Flaws in Christianity - A Christmas Message from The Disappearance of the Universe

Excerpt from chapter 2 of Gary Renard’s The Disappearance of the Universe - Pursah speaks as her lifetime as Jesus' disciple Thomas; Arten as Thaddaeus

Pursah: Like most people today, instead of really listening back then to what J was teaching, most of us saw and heard what we wanted to see and hear so we could use him to validate our own experience – which was the experience of being an individual in a body. Thus, we had to make him a separate and very special individual body, which is how we really saw ourselves, how you still see yourself.

Although some of us tended to be a little more intellectual, the beliefs of most of the earliest followers were simple enough. We had already seen J after the crucifixion, and since we didn’t comprehend his entire message, the inaccurate and majority opinion among the sects was that he was going to return to us again, as he had already done before, and bring in God’s Kingdom. It was expected this would happen very soon, not in the distant future and not anywhere but right on the ground. I didn’t agree with that particular scenario because, as J taught in my Gospel, the Kingdom of God is something that is present but unseen by people. In any case, there was some diversity even at the beginning, but most of the followers bought into the idea of a return. As the years wore on and the going got tough, however, the leaders of a now-developing new religion had to improvise if they were going to hold anyone’s interest.

Before you knew it, you had people relating to J as the body of all bodies. They already believed God had created a flawed world with imperfect people like Adam and Eve who were capable of making mistakes. They completely overlooked the logic that for God to create the imperfect must either mean that God Himself is imperfect or God deliberately made those who were so they could screw up, be punished by Him and suffer here on psycho planet. Then, according to Christianity, God takes – incredibly – His big-time special only begotten Son, who would apparently be more Holy than the rest of the scum of the earth, and sends him as a blood sacrifice to suffer and die on a cross as a way of vicariously atoning for people’s sins.

Except now there’s another big problem, because even according to Christianity’s own doctrines, this does not really atone for anybody else’s sins. If it atoned for people’s sins, then that would be the end of it. Problem solved. But no! It now becomes necessary for everyone to blindly believe in all of the details conveniently set forth exclusively by the Christian religion, or else they will still burn in hell, even if they happened to be born – presumably by God’s will – in a place, time, or culture that isn’t even familiar with this particular religion!

Gary: It does all sound a little bizarre when you put it that way. The whole thought system isn’t exactly complimentary to the nature of God.

Arten: That’s because it’s all symbolic of a fearful image of God rather than a loving one. We don’t mean to be disrespectful, but we have to make certain controversial statements because there’s not exactly an oversupply of people in your society who are willing to point these things out. It is true that at the time J was the most advanced spiritual person to ever appear on the earth. But everyone else, including you, will eventually attain the same level of accomplishment as him. There is no exception to this. Thus, J is not ultimately different from anyone else, and his attitude was that no one will be left out of Heaven, because there is really one of us – not all these separate bodies as you are presently dreaming.

Gary: Are you saying even murderers will end up in Heaven?

Arten: Even Saint Paul, or Saul, which was his name before he changed it so he could be a hit with the Gentiles, was a murderer before he turned in his sword. You don’t get what we’re saying. There is no Saint Paul, not really, or anyone else – including J – except in a dream. There’s nobody out there. There is only one Son of God, and you’re It. You’ll get it, but it takes years of practice to really experience it. You have to want it.

Gary: All right. You're saying that J saw people as being the same as him and God - unlimited and perfect. All other characteristics we put onto other people or onto God are really our own unconscious beliefs about ourselves?

Pursah: Yes. You have to understand that as Jews we sincerely believed that our religion had made some kind of a giant leap forward with monotheism - the idea of one God - as opposed to polytheism - the belief in many different gods. Most of us didn't know monotheism actually originated with Akhnaton in ancient Egypt, and all this idea and our continuation of it really did was take all the different personalities and characteristics, good and bad, of all these previously made up Gods and incorporate them into one God.

Gary: So now instead of all these different screwed-up gods, you had just one screwed-up God.

Arten: Well put! Of course there really is only one God and He isn't screwed up at all, and neither was the J guy, who had forgiven the world - his mind had been returned to the Holy Spirit where it belonged. That's where your mind belongs. You took it, and you have to give it back. And I've got a message for you: You'll never really be happy until you do. No matter what you imagine you have accomplished in any lifetime, thee will always be a part of you that feels like something is missing - because in your illusions something is missing.

Coming Soon! Dude, Where's My Jesus Fish?
Click here to check out the fan page on Facebook!

What about "old" souls and "new" souls?

A person recently posed this question: I understand the split of the mind.....the ego......When we say some people are old souls and others new souls....are we still creating new souls? I understand that the more we tap in the ego the more we project but are we still projecting new souls?

Here was my response: In answer to your question, it's a bit misplaced because there really is only one soul (one mind) appearing as many and you're it. What matters is that we forgive all seemingly separated souls in the way Course describes forgiveness. The Course nor Gary's books do not make any distinction between "old" souls and "new" souls. No one is special and the ultimate goal of the Course results in the end of individuality and specialness.

