As a Man Thinketh
Assessment by Nwaeze Daniel (Nigeria)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The author’s main idea is centered around “thought.” The use of an individuals’ mind to control his/her inner self which then reflects in the outward character or situation. From the beginning to the end, the author emphasized the power of thought as the basis and how our lives are patterned according to our thoughts whether positive or negative. This was well noted in chapter two where he said:
“Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and to take root there, produces its own blossoming sooner or later into act, and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstance. Good thought bear good fruit, bad thoughts, and bad fruits.”
This determines what share we get in life. James was of the school of promoting a radical revolution in our thought process from pessimism to optimism; from negativity to positivity and from mediocrity to excellence because “all that a man achieves or fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts”. These thoughts either make a clean habit or a bad one because we are masters of our thoughts, maker, shaper and author of our environment and in summary, to make all these effective, the author’s prescription in chapter three should be followed where he said:
“If you would perfect you body, guard your mind. If you would renew your body, beautify your mind.”
2. What were the seven ideas which were personally most important to you and why? List these seven ideas followed by an explanation after each one as to why it was important to you. Use personal examples from your own life.
i. Character
Acknowledging the existence of a noble and God-like character by James Allen though he admitted that it is a natural result of continued effort in right thinking and long cherished association with God-like thoughts struck me as it defined my long standing struggle between virtues and vices growing up in a violence prone area. Long discussions with my inner self help me discover the need as a Christian to have God-like character thus re-aligning my thoughts towards a God-like thought which eventually welcomed virtues and alienated vices around me.
ii. Circumstance
James tried to link thought, character and circumstance together, which made understanding better. The explanation that “man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions, but when realizes that he is creative power, and that he may command the hidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master of himself.” This explained me or helped me in my transition to positivity/optimism. I discovered I always use negative words or answers and most times fall out of good things so one day I decided to give positive answers and even in situations where the answers are negative, I will try to reduce the negative answers to the barest minimum. Within a period of time, my outlook changed and I started having a sense of optimism. Not only that, positive things that eluded me started finding their way to me without much effort. In this, Allen taught me that “a man cannot directly choose his circumstances but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances, circumstances does not make the man; it reveals him to himself.”
iii. Health
In everything we do, it is important that as we build our mind, we should also build our body. The body is the servant of the mind for it obeys the operations of the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed. Even doctors admit that the mind helps worsen or speed up recovery rate of a patient and spiritual books attribute cleanliness to godliness and godliness is a form of perfection for clean thought make clean habits. Many people may not understand or appreciate this but as a kid who spent the first five to six years of life battling sickness; I do value it.
iv. Purpose
A life worth living is encompassed around having a purpose to fulfill because “aimlessness is a vice and such drifting must not continue for him who would steer clear of catastrophe and destruction. This however entails careful thought because until thought is linked with purpose, there is no intelligent accomplishment. Discovering my purpose made focus and passion a lot more easier. Also mastering the art and act of leadership and helping others realize their purpose became awesome for me. You’ll never know how sweet and great your big dream can be until you discover a purpose.
v. Achievement
This first manifest in our thoughts then in reality because achievement of any kind is the crown effort of thoughts well directed. At a conference when a competition came up, I emphasized winning the first prize to my colleagues then continued doing my other activities. When the winner was announced, I was the one. One important thing I want to highlight from the Allen is that one should not get carried away with achievements nor relax upon it but rather strive positively to maintain the trend so as not fade into oblivion or rapidly fall back into failure.
vi. Vision and ideals
These two are a prerequisite to purpose and have been the change force behind the development of the world. Though many people see the product of the visions and ideals, they are blind to what led to them. People get carried away with the effects of a person’s success and forget to dig deep into the transition, flaws, obstacles and struggles faced and how they were overcame. This was noted by Allen when he said “the thoughtless, ignorant, and indolent, seeing only the apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of luck, of fortune, and chance.”
Celine Dion noted “deep within each heart there lies a magic spark that lights the fire of all imagination. Since the dawn of man, the strength of I can has brought together people of all nations there’s nothing ordinary in the living of each day to stand apart from all the rest, it is the power of the dream that brings us here.” Power of the Dream.
vii. Serenity
Serenity is summed in calmness of mind, self control and personal governance. With peace of mind and serenity, a man is complete. If he exhibits this in his pursuit of wealth, he is even more complete and the wealth becomes insignificant as he is weighed not in the value of his gold but the serenity of his heart or life which now extends to his spirituality, family and nature.
Serenity builds self control, self control builds confidence, confidence is a move towards perfection and perfection is a sign of the “finished character.” So many have lost these tracks and it takes a disciplined man and mind to go back to the beginning: “Serenity.”
3. How will these ideas or lessons help you in a practical way, both in your daily personal life and in helping you to create a better world? If so, how?
These ideas opened a new way of understanding and reacting to life issues for me both in the reconstruction of my mind mechanisms and the reproduction of my outputs in terms of words, expressions and achievements. The past few days have seen a twist in my reactions and interactions, and an upliftment. Now I know that my colleagues and student will benefit more from my improvement and my interactions will be more productive.
