~Speaking of Seth~

Hi All,

I just saw on Bing, that today, June 23, 2020, was Richard Bach's birthday.  Richard was the author of the book, "Jonathan Livingston Seagull".

I always liked that book which I read way back in the 1970's.

I was looking at Wikipedia today, about this book, and discovered an interesting tidbit that I didn't know. Apparently Richard Bach had a NDE in 2012 as a result of a near fatal plane crash. As a result of this, NDE, Richard felt inspired and went back and added a 17 page 4th part (Part 4) section to the original 3 part story.

In October 2014, this book, "Jonathan Livingston Seagull: The Complete Edition" which includes this 4th part, was published.

This kind of makes me want to go back and check out this new edition.

-jbseth

Happy birthday Richard Bach!

I knew he had crashed his plane several years ago (I even sent him a note and a get well card), but I had no idea he'd had a NDE! Is there more information about that? Any idea how he's doing?

I actually only read JLS a few years ago, but had read his One, Bridge Across Forever and (favorite) Illusions when they first came out (I used to belong to a book club). I've read Illusions a few times and also have gifted it to friends. It was written in 1989, pre-spiritual quest for me, and it really captured my imagination.

Bach had consulted with Jane/Seth and Rob when he wrote JLS because he didn't feel he wrote it "himself." There are some quotes about that in this old post, and a link to download scan of an old Time Magazine article about him and the book. It would be worth getting the new edition.

BTW someone I ended up with two copies of One and would be glad to send it to anyone here that is interested. It has a Goodwill sticker on it for 99 cents.

Oh, and I forgot, I also have a little red velvet covered book, Messiah's Handbook, that is suppose to be the handbook from the Illusions book, with little quips of wisdom on each page. Such as, "Want a trouble-free future? Why did you show up in spacetime if you didn't want trouble?" and "To learn anything, you must put aside the safety of your ignorance." The very last page of the book has, "Everything in this book may be wrong." Lol.

Any feelings as to where the name Jonathan Livingston came from?

Hi Deb, Hi All,

I just started rereading "Illusions" yesterday.  I always loved that book. Especially the spiritual messages throughout.  I've just passed the part where Don Shimoda gave Richard a copy of the "Messiahs Handbook".


I think it's awesome, Deb, that you have a copy of the "Messiahs Handbook", in red velvet. That's priceless. That would be like having an original copy of "The Seth Material" signed by Jane.  


According to Amazon, Richard also wrote a book titled "Illusions II". From what I can tell it has to do with his NDE and his recovery from almost dying due to his plane crash. The Wikipedia site about Richard Back also says that Don Shimoda is in this book.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bach

Anyway, I tried to find some information specifically about "Illusions II" on Amazon and the Amazon info, wasn't very informative. However, down at the Amazon book reviewer section, I found the following review (its long) and it seems to be helpful. This reviewer gave this book a 4 stars out of 5. It sounds like this book is somewhat autobiographical. Especially in regards to the time period that occurred after the crash.




As I'm rereading "Illusions", it seems to me that many of Don Shimoda's quotes have a definite Seth like philosophy feel to them.




In regards to the name Jonathan Livingston, according to the Wikipedia site below: "Jonathan Livingston Seagull is named after John H. Livingston,[2] a Waco Aircraft Company test pilot who died of a heart attack at 76 just after test flying an acrobatic home-built Pitts Special."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Livingston_Seagull



Also in regards to Jonathan Livingston Seagull, JLS, I've been thinking about how, the way this story came about, is similar in some ways, to some of the things that occurred in regards to Seth and Jane.  According to Rob and Jane, they were visited by Richard Bach, on Sept. 28, 1972. They wrote about this visit in NOPR, Ch 3, S618.  In this session, they write about how Richard came about the idea for the JLS story.

Richard says that in 1959, while walking on a West Coast beach, he heard a voice say, "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", but nobody was around.  Then, he says, that when he returned home, a good portion, of the book was given to him.



In a similar way, John Bradley, a person who from the earliest days, occasionally sat in on a Seth Session, also once heard a voice.  Once, John was talking to a woman and this voice came to him and said, "No. No." (see TES5, S204)  This voice was Seth's and Seth was trying to warn John not to become involved with this woman, as she was likely to put him in a problematic position.  Was the voice that Richard heard, something like the Seth voice that John Bradley heard?



Anyway, along with this, Jane also talks about when she wrote the "Oversoul Seven" book, and how Oversoul Seven would just come to her and download it. In "Adventures in Consciousness", Chapter 9, she writes the following.

"Oversoul Seven, the main character, attained his own kind of reality for me. When I sat down to write, I'd ask him, mentally, for the next chapter – and there it was, the words as polished and brilliant as river pebbles, slipping into my mind. I never "saw" Seven, yet he seemed beautifully immediate, and accessible. I ended up asking his advice on various personal matters, and his answers came, as the book did, through writing."



Did Richard Bach tap into a source something like Oversoul Seven, for his JLS story, and was this information then transferred to him, in a way that was similar to what happened with Jane, when Oversoul Seven would just download the next chapter to her?



-jbseth

Thanks for all of the information!