Since, within the illusion of time and space, the past, present, and future all occur simultaneously, that would have to mean that all seemingly separated souls have all been created. However, it sounds like you're looking for an answer within a linear perspective and I wouldn't know how to answer that within a Course context because it's not really important. Only the application of true forgiveness and the resulting healing of the mind is all that matters.

Also, one more thing. Even that one soul, that one mind, doesn't really exist either. That one soul or one mind is still one step removed from God.

Undoing the Ego via True Forgiveness = The End of Reincarnation & The Disappearance of the Universe

Excerpt from Your Immortal Reality p 74 & 75

Arten: Remember that what is immortal is permanent, and what is mortal is impermanent. The reason we talk about the disappearance of the universe is because when you wake up from a dream, the dream disappears. That's only possible because it was never real in the first place. Some people will think that means they're giving something up.

Gary: Just the universe.

Arten: Not the real universe. It's what you awaken to that matters. The universe of time and space was impermanent. What you awaken to is permanent. Your immortal reality is something that's constant. It never shifts or wavers. What people need to get is how much better their real life is than the one they thought was their life.

Gary: Well according to what you've said, every time I choose to see people the way the Holy Spirit would have me see them instead of the way the ego wants me to see them is a step home.

Arten: Yes. Think of the Hindu analogy of undoing the ego. It's like peeling an onion. To adapt that analogy for our purposes, let's say you forgive someone, in the Course's sense of the word. It’s like peeling a way a layer of an onion, or in this case, a layer of the ego. Maybe it will look to you like nothing’s happened. Why? When you peel away the layer of an onion, it still looks like an onion. It still looks the same. But it's not really the same, because a layer of it has been peeled away.

Now, let's say you have perseverance. Maybe you occasionally have experiences of being very peaceful that encourage you. Or maybe something happens that would have made you feel bad in the past, and this time it doesn't make you feel bad. You realize that it's because you've been practicing forgiveness, and that the Holy Spirit is healing your mind at the level of the unconscious. So you keep going and you forgive again and again. What happens is another layer of the onion is peeled away. It may still look the same. So you go in the bathroom and you look in the mirror and you think it's the same old you, but it's not.

Maybe you're watching TV and you forgive a news story that you see. Another layer of the onion is peeled away, but you think nothing's happening. In the meantime, the Holy Spirit is shinning your forgiveness everywhere throughout the mind that is projecting the universe, and thus through the projection as well. It cuts through unconscious guilt and its projections of karma like a laser beam. It goes through all of your past lives, all of your future lives, and all through the different dimensions of time, everywhere in the universe of energy and form, and through every parallel universe that appears to exist. Incredible things are happening! The Holy Spirit is actually collapsing time as you sit there.

Because of your practice of forgiveness, there are lessons that you no longer need to learn, and the Holy Spirit is actually erasing the tapes, taking dimensions of time that held lessons you would have needed to learn if you didn't practice forgiveness, and making those dimensions disappear. And because you can't see everything that the Holy Spirit can see, you're sitting there thinking, This is boring. Nothing's happening. But something amazing is happening. More layers of the onion have been peeled away, and your ego is vanishing.

If you persevere and continue to practice forgiveness, then at some point you get down to the final layer of the onion. When you peel away that layer of the onion, then there's nothing left. The onion is gone. And that’s the way it is with the ego. After your final forgiveness lesson, the ego is gone; it's been undone, and there's nothing left to interfere with your experience of what you are. There's no reason for you to reincarnate. Practicing forgiveness is how to break the cycle of birth and death.

Gary: Which ties in with the part of the Introduction of the Course, where it talks about "removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence."

Pursah: You got it. That's exactly what happens when you choose the Holy Spirit instead of the go. Every act of forgiveness undoes the ego, and the Holy Spirit removes the blocks to the awareness of God, or spirit's presence. The blocks are those walls of guilt in the mind that keep you from your awareness of what you really are.

A quote from the Course in Chapter 20 I'd like to share here:

What if you recognized this world is an hallucination? What if you really understood you made it up? Hallucinations disappear when they are recognized for what they are. This is the healing and the remedy. Believe them not and they are gone. And all you need to do is recognize that you did this. Once you accept this simple fact and take unto yourself the power you gave them, you are released from them. One thing is sure; hallucinations serve a purpose, and when that purpose is no longer held they disappear. Therefore, the question never is whether you want them, but always, do you want the purpose that they serve?'

Mikey's book will becoming out soon. Feel free to "LIKE" my fan page.

Here's what Gary Renard has to say about my book on his Facebook status from October 28th: Gary recommends Dude, Where's My Jesus Fish?

Coming Soon! Dude, Where's My Jesus Fish?

Hey folks, just wanted to announce the title and Table of Contents of my soon to be released book.

My book is titled Dude, Where's My Jesus Fish?- A Compilation Highlighting the Blunt and Uncompromising Teachings of Arten and Pursah on A Course in Miracles

I'll make an announcement when the book becomes available for purchase. Giddy up!

Table of Contents

Foreword by Gary Renard

Introduction

Author’s Notes

Acknowledgments

PART I: Life of Mikey

Chapter 1 Masshole Mike

Chapter 2 Go West Young Man

Chapter 3 Dude, Where’s My Jesus Fish?

