About The Book

'Auspicious Thoughts, Propitious Mind'

  def: auspicious, propitious - likely to turn out well, on track, promising.
There are not many books that can be picked up for the first time and then read enjoyably and meaningfully by reading the chapters in reverse order, starting at the epilogue. Likewise, few books can be picked up and opened at any page at any time and read in a way that makes sense without the necessity of knowing what has gone before in the previous chapters. This is one such book, and that is part of its attraction. There are forty chapters, grouped into seven parts, each around a theme.  

Richard Camden opens his book by discussing the raw essence of life, its origins and its meaning and purpose, and what of our animal origins has survived in the humanity of today. In the next 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 following 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 people'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 . Aimed particularly at those with plenty of life still to be led, it is a cheering, thought-provoking and intriguingly different book. Due to its considerable useful content, it will be meaningful to those in business and in HR work. It begs to be 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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This book may challenge a reader's established thinking and habitual attitudes. We need only believe what we choose to believe, but often much is accepted automatically since our upbringing. Other beliefs are viewed as incontrovertible fact, such as the broadcast news or government announcements. We have been used to including photographs and recorded voices, but less reliably today due to doctoring of images and voice record tampering. 

We can choose to believe what we have been told, or read, and what we thought we saw. We can choose to believe ideas, notions, imaginings and falsehoods put to us and grow in our heads. Many beliefs, on examination, turn out to be assumptions, superstitions, or fallacies, misconceptions, delusions and fantasies - and all turn out to be beliefs that cannot be proven. Religious beliefs come into this category. 

Many believe in God, for their own reasons, often to do with peace of mind and any life hereafter, but their conception of what God is, is likely to be very different to someone else's, and none of these is provable, which, we are told, is the essence of faith, 'belief without proof.' On the other hand, as this book says, we can accept that God is an identifiable force for that which is good in the world, which is provable, but rarely attributed to God. Goodness is an invisible force, and like gravity and magnetism, we cannot see it, but we can prove its existence by the effects it brings about.