I did find the book here, and just ordered it. AND I had Amazon points, so I got it for free. Whenever that happens, I think it was meant to be. In looking at his author page, Bach has written more books than I realized. The review you quoted was interesting in that Bach's writing "voice" has changed. Considering he was in a coma for a while, that could have affected him. And this book may have been written from his "brain mind," rather than inspired the way his other books were written. I don't know if you've read One, but it's about time, choices and probabilities—a lot of "what ifs."

Here's a link to the Handbook. The red velvet cover must have been a special edition when I bought it back in 2013.

Quote from: jbseth
Did Richard Bach tap into a source something like Oversoul Seven, for his JLS story, and was this information then transferred to him, in a way that was similar to what happened with Jane, when Oversoul Seven would just download the next chapter to her?

That was my impression. I think a lot of books are written that way. I meant to supply this post below, apparently I messed up. The quote links back to the post..

Quote from: Seth to Bach
The inner portion of our being, using those abilities that have always been yours, interpreted the information through the kaleidoscope of your own being, using the best portions of yourself—producing, then, a brilliant truth in  new clothes—but in clothes that no one could have given it but yourself. Now I will tell you: If you assign the authorship of Seagull to another, then you deny the uniqueness of your own inner self.

The truth came to you and was given to you, but the originality and uniqueness was provided by your own inner being, which may now be so separated from your conscious self that it seems to be apart from it.

Quote from: Deb
The review you quoted was interesting in that Bach's writing "voice" has changed.

Hi Deb,

Yeah, I read that too.

I was wondering if, as a result of the accident, he's no longer able to access that part of him that was open to such creative ideas as "JLS", Illusions", etc.

The Wikipedia site does say that he's 84 years old.  I suppose that its entirely possible that his writing days are over, even if he hasn't lost that inspiration that he had for writing such wonderful books.

I hope that I'll still be writing when I'm 84.


-jbseth

Well, I just finished reading Illusions II.

My own two cents: It's very simply written, a quick read, charming, more along the lines of stream of consciousness the way Illusions I was written. Part fact, part fiction, it is hard to tell with Bach whether the fiction really is fiction, considering his story of how he came to write the Seagull book. The book's a recounting of his August 2012 plane crash, loss of memory and consciousness, recovery, drifting in and out of a dream state including philosophical conversations with Don Shimoda and the spirit of his much loved but devastated plane Puff.

It was oddly emotional for me. I teared up quite a few times when he was talking with Don, Puff, a favorite long-gone dog. It was a struggle for him and his story dealt with the prospects of death, consciousness, time space, belief and our lives as an illusion. He's a strong person. It had an amazing happy ending, which was again very emotional.

I agree that for a person to appreciate this book, they'd have to have read Illusions I. In the beginning I also felt Bach's "voice" had changed, but I forgot about that or got used to it about half way through. As the book was very informally produced and I think Back was more looking for closure after his experience rather than a professionally done book. The company that designed the book is no longer in existence, could have been a one-book publisher (such as a relative of some sort), possibly printed through Amazon on-demand. I don't think he's written a book since this one.

An interesting tidbit from a press release: At the time of the crash, Bach's book "Travels With Puff: A Gentle Game of Life and Death" was sitting on his publisher's desk. I may have to read that too, there were a couple of references to the book in Illusions II that made it sound very interesting.

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2013/march/19/author-richard-bach-recovering-publishing-recollecting

Hi Deb,

Thanks for the post. 

It sounds like Illusions II is a pretty good book. Thanks for sharing that review.

I've contacted our local library system and placed a hold/request on "Illusions II", "Travels with Puff" and "One"

They will notify me electronically, when they are ready for pickup and then I can schedule an appointment with the Library to pick them up.

In pre-Covid days, this was typically a 1 to 2 day turn-around on a book that was available, and Travels with Puff was available when I placed a hold on it. However, I've been waiting for about 2 weeks now and still haven't received any notifications from the library.

I looked up the Puff book on Amazon (they have that "Look Inside" feature that I really like) and this book looks really interesting. I think that its probably a non-fiction story about his travels with getting the plane that he bought in Florida, back to his home in Washington state.

-jbseth

Hi Deb, Hi All,

Hey, I just got the Richard Bach book, "Travels with Puff" from our local library. This is Richard Bach's non-fiction story about him flying to Florida, buying a little "Sea Rey" sea plane and then flying it back to his home in Washington state.

I just thought that I'd mention that this book has a lot of really great high quality photographs. Not only of the plane itself, which is really awesome (I see why he liked it) and some of the interesting sites that they saw along the way, but it also has contains some great aerial view scenery shots.

Apparently, someone else, who had his own Sea Rey sea plane, flew with Richard, in his own plane. He's the person who took many of the photographs that were used in the book.

-jbseth

Thanks for the info. My local library is pretty much useless and so I've added Travels with Puff to my Amazon wish list. I figure that Bach's friend he traveled with in the book was the same one who donated plane parts in his Illusions II book. Let me know what you think of it! The book sounded really interesting.

BTW I'm escaping the intolerable heat here for the next few days, heading for the hills, to a remote area that may have no phone or internet service. So if I'm silent for a few days, that's why.

Hi Deb,

Hey yeah, where having 92F days right now and that's plenty warm for me.

Stay cool and enjoy your reprieve from the heat. 

-jbseth