Chapter 4 Meeting Gary Renard

PART II: A Course in Miracles and the Spiritual Community

Chapter 5 Arten and Pursah’s Keys to Understanding A Course in Miracles

Chapter 6 Arten and Pursah’s Take on Other Teachings

Chapter 7 A Course in Miracles – Teaching, Borrowing, and Compromising

Chapter 8 Those Who Seek Controversy…

Part III: The Quotes

Chapter 9 Jesus, Jeshua, Y’shua, or J, or How ‘bout J-Dog?

Chapter 10 Forgiveness as a Way of Life

Chapter 11 Forgiving What Gets in Your Face

Chapter 12 Unconscious Guilt: The Root of All Evil

Chapter 13 Definitive Statements

Chapter 14 The Crucifixion, Resurrection, the Second Coming

of Christ, and Oneness

Chapter 15 The Unreality of the Body

Chapter 16 The Illusory Nature of the Universe

Chapter 17 Spiritual Healing

Chapter 18 It’s About Time

Chapter 19 The Tools

Chapter 20 The Funnies

Wrapping this Puppy Up

Index of References

Testimonials:

"What Mikey’s done with this book is create a valuable tool for directly accessing Course concepts (as taught by Arten and Pursah) in a topic-based fashion. Additionally, he’s added his rather colloquial insights which make this book a light, humorous read, a refreshing change from most Course-related materials. My first book, The Disappearance of the Universe, is frequently referred to as the ‘can opener’ that helps students open the rather heady A Course in Miracles book. Dude, Where’s My Jesus Fish? is like a cheat sheet that helps you make the grade. If this book turns more folks onto A Course in Miracles – and I expect it will – then we have Mikey to thank for growing our beloved Course community and helping us all to get Home." ~ Gary Renard, the best-selling author of The Disappearance of the Universe of the Universe www.garyrenard.com

"Mikey's straight talk and irreverent, humorous style, in addition to his obvious understanding of A Course in Miracles, make this book a perfect companion to The Disappearance of the Universe. Well done, and giddy-up brother Mikey!" ~ Gene Bogart, Producer and Co-host of The Gary Renard Podcast www.Forgiveness.tv

"I love this book. I love the style. The humor is wonderful. Mikey gets it! Our ONLY function here is the radical forgiveness taught by A Course in Miracles. No compromises; no ifs, buts or ands." ~ Doris Lora, Ph.D

Check out my new website!

www.giddyupmikey.com

Excerpt from DU about Thomas Jefferson and the Bible

Excerpt from Chapter 6 in The Disappearance of the Universe

Arten: Thomas Jefferson, considered to be the greatest thinker among your forefathers and the author of your Declaration of Independence, was also an expert on scripture. Over the years of his life he edited the Bible in order to make his own personal Bible. Of course he couldn't make it available to the public at that time without being accused of terrible things. To summarize, he left out the old scripture - what you call the Old testament - completely. He didn't leave in anything about J being God in the flesh. He didn't retain anything about J performing physical miracles. He left out almost 200 pages of the New Testament, leaving only 46. But he kept in everything about forgiveness and healing and how you think. If the conservatives in your country want to dismiss A Course in Miracles as being too radical, perhaps they should listen to the visionary genius behind your nation's roots, rather than wasting their time blindly defending the corporate-owned mockery of democracy it has become.

Gary: So Thomas Jefferson was able to cut through the religious and dualistic bullshit and get to what's important. At the same time, I should remember that a lot of people need the bullshit until they're ready to give up the unnecessary stuff and cut to the chase. There's not really any sense in putting them down or trying to take the ideas they need away from.

Arten: Very good, Gary. A radiant student. But watch your language. Just because a lot of those movies you like are rated "R," it doesn't mean our book has to be.

Yep, can't argue with this. No matter what religion or spiritual philosophy you believe in, in order to return to God, it all comes down to removing all the unconscious guilt in the mind aka the blocks to the awareness of Love's (God or Spirit's) presence. And J says numerous times in the Course that true forgiveness is the only way to do that. ACIM T-1:VI:1:1; W-256:1:1-2; & M-14:5:7

But not everyone is ready for that, in fact, very few are. And that's OK. Some will be ready in their current incarnations, perhaps others in their next incarnation. and many others 100 incarnations from now, or whatever. But for those who are ready, keep in mind what J says about attaining the lofty goal the Course has to offer, '...it requires patience and abundant willingness.' ACIM M-17:8:4

Giddy up!

My Review of the ACIM 'movie'

Here' s the review I posted on Amazon.com this week in regards the recently released A Course in Miracles The Movie. I gave it three stars out of five.


Not great, but it didn't suck

First, I would say it is a bit misleading to call this a 'movie.' 'Documentary' would be a more appropriate term. This documentary is only about an hour long, so there is only so much that can be covered in that span of time. For a newbie, you'll get some ideas about what the Course is about from many different teachers, but if you really want to understand it and learn how to apply it, I highly recommend reading The Disappearance of the Universe: Straight Talk About Illusions, Past Lives, Religion, Sex, Politics, and the Miracles of Forgiveness by Gary Renard. It explains the Course in no uncertain terms; very clear and blunt, and without compromise.

