Richard Bach is said to be a mysterious man about whom little is known. He was born in 1936 in the American state of Illinois, in the same town where Ernest Hemingway was born and raised. Flying became his hobby at the age of seventeen, which later turned into a profession. He also served as a pilot in the United States Air Force. After his military career, he began writing. He has written over twenty works, with Jonathan Livingston Seagull being one of the most significant, for which he gained worldwide fame.
In his books, which are mostly autobiographical, he introduces us to flying as a metaphor for life, as well as the metaphysical world through stories that explore spiritual and philosophical questions.
There is a lot in common in his books because, as he says, “…they reflect my soul like a mirror, as well as all the events I have experienced throughout time.”
When asked what he would write next after the publication of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, he replied. He doesn’t have to write another word because his books have said everything he had to say.
For him, life is a search, a process of constant learning and rediscovery of eternal, natural laws. The ideas of freedom and universal, unconditional love guide him through the transcendental world of his novels.
~ ~ ~
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Most seagulls don’t care to learn more than the basics of flying – how to get from the shore to food and back. Because most seagulls are not interested in flying, they are interested in food. But this seagull was not interested in food, but in flying. Jonathan Livingston Seagull loved flying the most.
He realized that this way of thinking does not contribute to popularity among birds. Even his parents were desperate watching Jonathan spend his days alone, practicing low flights, experimenting. (…)
“Don’t forget that we fly to survive.” (…)
“It’s all meaningless,” he thought, deliberately releasing the hard-fought mackerel to a hungry and aging seagull who followed him. followed. “All this time I could have been practicing flying. There is still so much to learn!” (…)
But, as he slowly sank, a strange, unfamiliar voice echoed within him. “What is, is. I am a seagull. My possibilities are limited. If I were created to fly flawlessly, I would have navigational charts instead of a brain. If I were created to fly at great speeds, I would have falcon’s short wings and feed on mice, not fish. Father was right. I must forget this madness. I must fly back to my flock and reconcile with what I am, a poor, limited seagull.” (…)
“But no,” he thought. “I am no longer what I used to be, I must forget everything I have learned. I am a seagull like any other and I will fly like the rest.” (…)
There, in the night, at a height slightly higher than thirty meters, Jonathan Livingston seagull fluttered. Pain and decision vanished in an instant. (…)
Forget his recent vows, the force of the wind had taken them away. He didn’t even feel guilty for breaking his promise. Such promises, After all, they only apply to seagulls that accept everyday life. Someone who has touched perfection in learning does not need similar promises. (…) By shifting just one feather from the tip of the wing two or three centimeters to the side, one can achieve, understand, smooth and wide turns at dizzying speeds. However, before that, he learned that if he moves more than one feather at that speed, he will spin like a pinwheel… and so Jonathan became the first seagull to perform acrobatic flights. (…) “How much richer life is now! That is the meaning of life, not that dreary dragging to and from the fishing boats! We can rise above ignorance, we can become skillful, smart, and perfect beings. We can be free! We can learn to fly!” (…) “Because of your thoughtless irresponsibility,” a solemn voice echoed, “because of the violation of the dignity and tradition of the seagull family…” “One day, Jonathan Livingston, you will realize that irresponsibility does not pay off. Life is uncertain and unknowable, and there We were created only to eat and survive as long as we can. (…)
– Irresponsibility? Brothers! – he shouts. – Who is more responsible than a seagull who finds and follows the meaning and higher purpose of life? For a thousand years, we have been struggling to reach fish heads, and now we have reasons to live – to learn, to discover, and to become free! Give me a chance, let me show you what I have learned. (…)
Jonathan spent the rest of his life in solitude, but he flew much further than the Far Cliffs. It was not so much the loneliness that hurt him, but the realization that his brothers did not want to believe in the sublimity of flying; they did not want to open their eyes and see. Every day he learned more. (…)
Ruling over himself perfectly, he flew through dense sea fog and soared above them, up to the brilliantly clear sky… while the other seagulls huddled on the ground and only knew mist and rain. He learned to use the winds at high altitudes to fly deep into the interior and feast on delicious insects there.
