As A Man Thinketh
Assessment by Otosin Afolayan (Nigeria)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main idea that the author seeks to convey in the book is the immense power of our thoughts and what they are capable of. From reading the book it might be right to say that thought is life and that life is indeed thought. We are nothing but thought – our thoughts. It is the way we are made, the very underlying component of man. Hence the way we make, the way we create or make anything happen for us is through the process and power of our thoughts. This makes it very important to pay attention to our thoughts, to their inherent power and use them to our advantages and not otherwise.
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.
a. As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those acts called “spontaneous” and “unpremeditated” as to those which are deliberately executed.
I understand this to mean that there is actually no such thing as spontaneous acts. Just like it is not possible to ever have a plant just evolves on its own without the instrument of the seed. So it is also not possible to have an action without the prior instrumentation of a thought. It might be that we don’t pay enough attention to the quality of our thought or that they occurred at a rather subconscious level, but however they always yield their fruits and these are our action or acts. There are certain things, experiences and incidences in my life which I did not understand and could not explain. They were explained away as ill luck or coincidences. Now I know better that they are results, products of my previous thoughts which I might not have taken cognizance of but which are none the less true and potent.
b. Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this– that man is the master of thought, the molder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.
This is so profound, and yet we have not come to terms with it. That we are not victims of fate, we are in control of our destinies and the tool that makes this so, that tool which confers such power on us is our thought. I think this generation is the most potentially powerful generation yet in human history by virtue of the realization of this great truth. However it doesn’t amount to much for us until we start living in this light, and making our thoughts work for us, taking charge of our destinies using our own thoughts. I am the master of thought, I can mould character, I shape my conditions, my environment and my destiny.
c. Man is always the master, even in his weakest and most abandoned state. But in his weakness and degradation he is foolish master who misgoverns his “household.”
When he begins to reflect upon his condition and search diligently for the law upon which his being is established, he then becomes the wise master, directing his energies with intelligence and fashioning his thoughts to fruitful issues. Such is the conscious master, and man can only thus become by discovering within himself the laws of thought. This discovery is totally a matter of application, self-analysis and experience. When we think that we are victims, the only problem we have at such time is our thoughts – the fact that we think we are victims. It comes down to our thoughts. The only way out is to realize how we have disempowered ourselves and immediately quit that line of thought pattern that disempowered us. And instead start to think empowering thoughts that direct and channel our energies aright in our favor and not against our very selves. And this is wisdom. I must do a self-analysis continually to ensure that I am not setting trap for myself in my thought that will catch up with me in time.
d. A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.
The mind doesn’t need to be cultivated to yield its fruits. As long as it is there, as long as there is a mind, it will surely yield its fruits. Because if I don’t cultivate my mind by planting in it the kinds of seeds whose fruits I want to reap, some other kind of seed which are undesirable will be blown into it from the environment and this is what will germinate and take root.
e. Every man is where he is by the law of his being; the thoughts which he has built into his character have brought him there, and in the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but all is the result of a law which cannot err. This is just as true of those who feel “out of harmony” with their surroundings as of those who are contented with them.
There is no such thing as chance responsible for my outcomes. My thoughts are responsible for my outcomes. If I love the life that I have or otherwise, it is by no fault of anybody but me. It is a product of the thoughts that I have successfully woven into my character and this is regarded as the law of being.
f. Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he is a 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.
We are not victims of circumstances. We are not as it were circumstances created or controlled. Rather it is more appropriate to say that circumstances are man crated and man controlled. But until we come to a realization of this truth we will live as though we are victims of our circumstances. But once we realize the right order then we can take charge of our circumstances. And instead of being victims, we start to use our creative imaginative powers to control our minds and by extension our circumstances.
g. Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself.
Our circumstances are like mirror. If you want to know what it looks like on your inside, in your thoughts, just look at the circumstances around you. It is the fruit which the garden you tended – your mind – has yielded for you, and that says it all. Our circumstances reveal ourselves to us. It also goes that our reaction to our circumstances can tell us a lot about ourselves. Do we start to complain and blame all else or do we look within and take responsibility for what has been and for correcting it? This says a lot about who we are and reveals ourselves to us.