Also, no background was really given in this documentary in order to put what the teachers were saying into context, so a newbie wouldn't have the benefit of comparing the thought system of A Course in Miracles to other spiritual thought systems that are out there. The Course is certainly unique, and unlike anything else. Also, perhaps a longer program would have allowed for more time to get into much more detail about the unconscious guilt we all have and how it came about, how true forgiveness removes it, and how to apply true forgiveness into your everyday life. As it's stated in The Disappearance of the Universe, `Without its practical method of forgiveness, the Course would be nothing but a beautiful and useless book.' So, again, The Disappearance of the Universe covers all this.

But if you're not much of a reader and you really want to get an in-depth take on the Course with something you can watch on your TV or computer screen, I highly recommend the DVD Beyond the Ego Workshop with Gary Renard. Also, for an audio teaching, I highly recommend Gary's six disc CD program, Secrets of the Immortal: Advanced Teachings from a Course in Miracles.

Finally, no offense to Puppetji, but he does not really add anything to this program that is Course related, although I found him rather amusing, and laughter is always a good thing. But I certainly could have done without the woman talking about her relationship problems as I didn't feel that added anything useful to this documentary. That time could have been used more appropriately, in my opinion. So, I guess I have some mixed feelings about this documentary, but you're much better off watching this than trying to figure out the Course through Marianne Williamson or through any of the other popular New Age authors who are NOT teaching the same thing as the Course. Ok, I've said enough. Can I have a brownie now?

To find the product and my review on Amazon, click on the following link: A Course in Miracles The Movie

The Four Major Attitudes of Learning during your Return to God

The four major attitudes of learning: Dualism, Semi-Dualism, Non-Dualism, and Pure Non-Dualism from The Disappearance of the Universe, Chapter Two

DU p 29 & 37
There are four major attitudes of learning you will go through during your return to God. Everyone will go through all four of them, and everyone who progresses will occasionally and unexpectedly bounce back and forth from one to the other. Each level brings with it different thoughts and resulting experiences, and you will interpret the exact same scripture differently depending on which attitude of learning you are currently engaged in.

You should keep in mind that each of the four major attitudes of learning are long roads in themselves, and you will sometimes bounce around like a Ping-Pong ball in between them. The Holy Spirit will correct you along the way and set you back in the right direction. Do not feel bad when you temporarily lose your way. There is none who has ever walked this earth, including J, who did not give into temptation in some way. The myth of living a perfect life in terms of behavior is self-defeating and unnecessary. All that is necessary is to be willing to receive correction.


Dualism

DU p 29 & 30
Dualism is the condition of almost all of the universe. The mind believes in the domain of subject and object. Conceptually, it would appear to those who believe in God that there are two worlds that are both true: the world of God and the world of man. In the world of man, you believe, very practically and objectively, that there is in fact a subject - you - and an object, namely, anything else. This attitude was well expressed through the model Newtonian physics. The objects that make up a human's universe, which until the last few hundred years was simply called the world and referred to all of manifestation, are believed to exist apart from you and can be manipulated by you - "you" meaning the body and the brain that seems to run it. In fact, the body and brain that you think are you appear to have been caused by the world. But this idea is exactly backwards.

By necessity, the attitude toward God that accompanies this attitude of learning is that He is somewhere outside of you. There is you and there is God, seemingly separated from one another. God, Who is actually real, seems distant and illusory. The world, which is actually illusory, seems immediate and real. Your split mind, which split from the house like the prodigal Son, has unconsciously assigned to God the same qualities that your seemingly separated mind itself possesses. Thus God and the messages that seem to come from Him are conflicted.

Keep in mind that most of this is unconscious - meaning that it seems to exist out there in the world rather than in your own split mind. So God is considered to be both forgiving and wrathful. He is both loving and a killer, apparently depending on what kind of a mood He's in. This may be a good description of the conflict of a dualistic mind, but it is hardly a description of God.


Semi-dualism

DU p 30 & 31
The next attitude of learning you will go through during your return to God is sometimes referred to as semi-dualism. This could be described as a kinder, gentler form of dualism because certain true ideas have begun to be accepted. Once again, it makes no difference what your religion is, which is just one reason why all religions have some very nice, gentle, and relatively non-judgmental people. One such idea that the mind would be accepting at this time is the simple concept that God is Love.

A simple notion like this, however, if it is truly believed, would bring along with it some very difficult questions. For example, if God is Love, can He also be hate? If God is really perfect Love, then can He also be flawed? If God is a Creator, could He then be vengeful against that which He Himself had created?

Once the answer to such questions is clearly seen to be of course not, a long closed door has been nudged open. In the state of semi-dualism, your mind has begun to lose some of its hidden but terrible fear of God. Now God is less threatening to you - a primitive form of forgiveness has taken root within you. You still think of yourself as a body, and both God and the world still seem to be outside of you, but now you sense that God is not the cause of your situation. Perhaps the one person who was always there when things appeared to be going down the toilet was you. Perfect Love can only be responsible for good. So everything else must come from somewhere else. But as we'll see in our next attitude of learning, there is nowhere else.


