As a man thinketh

As A Man Thinketh

Introduction

Allen was born in Leicester, England, into a working-class family; Allen was the elder of two brothers. His mother could neither read nor write while his father, William, was a factory knitter. In 1879, following a downturn in the textile trade of central England, Allen's father traveled alone to America to find work and establish a new home for the family. Within two days of arriving his father was pronounced dead at New York City Hospital, believed to be a case of robbery and murder. At age fifteen, with the family now facing economic disaster, Allen was forced to leave school and find work.

In 1903, Allen published his third and most famous book As a Man Thinketh. Loosely based on the biblical proverb, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," the small work eventually became read around the world and brought Allen posthumous fame as one of the pioneering figures of modern inspirational thought. The book's minor audience allowed Allen to quit his secretarial work and pursue his writing and editing career.

This books’ intention is not intended as an exhaustive treatise, but to motivate the reader to believe that, "They themselves are makers of themselves." by the thoughts they choose and encourage. A person's thoughts form an inner garment of character and an outer garment of circumstance.

In its theme that ‘mind is the master weaver’, creating our inner character and outer circumstances, As A Man Thinketh is an in-depth exploration of the central idea of self-empowerment writing.

James Allen's contribution was to take an assumption we all share - that because we are not robots we therefore control our thoughts - and reveal its fallacy. Because most of us believe that mind is separate from matter, we think that thoughts can be hidden and made powerless - this allows us to think one way and act another. But Allen believed that the unconscious mind generates as much action as the conscious mind, and while we may be able to sustain the illusion of control through the conscious mind alone, in actuality we are continually faced with a question, 'Why cannot I make myself do this or achieve that?' In noting that desire and will are sabotaged by the presence of thoughts that do not accord with the desire, Allen was led to the startling conclusion that, 'We do not attract what we want, but what we are.' Achievement happens because you as a person embody the external achievement; you don't 'get' success but become it. There is no gap between mind and matter.

Summary of the book

Thought & Character

Allan writes that "A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all of his thoughts. And since "...cause and effect are as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things," we determine our situation in life... essentially sleeping in the bed we have made. According to the author, "Man is made or unmade by himself" and can improve his lot in life by thinking "right" thoughts and by the right choice of the application of thought

"As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he". The sum of a man's thoughts are his character. His character influences the conditions and circumstances of his life. Every action springs forth first from thought – even actions considered to be spontaneous and unpremeditated.

Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruit.

The law of cause and effect exists in the world of thought, not just the natural world. A God-like character is the result of God-like thoughts. A bestial character is the result of groveling thoughts. Man is made or unmade by his own thoughts, which can destroy him or build him up. Man becomes master of his "household" of thoughts, by application, self-analysis and experience.

Gold and diamonds are found only by much searching and mining. Similarly, a man must dig deep in the mine of his soul to find every truth connected with his being.

A man must watch, control and alter his thoughts – tracing their effect on himself, others, and his life and circumstances. In doing so he will prove to himself that he is maker of his own character, life and destiny.

Effect of Thought on Circumstances

A man's mind may be likened to a garden – cultivated or uncultivated. The cultivated produces flowers & fruit, while the uncultivated produces weeds. A man must continually weed-out all wrong, useless, and impure thoughts and deliberately cultivate right, useful, and pure thoughts. Thought and character are one, and character has a profound influence on the circumstances of one's life. If a man learns the spiritual lesson of his current circumstances they will give way to other circumstances.

As long as a man believes he is a creature of external conditions he will be buffeted by those conditions. When he practices self-control and self-purification of thought, and remedies his defects of character, he finds that his circumstances will change.

The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors -- its loves and fears. The soul reaches the height of its cherished aspirations and the depth of its unchastened desires. Every thought-seed allowed to take root in a man's mind will eventually produce the fruit of character and opportunity and circumstance.

Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit.

Effects of Thoughts on Health & Body

"The body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed," Allen writes.  And that, upon the body, "habits of thought will produce their own effects, good or bad." Ever heard the saying clean body, clean mind, clean living? That's what Allan is getting at here; that "The people who live in fear of disease are the people who get it" and that "A sour face does not come by chance; it is made by sour thoughts."

The habits of thoughts will produce their effects -- good or bad -- upon the body. Thought is the fount of action, life, and manifestation. Make the fountain' pure and all will be pure.

If you would perfect your body, guard your mind. If you would renew your body, beautify your mind. Thoughts of malice, envy, and disappointment, rob the body of its health and grace. A bright, happy, and serene countenance follows from thoughts of joy, goodwill and serenity. To continually live in thoughts of ill-will, cynicism, suspicion and envy, is to be confined in a self-made prison.

To think well of all, to be cheerful with all, to find the good in all -- such unselfish thoughts are the very portals of heaven.

Thought & Purpose

Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment. Aimlessness is a vice. They who have no central purpose in their life fall prey to worries, fears, troubles and self-pity, which lead to failure and loss.

A man should conceived of a legitimate purpose in his heart and set out to accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing point of his thoughts.