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?
My life is my responsibility. The outcomes of my life are my doing. I need to pay attention to this truth because there is far much more that I want out of life. And to get what I want I must take responsibility to steer my life aright by paying attention to my thoughts, how I use my mind.
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.
“Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound.”
We can never solve a problem by tending to the effects while neglecting the causes. Our circumstances are the effects while we are the cause by the use of our mind. When we start paying attention to the cause, our very selves and our thoughts, then we will start seeing desirable changes.
“The body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed. At the bidding of unlawful thoughts the body sinks rapidly into disease and decay; at the command of glad and beautiful thoughts it becomes clothed with youthfulness and beauty.”
There is no age, disease or decay but in the mind. That is where it all starts from. Whether we will have health or disease, it is a function of how we use our minds, the kind of thoughts that we allow to dominate our mind.
“He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure.”
Failure is produced when we allow our minds to be infected by fear and doubt. Even when every other factor is right and place, the result we eventually produce will be as a result of our mind’s conditioning and our thoughts. So even if all else is not in place and the conditions are not right but we can take care of our thoughts so that doubt and fear cannot creep in then success is assured.
“A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped. And even then the weak man must become strong of himself. He must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition.”
No one can help another who cannot reach into his thoughts and mind for that is where true help can be achieved. If you help a man’s change his outward experiences and circumstances while leaving his inner state the same, which cannot be considered help for he will soon fall back to his precious state. The best way to help is to help a man help himself by altering his thoughts.
“The truth is that oppressor and slaves are cooperators in ignorance, and, while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality, afflicting themselves.”
Being a slave is not a factor of the chains you wear or the oppressor lording over you. If you are not chained within you cannot be chained without and even if there be chains on your hands it is of no effect as long as there are no chains within. Given this truth, no man would call himself a slave just by virtue of what he goes through nor should he allow his mind to be poisoned by bitterness towards the oppressor. The oppressor is also a victim for to be able to oppress your fellow man you must have descended into a state of bestiality. Understanding our humanity and coming to respect the dignity and humanity of others will render the oppressor free from his state of oppressiveness.
“Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become.”
We become our dreams of ourselves; our most dominant thought of ourselves the ideal image of us that we hold within us is what we eventually will become. So it is important to pay attention to what we dream, what we think and how we perceive of ourselves.
“The strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Chance is not.”
When we see your result, we can tell how much effort you really invested into to project. The quality of your effort determines your result. It is futile banking on chance when there is a better and more assured way.
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?
None.
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.
None
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? 10
C. How easy was it to understand? 9
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 9
Jonathan Livingstone Seagull
Assessment by Otosin Afolayan (Nigeria)
1. What is the main idea that the author is trying to convey in the book?
The main idea I got from the book which the author is trying to convey is that we are more than we think we are, there is far more to us as individuals than meets the eyes. There is far much more to life than is obvious to the mere on looking eyes. There is something in us that is great and we need to reach deep within to reach for it and keep reaching for it, it takes a lot of self belief. And the help of enlightened others who are ahead of us and can show us the way to accessing the greatness that is deposited inside of us. Life is more that living, more than survival, it takes an adventurous mind and an insatiable curiosity to unearth its treasures and live life truly and fully. We must seize the courage to say no to conventions and traditions and the trap of survival and embrace the true essence of life and living that helps us explore the totality of what we can be.
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.
a. Do what you love, be a master at it.
There was a natural hunger in Jonathan for flying. He didn’t need to be encouraged or prodded to, it came natural to him and he was find it hard not to practice flying even though it provoked threats from the flock. I also have things I am passionate about and for the most part it takes through a path that is unconventional. I feel like myself, I feel at my best when I do this, and reading Jonathan’s story will help me further stick to this and be true to myself in spite of everything else to the contrary
b. Inspire others to tow the same path as you have, to discover the greatness within and to live life for all that it is worth.
