenty one Ah.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Yes, the twenty one day habit.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Rules exactly the sage is taught that it takes twenty
one days of consistently performing a new action for it
to become an automatic habit wired into your brain.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So consistency for three weeks is key to installing these
new positive patterns.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
That's the idea which leads perfectly into the third symbol.
Oh jiz the simo wrestler. He's standing in the garden
near the lighthouse wearing only a pink wire cable.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
The sumo wrestler in a pink wire cable. Okay, it's strange.
What's the symbolism there?
Speaker 3 (07:58):
He represents discipline, self control, and the principle of kaisen.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Kaisen. That's the Japanese concept of continuous improvement.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Right exactly, but not just for business. The sages taught
it as the DNA of life, mastery, constant, never ending
self improvement in all areas, baby steps every single day.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
And the sumo wrestler image emphasizes strength. I guess pushing boundaries.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Yes, Julian learned that true strength comes from consistently pushing
your limits, even slightly. He talked about a push up challenge.
The sages gave him. The lesson was the only limits
on your life are those that you set yourself.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Hmm. Powerful and the pink wire cable?
Speaker 3 (08:36):
What's that about that symbolizes willpower? It's not one thick,
unbreakable thing you're born with. It's like that cable made
of many tiny, seemingly weak wires woven together.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
So willpower is built strand by strand, through small acts
of discipline.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Exactly, each time you do something you committed to, especially
something you don't feel like doing, you add another strand
to that cable. It gets stronger over time.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
How do they suggest building it? Any practical tips?
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Start small? Do the things you resist, even something as
simple as making your bed perfectly every morning without fail.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
It builds that muscle.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Okay, small consistent wins, and this discipline underpins a larger framework.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Yes, the ten rituals of Radiant living. These aren't optional.
They become Julian's daily non negotiables.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Ten rituals like give us a few examples.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Okay, Well, there's the ritual of solitude, intentionally spending time
alone each day, even just fifteen thirty minutes in silence
and beauty, creating a sanctuary of the self.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
That must have been hard for Julian. The constantly busy
lawyer immensely.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Then the ritual of early awakening, rising with the sun
like five point zero or five point thirty.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Am oof, that's really yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
But they stress quality sleep too. Winding down properly before bed,
No news, no arguments is key to waking up energized.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Makes sense. What else physical stuff?
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Definitely the ritual of physicality.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Vigorous daily exercise Yoga was big for the Sages, but
even brisk walking counts, and crucially focusing on deep, effective
breathing to energize the body prana.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
They called it.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Life energy, okay. And mental rituals.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
The ritual of abundant knowledge, reading for at least thirty
minutes daily. But and this is important, being selective, reading
stuff that truly nourishes.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Your mind and actually using the knowledge.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Right absolutely, Julian realized his old self just collected information.
The Stages emphasized that knowledge is only potential power. It's
useless until you apply it consistently.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Okay, So mind, purpose, discipline. What's the next symbol in
this fable?
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Symbol four the hourglass, which has slipped out of the
sumo wrestler's wire cable.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
In hour glass, that's got to be about time.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Spot on respect your time. It's the ultimate non renewable resource,
the great equalizer. As Julian learned, time mastery is life mastery.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
This must have hit home for him. Billing time in
six minute increments his whole career.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
You'd think so.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
The Sages introduced him to the ancient.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Rule of twenty, the eighty twenty rule Rado principle.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Basically, yeah, eighty percent of your results tend to come
from just twenty percent of your activities. The key is
identifying and focusing ruthlessly on those high impact twenty percent.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
So for Julian, that meant cutting out a lot of
the busy work he probably thought was essential before.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Exactly, less frantic noise, more focus on what truly matters, relationships,
self renewal, high priority tasks.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Which implies needing to simplify.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Things hugely, reducing needs, simplifying your lifestyle, and learning the
power of saying no, having the courage to decline things
that steal your time and energy, things outside that vital
twenty percent.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Saying no can be really hard.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
It takes practice and underpinning all this. Time master is
a mindset shift. Would use the deathbed mentality.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Nound's a bit grim.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
It sounds it, but it's incredibly focusing live each day
as if it were your last, not morbidly, but with appreciation,
savoring moments, prioritizing relationships, acting on what's important now, not
some It cuts through procrastination.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Live today, fully, God Okay. Four symbols down? What's the fifth?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Fifth symbol?
