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Optimism: The Lesson of Ages (1860)

af Benjamin Paul Blood

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1161,709,462 (3.14)6
"He is in the light of the eye, and in the object that it shines on. He is not a curiosity, a member of a species, or a thing to be represented by any device. He is the One-the original-the all in all." Benjamin Paul Bloods Optimism (1860) is a testament to the idea that spiritual experience must precede religious knowledge. Impassioned by his own mystical experiences, Blood spells out an eternal nondual philosophy in a distinctly American voice that helped shape the work of William James (Varieties of Religious Experiences) and the 19th-century religious philosophers. In Optimism, we find a timeless, practical guide to faith and acceptance of whatever life delivers.… (mere)
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Viser 1-5 af 6 (næste | vis alle)
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
I won't give it a rating by stars since I didn't make it far. I can read 17th century political philosophy without issue, but this one just didn't have enough to grab me in the first 50 pages. I made it as far as I did only by a good dose of discipline, but it just never got traction. I may pick it up again later and find it great (it's happened before that a book has been put aside for years before grabbing me).

Don't let this discourage. It's only my personal experience of the first try at this book. Thick writing sometimes just takes another good try. ( )
  linedog1848 | Oct 23, 2010 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Blood's book is a product of its time, and a quite remarkable achievement for such a young (self-educated) man.

These mid-19th century writings are insightful in that they reflect a wider intellectual struggle that sought to throw off the world-denying aspects of Christian religion, in order for individuals to embrace a form of empowerment that would help lead them to realise their full potential and as such add to humanity's overall progress.

Blood's 'Optimism' it could be argued is an early version of today's now hugely popular 'Personal Development' genre. His arguments are not just critical of mainstream religious thinking, as he puts forward his own wholistic (eclectic) interpretations of what he believes God wants for us as individuals in this life. Naturally these all come with certain biases and value judgements that stand out in today's world.

Generally Blood outlines the need for strong, bold and courageous individuals, who do not cower or misinterpret the bible's life affirming message. To this end he has his own reading of the bible. And as is apparent early in the book, his own reading of the bible combined with his diverse early life experiences have led him to constructing his own philosophical outlook; an outlook founded on both times of good fortune and back luck in his life, where he has associated with and observed both the well-to-do and the poor around him.

In contemporary terms, by writing Optimism Blood appears to be pushing his 19th Century readership towards a form of 'self-actualisation' and towards 'self-reliance'. He sees religious shackles that need to be broken.

On reflection I would not recommend this book to everyone. Whilst I enjoyed sections of Blood's writing, despite the archaic and dusty language, I feel it may only truely appeal to those who wish to map the rise of the genre of personal development, or self-help writing, or possibly those with an interest in researching thinkers and their writings critical of the power the Christian church held over individual's self-belief in the 19th Century. For this reason Optimism is likely to generate some academic interest in the years to come in certain niche academic fields associated with of the history of Western religion, psychology and possibly sociology.

Finally, the publisher Eirini Press (and others like them), nevertheless should be congratulated in this instance for dusting off an unusual little gem of a book from a little known figure who sought to question life around him and boldly share his own form of enlightenment thinking. ( )
  CraigHodges | May 27, 2010 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
I thought this book was ok. The Christian/western prejudices were prevalent but, if you read it with a grain of salt, then you can see how this was pretty cutting edge when it was written
I found it inspiring in a very familiar way. A lot of the "same old, same old" for me. However, not a waste of time. ( )
  nee-nee | Apr 19, 2010 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
I couldn't finish Optimism. I found its flowery 19th century language difficult to wade through. The prejudices of the time also grated: for example, religions other than Christianity were seen only through the lens of Western Christianity.

Above all, it didn't inspire. I confess that the modern writers Eckhart Tolle and Deepak Chopra, to whom the publishes compare Benjamin Paul Blood, do not excite me either. Their message is good, but seems self -evident. Blood's defence of traditional religion, and his extrapolation of it into an exhortation to optimism, leaves me wondering, "So?"

