Greetings,

Courtesy of Amazon.com

On September 24, 2001,  I wrote the following in my personal off-line journal:

"I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, 
and which have gone a little further down our particular path 
than we have gone ourselves." 
~ E. M. Forster

In mid-September, 2001, a friend waited for me at the office to let me know he had lost his beautiful Emma. He was devastated. Sobbing, he shared his grief. I was determined to uplift him by sharing my near-death experience (NDE), hoping it would help by assuring him that beyond the veil, Emma's life continues on. 

In talking, he shared with me that he had just received the book, ILLUSIONS, by Richard Bach. It had been anonymously sent to him.  I remembered the book.  Vaguely.  I had read it many, many years ago. 

That weekend, I searched for it on my bookshelves up in the mountains.  As DH drove, I read it aloud on the way down the mountain. It's a quick read, and I finished it late that night.  The next morning, before awakening, I was flying...

No, make that soaring!  Now that's darn powerful.  An INFLUENTIAL book.

I was struck by what a different person I was from the "20-something" that first read it. Seems that I am ready to grasp its deeper wisdom.  Its lessons are profound. The first time, it was an easy to read, entertaining and thought-provoking story. I see now that much was missed on the first read.  The book is packed with far more enlightenment than I could have imagined back then. 

"What if somebody came along who could teach me how my world works and how to control it? What if I could meet a super-advanced soul ...what if a Siddhartha or a Jesus came into 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...?" 

~ Richard Bach

Then, I was busy growing up. My mind was not yet open. Nor, my soul.  

Or  was it?  Did a crack open up and did the contents of the book get dumped into it unawares to ferment over all these years?  Is part of ILLUSION's magic its lasting subliminal lessons? Have the once vague spiritual concepts, precepts, perceptions and ideas coalesced in the intervening years?

This second time around, I found reading ILLUSIONS to be a deeper, more meaningful experience.  Now, I'd describe it as an elegantly simple book with depth and grandness, offering glimpses into the appearance of reality and REALITY. 

ILLUSIONS encapsulates and summarizes virtually every aspect of my philosophical, spiritual and moral views of life. It affirms "knowingness" -- we call it "ike" [pronounced: ee' keh] in Hawaiian; further, it solidified and clarified areas of ambiguity. 

I am inspired to meditate, mentally masticate, and heed its teachings. I have been nudged with gentle, but firm reminders of what my soul already knows:

• I have choices. 

• I make the choices. 

• I am urged to take full responsibility for my journey. 

• I'm my own master and the world around is just like the way I see it and what I see in it. 

• And I can change it any time I like...

A streaming of consciousness:  I feel like I just walked out of a fog. There was a sense of lifting mist, of clouds parting and the sky opening up. I am changed; I have been challenged. Its teachings are having a strong effect on me. Almost magical. Other dimensional. A gift.  A catalyst. A boon. It's time  for me to clear out the obstacles in my path. 

My story will be told. And I will tell it. 

I look forward to rereading it again in years to come, likely again as a different person. Are there more lessons that I have still not absorbed or accepted?  Did seepage happen?  What else will coalesce with time?

In the meantime, I will use ILLUSIONS as instructed. Open it and find an answer or two. 

Simple.

On September 29, 2001, five days after the above entry was written, this online journal was born to begin telling my story, spawned by ILLUSIONS' powerful influence.

The power of words. Never underestimate them.

Today, another book has made its appearance.  "And what if I could meet him in person...?"  I am led to believe it is time to "meet him in person."

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