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Fresh yellow roses appearing near the hourglass?
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Roses again, but yellow this time. What do they signify?
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Selfless service serving others? The stage is taught that the
ultimate measure of your life's quality is the quality of
your contribution to others.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Ah So moving beyond the self.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Precisely, there's that beautiful old proverb they shared a little
bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives
you roses. When you focus on giving, on service, you
automatically enrich your own life.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
How does that work practically? Do you need to start
a charity?
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Not necessarily. It's about shedding the shackles of self through
daily acts of kindness, small things letting a car emerge
in traffic, offering a genuine compliment, listening fully to someone.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Consistent small acts add.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Up Okay, serve us through daily kindness, moving on to
symbol six.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Symbol six a path of diamonds winding through the roses.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Diamonds sounds like wealth, But I bet it's not about money.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Here, you got it. The diamonds represent embracing the present,
living in the now, so.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Exactly recognizing that happiness isn't some destination you reach after
you achieve X, Y or z. It's a journey available
right now. It's a choice you make, moment by moment.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
How does that connect to Julian's old life?
Speaker 3 (13:23):
He realized he's spent years chasing big future pleasures, the
next deal, the bigger house, while completely missing the small,
everyday joys. The diamonds are those sparkling moments of presence.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
And this part of the story, this is where Julians
shares something deeply personal. Isn't it the root of his pain?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Yes, it's incredibly moving. He finally reveals why he became
such a driven workaholic. It wasn't just ambition, what was it?
A devastating personal tragedy. Years earlier, his young daughter was
killed by a drunk driver.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Oh wow, that's all Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
And the grief and Gil eventually destroyed his marriage too.
He poured all that pain, all that unresolved trauma in
to his work, became obsessed.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
So the relentless lawyer persona was a way to cope
or maybe escape, it seems so.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
And the crushing lesson he learned, the one he shared
with John, was just heartbreakingly clear. Live your children's childhood,
don't sacrifice presence, family, the truly important things for achievement
that hits hard.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Never trade the present for the future.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
Never. And the key practice here gratitude. Consciously appreciating the
present moment, the small diamonds, your health, your family, even
just the fact you woke up today. Daily gratitude cultivates.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Presence, powerful lesson born from terrible pain.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
Mm okay.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
That brings us to the seventh and.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Final symbol, the final symbol tying it all together, the
wrestler's red court.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
Wait.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Earlier, I said pink wire cable. The source material might
be slightly varied here, but the essence is the same.
A cord or cable symbolizing interconnectedness and discipline leading towards
the final goal. Let's stick with the red cord idea
representing the ultimate stage.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Okay, the red chord, what does it signify?
Speaker 3 (14:58):
It represents final unity, the culmination of the path, reaching
a state of nirvana, not just in the after life sense,
but as achieving enlightened living self, mastery, and fulfilling your
ultimate destiny in this life.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
So it's about integrating all the other virtues exactly, the discipline, mind, garden,
clear purpose, lighthouse, consistent action and improvement, sumakaisen, respect for time, hourglass,
service to others.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Roses, and living fully in the present diamonds. All these
lead you along that path to your highest potential, your
birthright of inner peace and fulfillment.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
That's really quite a complete system, isn't it, Taking these
almost fairytale like symbols and grounding them in such practical steps.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Absolutely, And the proof was Julian himself, the hyperrational lawyer,
embraced these seemingly mystical ideas and completely transformed his reality.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Because he changes inner world first, mind, body, spirit, that's
the core takeaway.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
His outer change, the serenity, the fatality, shedding the old
stressful identity was a direct result of deep inner.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Work in his purpose then became sharing this knowledge, paying
it forward.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Yes, his new dharma was to pass on this wisdom
to help others escape the trap he fell into, pursuing
success at the cost of life.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Itself, you know, thinking about it, The most challenging part
is that Julian essentially got a second chance after his
heart attack, a wake up call he actually heeded.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
He did, and he told John that story, didn't he
Peter in the Magic Thread where the man gets a
thread to fast forward through boring or difficult parts of life,
only to find he's rushed through everything and missed it all.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Yeah, and the point being, in real life, we don't
get that magic thread. We don't get due over, no.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Second chances to relive missed moments, missed opportunities for connection
or growth, which makes the message for you, the listener
incredibly urgent.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Act now, don't wait for a crisis exactly.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Don't let procrastination or fear deny you your own potential,
your own destiny. Julian's final message from the Stages really
sums it up.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
What was that again?