So, I found it a book of its time, and from which I could learn nothing new. ( )
  TedWitham | Mar 24, 2010 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Blood's writing is a curious blend of Romantic descriptions of the sublime and traditional western philosophy mixed with a quasi Buddhist sense of equanimity. Blood's main argument is that creation is perfection, and that even what we see as evil are to be embraced as what is necessary for our happiness. Blood believes in God, but not in the Judeo-Christian sense; his thought seems closer to deism than anything, though he isn't exactly in that group either. Like so many writers of a mystical bent, Blood is probably best described as idiosyncratic. I can't claim that I have become a devotee of his work, though I would not be opposed to reading more of him either. This is a nice, readable edition. It will be a welcome addition to the shelves of booksellers, all the more because there doesn't seem to be any of his books available on Project Gutenberg. ( )
1 stem wrmjr66 | Mar 3, 2010 |
Viser 1-5 af 6 (næste | vis alle)
I am happy to add this book to my library curtsey of Library Thing. The book itself was very stimulating exploring questions about God and mysticism and I can understand why the book influenced a great scientist like William James. I am happy to have this book on my bookshelf alongside Eckhart and Gibran.
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A fancy overtakes us at times to question our presumption in writing a book. Wherein are we better than another, that we should attempt to doctor another? We look over the matter-of-fact world and find it impossible to make a show, unless we have something to exhibit: yet here are we who can fiddle little, and fife less - who cannot turn somersets, as we could once when we were less fit to write a book - who cannot commit by the page like an actor, nor play chess with a third-rate, - in short who cannot prove our ability by any standard feat whatsoever, proposing to indoctrinate many who can do all these things into the deepest mysteries of life!
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Benevolence is good, - refinement is good, - gentleness and suavity are good, - and above these, socially considered, modesty is good; but without assurance, resolution, and self-respect, - without that foundation of manhood which can make these virtues yours, instead of you, they will be void of any great utility to society, and comparatively a curse to their possessor. (p. 147)
Ever be mindful that God is with you. Never dream that he and you have a divided interest, - for, as much as you can conceive him, he is father, brother, friend. Think not you can oppose him, or that he can ever cease to love you. Nay, more: strike out into the world; do or die - which, it makes far less difference with you than you ever have believed. Put faith in God - put faith in your destiny - assume the positive - live with force and freedom; and the more you go at the bidding of the lofty genuis that prompts the royal hours of every man, the nobler and the holier will be your life. (p. 131)
A man takes no pride in any thing beyond his own experience. Increase his experience, and you increase his capacity for amusement, and his satisfaction with the world. There is a wide difference between a truth merely acknowledged in the mind, and a truth for which we have toiled or suffered. (p.120)
Many of us touch bottom in this life at five and twenty, and thenceforth grind our weary feet upon the gravel. Sometimes men mourn for their lost youth: but why did they not enjoy it while they had it, - while the senses were warm, and the light of the eye turned all things into gold? They hurried to manhood, they hurried to gray hairs, and now, they would they were a boy again. (p. 142)
We love to see our children shine: it is intellect that glorifies the world: but we forget in our eagerness to develop it that only nerve and energy can make intellect effective and serene in this jostling and contentious life. There have been more successes in the world by reason of nerve and perseverance than by reason of extraordinary subtilty of understanding. The ages are full of great intellects, unknown of the race for their want of confidence and persistency.
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"He is in the light of the eye, and in the object that it shines on. He is not a curiosity, a member of a species, or a thing to be represented by any device. He is the One-the original-the all in all." Benjamin Paul Bloods Optimism (1860) is a testament to the idea that spiritual experience must precede religious knowledge. Impassioned by his own mystical experiences, Blood spells out an eternal nondual philosophy in a distinctly American voice that helped shape the work of William James (Varieties of Religious Experiences) and the 19th-century religious philosophers. In Optimism, we find a timeless, practical guide to faith and acceptance of whatever life delivers.

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