4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.
“Man is the master of thought, the molder of character and the maker and shaper of condition, environment and destiny.”
This expanded my ideology that thought leads to actions, actions form habits, habits create character and character shapes destiny.
“Thought and actions are jailors of fate – they imprison being base; they are also the angels of freedom – they liberate, being noble.”
I understood from this that the direction I give my thought determines the output I get and my thoughts can either be base or angels depending on how I train my mind towards them.
“Blessedness, not material possessions, is the measure of right thought; wretchedness, not lack of material possessions is the measure of wrong thought blessedness and riches are only joined together when the riches are rightly and wisely used.”
Here I learned materials are not the outcome of right thoughts but rather right actions and that possession only come into play when these actions are channeled positively and vice versa for wretchedness and wrong thoughts.
“Law, not confusion is the dominating principle in the universe; justice, not injustice is the soul and substance of life. Righteousness, not corruption is the molding and moving force in the spiritual government of the world.”
Most people in my part of the world believe that one has to be corrupt to attain heights or that injustice prevails thereby forgetting the place of righteousness and law in the society and the few of us who still uphold to the justice and righteousness principle.
“The truth is that oppressor and slaves are cooperators in ignorance, and while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality afflicting themselves.” This basically translates a line I refer so much from Bob Marley’s Redemption song “emancipate yourself from mental slavery, non but ourselves can free our mind…” we experience life issues the way we want to translate it.
5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, or are there ideas which you disagree with and, if so, why?
In chapter two: “Every man is where he is by the law of his being there is no element of chance, but all is the result of a law which cannot err.”
“The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure. Suffering ceases for him who is pure.”
6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?
None.
7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous questions? If so, please comment
No.
Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 6
B. How helpful were the contents? 8
C. How easy was it to understand? 7
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 7
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Assessment by Nwaeze Daniel (Nigeria)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main idea Richard Bach is trying to convey in “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” (Jon for short) is “Leadership” (henceforth I’m replacing seagull with human). Richard traced the achievements of a leader from his humble or revolutionary start to activities that build the man and the leader in Jon. E This can be seen first from Jon’s desire and curiosity to learn to fly beyond the imaginations or limitations of a normal gull/man despite cautions from his parents and the odds of being called to “stand to centre for shame” and banished from the flock.
Passing the first stage of curiosity and desire to the next stage of discipleship (though he didn’t escape the elders punishment), Jonathan was ready to learn and to learn; he was ready to be a dedicated disciple. Thus meeting two starbright likeminds sharing the same vision and passion with him but who had more experience than he was, was introduced to a better height than ever imagined by low flyers and made friends with his instructors Sullivan and a almost perfect Chiang. These two brought out the best in Jon and taught him having been fascinated by his curiosity and zeal which helped him learn the art and act of perfection.
The third is the concept of reproduction and grooming others (both in our immediate environment and those far from us) to benefit from our experiences while helping them avoid the potholes we experienced. This vision to groom others brought Jon to Fletcher then to Henry, and Martin, Charles and Maynard. These few became disciples of Jon and through them he reached to thousand others after much persistence and confidence building.
In the sum of leadership, Richard Bach passed the message of humility, the need to live, learn, love and to teach others not forgetting that as leaders, we must possess creativity, experience and passion for our cause despite whatever challenges we may face and like Jonathan Livingston, say to ourselves and make others say to themselves with utmost confidence “I can fly.”
2. What were the seven ideas which were personally most important to you and why? List these seven ideas followed by an explanation after each one as to why it was important to you. Use personal examples from your own life.
i. Persistence
Jon displayed the desire and hunger for more. This idea is important to me because it helped eliminate the limitation within me. And showed that every achievement is a stepping stone for me to thrive for more achievements and not to relax on it nor think upon the failures that accompanied it. Like Jon, despite being banished from the flock, had a great fall into the water experimenting a new move and promising himself never to fly again at such level, the joy of wanting to learn more and be a greater being made him abandon/forget the promise and state that “such promises are for the gulls (humans) that accept the ordinary. One who has touched excellence in his learning has no need of that kind of promise.”
ii. Purpose
The very key to enjoy life is discovering your purpose on earth. Discovering purpose is never an easy task but when this task is achieved, we forget unlearn everything and re-learn the paths of our purpose which we may have neglected ad in learning this, we excel. My purpose in life is to be an exemplary leader. Helping others achieve their dream via personal examples and guiding them to achieve success whilst avoiding the holes I encountered. When Jon/me discovered his purpose for flying, it was everything and as Richard Bach noted “purpose for living is to find that perfection and show it forth we choose our next world (challenge) through what we learn in this one. Learn nothing and the next world is the same as this one.”
iii. Forgiveness
Whenever one is hurt by people closest to them, the word forgiveness becomes an anathema. But in Jonathan Livingstone Seagull (human) I learnt from the lessons of Chiang to his bright student that forgiveness is everything. It helps lessen the burden and makes perfection easier. It also made me understand that “in casting me out, other gulls (humans) have only hurt themselves, and one day they will know this, and they will see what I see. Forgive them and help them understand”. Now I know in life, when people cast me out or pull you down, thrive to get up not to “punish” them but to help them understand. Only then, I will attain a level of perfection and they will realize how their “punishment” is a blessing and choose to punish themselves.
