Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day

by Jay Shetty

We recall Helen Keller’s refrain: “I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.”

Sister Christine Vladimiroff, a Benedictine nun, as quoted in The Monastic Way, wrote, “Monastic spirituality teaches us that we are on a journey. The journey is inward to seek God in prayer and silence. Taken alone, we can romanticize this aspect of our life. … But to be monastic there is a parallel journey—the journey outward. We live in community to grow in sensitivity to the needs of others. … The monastery is then a center to come out of and to invite others into. The key is always to maintain both journeys—inward and outward.”

The highest purpose is to live in service.

The Monastic Way quotes Benedictine monk Dom Aelred Graham as saying, “The monk may think he has come [to the monastery] to gain something for himself: peace, security, quiet, a life of prayer, or study, or teaching; but if his vocation is genuine, he finds that he has come not to take but to give.”

We seek to leave a place cleaner than we found it, people happier than we found them, the world better than we found it.

The Srimad-Bhagavatam says, “Look at these fortunate trees. They live solely for the benefit of others. They tolerate wind, rain, heat, and snow, but still provide shelter for our benefit.”

The sixteenth-century guru Rupa Goswami talks about yukta-vairāgya, which means to do everything for a higher purpose. That’s real detachment, utter renunciation, perfection. Some

In Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela writes, “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, then they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

The Bhagavad Gita says that “giving simply because it is right to give, without thought of return, at a proper time, in proper circumstances, and to a worthy person, is sattvic giving”—giving

In a series of experiments, researchers at University of California, Berkeley, found that people with less money actually tend to give more.

In one situation, people were given $10 and told they could choose an amount to share with an anonymous stranger. People who were lower in socioeconomic status were more generous than wealthier participants. These findings are backed up by a survey of charitable giving in 2011, which showed that Americans in the bottom percentage of income gave, on average, 3 percent of their earnings to charity where people in the top 20 percent gave half that—1 percent.

“If your health and being a monk isn’t right for you, that doesn’t mean you can’t serve. If you feel you can serve better by being married or becoming a chef or darning socks for the needy, that takes priority. Service to humanity is the higher goal.”

True service doesn’t expect or even want anything in return.

Service, therefore, is a reciprocal exchange. You’re not saving anyone by helping them—you need help as much as they do.

There is a Zen story about a young man who is world-weary and dejected. With no plan or prospects, he goes to a monastery, tells the master that he is hoping to find a better path, but he admits that he lacks patience. “Can I find enlightenment without all that meditation and fasting?” he asks. “I don’t think I can handle it. Is there another way?” “Perhaps,” says the master, “But you will need the ability to focus. Are there any skills you’ve developed?” The young man looks down. He hasn’t been inspired by his studies or any particular interests. Finally, he shrugs. “Well, I’m not bad at chess.” The master calls over one of the monk elders and says, “I’d like you and this young man to play a game of chess. Play carefully, because I will cut off the head of the one who loses.” The young man breaks into a sweat. He’s playing for his life! He plays weakly at first, but it soon becomes clear that his opponent’s chess skills are fair at best. If he puts his mind to it, he will surely win. He soon loses himself in concentration and begins to beat the old monk. The master begins to sharpen his sword. Now the young man looks across the table, sees the wise, calm face of the old monk, who in his obedience and detachment has no fear of the death that certainly awaits him. The disillusioned man thinks, I can’t be responsible for this man’s death. His life is worth more than mine. Then the young man’s play changes—he deliberately begins to lose. Without warning, the master flips the ...

Buddhist scholar and environmental activist Joanna Macy writes, “You don’t need to do everything. Do what calls your heart; effective action comes from love. It is unstoppable, and it is enough.”

Here’s the life hack: Service is always the answer. It fixes a bad day. It tempers the burdens we bear. Service helps other people and helps us. We don’t expect anything in return, but what we get is the joy of service. It’s an exchange of love.

Legendary inventor Nikola Tesla said, “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.”

Where affirmations change the way you speak to yourself, mantras change the way you speak to the universe.

The vibrations from om have been shown to stimulate the vagus nerve, which decreases inflammation. Vagus nerve stimulation is also used as a treatment for depression, and researchers are looking at whether chanting om may have a direct effect on mood.

“Chanting was never from your mouth. It was always from your heart.”

When you fail, don’t judge the process and don’t judge yourself.

In The Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi says, “Never trust [a] spiritual leader who cannot dance.”