Jonathan Seagull was willing to go back to his flock and help them get over the rot of boring living to show them the possibilities that can be theirs. He mentored Fletcher seagull as well as other and charged Fletcher seagull to commit to teaching other seagulls how to fly. I can comfort others who are going through an ‘identity crisis’ of who they feel their hearts is calling them to be and who society is forcing them to be, sharing with them from my personal experiences and travails, how they can achieve the same victory in spite of.
c. There is always a new horizon to aspire to so it is useless and needless settling into any level of success. There is always something new to dare.
When we achieve a level we tend to be so comforted by our achievement which we had at one time thought was impossible. Most times it blinds our eyes to the possibility that there are greater heights to attain. We get comfortable too soon. Personally I am fighting to go onward and higher. I have been able to organize youth events within a particular scale. I believe its time to push for the next level of success and achievement in my youth events.
d. No failure is final. Failure should instead be an impetus to reach forth and learn what has not been learned that might have been responsible for the failure and preventing our achievement.
I realize that failure has a component of ignorance in it. Many times when I have failed I feel frustrated and it impairs my objectivity. But when time takes its course and I look back at it again I realize that there was something I could have done better that could have changed the outcome. By learning this and plugging other holes I am able to achieve success in the same endeavor at the next attempt.
e. You don’t need to be anybody else but yourself or to have any ability of anything else that anyone else has just like the seagull didn’t need a falcon’s wings.
You can make achievements happen with what it is that you already have and no more than sheer determination because all that we need is already within us.
I feel like Jonathan most time blaming my underachievement or lack of achievement on what I don’t have or benefits I don’t enjoy. Just like Jonathan realized it that he could still fly as he desired without having to possess a falcon’s wings, I realize I can achieve all I can without being anybody else but me and without having what anybody else has. I can make do with what I have because I already have all that I need to achieve success.
f. Stick to your convictions and dreams of the ideal you that you can become no matter that the challenge you face in the process or whoever is opposed to it.
g. Expect that some people will never change their disposition towards you and will never believe in you.
Just like the council and a good number of the flock didn’t change their view of Jonathan in spite of the success he achieved at flying, some people never will come to terms with you even when your results prove them wrong. There is no need to bother one’s self with this kind of people instead focus on those that can be helped to realize the greatness inside of them.
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 will help me keep the right focus in life and live truly. To keep striving to be the best that I can be, letting go of all limitations and not allowing anything or anyone distract me from this focus. I make the world a better place by being the best that I can be. I can extend the lessons and practical experiences to others towing the line and help them achieve also and so further make the world a better place.
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.
“Instead of being enfeebled by age, the elder had been empowered by it. He could outfly any gull in the flock and he had learned skills that the others are only coming gradually to know.”
Age is not an excuse for redundancy. If we gain the right perspective to it then it can be an advantage for our greatness, because as we log more time on earth, we learn more. If we are committed to greatness and to learning then we only get better with the passing of time and not worse.
“The gulls who scorn perfection for the sake of travel go nowhere slowly. Those who put aside travel for the sake of perfection go anywhere instantly.”
Life is not meant to be a rut. But it doesn’t transcend the rut until we see life beyond life itself. Until we see a greater purpose in life. Those we achieve this sense of purpose become inhibited and unlimited by life and their achievement knows no bound. In life we must strive to be the best that we can be and refuse to be trap by survival
“To fly as fast as thought to anywhere it is you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived.”
Greatness is a state, it is a mindset. It is not primarily something you do it is what you are. You must achieve it first within before you can manifest it without.
“The trick is to stop seeing himself as trapped inside a limited body….the trick is to know that his true nature lives as perfect as an unwritten number everywhere at once across space and time.”
I am greatness, and so I manifest greatness. My body is a container that helps me interact with the material world; it does not and should not define me. That is where we make the mistake we let our physical form define who we are and our capabilities. No! I am not my physical form and I am not trapped within it, I am not limited or inhibited by it. I am greatness unlimited and uninhibited. I will deliver, I will manifest my greatness.
“Sullivan to JLS: you have less fear of learning than any gull I’ve seen in ten thousand years.”