iv. Contentment
Just like Jon in the early paragraphs of his story most people instead of being content with themselves and try to work on themselves, make statements like “I am limited by nature. If I were meant to learn so much about flying, I’d have charts for brains. If I were meant to fly at speed, I’d have a falcon’s short wings…” which is so common especially after a first trial that failed. They forget they are unique and want to copy others. I discovered that even the others are envious of your little progress you haven’t started valuing.
v. Rules as Restrictions
When Jon’s new students were limiting themselves because “it is the law of the flock that an outcast never returns, and the law had not been broken once in ten thousand years. The law said stay; Jon said go…” I learnt from Jon’s response that most rules of life are restrictions set only to encourage comfort zone but these rules seen as rock solid are to the curious mind in search of perfection meant to be broken and served in golden plate. Imagine the world for over millions of years believed it was never going to be possible for heavy objects or machines to fly not to even mention carry hundreds of passengers in comfort style or carry tons of cargo but the breakthrough of the Wright brothers changed whatever we once thought about it. Stories abound of Tesla, Edison, Bill Gates, Obama.
vi. Freedom
The pursuit of freedom has led people to go beyond their limitations and get entangled in the only true law of perfection which leads to freedom acquired through self discovery and practice. I have learnt to continue do this.
vii. Love
This is rare and the greatest characteristics of a good leader. Looking beyond all the hatred and evil of our hunters and still try to sieve into the real them and help them. This gem is called “love” no! “genuine love” or at best “Perfection!” At this level, nothing troubles nor scares you rather it amazes and amuses you and its fun. Then, and only then, you have arrived at R-Kelly’s “Gotham City” or “Heaven.” As noted by Jon to Fletcher that “you don’t love hatred and evil of course. You have to practice to see the real gull (man), the good in every one of them, and to help them see it in themselves. That’s what I mean by love.”
3. How will these ideas or lessons help you in a practical way, both in your daily personal life and in helping you to create a better world? If so, how?
These ideas opened a new way of understanding and reacting to life issues for me both in the reconstruction of my mind mechanisms and the reproduction of my outputs in terms of words, expressions and achievements. The past few days have seen a twist in my reactions and interactions, and an upliftment. Now I know that my colleagues and student will benefit more from my improvement and my interactions will be more productive.
4. Quotes: Are there any statements which the author made that particularly got your attention? If so, please quote them and comment as to why they were important to you.
“There’s a reason to life! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!”
Striving and learning to be a better me every day gave me a reason to want to live each day. As leaders, excellence, intelligence and skill should be our fulcrum; if we persist on these, we will discover that each stage provides great opportunities.
“Life is the unknown and the unknowable, except that we are put into this world to eat, to stay alive as long as we possibly can.”
Most people have this belief about life so as to escape discovering the beauty of the unknown and relax in their comfort zones. It is our duty as leaders to help them see a greater purpose to life than eat, sleep and stay alive. Great leaders, philosophers, scientists and technologists knew life is the unknown but like Jonathan Livingston; they make extra effort to know more about life. The by-products of their inquisitiveness are what the world is enjoying today.
“For you have learned. One school is finished, and the time has come for another to begin.”
In learning and aspirations, if we persevere and get determined to learn further; as much as life brings fate along is as much as life exposes us to likeminded people willing to help us attain greater heights.
“Break the chains of your thought, and you break the chains of your body too.”
The real oppressor is the thoughts. Learning to be positive and first winning the contest in your thoughts renders your body defenseless and has no option than follow the trend of positives.
“You know nothing till you prove it! FLY!” I learned knowledge is not just for the brain to keep but is perfected when practiced; and practice leads to perfection. The only way to prove your critics wrong “FLY!”
“A seagull (human) is an unlimited idea of freedom, an image of the Great Gull (Great God), and your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip, is nothing more than your thought itself.”
Self discovery and the knowing of the god-factor presence by controlling our thoughts is the first lesson and the first heaven.
5. Is there anything in the book that you do not understand or are unclear about, or are there ideas which you disagree with and, if so, why?
In part two: “there is no such place as. Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time. Heaven is being perfect.” Being perfect or mastering the art and act of your passion is heaven! Nothing compares to it. Still, I believe Heaven is a place too.
Also, I am unclear on “heaven isn’t a place or time, because place and time are so very meaningless.”
“You didn’t need faith to fly, you needed to understand flying.” If faith here means waiting for “godot” then it is useless; if otherwise, it becomes unclear to me.
6. Did the book contain exercises for the reader to complete? If so, did you complete all of the exercises and did you find them helpful?
None.
7. Was there anything you read in the book that you would like to comment on that was not covered in the previous questions? If so, please comment
No.
Please rate the following questions on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten is good and one is poor.
A. How interesting was it to read? 8
B. How helpful were the contents? 8
C. How easy was it to understand? 8
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9