in the sand like an ostrich than confront your resistances to the truth. And the truth of the matter is that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with making money and having beautiful things. Who came up with the silly notion that you cannot have nice things and, at the same time, be spiritual, good and evolved anyway? Have a lovely home. Drive a fine car. Travel to exotic places. Wear beautiful clothes. I’m not suggesting that you do not experience and enjoy such worldly pleasures. Ultimately, these were created by the same hidden force that created the streams, the mountains and the trees. But remember that beauty is only skin deep. These things must not be your driving force. Do not base your identity and your self-worth on them. Know that they will not last. It’s more a matter of priorities—do not make the accumulation of such external things your primary priority. We come into the world with nothing and we leave with nothing. I’ve never seen a U-haul following a hearse on the way to a cemetery. That’s the key thing to remember. Have your beautiful things but do not be imprisoned by them. Own them but do not let them own you. Give the main aim of your life over to far more important pursuits such as discovery of your highest potential, giving of yourself to others and making a difference by living for something more important than yourself. Success is fine but significance is the real name of the game,” he re-emphasized.
All of this man’s wisdom was exactly what I needed to hear at this juncture of my life. Perhaps I really was the student and perhaps I had finally arrived at a place where I was ready to learn, and now the teacher appeared. Maybe nothing I had experienced in my life up to this point was a waste. Maybe it was all meant to be—all preparation to get me to this point of readiness. Evan, my human resources manager—a very spiritual man—frequently used the phrase “all is well in the universe” whenever something did not go as planned. No matter what unfolded for him at work and in life he’d say that it was “all good,” even when it was painful. I was getting the sense that he was speaking truthfully. Perhaps there really were no accidents and the intricacies of our lives all happened according to a subtle yet perfect intelligence that, try as we might, we could not understand.
“I hope you don’t mind my asking, but who are you?” I asked, mustering up my courage and hoping not to offend, in any way, this peculiar yet unforgettable man who was sharing his profound wisdom with me.
“My name is Julian Mantle and I have come to serve as your guide. I’m here to help you discover your destiny,” came the simple reply.
He then reached into a wide silk pocket that had been sewn into his robe and pulled out a banana. Can you believe that? A banana! He peeled it and began munching away on it contentedly.
“Want one?” he asked graciously. “I have another in my knapsack,” he said, pointing to a tattered canvas bag in the corner. “Bananas are excellent fuel for the body. The body must be nourished with only the best foods if you want it to perform at its highest level.”
I hardly heard what he said—my mind started racing. Julian Mantle! Unbelievable! I knew who Julian Mantle was. Everyone I knew recognized the name of Julian Mantle. I could not contain my excitement.
“Julian Mantle! The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari? Are you serious?” The whole scene felt surreal: the monk in front of me, the wise words he had offered, the chomping of the banana. It was as though I was having an out-of-body experience, watching the whole thing unfold from above. Yesterday I had a gun to my head, ready to take my life. Only one day later, I’m hanging out backstage after a motivational seminar with an eccentric monk who is telling me about the value of banana-eating and sharing his thoughts on the spiritual transformation that is occurring across the planet. Simply unbelievable.
I had heard about Julian on a regular basis since I was young. My father was a litigation lawyer who worked with one of the largest firms in the city and he would constantly entertain me with stories of “the great Julian Mantle.” Julian was one of the nation’s best trial lawyers and a man who was known far and wide not only for his abundant legal gifts but also for his high-flying, jet-set lifestyle. Julian Mantle was a superstar in the truest sense of the word. He had everything a human being could want. But he threw it all away.
Julian had graduated from Harvard Law School and was destined for a life of success. He was a “golden boy” and seemed unstoppable as he attracted the biggest cases, the best clients and scored win upon win. Along the way, he made more money than my father ever imagined a lawyer making and gained more publicity in one month than most lawyers generated over their entire careers. Dad said he dated the most beautiful women in the city, mostly fashion models, and was loved by all for his larger-than-life persona and roguish charm. When I was younger, my dad would drive me through the most posh area of the city and point out Julian’s sprawling mansion, which sat only a few doors down from the home of one of the world’s most famous rock stars. Julian appeared to live fully and to have it all. He even had a bright red Ferrari that he used to park in the center of his driveway. I still remember how much I loved looking at that car as a boy. I would have given anything for a ride in it. Dad said it was Julian’s most loved possession.
And then something happened to Julian Mantle, according to my dad. He began to unravel. He gained weight and started to smoke too much. He began taking too many chances and lost too many cases. I wasn’t really sure what caused this undoing but it was the most striking fall from grace that any one of us had ever seen. I guess the higher you go, the harder you fall. And then one day, in the middle of a packed courtroom amidst a particularly high-profile trial, Julian collapsed, apparently of a heart attack. My dad told me that that was the defining moment of Julian Mantle’s life—the turning point. How we show up when we meet the turning points of our lives has a big influence on how our lives ultimately unfold, I have learned. What Julian did next altered the course of his life forever.
After months of recuperation, Julian resigned from the practice of law and left the country. He sold his mansion. Sold his possessions. He even sold his prized Ferrari as he departed for India, that exotic land of a million adventures and timeless wisdom. My guess is that he was looking for some answers and that India seemed to offer him some promise of finding them. No one heard from Julian for a long, long time. Many thought he was dead.
A number of months ago I read a front-page article entitled “Julian Mantle: The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. One Man’s Crusade to Improve the World.” The article revealed that Julian Mantle had undergone a remarkable transformation while he was in India. High in the Himalayas, he had discovered a little-known group of monks. They had shared with him an ancient and profound philosophy for personal transformation and living one’s greatest life. Through the extraordinary wisdom he learned, Julian experienced massive—and wonderful—changes in his own life. Physically, he recreated himself so that he looked many years younger than his actual age, exuding a vitality that was truly exceptional. Intellectually, he accessed the most universal truths upon which a rich and meaningful life is built and integrated them into the way he viewed the world, finding inner peace in the process. Emotionally, he became aware of many of the wounds that he had suffered during his childhood, wounds that were still running his life as an adult and blocking him from experiencing the joys that each one of us deserves to experience on a daily basis. This then allowed him to clear much of the anger he had been carrying with him through life, affecting him physically and psychically. He was able to heal the hurts of the past. Spiritually, he accessed his deepest values and reconnected with his highest self. Julian took off the social mask he had been wearing his whole life and became authentic, now living his life on his own terms, congruent with his highest values and according to the dictates of his heart. He stopped living to please others and stopped caring about looking good in the world. He refused to follow the crowd and betray himself, in any way. All he cared about now was being real and doing good. “Julian Mantle has discovered his destiny and this has made him a very happy man,” I recalled the account stating.
The article also said that Julian had made it his central mission to come back to the West and help as many other people as he could to live their best lives
