"Illusions - The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah" by Richard Bach - 1977
Richard David Bach (born 23 June 1936) is an American writer. He is widely known as the author of the hugely popular 1970s best-sellers Jonathan Livingston Seagull (This broke the record of sales of Gone with the Wind), Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, and others. His books espouse his philosophy that our apparent physical limits and mortality are merely appearance.
Below are some of the quotes from the Hand Book of Messiah and hope you will all enjoy reading the book "Illusions" as much as I did.
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Perspective - Use It or Lose It. If you turned to this page, you're forgetting that what is going on around you is not reality. Think about that.
Remember where you came from, where you're going, and why you created the mess you got yourself into in the first place.
You are led through your lifetime by the inner learning creature, the playful spiritual being that is your real self. Don't turn away from possible futures before you're certain you don't have anything to learn from them.
You're always free to change your mind and choose a different future, or a different past.
Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, and teachers.
Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. Being true to anyone else or anything else is not only impossible, but the mark of a false messiah.
Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully.
The simplest questions are the most profound.
Where were you born?
Where is your home?
Where are you going?
What are you doing?
Think about these once in awhile, and watch your answers change.
Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years.
The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.
Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.
There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts.
Imagine the universe beautiful and just and perfect.
Then be sure of one thing:
The Is has imagined it quite a bit better than you have.
The original sin is to limit the Is. Don't.
A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed, it feels an impulsion....this is the place to go now.
But the sky knows the reason and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons.
You are never given a wish without being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however.
Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours.
If you will practice being fictional for a while, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats.
The world is your exercise-book, the pages on which you do your sums.
It is not reality, although you can express reality there if you wish. You are also free to write nonsense, or lies, or to tear the pages.
Every person, all the events of your life, are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you.
In order to live free and happily, you must sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice.
The best way to avoid responsibility is to say, "I've got responsibilities."
The truth you speak has no past and no future. It is, and that's all it needs to be.
Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't.
Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again.
And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.
The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.
You're going to die a horrible death, remember. It's all good training, and you'll enjoy it more if you keep the facts in mind.
Take your dying with some seriousness, however. Laughing on the way to your execution it not generally understood by less advanced life forms, and they'll call you crazy.
Everything above may be wrong!
_______________________________________
- By Richard Bach
Richard David Bach (born 23 June 1936) is an American writer. He is widely known as the author of the hugely popular 1970s best-sellers Jonathan Livingston Seagull (This broke the record of sales of Gone with the Wind), Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, and others. His books espouse his philosophy that our apparent physical limits and mortality are merely appearance.
Below are some of the quotes from the Hand Book of Messiah and hope you will all enjoy reading the book "Illusions" as much as I did.
________________________________________________
Perspective - Use It or Lose It. If you turned to this page, you're forgetting that what is going on around you is not reality. Think about that.
Remember where you came from, where you're going, and why you created the mess you got yourself into in the first place.
You are led through your lifetime by the inner learning creature, the playful spiritual being that is your real self. Don't turn away from possible futures before you're certain you don't have anything to learn from them.
You're always free to change your mind and choose a different future, or a different past.
Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, and teachers.
Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. Being true to anyone else or anything else is not only impossible, but the mark of a false messiah.
Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully.
The simplest questions are the most profound.
Where were you born?
Where is your home?
Where are you going?
What are you doing?
Think about these once in awhile, and watch your answers change.
Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years.
The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.
Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.
There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts.
Imagine the universe beautiful and just and perfect.
Then be sure of one thing:
The Is has imagined it quite a bit better than you have.
The original sin is to limit the Is. Don't.
A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed, it feels an impulsion....this is the place to go now.
But the sky knows the reason and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons.
You are never given a wish without being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however.
Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours.
If you will practice being fictional for a while, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats.
The world is your exercise-book, the pages on which you do your sums.
It is not reality, although you can express reality there if you wish. You are also free to write nonsense, or lies, or to tear the pages.
Every person, all the events of your life, are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you.
In order to live free and happily, you must sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice.
The best way to avoid responsibility is to say, "I've got responsibilities."
The truth you speak has no past and no future. It is, and that's all it needs to be.
Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't.
Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again.
And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.