Non-Dualism

DU p 31 & 32
Do you remember the old riddle, that if a tree falls in the middle of the forest and there’s nobody there to hear it, does it still make a sound? Well, what the tree does is send out sound waves. Sound waves, like radio waves – and for that matter, energy waves – require a receiver to pick them up. The human or animal ear is a receiver. If a tree falls in the middle of the forest and there’s nobody there to hear it, then it does not make a sound. Sound isn’t sound until you hear it, just as a wave of energy does not appear to be matter until you see or touch it.

To make a long story short, it should be evident from this that it takes two to tango. In order for anything to interact, you must have duality. Indeed, without duality there is nothing to interact with. There can be nothing in a mirror without an image that appears to be opposite it, attached to an observer to see it. Without duality there is no tree in the forest. As some of your scientists of quantum physics know, duality is a myth. And if duality is a myth, then not only is there no tree, but there is also no universe. Without you to perceive it, the universe is not here, but logic would have to dictate that if the universe is not here, then you are also not here.

DU p 34
Non-dualism is like the old teaching that you live as if you are in this world, but your attitude is that of the two seeming worlds, the world of truth and the world of illusions, only the truth is true and nothing else is true. But even then, people make the mistake of thinking the illusion was made by truth. So they still make the error of attempting to bring legitimacy to the illusion rather than giving it up. You cannot hope to break the cycle of birth and death as long as you maintain this confusion. The unconscious mind goes to such lengths to avoid God that you will either ignore Him, or even more likely you will attempt to devolve non-dualism into dualism.


Pure non-dualism

DU p 39
J was neither judgmental nor a reactionary, and our brief outline of non-dualism should have given you the idea that he would not be willing to compromise on this logic: if nothing is outside of your mind, then to judge it is to grant it power over you, and to no judge it is to withdraw its power over you. This certainly contributes to the end of your suffering. But our brother J didn't stop there.

Pure non-dualism recognizes the authority of God so completely that it relinquishes all psychological attachment to anything that is not God. This attitude also recognizes what some people have called the 'like from like' principle, which says that anything coming from God must be like Him. Pure non-dualism is not willing to compromise on this principle either. Rather, it says that anything that comes from God must be exactly like Him. God could not create anything that is not perfect or else He wouldn't be perfect. The logic of that is flawless. If God is perfect and eternal, then by definition anything He creates would also have to be perfect and eternal.

Since there is obviously nothing in this world that is perfect and eternal, J was able to see the world for what it was - nothing. But he also knew that it appeared for a reason, and that it was a trick to keep people away from the truth of God and His Kingdom.

DU p 41
J's Love, like God's was total, impersonal, non-selective and all-embracing. He treated everyone equally, from rabbi to prostitute. He was not a body. He was no longer a human being. He had reclaimed his place with God as pure spirit. This is pure non-dualism, an attitude that, along with the Holy Spirit, will lead you to what you are. You and J are the same thing. We all are. There is nothing else.

DU p 41
Gary asks, 'I've been taught that I'm a co-creator with God. Is that true? Arten responds, 'Not on this level. The only place where you are really a co-creator with God is in Heaven, where you would not be aware of being any different from Him or in any way separate from Him. So then how could you not be a co-creator with Him? But there is a way here on earth to practice the thought system of the Holy Spirit like J did, which reflect the laws of Heaven, and that is your way home.

DU p 41 & 42
If God is perfect Love, then He is not anything else, and neither are you. You are, in fact, the Love of God, and your real life is with Him. Like J, you will come to know and experience that God is not outside of you. You will no longer identify yourself with a vulnerable body or anything else that can be limited, and a body is anything that has borders or limits. You will learn instead of your true reality as pure spirit that is invulnerable forever.

DU p 128
The Course in purely non-dualistic, meaning that of the two seeming worlds, the world of God and the world of man, only the world of God is true and He doesn't interact with the false world - but the Holy Spirit is here to guide you home.

YIR p 43
It’s imperative that you stick to the message of the Course. Don’t compromise on it. A Course in Miracles is purely non-dualistic. We don’t want the same thing to happen to the message of the Course that happened to J’s message 2,000 years ago. That’s one of the main reasons we’re back: to help keep people focused.


God Is....and nothing else is

Great weekend with Gary and Cindy here in Ashland, Oregon

Here's a write-up I did per Gary's request that I posted on The Disappearance of the Universe Yahoo group the other day.

What a glorious weekend we all had with Gary and Cindy here in Ashland, Oregon. This was the third straight year that Gary came to do a workshop here, and the first time Cindy came with him. Big thank you to Bruce Rawles for taking the initiative in getting the Gar-man and Cindy here, and Ed Karlovich for arranging the facilities.

So, here's the 'PG' version of our weekend with Gary and Cindy.