Speaker 3 (17:01):
For what lies behind you and what lies in front
of you matters little when compared to what lies within you.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Hmmm, that inner potential.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Waiting waiting to be unlocked.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
The real question is what will you do with it today,
Okay, let's dive in today. We're really unpacking something special
for you, a deep dive into the monk who sold
his ferrari, our mission to walk you through the whole
incredible story, just like Julian Mantle told it.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
We're aiming to extract all that wisdom he brought back
from the Himalayas, the Seven Virtues, his whole transformation.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
And you really have to start with Julian himself before
the monk part. I mean, this guy was the top lawyer,
brilliant making seven figures, you know, the whole package.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Oh yeah, Armani suits, private jet and that famous shiny
red ferrari.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
He was the image of success.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
It was just an image, wasn't it. Underneath he was
apparently a.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Wreck, totally driven by stress Karenoia, pulling insane eight to
ten hour days. He'd lost his humor, his sense of purpose,
just running on fumes until.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
He couldn't run anymore. The wake up call pretty dramatic.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Brutal, a massive heart attack right in the middle of
courtroom seven.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Collapsed right there, and he was.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Only fifty three, yeah, and apparently looked much much older,
like maybe seventies.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
The stress just ravaged him. It was a stark picture
of a life completely out of whack. You know, all work,
no life.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
So faced with that life or the law, he actually
chose life.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
He did, and he didn't just quit his job.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
He went all in, sold everything everything, like the mansion,
the jet, the mansion, the private island he owned, the
plane and yes, even the prized Ferrari liquidated the whole identity.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Wow. And then he just disappeared, vanished.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Headed off to India. He called it his spiritual voyage,
looking for answers money couldn't.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Buy, and then science for three years.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Three years until he showed up again, completely out of
the blue, at his old protegees office. That's John who
narrates the book.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
And the transformation must have been just shocking, unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Apparently the man who walked in looked decades younger, radiant,
no stress, lines, serene, full of energy. Yeah, wearing a
simple long red robe and a blue hood, nothing like
the old Armani Claude Julian. It was a total, almost
impossible change.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
So what happened? What did he tell John?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
He explained that the heart attack wasn't just physical, It
was like a rupture of his inner core. His whole
being was broken.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
So India was about healing that inner core exactly.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
He went looking for these legendary monks, the ones rumored
to live vibrantly past one hundred years old.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Did he find them straight away?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Not immediately.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
First he met a Yogi Krishnan. And get this, Christian
was also a former high powered trial lawyer from New Delhi.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
No way, what are the odds?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Right?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
And Krishnan gave him this crucial first piece of the puzzle.
He reframed Julian's collapse. Oh, so he told him something
like failure. It's essential for personal expansion that every setback,
even a heart attack, holds a deep lesson.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
So it wasn't an end, but a beginning, a necessary step.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Precisely that idea shifted Julian's perspective and gave him the
drive to keep searching for the main group the Stages
of Savannah.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
And that search wasn't easy, I gather.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
No, it took him seven days to trekking through treacherous
Himalayan terrain, a real pilgrimage.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
But he found them this hidden community he did.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Savannah a place of incredible peace and beauty. He said,
And there he met Yogi Raman, the elder.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Sage, the man in the red robe.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Well, likely one of them. Yogi Raman was the one
who agreed to teach Julian their ancient system for enlightened livings.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Okay, so this is where the core wisdom comes in.
How did they teach it? Through lectures? Scrolls?
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Actually through a story, a mystical fable Yogi Raman told,
filled with symbols designed specifically to be easy to remember
and packed with meaning.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Clever. So what's the first symbol?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
The first symbol is the extraordinary garden. This represents your mind.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Okay, the mind is a garden. Makes sense.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
The core idea is simple. It's fertile ground. What you
plant is what grows. If you plant positive, nourishing thoughts,
you get a beautiful garden. But if you let toxic
thoughts take.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Root, worry, anxiety, negativity, exactly, you get weeds.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
They choke out the good stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
And and some pretty stark numbers about this, didn't he
about how many thoughts we have?