Embracing learning is what has made Jonathan a one of a kind gull and that is why he is the hero and main character of the book. He somehow have lost or tamed his fear especially his fear of learning and daring.
“Jonathan, keep working on love.” Chiang Elder
Love is the greatest of all, and it should be our motivation for all that we do
“The gull sees farthest who flies highest.”
The higher we go the higher we can go. The more we achieve the more we realize that we can achieve. As we dare more we realize the possibilities that lie within us, and our only response to that is to go farther and dare greater and greater. To do more we need to do more. To do much more we need to dare more and the cycle of greatness goes on and on. The gull sees farthest who flies highest
“There is so much more to flying than flapping around from place to place – a mosquito does it.”
To paraphrase: there is more to life than the consciousness of being alive, than breathing, even the goats does that. There must be something more to living that makes life make sense and that makes living worth it.
“Each of us is an idea of the Great Gull, an unlimited idea of freedom and precision flying is a step toward expressing our real nature. Everything that limits us we have to put aside.” – JLS
We are products of God; we were conceived in and by the Great God, the Almighty God of the Holy Bible. We are in His image and likeness. We are like Him – Unlimited! Our struggle for greatness and achievement is like trying to wake up from our sleep of inhibition and live the true life if who we really are indeed. We need to wake up and stop sleeping, breaking off every limitation to our freedom, greatness and Godness.
“Your whole body from wingtip to wingtip is nothing more than your thought itself in a form you can see. Break the chains of your thought and you break the chains of your body too.”
We are free being, powerful being only held captive by our very selves by the factor of our thoughts. We create our limits and bounds and that we do with our thoughts. We can move from inhibition to limitlessness by working on our thoughts. Our bodies, our abilities, our possibilities, our potentials are all a factor of our thoughts; it is what we think that we are that we eventually are. It is the shape that we see ourselves as that we automatically take on. It’s all there as a result of what we think we are. It’s all a product of our thought and thinking. If there be any limitations on us, we can break it by going back to how we got it there. We can break the chains of body and limitation by breaking the chains in thought.
“You know nothing till you prove it. FLY!” – JLS
I strongly believe that what you cannot do you do not know yet. Doing is the true proof of learning. Not what you think you are capable of but what you can deliver and perform. Until you can do it, you are still learning how to. The proof that you have learned successfully is to do it.
“The only true law is that which leads to freedom.” – JLS
Man is made to be free. Man is made for greatness. The only thing he needs and which he should respond to are those things that help him reach for and become the great one he was destined to. Anything to the contrary is wrong and should be shunned. There is only one true acid test for any law or program; does it lead to freedom, does it help unleash my greatness or does it inhibit it?
“Well this kind of flying has always been here to be learned by anybody who wanted to discover it. That has nothing to do with time.” – Fletcher
Age is not necessarily a factor in achievement and greatness. Greatness is already there waiting to be reached out to, and anyone who does will find it irrespective of age or status. Whatever we consider achievement that baffles us are merely things that we are capable of which we just did not realize before that we were capable of. Once we commit ourselves to being who we can be we will coast from one achievement to the other.
“The hardest thing in the world is to convince a bird that he is free and that he can prove it for himself if he would just take a little time practicing.” – JLS
We find it so hard to believe in ourselves and in our potentials. It is far easier and conducive to think small of ourselves and find this as an excuse to remain small and not dare greatness.
“You don’t love hatred and evil of course. You have to practice and see the real gull, the good in everyone of then and help them see it in themselves that is what I mean by love.” – JLS to Fletcher Seagull
Just as we learn to see ourselves beyond what meets the eyes, we must also learn to see others that way and grow the patience and empathy to help them to that point where they can come to the same light and see themselves for who they really are. There is no better expression of love than this.
“Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show you is limitations. Look with your understanding find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly.”
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?
None
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?
No.
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? 10
B. How helpful were the contents? 10
C. How easy was it to understand? 10
D. Would you recommend it to others? 10
E. What is the overall rating you would give it? 10