To think with purpose puts one in the ranks of those who know that failure is one of the pathways to success. A man should mentally mark out a straight path to achieving his purpose and rigorously exclude doubts and fears. The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do. Doubt and fear are the great enemies of knowledge and must be slain.

He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure. Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes a creative force.

All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts. A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own and not another man's. They can only be altered by himself. His sufferings and his happiness are evolved from within.

A strong man cannot help a weaker unless the weaker is willing to be helped. Even then the weak man must become strong of himself -- only he can alter himself. Oppressor and slaves are cooperators in ignorance and afflict themselves rather than each other. A perfect love condemns neither and a perfect compassion embraces both. He who has conquered weakness and has pushed away all selfish thoughts belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free.

Before a man can achieve anything -- even worldly -- he must lift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence. A man whose first thought is bestial indulgence could neither think clearly nor plan methodically. He could not find and develop resources and would fail in any undertaking. Not having begun to manfully control his thoughts, he is not in a position to control affairs and to adopt serious responsibilities. He is limited by the thoughts he chooses.

By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity, righteousness, and well-directed thought a man ascends. By the aid of animality, indolence, impurity, corruption and confusion of thought man descends. A man who has risen to high success may descend into great wretchedness by allowing arrogant, selfish and corrupt thoughts to take possession of him. Victories attained by right thought are maintained by watchfulness. Many give way when success is assured, and rapidly fall back into failure.

All achievements -- business, intellectual, spiritual -- are the result of definitely directed thought. To achieve greatly one must sacrifice greatly.

Visions & Ideals

The dreamers are the saviors of the world. The entire visible world is sustained by the invisible. He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it. To desire is to obtain, to aspire is to achieve. Shall a man's basest desires receive the fullest measure of gratification, and his purest aspirations starve for lack of sustenance? Dream lofty dreams and as you dream, so shall you become.

Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be. The greatest achievements were at first and for a time a dream. The Oak sleeps in an acorn. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.

Uncongenial circumstances can be overcome by perceiving and striving toward and ideal. You cannot travel on the inside and remain still on the outside.

You will always gravitate toward that which you secretly love most. You will become as small as your controlling desire, or as great as your dominant aspiration. The thoughtless, ignorant and indolent speak of luck, fortune and chance. They do not see the trials, failures and struggles of men who achieve wealth, intellect or holiness. They have no knowledge of the sacrifices, efforts and exercised faith of the latter in overcoming the obstacles to their dreams. They do not know the darkness or the heartaches.

Gifts, powers, material, intellectual and spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort. They are thoughts completed, objectives accomplished, and visions realized. The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart, this you will build your life by; this you will become.

Serenity

Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control. A calm man, having learned how to govern himself, knows how to adapt himself to others. The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. The strong, calm, man is always loved and revered. Only the wise man, only he whose thoughts are controlled and purified, makes the winds and storms of the soul obey him. To tempest-tossed souls: Self control is strength. Right thought is mastery. Calmness is power. Say unto your heart, "Peace. Be still."

Personal Reflection

I liked this book because James Allen put into words many thoughts I have had. The statements are blunt and some based on scientific evidence as opposed to personal experience. If applied, this book has potential to be powerfully useful. It is very short; I read it in between classes in just a couple hours. It is thoughtful, obviously, not your basic story line book. I do think the book lacked in addressing mental illnesses fully. It gives the notion you can think away any problem or illness. While this has some truth, the mental struggle can often be overwhelming. I agree that the mind is very powerful, perhaps much more than we acknowledge. A good book to study.

James Allen's book, As a Man Thinketh, I thoroughly enjoyed and found personally rather intriguing and mind opening giving me a new possibly better perspective of just how much impact one’s thoughts have on in not only their personality and ways of life, but also on the ability to change from those certain ways of life, habits, or addictions that might have been accumulated at some point into hopefully greaterly desired ones. Basically saying that you are brought up from your thoughts, and if you want to change who you are and how others perceive you- change your thoughts.

On occasion some of the Shakespearian words and expressions used- like that described in its title- would trip me up slightly, but it wasn’t too overpowering as to where I was constantly lost in the. Still I would undoubtedly recommend Allen’s book to all those people want to do something new or especially if they wanted to change themselves or are just going through a rough time in trying to find out who they are.

Conclusion

As A Man Thinketh is a book of dynamite proportion with respect to wise counsel we all know, yet too often and foolhardy forget to practice.

It is as its Foreword says ‘A Little Volume’ making it a quick although not necessarily easy read.  The content is descriptive old world wisdom the message encompassing as the author guides you along the tunnel of truth and life.  Effectively crunching larger volumes expounding the effect and role our thoughts have on our lives, down to the very core ‘harvest’ of awareness and benefit to you the reader.

It is like, starkly illuminating universal truth not from a theoretical perspective, rather more powerfully via a  ‘join the dots’ process and practical tool.  Because the journey is very much a personal one however and As A Man Thinketh a book best read from cover to cover in one sitting.

And not only do you hold the power for your life to be exactly how you want it to be, YOU are the KEY that will make it so. This book clearly explains that we are the makers of ourselves. We are the master of our own self. If we want to make a better and happy person, it’s possible, if we want. The book of Allan clearly explains about the thought which originates in our mind. These thought may be good or bad. It fully depends on us that how do we take. And these thought play a big role in curving our life. Thus at the end I can say”As A Man Thinketh … SO IT IS!”

