illusions : the adventures of a reluctant messiah

I have just finished reading a book called Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach. This is not the first Richard Bach book I have read. Earlier I had enjoyed his Jonathan Livingston Seagull which was about breaking away from conventions, taking the path less trodden and achieving the impossible.



This book Illusions is about enlightenment, about search for a master who can tell us the real meaning of life. The book is slightly slow paced and the story takes time to unfold, but it keeps you interested. The book has two main characters, Donald Shimoda and Richard, both pilots who entertain people by taking them on joyous flights. Donald Shimoda can be considered as your present-day Buddha ..... who walks the earth amongst us .... is an enlightened soul, while Richard is a lesser human who chances upon Shimoda. Shimoda takes to flying a plane and performing miracles in the air because he believes that people are more interested in "illusions" of life, rather than understanding the deeper meaning and the message behind them. Both these characters get talking, and the true master Shimoda, hands Richard a Handbook Of A Messiah. This handbook is filled with words of wisdom[wow]. That's what I kept saying all through the book 'wow'...

There are lots of people who may not get a chance to read the book, or may not be interested in reading the book. For their benefit, I am listing some of the quotable quotes:

• Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again.
• 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.
• Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully.
• You're never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true.
• Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours.
• There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands.
• Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your aquintance will know in a thousand years.
• Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself.

The best quote of the book is: Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you are alive it isn't. This quote also appears on the back cover of the book.

But my favourite is: What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly