How To Think Like A Monk To Live Peacefully?

July 8, 2022

Are you a Bibliophile? Or what we called Bookworm.

I did love reading books when I was younger, especially the Disney fantasy stories. Because all I could do before was fantasize and imagine myself being one of the princesses in the books I've read, living in a palace with a beautiful life. As I grew up, I'd love reading suspense and thrilling stories. When I got here abroad, I saw English books on my boss' bookshelf and my free time was spent reading them. That was when I didn't start blogging yet.

The second to the last topic of 30 Days of Gratitude talks about the book that I loved reading.

(30DofG) How To Think Like A Monk To Live Peacefully?

I recently came across an article on Hive by a Filipino author about the takeaways from the audiobook he listened to entitled Think Like A Monk by Jay Shetty. And this became the book I loved reading (listening to) through its audiobook.

I am certain that you guys have heard about this book too, and are probably applying the lessons you learned from this book. I got curious about this book so I opted to search for its free e-books but to no avail. I saw one on Amazon but it would cost me $12 or more. The audiobook was free though but I have to supply my credit card account which I didn't do. Then I looked it up on Youtube and I found some free audiobooks of this book.

I am not into reading books nowadays since it takes time and I mostly read articles rather than books. So to learn about this book, I started listening to its audiobook, and I did it before sleeping. That took me a few nights to finish.

This book tells Jay's story of how his life was changed after meeting a monk. Later he became one too and traveled to different places as a monk serving others. While doing so, he was developing his self-growth while learning ways how to think like a monk, reduce stress, get rid of negativity to live peacefully and learn true purpose in life.

How to think like a monk?

We all know that monks are well-focused, and that's the first lesson taught in the book, to be focused.

Undeniably, we easily get distracted by things around us and it's often tough for us to stay focused because our minds are also preoccupied with a lot of thoughts, both positive and negative. I can't deny the fact that many times, I become unfocused in doing things and I tend to forget other stuff because my mind is thinking about others rather than doing certain things that need to be done. My phone, for instance, is a great distraction, as well as things happening online that preoccupies my mind.

Moreover, I tend to become unfocused towards achieving my goals when unforeseen circumstances happen or I'm being bombarded by a lot of negativity, both offline and online, and with thoughts that are stuck in my mind. This negativity often demotivates me from moving forward. I tend to overthink, become stagnant, and just waste time.

To become well-focused is our greatest hindrance to achieving our goals, and that's undeniable whether you admit it or not. However, if we train our minds on how to become focused, we can easily get rid of procrastination and negative thoughts. If we are focused we can easily achieve our goals or finish certain tasks despite the distractions around us.

Oftentimes, emotional distractions are the main reason why one becomes unfocused. This is also something I find hard to eradicate or control, especially if it pertains to important people in my life. So anxiety often ruined things that are planned to be executed or decisions that are supposed to be done. So practicing mindfulness is necessary.

Being mindful is one thing I want to practice and achieve because this is vital to achieving goals and peaceful life. If we are mindful, we could learn how to manage our anxiety or stress well so it won't grow into depression. We feel fear, that is inevitable. We fear failure, sickness, and death. We think too much about tomorrow wherein we could just think about today.

Negativity and trials won't stop showing because they are part of our life. But as Jay said, we have to acknowledge them so that we could learn their purpose for showing up. We all know that everything happens for a reason which we don't know most of the time. But one thing is certain, they came into our lives to teach us lessons, to know our purpose, to strengthen our mind and body, to test our faith and compassion, and let us grow as a person and discover the real us.

We can't avoid them nor ignore them. Because the more we ignore them, the more they magnify. The harder it is to get away from them. So the only way is to face and acknowledge the negativity and fear so we could move forward.

Be mindful and think like a monk. We could discover the real us and would think peacefully. And if we have peace of mind, we will live happily as well.

Jay also shared in his book that he's meditating each day and that helped him think positively and be mindful.

This reminded me of times two years ago when my mind was still well-determined to meditate each morning before I start my day. Unfortunately, it failed as my body didn't cooperate. My mind wants to meditate, but my body wants to sleep or rest more. If these two, mind and body, don't work with each other, then nothing will happen.

This has something to do with self-discipline as well and staying focused on one goal. If I only stayed focused on that goal and disciplined myself to achieve it, I am probably mindful by now and have a more peaceful life. But I guess it isn't too late to put this on my goal list again.

And just like what Jay said, we don't need to shave our heads and dress in robes or be a monk to achieve a peaceful life. We just need to do the right thing. Be compassionate to everyone, discover our real self, stay focused despite the distractions, and be mindful of everything, then we could think like a monk and we could achieve a peaceful life.

I recommend you to read or listen to the audiobook of Think Like A Monk. I am certain that your mindset would change after.

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