This novel follows Richard, a barnstorming pilot, who meets Donald Shimoda—a self-described messiah who has abandoned his role. Through their conversations and shared adventures in the skies of the American Midwest, Shimoda teaches Richard profound truths about reality, perception, and the power of belief. The book explores the idea that reality is an illusion shaped by our thoughts and choices, encouraging readers to transcend limitations and embrace freedom. It includes excerpts from the mystical Messiah’s Handbook, which offers cryptic wisdom for seekers of enlightenment.
- Reality as an illusion
- Power of belief and choice
- Spiritual awakening and self-discovery
- Freedom beyond limitations
The introduction says,"I do not enjoy writing at all. If I can turn my back on an idea, out there in the dark, if I can avoid opening the door to it, I won't even reach for a pencil. But once in a while there's a great dynamite-burst of fling glass and brick and splinters through the front wall and somebody stalks over the rubble, seizes me by the throat and gently says, "I will not let you go until you set me, in words, on paper." THAT is how I met "Illusions."
Also, the back of the book has like a starry night time scene and says More than a great national bestseller. A great way of looking at life. "Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you're alive, it isn't.
Illusions is a lighthearted mystical adventure story about two barnstorming vagabonds who meet in the fields of the Midwest. Richard Bach meets Don Shimoda, the Reluctant Messiah. Magic and miracles surround Don. He calls them Illusions, not Miracles. Richard wants to learn. Don presents him with Messiah's Handbook: Reminders for the Advanced Soul. It starts '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'. Richard reads more and more and Don speaks more and more. Very beautiful life-clarifying phrases.
If you liked JLS, you’ll love Illusions. It’s basically the same philosophy but with pilots instead of birds! It’s a lighter, funnier read, but the ideas hit hard.
The 'changing the past' concept is my favorite. With a brain holding 50 years of un-pruned memories, I’m convinced that the past only exists in our 'remembering self' (to use Kahneman’s term). It feels very close to the Vedantic View—the idea that our world is a mental projection. Even the intense memory of a 'first love' is often just an image we created. If we change the narrative or emotion attached to it, we literally alter the past."
Illusions revolves around two barnstorming pilots who meet in a field in the Midwestern United States. The two main characters enter into a teacher-student relationship that explains the concept that the world that we inhabit is illusory, as well as the underlying reality behind it:
'What if somebody came along who could teach me how my world works and how to control it? ... What if a Siddhartha came to our time, with power over the illusions of the world because he knew the reality behind them? And what if I could meet him in person, if he was flying a biplane, for instance, and landed in the same meadow with me?'
Donald William Shimoda is a messiah who quits his job after deciding that people value the showbiz-like performance of miracles and want to be entertained by those miracles more than to understand the message behind them. He meets Richard, a fellow barn-storming pilot. Both are in the business of providing short rides—for a few dollars each—in vintage biplanes to passengers from farmers' fields they find during their travels. Donald initially captures Richard's attention when a grandfather and granddaughter pair arrive at the makeshift airstrip. Ordinarily it is elders who are cautious and the youngsters who are keen to fly. In this case, however, the grandfather wants to fly but the granddaughter is afraid of flying. Donald explains to the granddaughter that her fear of flying comes from a traumatic experience in a past life, and this calms her fears and she is ready to fly. Observing this greatly intrigues Richard, so Donald begins to pass on his knowledge to him, even teaching Richard to perform "miracles" of his own.
The novel features quotes from the Messiah's Handbook, owned by Shimoda, which Richard later takes as his own. An unusual aspect of this handbook is that it has no page numbers. The reason for this, as Shimoda explains to Richard, is that the book will open to the page on which the reader may find guidance or the answers to doubts and questions in his mind. It is not a magical book; Shimoda explains that one can do this with any sort of text. The Messiah's Handbook was released as its own title by Hampton Roads Publishing Company. It mimics the one described in Illusions, with new quotes based on the philosophies in the novel.
"I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS"
You tell this and the mind would not forget.
To like this book, one need to be old enough to be questioning and young enough to be searching. Guess, I am either too old or too young, to not have either understood or appreciated this book.
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