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yes, staggering numbers. The average person has something like sixty.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Thousand thoughts a day, sixty thousand.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
And here's the kicker.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Apparently ninety five percent of those thoughts are repetitive day
after day and overwhelmingly negative.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Wow, ninety five percent negative and repetitive. That's that's kind
of terrifying. Yeah, you can see how Julian the lawyer
got trapped in that cycle.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Absolutely the tyranny of impoverished thinking, as the book calls it.
So the sages gave him tools to well weed the
garden and plant better seeds.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Practical tool, very practical.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
The first is the heart of the rose technique.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Okay, what's it involved?
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Simple daily contemplation. You take a fresh rose, find a
quiet place and just gaze gently at its center, its heart,
focus on its texture, color, fragrance.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
So it's like a mindful and iness exercise exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
It stills the monkey mind that constant chatter and builds
concentration a daily ritual.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Okay, that sounds doable. What else?
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Then there's opposition thinking? This one's it sounds intent?
Speaker 1 (05:01):
How does it work?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
The idea is the moment a negative thought enters your mind,
you consciously replace it with a positive, uplifting one.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Instantly, instantly, every single time. With ninety five percent of
sixty thousand thoughts, potentially being negative. That sounds exhausting, right, that's.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
The challenge, but the Souch has insisted that with practice
it becomes automatic. You're essentially retraining your default thought patterns.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
I can see the logic, but yet requires serious discipline.
Is there a third mind technique?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Yes, the Secret of the Lake. This is about creative
and visioning.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Visualization.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Ah, like visualizing your goals precisely.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
You vividly picture your desired outcomes as if they've already happened.
See yourself being calm, healthy, successful, whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
You're aiming for.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Why does that work?
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Because the mind apparently works in pictures. By creating that
mental blueprint, you're telling your subconscious what reality to create.
The site just said everything is created twice, first in
the mind, then in reality.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Okay, mind is a garden, controlled and cultivated. What's next?
In the fable?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
The second symbol the lighthouse?
Speaker 1 (06:08):
A lighthouse? What does that represent?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Purpose?
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Following your dharma? Your true calling in life?
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Dharma? So like finding your mission?
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yeah? Yogi Roman's point was stark. You will never be
able to hit a target that you cannot see. You
need clarity on what you're aiming for and for Julian.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
This meant looking beyond just money. Right.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Absolutely, it wasn't just about career goals. It was about
setting clear objectives for his mental well being, his physical health,
and his spiritual growth too.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
A holistic purpose makes sense. Did the say, just give
him a method for like, actually finding and achieving that purpose?
They can feel a bit vague.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Otherwise, they did a very concrete five step method for
goal setting and achievement.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Okay, let's hear it's step one.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Step one, form a very clear mental picture of your outcome,
really visualize.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
It, got it, vivid mental image.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Step two, create positive pressure people about your goal. Make
a public pledge that accountability helps you stick to it.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Ah, the don't want to look bad motivator. Okay.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Step three, attach a firm deadline to the goal. No deadline,
no urgency true.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Step four, This one's.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Crucial, especially now, commit it to writing. Physically write down
your goals, maybe even create a dream book with pictures
and affirmations.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Writing it down makes it real. I like that, and
the fifth step.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Fifth step is the engine for making it stick. The
magic rule of twenty one Ah.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Yes, the twenty one day habit.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Rules exactly the sage is taught that it takes twenty
one days of consistently performing a new action for it
to become an automatic habit wired into your brain.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So consistency for three weeks is key to installing these
new positive patterns.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
That's the idea which leads perfectly into the third symbol.
Oh jiz the simo wrestler. He's standing in the garden
near the lighthouse wearing only a pink wire cable.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
The sumo wrestler in a pink wire cable. Okay, it's strange.
What's the symbolism there?