Gary and Cindy arrived here in Ashland on Friday afternoon with Bruce picking them up from the airport. Our buddy, Jonathan Joshua, made reservations for dinner at the Taj Indian Cuisine in downtown Ashland for that evening where we - Gary, Cindy, Bruce, Ed, Jonathan, Bridgit T, Kim O, and I - enjoyed great food and laughs, as well as entertainment in the form of one of Gary's all time favorite guilty, or not so guilty, pleasures - belly dancing. After we were done, we walked around the corner to an outdoor facility to be near the creek, hang out, laugh, and have drinks. I had my homemade "Gary" cards with me that we use in our Wednesday evening Course group, so we each picked one out to read aloud.

On Saturday, another great presentation from Gary - consistent and right on the money, as usual. In the early portion of the workshop, Cindy sang a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace. Cindy and Gary later performed two songs together,including Simon and Garfunkel's Sound of Silence. During the workshop, Gary had us do a forgiveness thought process for about five to ten minutes where we all get up and walk around the room, look into a person's eyes (trying to get to as many people as possible) and silently say, 'You are Spirit. Whole and Innocent. All is forgiven and released.' This exercise moved some people to tears. For me, it's old hat so it didn't have that kind of impact on me, but I'm certain J did his part in removing more unconscious guilt from my mind. Yay!

At the end of the workshop, Gary thanked us - Roberta, Bruce, Ed, Jonathan, and myself for our friendship and support. And at that time, Gary put a plug in for The Disappearance of the Universe Yahoo group and mentioned the 'Quote of the Day' I post on here. Afterwards, I was interviewed by a man who runs a metaphysical/new age publication in Seattle. He asked me questions about Gary's books and my experiences with applying the material. Bruce, Cindy, and Gary were also interviewed.

Many people from our local Course groups here in the Rogue Valley were in attendance for Saturday's workshop, and we also had people coming in from Seattle, Sacramento, San Francisco, Reno, and even one person came all the way from Madison, Wisconsin. My mom and step-dad (my west coast dad) came in from Klamath Falls, OR to attend the gig but did not stick around for any of the extra curricular activities - which I gave my mom a little bit of crap for the next day but then I remembered to forgive it. : )

The workshop was followed by Gary's usual book signing, and then a potluck at 6pm, at which time we had a pleasant surprise when Gary's booking agent, Jan Cook, arrived. She was on the mainland with a couple of friends and happened to be passing through town on the same day Gary was doing his workshop. After the potluck, about ten of us headed to the Ashland downtown plaza, to hang out by the creek for more food and beverage. As it got later, some of us went upstairs for some live music, where we had a great time hanging out with lots of laughing and some dancing. We didn't leave until after 1am.

I also spent a short part of the day on Sunday with Gary, Cindy, and Gary's website designer, Roberta Grace and her partner, Robert, who live in nearby Medford, wandering around the downtown area of Ashland which included a stroll through Lithia Park. The Shakespeare festival runs here in Ashland from late winter to mid-fall, we didn't go to a play but we did take a brief tour of an empty theater. Also, we walked into several shops along the downtown strip, including a metaphysical book store, Sound Peace. I amusingly asked the cashier if they carried Gary's books as he was just standing a few feet away from me. It was obvious she didn't know who he was, but at least they did carry his books as well as his Fearless Love CD.

Anyway, this weekend really had the feeling of that of a family reunion. The ironic thing for me was that I have a cousin by the same first and last name as me back in Massachusetts, who was getting married at the same exact time as the start of the workshop, (10am PDT/1pm EDT.) My dad is one of eleven children so I have aunts, uncles, and cousins up the yin-yang; they're my relatives but they have never felt like family to me. When I was in my 20s, I used to say to myself, 'When is my real family going to show up in my life?' By real family I mean people that I can actually talk to without having to see a 'What the hell are you talking about?' look on their face. People I can freely speak my mind to without it being objectionable or offensive. Nothing against my relatives, but they just never felt like family to me; they just aren't 'my people.'

Well, it wasn't until I started forgiving my 'fake family' in the form of guided meditations that undid unconscious guilt in my mind, that I was guided to leave the east coast, and as I continue to practice true forgiveness as described in Gary's books, I feel more and more removed from my relatives, while connecting more and more with my spiritual family. It's a wonderful feeling, and this weekend was full of symbols representing that. Had I not been doing this work for the last seven plus years, I would have been at a wedding this past weekend with my fake family still asking myself, 'When is my real family going to show up in my life?' Thank you Gary and Cindy for making your way here to Southern Oregon and getting us all together for a splendid, fun-filled weekend.
Much Love, Mikey


Oh, and here are five short You Tube clips from the weekend
Clip #1
Clip #2
Clip #3
Clip #4
Clip #5


And you can click here for pictures.

My Salvation Comes Frome Me, and I Need Do Nothing

My salvation comes from me. (W Lesson-70:1-2)
All temptation is nothing more than some form of the basic temptation not to believe the idea for today. Salvation seems to come from anywhere except from you. So, too, does the source of guilt. You see neither guilt nor salvation as in your own mind and nowhere else. When you realize that all guilt is solely an invention of your mind, you also realize that guilt and salvation must be in the same place. In understanding this you are saved.

