Tag: Richard Bach

Quote of the Day – January 24 2013

“Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding. Find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly.”
― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

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What do I already know?
I exist? Well I’m here improbable tho that may be.
Love is always better.
Shared pain is lessened and shared joy increased.
I like asking questions.
I like answering questions.
The sum of what we realize and what we don’t realize is infinity (that’s a new one) .
My body craves the taste of cinnamon.
If I realized everything I’d be infinite therefore the only thing holding me back is my own realization.
Always look for the humour.
There are no limits.
The potential for joy is always there in any situation.
Hmmm, feels like I grow wings already.
Blessings, G

 

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Aries

Aries by G A Rosenberg

 

Indigo GarnetIndigo Garnet Mandala by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – September 10 2012

“That’s what learning is, after all; not whether we lose the game, but how we lose and how we’ve changed because of it, and what we take away from it that we never had before, to apply to other games. Losing, in a curious way is winning.”
― Richard Bach

In martial arts you learn the most when you go against someone more accomplished and you lose. Chess is very much the same way. Sometimes in life, we have to lose our way to superior forces in order to become strong enough to win. At the very least, in our life when things don’t go our way, we learn and there is always a gift that lesson that lies within the situation.
Blessings, G

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Psychodelia  by G A Rosenberg

 

Stained Flower Mandala by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – July 11 2012

“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 false messiah.”
― Richard Bach

 

It’s funny really. I began this collection of quotes about identity this week thinking I would quickly reach a destination and yet it seems that the journey like most has taken me down some routes I didn’t quite expect. Yesterday’s reflection on authenticity vs social expectations was one and it started  both externally (through some brilliant comments) and internally some side streams that are still ongoing.

Nicholas Ambrose (http://nicolasambrose.com/) was one of the commenters and he offered this quote from the book Illusions and that book so connects to this topic that I included it as tonight’s quote. One of the biggest issues that Donald Shimoda, one of Bach’s main characters in Illusions has to resolve is the relative importance of other people to his mission in life. For me of late similar issues have come up. How can I balance the relationships I have in my life and still be true to myself? Both of Bach’s main characters in Illusions were loners mainly living solitary lives. This is not true for me and while my relationships challenge my sense of self they also provide the stability necessary for me to pursue inner discovery. What is the higher truth? When we know the answer to that question how do we act on it? How do we learn to trust it? These questions and more have arisen and many feel unresolved. Resolution exists tho of that I am sure.

Blessings, G

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Atomic Chamber by G A Rosenberg
Phoenix Blood by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – June 25 2012

“The you that you think of as you (and that thinks of you as you, and so on) is not you, it’s just the character that the underlying truth of you is dreaming into existence. Enlightenment isn’t in the character, it’s in the underlying truth.”
–Jed McKenna

Compare this to:

“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. Think about that.”
–Richard Bach

Sometimes its so easy to get caught in our lives like a fly on a fly strip. We take things so very seriously. We forget that the play’s the thing and we are here to work things out, experience it. We find ourselves in relationships with kids and it becomes so easy to believe that that is us. When things go wrong, we bemoan our fates or at least I do and have…I feel glad that I can also shift perspectives..eventually and realize it is all an act. Funny I have done the same thing in parenting moments with Zev. I start out by giving him a talking to and then at some point we both realize that father and son are roles we are playing and we start smiling. Then the talk resumes but at a much more comfortable level.

I have also fallen prey to the opposite effect. Getting so into trying to live the underlying reality that I forget that quite often the people around me are taking things a lot more seriously than I am. That can as I’ve realized in others and myself can come off as quite insufferable. So I strive for balance and hope one day to achieve it in this as in so many other things. At this point I figure the point of balance will probably come about five minutes before I leave this body. Perhaps that’s the way it should be.
Blessings, G

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Fire Nymph by G A Rosenberg

Radiating Spectrum by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day — June 9 2012

“I gave my life to become the person I am right now. Was it worth it?”
— Richard Bach

It must be worth it. After all, I now live my life to be not only the person I am but the person I will become. Every day life shows me new facets, endlessly fascinating. I find encouragement for my art and inspiration for my spirit. So much has life offered me and I only hope that I have given back. I guess the bottom line question is Have I given all I can to be the everything I can be?
Blessings, G

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Cosmic Spiral 2 by G A Rosenberg

 

Living Cells by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – April 21 2012 – (Part the First)

“Remember where you came from, where you’re going, and why you created this mess you got yourself into in the first place.”

