ILLUSIONS – Richard Bach
I first heard of Richard Bach when I was 15 years old. [Seems like a lifetime has passed since then]. For my school farewell, an IAS officer, Usha Titus, if I remember right. She made a suggestion to all of us to read Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I read it after a few years. It was a good read. And so recently after I started earning myself. I decided to get a copy of his other book, ILLUSIONS – The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah.
Richard Bach is an author who has a background as a Pilot. So its obvious why two of his best-selling ( according to Wikipedia ) books are concerned with flying directly as well as indirectly. His books have an underlying philosophy which is seen in a lot of self-help books that I have read. Belief. Having faith or believing that one can do something is enough. There are no physical limitations to our pursuit. Whatever limitations we see are what we make.
Illusions starts off with some sentences or verses maybe about a Master, a Messiah born in Indiana. When you look at it in passing it seems to be like a parody of the Bible[No offense]… Indeed, I found this parody or rather a different take to the Bible at different points throughout. The starting few pages are filled with the history of one ‘Donald Shimoda’ and of his experience being a Messiah. It was a bit confusing initially. But once the book starts off. It’s not as daunting as it seems.
Richard meets Donald or ‘Don’ while flying his aircraft over the towns and selling rides in the biplane. 3$ rides… He meets another person Don, doing the same with his aircraft. And curiosity or one can say fate pulled Richard towards Don and they meet. What follows can be said to be a short informative sessions on becoming a Messiah for Richard by Don, with a little help from the ;Messiah’s Handbook’.
Short paragraphs and sentences from this handbook is strewn all throughout the book. We know all of it, but we never acknowledge that we know it.
One quote which stuck with me is
“There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts.’
The book will be interesting for those who are interested in self-help type of books. To the rest, I am not sure. It may seem boring to some, because there is no plot as such. Information is imparted to us via conversations between Don and Richard.
Another part of the book which stayed with me was when Richard asks Don , ‘Why we are here?’ as in whats the point of life. Don’s answer is perfect in a way. He takes Richard to a movie. Don then proceeds to disturb him in the midst of the movie asking him why he was watching that movie and so on.
Later he explains that even the worlds greatest movie is an illusion. Knowing people still go there to watch it. For the reasons Fun & Learning. All other reasons are just subsets of these two. So It’s the same with life. So if it’s a horror movie, or bad lot in life. It is because that is what we expect to happen.
Over all its a good read. And some of those quotes are really packed with meanings. you may even get a paradigm shift at some point.
I can’t really explain it well. Reading it in that situation makes it sound better.
Check out this book
Kindle Format
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