The seeming cost of accepting today's idea is this: It means that nothing outside yourself can save you; nothing outside yourself can give you peace. But it also means that nothing outside yourself can hurt you, or disturb your peace or upset you in any way. This idea places you in charge of the universe, where you belong (not in the universe) because of what you are. This is not a role that can be partially accepted. And you must surely begin to see that accepting it is salvation.

ACIM T-2:V:5:1
The sole responsibility of the miracle worker is to accept the Atonement for himself.

Mikey's Note: So, by accepting your sole responsibility, that's where your salvation lies. Now there is a line in the Course that says, 'I need do nothing.' (ACIM T-18:VII:5:7) Well, it's true on the level of the world you need do nothing, because the Course is not a religion so it's not about your behavior, and it's not about what you do in the world. What you do in the world, regardless of what it is, doesn't matter. On the level of the mind, however, you do have to make that choice to accept the Atonement for yourself, that's why J says that your salvation comes from you.

So, how do you accept the Atonement for yourself? Well, you apply forgiveness on whatever comes up in front of your face on any given day. Keeping in mind, you are not forgiving people, circumstances, and events for what you think they've done, you are forgiving them because you made it all up; it's a projection that is coming from you, not something that is coming at you.

As J says in the Workbook, 'What is forgiveness? Forgiveness recognizes what you thought your brother did to you has not occurred. It does not pardon sins and make them real. It sees there was no sin. And in that view are all your sins forgiven.' (W:1:1) As Pursah would say, 'I might add in only in that view are all your sins forgiven. (YIR p 102)

So from that point of view, you are coming from a position of strength, being at cause, rather than from a position of weakness, being at the mercy of the effect. There's no power in making yourself out to be a victim. As J says in the Course, 'Beware of the temptation to perceive yourself unfairly treated.' (ACIM T-26:X:4:1) And as Pursah puts it, ' …nobody can really take the peace of God away from you except by your own decision. (DU p 169) There are no victims in this world! As J states in the Course, 'I am not the victim of the world I see.' (ACIM W- Lesson:31 Title)

No one or no thing can give you salvation. As Gary would say, ‘There is no such thing as vicarious salvation.’ So, everyone has to do their own forgiveness work in order to become a master. As J says, ‘In this world you need not have tribulation because I have overcome the world. That is why you should be of good cheer.’ (ACIM T-4:I:13:10-11) In other words, J wasn’t claiming to be special, so He’s saying we can do what He did too: forgive the world and be free. But as He also says, '.....it requires patience and abundant willingness.' (ACIM M-17:8:4)

DU p 234
What you do is a result of what you think. That doesn't mean you're always going to behave perfectly. When the Course talks about a teacher of God becoming perfect here, it is referring to perfect forgiveness, not perfect behavior.

Mikey's Note: At the same time, we're all going to be doing something while we appear to be here. But your salvation is not dependent on what you do in the world; it's where you’re coming from while you’re doing it that matters.

As Pursah says, '...you can still live a relatively normal earthly existence and be awakened slowly and gently from your dream.' (DU p 111) Gary says, 'Don't be weird.' Well, too late for me, but that's another story. But what I mean is, always remember that the Course has nothing against using common sense and discernment.

DU p 218
Forgiveness has to do with what you think. What you do isn't the important thing, even though it is a result of what you think. It's what you think that will either keep you dreaming or help get you home, not what you do.

YIR p 102
So what does forgiveness do, then? ‘The miracle (forgiveness) does nothing. All it does is undo.’ (ACIM T-28:I:1:1-2) ‘Salvation is undoing.’ (ACIM T-31:VI:2:1) And when the ego is undone, the truth will be all that’s left.



God Is....and nothing else is

Definitive Statements

In A Course in Miracles, Jesus speaks to us at two different levels - the level of world, and at the level of absolute truth. If he spoke to us just on the level of absolute truth we wouldn't get very far, so he has to speak to us where we think we are - which is in the world. So, there’s a lot of metaphor going on in the Course, and I have seen many Course students quote metaphorical lines from the Course out of context, thinking that it's a literal statement and use it to support what they think Jesus is teaching, without really having a clue as to what should be taken literally, and what should be taken as metaphor. That's to be expected. That's why I always suggest to people when they ask me about the Course to read The Disappearance of the Universe, and not just once. Arten and Pursah spell it out so clearly and so bluntly that there's no getting away from it.

Arten and Pursah make it very clear as to what should be taken literally, and what should be taken as metaphor:

DU92
The parts of the Course that express non-duality should be taken literally, but the parts of it that seem to express duality should be taken as metaphor. There is no conflict in that, but without getting it, you’ll incorrectly think the Course is contradicting itself. In the end, everything except for God is metaphor.

DU92
Everybody is trying to find and express their truth. Their so-called truth is actually designed to keep them stuck where they are. What J is teaching in his Course is that the truth is not different for everyone. It is not relative. He's saying the truth is the truth whether you understand and agree with it or not. The truth is not subject to your interpretation, and neither is his Course. He's the Teacher, and you're the student. If that's not the case, then why do the Course?