15 books reviews

1.The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell: The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.

2.No Greater Love by Mother Teresa-No Greater Love is the essential wisdom of Mother Teresa -- the most accessible and inspirational collection of her teachings ever published. This definitive volume features Mother Teresa on love, prayer, giving, service, poverty, forgiveness, Jesus, and more. It is a passionate testament to her deep hope and abiding faith in God and the world. It will bring readers into the heart of this remarkable woman, showing her revolutionary vision of Christianity in its graceful, poetic simplicity. Through her own words, No Greater Love celebrates the life and work of one of the great humanitarians of our time.

3.The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle: To make the journey into The Power of Now we will need to leave our analytical mind and its false created self, the ego, behind. Although the journey is challenging, Eckhart Tolle offers simple language and a question and answer format to guide us.

Surrender to the present moment, where problems do not exist. It is here we find our joy, are able to embrace our true selves and discover that we are already complete and perfect. If we are able to be fully present and take each step in the Now we will be opening ourselves to the transforming experience of THE POWER OF NOW. It's a book to be revisited again and again.

4.The Prophet by Khalil Gibran:In a distant, timeless place, a mysterious prophet walks the sands. At the moment of his departure, he wishes to offer the people gifts but possesses nothing. The people gather round, each asks a question of the heart, and the man's wisdom is his gift. It is Gibran's gift to us, as well, for Gibran's prophet is rivaled in his wisdom only by the founders of the world's great religions. On the most basic topics--marriage, children, friendship, work, pleasure--his words have a power and lucidity that in another era would surely have provoked the description "divinely inspired." Free of dogma, free of power structures and metaphysics, consider these poetic, moving aphorisms a 20th-century supplement to all sacred traditions--as millions of other readers already have.

5.Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh: in the rush of modern life, we tend to lose touch with the peace that is available in each moment. World-renowned Zen master, spiritual leader, and author Thich Nhat Hanh shows us how to make positive use of the very situations that usually pressure and antagonize us. For him a ringing telephone can be a signal to call us back to our true selves. Dirty dishes, red lights, and traffic jams are spiritual friends on the path to "mindfulness"—the process of keeping our consciousness alive to our present experience and reality. The most profound satisfactions, the deepest feelings of joy and completeness lie as close at hand as our next aware breath and the smile we can form right now.

6.Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E Frankl:Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of those he treated in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory—known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")—holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.

7.The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho:This is the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and into the Egyptian desert, where a fateful encounter with the alchemist awaits him. This story teaches us, as only few can, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read omens strewn along life's path and above all following our dreams.

8. The Art of Happiness by The Dalai Lama: This book is actually written by a psychiatrist and includes extensive interviews with the Dalai Lama about how to be a generally happier person. Parts of the book are really great, and a couple of sections are a little bland, mostly depending on what questions the author is asking. The Dalai Lama's amazing traits come across throughout, however. His pragmatic, logical, and yet also spiritual approach to everything.

9. The Story of My Life by Helen Keller: An American classic rediscovered by each generation, The Story of My Life is Helen Keller’s account of her triumph over deafness and blindness. Popularized by the stage play and movie The Miracle Worker, Keller’s story has become a symbol of hope for people all over the world.

This book–published when Keller was only twenty-two–portrays the wild child who is locked in the dark and silent prison of her own body.

10. A Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela:An inspirational read with a life-changing impact. Through the deep injustices of his oppression to the overwhelming joy of his ascendency, the text fills the reader with an overwhelming pride of what human nature can achieve.

11. Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frankhe: Book was written in Amsterdam from 1942-1944, as young Anne hid out from the Nazis with her family. Anne Frank died in a concentration camp, but the book was eventually published in 1947 by Doubleday.

12. Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson: Written by Spencer Johnson, coauthor of The One Minute Manager, this enlightening and amusing story illustrates the vital importance of being able to deal with unexpected change. Who Moved My Cheese? is often distributed by managers to employees as a motivational tool, but the lessons it teaches can benefit literally anyone, young or old, rich or poor, looking for less stress and more success in every aspect of work and life

13. Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky: Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix-tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.

But Charlie can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up

14. What is the What by Dave Eggers: What is the What is an astonishing, eye-opening, and heartbreaking book that defies classification. Once you’ve read it, the story of Valentino Achak Deng refuses to leave your mind. Even if you’re not familiar with the Lost Boys and their struggles to escape from war-torn Sudan, you’ll be drawn into this pseudo-autobiography. What is the What tells a devastating story but never plays for sympathy. Instead, the hope, complexity, and tragedy of the situation take center stage.

15. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger: J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caufield recounts the days following his expulsion from Pencey Prep, a private school. After a fight with his roommate, Stradlater, Holden leaves school two days early to explore New York before returning home, interacting with teachers, prostitutes, nuns, an old girlfriend, and his sister along the way. J.D. Salinger's classic The Catcher in the Rye illustrates a teenager's dramatic struggle against death and growing up.