Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah Mass Market Paperback – October 10, 1989

Amazing read. Enjoyable and thought provoking. Highly recommend!

and repeated ad infinitum. Most rewarding, AND challenging work I ever read - or, most … book I ever read (you can fill in the blank!). This is one of those that inspires superlatives to just cascade from normally reserved reviewers, folks that are sparse with their words. It just happens. I swear it.

This book changed my perspective on life at an early age. Religion is an illusion, Be your own. Do good based on your own will.

Always a classic. For fiction, it holds many beautiful truths. I have read this countless times, and will read it again.

Enjoyed revisiting Illusions and Bach’s other writings, including Jonathan Livingston Seagull :). Bach’s material both inspirational and uplifting - will continue to revisit :).

Illusions: The Adventures of A Reluctant Messiah. Definition of Messiah: A professed or accepted leader of some hope or cause. Donald Shimoda and Richard are both pilots of antique planes who fly around small agricultural communities of Illinois about 1969. They don't fly to spray crops, they fly to give locals an experience as passengers at the cost of $3 for 10 minutes of fly time. It is thrilling experience for those who have never flown in a small plane before. They meet up together in Ferris, Illinois and enjoy each other. Richard soon discovers that Donald is a messiah, who disliked the work, having people constantly following him who just wanted miracles, which he can perform. But he gives it up to follow the paths of his choosing. His plane is a classic Travel Air 4000, gold and white. He's made several flights this day, however, his plane is perfectly clean, like it's never been flown before and just had materialized out of thin air in the field. During their evening discussions over the campfire, Richard expresses his belief in the theory of mankind eventually learning to fly without machines or airplanes, maybe even fly to different planets. Don was called the Mechanic Messiah, sometimes the American Avatar, who disappeared in front of 25,000 people. They constantly banter back and forth, Richard saying there is no way Don can truly run away from his assigned mission. Don knows that if one wants freedom and joy, it found within the person. Therefore, Richard is to become the Reluctant Messiah, and learns much. There are several lessons here for Richard to learn from a book Tom gives to Richard: 1) You are never given a wish without being given the power to make it true. 2) Like attracts like, we shine who we are; some reject or turn away, while others are drawn to us as a magnet. Well written with thoughts to ponder. It's a story you may want to re-read from time to time.

I love this book and re-read it periodically for inspiration. Like Jonathan Livingston Seagull, I believe Illusions is really nonfiction creatively told as a fictional mystical adventure story. It's self-help packaged as an entertaining story about Richard and a man calling himself Don Shimoda.Richard is a pilot who is doing what he most wants to do in life: fly. Don is whatever he wants to be. He is free of illusions about the world. He is a messiah who quit because the crowds wanted him to save them and live their lives for them, rather than walking their own path in life.Richard is open to learning, so Shimoda begins to teach him how life really works. He even shares his saviour's manual, called Messiah's Handbook: Reminders for the Advanced Soul, which includes such gems as:"Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours.""Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't.""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 fake messiah."The last page of the manual had a statement so unexpected and profound, I laughed and marveled at it at the same time. (Won't give it away, because that would definitely spoil it for you.)Richard Bach's Illusions is entertaining, educational, and spiritual. It is a unique book with the power to literally change your life if you take its message to heart. I wish there were more books like it!