Your Immortal Reality: How to Break the Cycle of Birth and Death by Gary Renard Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Your Immortal Reality: How to Break the Cycle of Birth and Death
Book Review: The Next Step For Sincere Spiritual Seekers
Summary: 5 Stars
Gary Renard does it again! YIR is indeed destined to become a classic along with the few books that are truly aimed at undoing the only block we have to the awareness (and experience)of Loves' presence. This book gives us the advanced version of forgiveness and explains why we mistakenly value being "right" rather than being happy or peaceful. It's a clear map to enlightenment and a wonderfully humorous one too!
All in all, I couldn't put it down; it's the next step for anyone who's sincere about Spiritual Awakening and ending the cycle of birth and death.
Book Review: Motivating, Life-Changing, Inspiring
Summary: 5 Stars
Gary's second book takes us further into understanding what forgiveness really is and how we can work with it at many different levels. The techniques he teaches really work. I've put them into practice over the past year and my life has definitely changed for the better. I'm so grateful to Gary, his work and everyone who practices forgiveness! Anyone who is unfamiliar with non-duality, Buddhism, mystic Christianity or almost any of the ancient belief systems that breaks out of the mainstream one-way ticket to guilt and fear, may find the concepts in Your Immortal Reality highly threatening and may react with strong aversion. It seems to be a natural reaction and I'm reminded that we're told in ACIM, The Course isn't for everyone--and that's ok ... I love you and forgive you ;)
Blessings & Love,
sparo
Book Review: Poisonous to the Spirit and a Real let down!
Summary: 1 Stars
This book was a disappointment for me. Not that Gary doesn't write entertainly and use the fictional characters of Arten and Pursah to spread his message. In fact, he inserts a number of jokes into the book to try and make it clear to the audience that he is down to earth. The real reason I am disappointed is that Gary has sold out on the important teachings of " A Course in Miracles" and "The Gospel of Thomas" in order to generate sales for his books. It is not that Gary doesn't understand the basic concepts behind non-dualism - he does. In fact he criticizes Marianne Williamson earlier into the book for trying to sell "a happier dream" - instead of teaching that the real message of A Course in Miracles is that we need to wake up through forgiveness and so move beyond dreamimg. He understands clearly that there is but one ego and not many. That the one appears as many, like the multiplicity arising out of unity but fundamentally "All is One" and "Ideas leave not their Source" . He proceeds to talk about the damage done to the Course by followers of the Hugh Lynn Casey version of the Course and to go on to discuss the various false prophets and their methods. But on chapter 7, when he starts to rewrite the "The Gospel of Thomas", he starts to overstay his welcome as far as I am concerned. It is OK to create fictional characters to create dialog and so sell your book and even to claim to be these fictional characters in a different incarnation but when he is rewriting an important religious finding of our time to suit his own needs of specialness, that is crossing an all-too- important boundary for me. In fact the rewritten Gospel of Thomas called the Gospel of Pursah leaves out all these important teachings of this master. For example ther is saying 77 from Thomas's Gospel below, which is saying nothing more than God is never separate from his creation. That he is all times omnipresent and seen and experienced through the smallest apparent thing and this is left out of Pursah's Gospel.
77. Jesus said, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there."
Then there is saying 98
98. Jesus said, "The Father's kingdom is like a person who wanted to kill someone powerful. While still at home he drew his sword and thrust it into the wall to find out whether his hand would go in. Then he killed the powerful one."
The wise ones know that this an allegory and that the sword is the sword of discriminating wisdom. While still at home refers to being absolutely centered in the Eka Grata state of meditation and the wall is the wall of the void, whereupon we experience the world of duality. This is all a message of using the sword of discriminating wisdom to destroy the ego and duality. But of course Gary doesn't understand this so it does not make his cut.
Then there is saying 93 from the Gospel of Thomas
93. "Don't give what is holy to dogs, for they might throw them upon the manure pile. Don't throw pearls [to] pigs, or they might ... it [...]."
This is a classic example of Jesus saying that one cannot cultivate the purity or level of abtraction in others that is beyond their present level of being. Don't become frustrated by wasting wise teachings on the ignorant for they recognize it not and you become frustrated in trying to explain. It is nothing other than saying that we are all at different levels of learning and don't waste you breath teaching nuclear physics to a spider.