Speaker 3 (07:58):
He represents discipline, self control, and the principle of kaisen.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Kaisen. That's the Japanese concept of continuous improvement.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Right exactly, but not just for business. The sages taught
it as the DNA of life, mastery, constant, never ending
self improvement in all areas, baby steps every single day.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
And the sumo wrestler image emphasizes strength. I guess pushing boundaries.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Yes, Julian learned that true strength comes from consistently pushing
your limits, even slightly. He talked about a push up challenge.
The sages gave him. The lesson was the only limits
on your life are those that you set yourself.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Hmm. Powerful and the pink wire cable?
Speaker 3 (08:36):
What's that about that symbolizes willpower? It's not one thick,
unbreakable thing you're born with. It's like that cable made
of many tiny, seemingly weak wires woven together.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
So willpower is built strand by strand, through small acts
of discipline.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Exactly, each time you do something you committed to, especially
something you don't feel like doing, you add another strand
to that cable. It gets stronger over time.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
How do they suggest building it? Any practical tips?
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Start small? Do the things you resist, even something as
simple as making your bed perfectly every morning without fail.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
It builds that muscle.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Okay, small consistent wins, and this discipline underpins a larger framework.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Yes, the ten rituals of Radiant living. These aren't optional.
They become Julian's daily non negotiables.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Ten rituals like give us a few examples.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Okay, Well, there's the ritual of solitude, intentionally spending time
alone each day, even just fifteen thirty minutes in silence
and beauty, creating a sanctuary of the self.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
That must have been hard for Julian. The constantly busy
lawyer immensely.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Then the ritual of early awakening, rising with the sun
like five point zero or five point thirty.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Am oof, that's really yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
But they stress quality sleep too. Winding down properly before bed,
No news, no arguments is key to waking up energized.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Makes sense. What else physical stuff?
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Definitely the ritual of physicality.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Vigorous daily exercise Yoga was big for the Sages, but
even brisk walking counts, and crucially focusing on deep, effective
breathing to energize the body prana.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
They called it.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Life energy, okay. And mental rituals.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
The ritual of abundant knowledge, reading for at least thirty
minutes daily. But and this is important, being selective, reading
stuff that truly nourishes.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Your mind and actually using the knowledge.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Right absolutely, Julian realized his old self just collected information.
The Stages emphasized that knowledge is only potential power. It's
useless until you apply it consistently.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Okay, So mind, purpose, discipline. What's the next symbol in
this fable?
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Symbol four the hourglass, which has slipped out of the
sumo wrestler's wire cable.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
In hour glass, that's got to be about time.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Spot on respect your time. It's the ultimate non renewable resource,
the great equalizer. As Julian learned, time mastery is life mastery.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
This must have hit home for him. Billing time in
six minute increments his whole career.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
You'd think so.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
The Sages introduced him to the ancient.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Rule of twenty, the eighty twenty rule Rado principle.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Basically, yeah, eighty percent of your results tend to come
from just twenty percent of your activities. The key is
identifying and focusing ruthlessly on those high impact twenty percent.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
So for Julian, that meant cutting out a lot of
the busy work he probably thought was essential before.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Exactly, less frantic noise, more focus on what truly matters, relationships,
self renewal, high priority tasks.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Which implies needing to simplify.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Things hugely, reducing needs, simplifying your lifestyle, and learning the
power of saying no, having the courage to decline things
that steal your time and energy, things outside that vital
twenty percent.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Saying no can be really hard.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
It takes practice and underpinning all this. Time master is
a mindset shift. Would use the deathbed mentality.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Nound's a bit grim.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
It sounds it, but it's incredibly focusing live each day
as if it were your last, not morbidly, but with appreciation,
savoring moments, prioritizing relationships, acting on what's important now, not
some It cuts through procrastination.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Live today, fully, God Okay. Four symbols down? What's the fifth?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Fifth symbol?
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Fresh yellow roses appearing near the hourglass?
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Roses again, but yellow this time. What do they signify?
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Selfless service serving others? The stage is taught that the
ultimate measure of your life's quality is the quality of
your contribution to others.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Ah So moving beyond the self.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Precisely, there's that beautiful old proverb they shared a little
bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives
you roses. When you focus on giving, on service, you
automatically enrich your own life.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
How does that work practically? Do you need to start
a charity?
