Jonathan was a seagull who loved flying more than food, unlike other seagulls. He broke speed records but crashed from going too fast. Discouraged, he decided to be a normal seagull. Later, two advanced seagulls took him to a school for gifted flyers. Jonathan learned new techniques and taught others. He inspired many more birds to join. Though misunderstood at times, Jonathan believed in limitless perfection and freedom through flying. He taught others to believe in themselves and strive to learn without limits.

2. Part One

3. Seagulls in general
…never falter, never stall
…to stall in air for them is disgrace and dishonor
…don’t bother to learn more than the simplest
facts of flying – from shore to food and back
again
…its not flying that matter, but food

4. But Jon was different!!!
• For Jonathan, it was flying that mattered and not
the food
• Made it hard for him to be like rest
• He was just bone and feathers
• His parents would always ask him concentrate
on food and not flying

5. For Him…
• The subject was ‘speed’
• In just 6 sec, he would fly at 70 miles/hr as he
would come down
• Of all ten trials, as he did this, he burst into a
churning mass of feathers, out of control,
crashing down into the water
• Then in 10 secs, he could blurred through 90
miles/ hr – a world speed record for seagulls

6. And Victories are short-lived…
• The instant he changed the angle of his wings,
he snapped into a terrible uncontrollable disaster
• He exploded in midair and smashed down into
the brick-hard sea
• His wings were ragged bars of lead, but the
weight of failure was even heavier
• Discouraged, he decided to be a normal seagull

7. But he made it again!!!
• A hollow voice restricted his to fly in the dark, for
that is required owl’s eye and falcon’s short
wings – yes that’s the answer
• Again climbed 2000 feet and shot himself
against the sea @ 140 and back to 70
• Set a new altitude of 5000 feet instead of 2000
• His vows for that moment were forgotten; felt
guiltless of the promises he made to himself

8. Not understood by the flock…
• His act was not appreciated, but
discouraged
• He was asked to leave the community
• His one sorrow was not solitude, but that
other gulls refused to believe his glory

9. A new life
• He would not remain on fish and stale bread
• He would sleep in air, learned to ride the high
winds of far inland, to dine on delicate insects
• Learned new lessons and no sorry
• He discovered that fear and anger is the reason
for short life and he was happy he lived a long
fine life indeed!!!

10. And another school…
• Two gulls flew along him at a precise and
constant inch from him
• Jonathan put them to test @ 190 miles/hr
• “We’ve come to take higher, to take you home.
One school is over and the time has come for
another to begin”
• “I am ready” said Jonathan and the bright gulls
disappeared into a perfect dark sky

11. Part Two

12. Into a new world
• Jonathan was flying at 273 miles/hr
• They landed on a land, welcomed by many gulls
• For these gulls, the most important thing was to
reach out and touch perfection in that they most
loved to do, and that was to fly
• Jon now started practicing with Sullivan

13. The Flight of Ideas!!!
• Jon met another elder gull Chiang, who
explained to him ‘Heaven is being perfect’ and
‘perfection doesn’t have limits’
• “To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is,”
Chiang said, “you must begin by knowing that
you have already arrived ...”
• “Forget about faith! You don’t need faith to fly,
you need to understand flying”

14. Back to the old world
• Fletcher Lynd Seagull, a next generation gull
agreed to take lessons from Jon
• He believed that flapping wings is not flying…
even a mosquito does that!!!
• “I don’t care what they think. I’ll show them what
flying is! I’ll be pure Outlaw, if that’s the way they
want it. And I’ll make them so sorry ...”
• Fletch started to learn lessons…the Level Flight

15. Part Three

16. Good times…
• By the end of six months, Jon had six more
students
• Fletch suggested to go back and inspire other
birds of the flock to join
• “Well, we don’t have to obey the law if we’re not
a part of the Flock, do we?” he said
• And all eight of them pulled sharply and flew all
the way around to a dead-slow stand-up landing

17. Contd.
• Jon stood along with the students,
demonstrating, suggesting, pressuring, guiding
• After a month, the first gull of the flock crossed
the line
• Slowly, by next day sunrise, thousands of them
joined
• “The only true law is that which leads to
freedom,” Jonathan said. “There is no other.”

18. Contd.
• The crowd grew larger everyday, coming to
question, to idolize, to scorn
• Fletch said to Jon, ‘the crowd thinks you are the
son of the Great Gull himself, then you are
thousand years ahead of your time”
• Jon sighed it as the price of being
misunderstood – Either they call you devil, or
they call you god

19. One day at practice session…
• At seven thousand miles and two hundred
miles/hr speed, a young bird calling for its
mother, came in the way of Fletch
• Fletch snapped hard to the left into a hard
granite cliff
• “What are you doing here? The cliff!
Haven’t I ... didn’t I ... die?”

20. Jon’s explanation
• What Fletch did manage to do was to
change your level of consciousness rather
abruptly
• 2 choices – to stay here or go to the mob,
and Fletch chose to go to the mob
• Surprised mob couldn’t believe and some
called him devil, some called him god

21. And the life goes on…
• And next morning, everyone had forgotten
• Jon asked Fletch to continue teaching,
while Jon would find other Fletchers!!!
• And Fletcher started a new group with the
first lesson…

22. The First Lesson…
• “To begin with,” he said heavily, “you’ve
got to understand that a seagull is an
unlimited idea of freedom, an image of the
Great Gull, and your whole body, from
wingtip to wingtip, is nothing more than
your thought itself.”
• And, the race to learn had begun.

23. Lessons
Learnt

24. • Believe in Yourself!
• Perfection is limitless!!
• Be the change you want to!!!
• Being different is not being outlaw!!!!

25. Thank You!