These were just some examples of teachings that Gary left out of the Gospel of Thomas (Or should we say the gospel of Pursah that really exasperated me). It became evident that there was no Pursah or Arten and that Gary was heavily involved in a specialness game to sell books and dupe us all. Then on page 177, I was in for a real shocker. For that is when he has Pursah say "That's not the time to be applying the Workbook lesson, "If I defend myself I am attacked." Remember, The Course is done at the level of the mind. If you're a woman, and a man is trying to rape you, kick him in the balls."
And so what ever happened to Wokbook lesson 135
"If I defend myself I am attacked" the lesson that is the longest in the Course - one that goes on for five full pages explaining in detail exactly what it means so that there is no doubt.
It goes on to say "Defend the body and you have attacked the mind, for you have seen in it the faults, the weaknesses, the limits and the lacks from which you think the body must be saved" It proceeds to say that the attack on the body us just a belief in inner vulnerability. How is this lesson different from the the Course's fundamental statement and tenet that "Ideas leave no their Source" or to violate the lesson that :- "The miracle will replace any grievances"
and then lesson 153 proceeds to augment this lesson by saying succintly
"In my defenselessness, my safety lies" we thought that we were along way off now from
Lesson 26 "My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability"
Gary's lesson in short offers an exclusion from the fundamental concept of the Course. His lesson amounts to nothing other than "If I don't defend myself, I am attacked" - the exact opposite of the teachings of the Course. And so he goes on and on - eventually selling out on everything. He starts talking about Global warming and government policies. In short adopting the very dualistic teaching of "There is a World" and one that we need to be very fearful off. This is what happens to one who spends too much time sitting on the fence. He likes and uses the teachings of non-dualism but places his cards instead on the teachings of Dualism.
He goes on in the last few pages of the book to talk about his experience of Revelations and to compose a short prayer in honor of it. Hell, he hasn't even had a basic mystical experience - never mind Enlightenment - he is many lifetimes away from revelations. But he hoped his little prayer will convince others. Save your time and read the real " A Course in Miracles" and "Gospel of Thomas" don't sell out your spirituality to a slick pundit. Jesus once said : that we must be as sly as serpents and innocent as doves - this is my advice to you as you pander to the words of the false prophets that will tarnish the whole for profit and specialness.
One theme missing fro Gary's books is the theme of Specialness and Special Relationships, this is not without accident. Gary looks for Specialness through being the incarnation of Saint Thomas and giving himself license to rewrite Thomas's Gospel - not to mention all the Course followers that stick by him to a tee. Stick to the Course Gary and not your own agenda, the ego mechanisms are often very subtle and sly and the real adventure here on this earth it not to seek once again the goal of Specialness and the poisonous mechanisms of the ego but to come home and awake in God. Do not sell what you do know and have understood out for cheap toys - the many various shinning trinkets in the Gap.
Sharon
Book Review: A "Don't Miss It" Experience for the Spiritual Seeker
Summary: 5 Stars
As a long-time student of A Course in Miracles (ACIM), I found Gary's first book, The Disappearance of the Universe (DU), an enormous help in understanding ACIM better and applying its principles more consistently. Your Immortal Reality (YIM) extends that experience, one which is not to be missed by serious students of ACIM.
Gary does a terrific job of humanizing ACIM: joking his (and our) way to enlightenment/salvation. As has been said before and will, no doubt be said again, the principles of rapid salvation/enlightenment are easy to express but not at all easy to apply, especially as we usually don't understand either the most effective means of forgiving or why it is so critical--let alone "what's in it for me" on a day-to-day basis long before we the englightenment. Gary's books fill the gap.
In YIR, I appreciated his recap of DU, the comments by Arten and Pursah regarding the controversy in the ACIM community about which "version" published is authentic; and particularly Pursah's recitation of "Pursah's Gospel of Thomas"--to say nothing of continuing to enjoy the repartee between Gary and his visitors and "peeks" into the future.
In short, this is a "not-to-be-missed" book if you are interested in an authentic spiritual path.
Book Review: Loved it!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow, this book was speaking to me! I loved it and I can't wait for the next one. Good work Gary...you're on my bestseller list! I am also a huge fan of your first book The Disappearance of the Universe. Aloha from Hawaii