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Not necessarily. It's about shedding the shackles of self through
daily acts of kindness, small things letting a car emerge
in traffic, offering a genuine compliment, listening fully to someone.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Consistent small acts add.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Up Okay, serve us through daily kindness, moving on to
symbol six.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Symbol six a path of diamonds winding through the roses.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Diamonds sounds like wealth, But I bet it's not about money.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Here, you got it. The diamonds represent embracing the present,
living in the now, so.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Exactly recognizing that happiness isn't some destination you reach after
you achieve X, Y or z. It's a journey available
right now. It's a choice you make, moment by moment.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
How does that connect to Julian's old life?
Speaker 3 (13:23):
He realized he's spent years chasing big future pleasures, the
next deal, the bigger house, while completely missing the small,
everyday joys. The diamonds are those sparkling moments of presence.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
And this part of the story, this is where Julians
shares something deeply personal. Isn't it the root of his pain?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Yes, it's incredibly moving. He finally reveals why he became
such a driven workaholic. It wasn't just ambition, what was it?
A devastating personal tragedy. Years earlier, his young daughter was
killed by a drunk driver.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Oh wow, that's all Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
And the grief and Gil eventually destroyed his marriage too.
He poured all that pain, all that unresolved trauma in
to his work, became obsessed.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
So the relentless lawyer persona was a way to cope
or maybe escape, it seems so.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
And the crushing lesson he learned, the one he shared
with John, was just heartbreakingly clear. Live your children's childhood,
don't sacrifice presence, family, the truly important things for achievement
that hits hard.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Never trade the present for the future.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
Never. And the key practice here gratitude. Consciously appreciating the
present moment, the small diamonds, your health, your family, even
just the fact you woke up today. Daily gratitude cultivates.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Presence, powerful lesson born from terrible pain.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
Mm okay.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
That brings us to the seventh and.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Final symbol, the final symbol tying it all together, the
wrestler's red court.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
Wait.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Earlier, I said pink wire cable. The source material might
be slightly varied here, but the essence is the same.
A cord or cable symbolizing interconnectedness and discipline leading towards
the final goal. Let's stick with the red cord idea
representing the ultimate stage.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Okay, the red chord, what does it signify?
Speaker 3 (14:58):
It represents final unity, the culmination of the path, reaching
a state of nirvana, not just in the after life sense,
but as achieving enlightened living self, mastery, and fulfilling your
ultimate destiny in this life.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
So it's about integrating all the other virtues exactly, the discipline, mind, garden,
clear purpose, lighthouse, consistent action and improvement, sumakaisen, respect for time, hourglass,
service to others.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Roses, and living fully in the present diamonds. All these
lead you along that path to your highest potential, your
birthright of inner peace and fulfillment.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
That's really quite a complete system, isn't it, Taking these
almost fairytale like symbols and grounding them in such practical steps.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Absolutely, And the proof was Julian himself, the hyperrational lawyer,
embraced these seemingly mystical ideas and completely transformed his reality.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Because he changes inner world first, mind, body, spirit, that's
the core takeaway.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
His outer change, the serenity, the fatality, shedding the old
stressful identity was a direct result of deep inner.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Work in his purpose then became sharing this knowledge, paying
it forward.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Yes, his new dharma was to pass on this wisdom
to help others escape the trap he fell into, pursuing
success at the cost of life.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Itself, you know, thinking about it, The most challenging part
is that Julian essentially got a second chance after his
heart attack, a wake up call he actually heeded.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
He did, and he told John that story, didn't he
Peter in the Magic Thread where the man gets a
thread to fast forward through boring or difficult parts of life,
only to find he's rushed through everything and missed it all.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Yeah, and the point being, in real life, we don't
get that magic thread. We don't get due over, no.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Second chances to relive missed moments, missed opportunities for connection
or growth, which makes the message for you, the listener
incredibly urgent.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Act now, don't wait for a crisis exactly.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Don't let procrastination or fear deny you your own potential,
your own destiny. Julian's final message from the Stages really
sums it up.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
What was that again?
Speaker 3 (17:01):
For what lies behind you and what lies in front
of you matters little when compared to what lies within you.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Hmmm, that inner potential.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Waiting waiting to be unlocked.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
The real question is what will you do with it today,
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