The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.
You're going to die a horrible death, remember. It's all good training, and you'll enjoy it more if you keep the facts in mind.
Take your dying with some seriousness, however. Laughing on the way to your execution it not generally understood by less advanced life forms, and they'll call you crazy.
Everything above may be wrong!
_______________________________________
- By Richard Bach
A useful handbook, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteIts the most useful handbook I have, thanks for the same.
ReplyDeleteOm Namah Shivaya
Hi shashi,
ReplyDeleteContinuing consciousness : Recently I got to see a protein carrier in an animated cell video, this poor cells (nearly 1 lakh in an average person) whose job is to carry protein to nearly trillions of cells in our body. He is communicating with other cell and providing protein to the cell who are in need. This is a true altruistic cell who is doing his job and may not be aware of the composition of whole body. What self consciousness this cell might have ? They are so small that we might not even think about it. Even in our self there are millions of cell which may be self in itself. If a big gallatic person see earth under microscope, he will see humans as working like a cell and earth has one big consciousness.
Also we have empathy neurons which fire when we see somebody else is touching someone else. The brain distinguishes it by not receiving any signal from our skin. But if we numb our skin it will look like that somebody is actually touching us. So the awareness of self and other is caused by the skin and if we remove it we will be self with other. May be I am writing in very compact form hopefully you will be able to understand this.
Now I also believe that our left side of brain helps in understand mathematics, logic etc whereas right side helps in emotions , God , creativity and other belief. It is difficult to understand other with the help of other. eg., color can never be explained to a color blinded person thru logic, maths but can only be experienced. I also believe the ultimate goal is achieved by merging these two concepts to understand both science and God. It is a unification theory where Ramachandran might have given the first glimpses of hope. If this is resolved and I believe the whole contradiction between these two will be resolved. I can keep writing for hours but I think you might get bored. So just stopping here and expecting some thoughts from you.
Sakha, I especially enjoyed the very last quote! I think i just may print this out and keep it with me. very useful thoughts!
ReplyDeleteDaljeet
ReplyDeleteI have had seen this video that you are talking about thanks to a friend who commented earlier.
Now coming to your idea to Numb your skin, I dont think it will work as I think Brain is intelligent enough to understand and know and take it forward that the skin is numb and it will discount some one else touching some one else till the time it does not recieve any signals from the skin. Please dont belittle our brain so much.... hehehe. If you read emerging mind of Vilayur Narayan ramachandran, you will know brain is a great tool. I know you have read his book, Phantoms in the brain which talks about this kind of postulates...
Unification theory is not about the right brain hemisphere and the left, its about finding one universal defination and by it one rule to connect all dimensions of mechanics and quantum mechanics and others in the pipeline...
Please dont think life ends with brain as I dont think so, there are much more higher levels to think of rather than thinking of one instrument which takes inputs from 5 senses... (on the sidelines, Krishna has had 36 senses and I am sure other enlightened souls like him like Guru Nanak and Christ and other Gods as we know would have that or more.. so brain is just an instrument to record and react but not to create or convert things in to different things....
Lets carry on, on this and lets see where it leads...
Om Namah Shivaya
Sakhi
ReplyDeleteThanks for liking it and the last quote is actually the best, it keeps us guessing.
This one book made me change immensely, on my thinking and on my character, and as you know me for almost decades on line, you know I have my own set of thoughts but thanks to one friend, I got to know of this book , got to read this book and have an actualy handwritten "hand Book for Messiah" from her and I think this book changed me completely at a very basic level. I am happy that you are going to print this and keep it with you. You will find that whenever you are in doubt, go to this print out and read any thing and it will guide you... I believe in it.
Om namah Shivaya
Hi Shashi, If something gets too vague or too big like krishna has 36 senses, it is difficult to understand things. Life should be simple and greats should not be technically great. I recently learned about the teachings of Tao (may be a religion). I am actually living some of its teachings but was not aware of it. It is very nice and simple. My next religion will be zen as they say it is formed when Tao and Budhism met.
ReplyDeleteMust be an enjoyable read Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach. loved the way you wrote it. I find your review very genuine and orignal, this book is going in by "to read" list.
ReplyDelete