― Richard Bach, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

Y’know, sometimes the mess isn’t that bad. Somehow of late I’ve managed to manifest elements of a pretty great existence one for which I have no problem being grateful but I stay fairly certain that I don’t appreciate to its full extent. I have a pretty great (and understanding) partner, a son entering his teenage years who at the very least is never boring and is teaching me daily what it means to grow. Friends, family and even things that give me purpose (even this blog). I find myself pretty thankful for all that I have. By all of this I am not saying that my life has no rough edges, oh boy does it ever. Lots of shall we say growth opportunities and often frustrations but hey that’s why I’ve created the mess in the first place.
Blessings, G

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Gold Disk Mandala by G A Rosenberg

Horus Sun by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – February 13 2012

“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.
Think about that.”
–Richard Bach

Perspective

A while back I got into a conversation with my friend Rob. He was having some problems and obviously wanted to discuss them. Like many of us, Rob tends to have a dramatic streak. I think it might be useful to share the conversation as I found that what i told him was inspired (i actually felt the light bulb come on in my head) and gives some much needed perspective:

Rob: My life sucks
Me: What do you mean?
Rob: I can’t get a job. My parents want me out of the house..
Me: that’s rough
Rob: I don’t have a girl I’m SICK of feeling alone. I can’t concentrate when i meditate
Me: Are you just letting what comes out comes out?
Rob: Whatever man. I just want to kill myself. I’m not just saying it either. I’m going to
Me: (Somewhat at a loss) Have you tried talking to anybody?
Rob: Like who? Shrinks are just going to want to medicate me. My friends don’t take anything seriously. Just some people here to talk to. It’s not worth it. I’m just gonna do it. You can read about it in the paper or online tomorrow

At this point I was flailing a bit mentally trying to come up with the right thing to say.
Finally I had a flash

Me: Ok Rob, so you want to do this. To some extent, I believe that people have the right to end if if they want to but before you do I have one question. Do you believe in reincarnation?

Rob: uh..yeah
Me: Have you ever stopped to consider that this might be one of your easier lives and that your next one may be even more challenging?
Long pause
Rob: Fuck you.

Long pause
Rob: 🙂

After that the conversation got a lot lighter and we were able to bounce possible non-lethal solutions to his problem off of each other.

 

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Gazing on the Infinite by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – January 12 2012

““If your happiness depends on what somebody else does, I guess you do have a problem.”
–Richard Bach

I need to remember this quote on any day I start obsessively checking my blog stats. Seriously the best art, the best writing, and the best living I have done have all come when I am doing it for myself and not playing to what i perceive people want or expect from me. An important lesson to be sure.
Each path is unique. As a friend of mine used to say “If we were exactly alike, one of us wouldn’t need to be here” Each viewpoint as well. We each need a slightly different mix of things to get us on our way. Namaste, G

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Skyward by G A Rosenberg

Wielding Energy by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – December 30 2011

“All the works of man have their origin in creative fantasy. What right have we then to depreciate imagination.”
— Carl Jung

“If you will practice being fictional for a while, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats. ”
— Richard Bach

“And if you ever hear me calling out
And if you’ve been by paupers crowned
Between the worlds of men and
make-believe
I can be found.”
— Dan Fogelberg

Some nights I feel more real than others. Are those the nights that I actualize myself more or the opposite? I dance among the fictions, the things I’ve experienced and the things that people may believe about me. I realize that any autobiography becomes to the witness that resides at the back of our consciousness at least partly a work of fiction. Namaste, G

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Eye in the Lotus by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – December 18 2011

“The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly. ”
–Richard Bach, Illusions

I may have used this quote before but it definitely relates to the ongoing discussion in my being an that i find myself involved with online. A friend posted a video of Charles Manson asking “Do you feel blame?” “Are you mad?” and then gibbering, A few people reacted to the use of Manson himself. Reacting to his crimes and to his being… My friend pointed out that the understanding that their reactions could bring them was worth seeing the video. I find myself agreeing.
More and more I believe awareness to be one of the main points of existence, Awareness of the self, its actions and reactions, otherwise why the variety of life that we see. Beauty, Ugliness, Disgust, Hate, Love, Murder, Lust, Rape, Support, Embrace, Dance, Hug, Fart, Defecate, all part of existence as would be each thought, emotion and action, each records in the witness. Any judgement we make on it all we do with imperfect awareness of the big picture. Who knows what soul-agreements may exist between murderer and victim, raper and rapist, lover and lover. We can be aware of our reactions, our beliefs and our judgements, i see them as being our progress reports. Our reactions serve as a way of introducing our self to our self…
Namaste, G

The Show went amazingly.

I sold one of my pictures (which was awesome) and got many positive reactions so coolness all around

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Corridor by G A Rosenberg

The Goddess Sits in Many Aspects by G A Rosenberg