All he once wanted was Jonathan je odgovorio Sullivaneu s tugom u glasu. – Ali ti ostali galebovi nisu bili spremni otvoriti se novim spoznajama i idejama. Nisu se usudili napustiti poznato i pokušati nešto novo. Zato su ostali zarobljeni u svojim ograničavajućim uvjerenjima i nisu mogli doživjeti istinsku slobodu letenja i radosti života. You are the one, Jonathan, the rare bird among thousands of seagulls. We have all travelled a long journey to get here. We have crossed from one world to another, not much different from the previous one, forgetting where we came from, not thinking about where we are heading, not thinking about tomorrow. Do you know how many lives we have lived until we realized that life is not just about food, fighting, and dominance in the flock? A thousand lives, Jonathan, ten thousand! And then another hundred lives until we sensed that there is something called perfection, and then another hundred lives until we learned that the purpose of life is to discover that perfection and show it to others. Now, of course, the same rule applies to all of us: we choose our next world based on what we have learned in this one. If you don’t learn anything, your next life will be the same as the present one, with the same limitations and difficulties to overcome. He spread his wings and turned towards the wind.
But you, Jonathan, forward – you have learned everything at once and did not have to live a thousand lives to enter this life. (…)
– What will happen after this? Where are we going? Does heaven even exist? (…)
Seagulls who scorn perfection for the sake of traveling, travel slowly and never reach their destination. Those who give up traveling for perfection can reach anywhere in an instant. Remember, Jonathan! Heaven is not a place or time because place and time are insignificant. Heaven is… (…)
The point is to know that your true nature, perfect like an unwritten number, is simultaneously everywhere in time and space. (…)
It has been a month, maybe more, Jonathan progressed unusually fast. Even when he learned from his own experience, he was a good and fast learner, and now, when the elder taught him with his head, he learned and remembered like some aerodynamic feathered computer. (…)
And the longer Jonathan practiced being good and the more he studied the true nature of love, the more he aspired to be. Return to Earth. Although his past was filled with loneliness, he was created to become a teacher and expressed his love by wanting to transmit a fragment of the truth he had discovered to a seagull, who would at least have the desire to discover that truth himself. (…)
Jonathan stayed and worked with the newcomers, who were all intelligent and quick learners. But the thought that down there, on Earth, there might still be one or two seagulls who could learn it all, never left him. (…)
– Sully, I have to go back – he finally said. – Your students are progressing very well. They will help you with the newcomers.
Sullivan sighed, but did not object.
– I will miss you, Jonathan – he simply said.
– Sully, for God’s sake – Jonathan reproached him – don’t be foolish! What do we practice every day? If our friendship depended on time and space, then by mastering time and space, we would ruin our brotherhood! If we master space, all that remains is HERE.
If we conquer time, all we have left is NOW. Don’t you think we will occasionally meet on that path, between Now and Here?
Gull Sullivan smiled inadvertently.
You crazy bird! – he said gently. – If anyone is capable of showing someone down on Earth how to see a thousand kilometers away, it’s seagull Jonathan Livingston. – He gazed at the sand. – Goodbye, Jon, my friend!
– Goodbye, Sully! See you later.
With those words, Jonathan said goodbye and transferred in his thoughts among a large flock of seagulls, to the shore of another time, and realized with practiced ease that he was not just flesh and feathers, but an unlimited, perfect symbol of freedom and flight. (…)
By sunrise, almost a thousand birds had gathered. They stood in a circle around the student and curiously watched Maynard. Paying no attention to whether anyone could see them, they listened and absorbed the words of seagull Jonathan.
And he told them about very simple things – how it is every seagull’s right to fly, how freedom is their true nature. And everything that obstructs that freedom should be rejected, whether it is the result of regulations, superstition, or any kind of limitation.
“Rejected,” a voice from the crowd chimed in, “even the law of the flock?”
“The only true law is the one that leads to freedom,” Jonathan replied. “There is no other law!”
Quotes taken from the book: Richard Bach. Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
Edited by: Vlado Janković