About The Book
'Auspicious Thoughts, Propitious Mind'
def: auspicious, propitious - likely to turn out well, on track, promising.
This book is about our disposition and personality, and our thoughts and feelings that can interfere and misdirect our life and our relationships with others. It is about how our habits and customs reveal our primordial animal origins, and how society is driven by primeval tribal instincts, including inborn instincts that ask, 'Is there an after-life?' and, 'Why is it some accept and others deny the existence of God?'
Richard Camden begins his book by discussing the raw essence of life, its origins and its meaning and purpose, and what of our animal origins have survived in mankind today. In his second part, the reader's attention is drawn to our moods and how they influence our behaviour and the decisions we make. This leads on to the third part, called, 'All That We Are,' and looks at who and what we have evolved to become, our characteristics, as individuals and our interactions as groups and nations.
In his fourth part, the author broaches the subject of a moral compass, and highlights some of the well-known guidelines from the scriptures looking at their relevance today. In the fifth part, 'Where Did It All Go Wrong,' the chapters look at man's ways of vindictiveness and ambition, that give others a bumpy ride through life. Our reactions and accommodations to that are explained in the sixth part that sets out how we can use our minds in a flexible way, especially regarding the causes and faiths we choose to adopt. In his final part, Richard encourages readers to keep life simple and always aim for a sound mind and healthy body.
Beautifully presented in hard cover, this book makes good reading, and is also available in e-book format. It is a cheering, thought-provoking and intriguingly different book that due to its considerable useful content, begs to be re-read, studied and retained for reference, and for others in the family to read and think about the way we live, our relationships, hopes and fears, and making decisions work, as well as asking, 'How is it some just seem to sail through life?'
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Genre
The literary style is pleasing, with witty asides thrown in, and at times is deliberately quirky. The genre is contemporary and up-to-date sitting comfortably between non-fiction and fiction. The content embraces broad aspects of practical psychology, philosophy, sociology and religion. Richard's emphasis is on the power of goodness, like a force, and on the happiness that goes with personal fulfilment (eudaimonia). He looks at relationships and the roles both large and small communities play in our lives, and how faiths and beliefs influence our conduct, not always for the better. Richard rationalises how our behaviour patterns, not only as individuals, but in groups and even as nations, reflect the character traits inherited down through the centuries since the time of our primitive ancestors.
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