The Course in a nutshell from Arten and Pursah:

YIR198 & 199
Don’t be discouraged by those who borrow from the Course instead of teaching it. There are even people who teach the Course exclusively who fail to understand it. They’ll think that the Course is open to their interpretation. Yet if it were, it would be useless. What makes the Course unique is that what it says is not open to interpretation. It says there is no world and only God is real. The way to awaken from the dream of death is through total, uncompromising forgiveness of people because they haven’t really done anything, which is how to forgive yourself. Any other interpretation is folly.

YIR73
The mind will go to such lengths to avoid what the Course is saying and delay the clarification of it that people will read the Text and interpret it, usually incorrectly. They’ll ignore the definitive statements of the Course, and start nitpicking and focusing on individual words or phrases that, when taken out of context, seem to support their interpretation. Yet everything the Course says must be put within the context of the Course’s larger teaching, which shows up unmistakably in those definitive statements.


These statements from the Course express the absolute truth and are exactly what the Course is teaching, therefore, they should be taken literally. Whether Course students are ready to accept them or not is another story - but that's between them and the Holy Spirit.

W-Lesson 256:1:1-2
The way to God is through forgiveness here. There is no other way.

T-2:V:5:1
The sole responsibility of the miracle worker is to accept the Atonement for himself.

T-31:VI:2:1
Salvation is undoing.

T-27:VIII:10:1
The secret of salvation is but this: That you are doing this unto yourself.

T-1:VI:1:1
You who want peace can find it only by complete forgiveness.

T-6:10:7
The full awareness of the Atonement, then, is the recognition that the separation never occurred.

W-1:1-4
Forgiveness recognizes what you thought your brother did to you has not occurred. It does not pardon sins and make them real. It sees there was no sin. And in that view are all your sins forgiven.

W-Lesson 46:1-2
God does not forgive because He has never condemned. And there must be condemnation before forgiveness is necessary. Forgiveness is the great need of this world, but that is because it is a world of illusions. Those who forgive are thus releasing themselves from illusions, while those who withhold forgiveness are binding themselves to them. As you condemn only yourself, so do you forgive only yourself.

Yet although God does not forgive, His Love is nevertheless the basis of forgiveness. Fear condemns and love forgives. Forgiveness thus undoes what fear has produced, returning the mind to the awareness of God. For this reason, forgiveness can truly be called salvation. It is the means by which illusions disappear.

W-Review VI:Intro:3:3-5
I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.

T-18:VII:3:1
At no single instant does the body exist at all.

W-Lesson 92:2:1-4
You believe the body’s brain can think. If you but understood the nature of thought, you could but laugh at this insane idea. It is as if you thought you held the match that lights the sun and gives it all its warmth; or that you held the world within your hand, securely bound until you let it go. Yet this is no more foolish to believe the brain can think.

T-23:IV:1:10-11
What is not love is murder. What is not loving must be an attack.

T-30:VI:1:1
Anger is never justified.

CL-4:1:1-5
The world you see is an illusion of a world. God did not create it, for what He creates must be eternal as Himself. Yet there is nothing in the world you see that will endure forever. Some things will last in time a little while longer than others. But the time will come when all things visible will have an end.

T-13:Intro:3:1-2
If this were the real world, God would be cruel. For no Father could subject His children to this as the price of salvation and be loving.

T-13:VII:17:6-7
You dwell not here but in eternity. You travel but in dreams while safe at home.

W-Lesson 182:1:1-2
This world you seem to live is not home to you. And somewhere in your mind you know that this is true.

W-Lesson 132:6:2-5 & 7:1-2
There is no world! This is the central thought the course attempts to teach. Not everyone is ready to accept it, and each one must go as far as he can let himself be led along the road to truth. He will return and go still farther, or perhaps step back a while and then return again.’

But healing is the gift of those who are prepared to learn there is no world, and can accept the lesson now. Their readiness will bring the lesson to them in some form which they can understand and recognize.

T-15:IV:6:1-2
The reason this course is simple is that truth is simple. Complexity is of the ego, and is nothing more than the ego’s attempt to obscure the obvious.


God Is....and nothing else is

Special Update from Mikey

Hi Folks,

Just wanted to give an update about things. First, Gary Renard's highly anticipated 3rd book, Love Has Forgotten No One - The Answer to Life, still has no official release date. Gary has made no secret in his newsletters and workshops that the release of this book has been delayed for several reasons. Gary, along with Cindy, will be here in Ashland, Oregon on July 17th so perhaps he'll have an update for us then.

But everything you really need is in the first two books; I highly recommend to people to read them more than once. I've read The Disappearance of the Universe twelve times, and Your Immoral Reality nine times in the last three years, and I have a friend of my mine on the east coast who has read the books twenty-two and fifteen times, respectively - no such thing as too much repetition. If you're not perfect at practicing forgiveness then you can't hear these ideas enough times. But at the same time, there are some fun things that will be covered in the 3rd book, so I am looking forward to it, nevertheless. In a previous post on my blog, I listed the chapter titles for the 3rd book, here's a link to that post:
Meeting Gary Renard - Gary visits the Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon

In the meantime, I've also been working on a book of my own. I post the 'Quote of the Day' over on The Disappearance of the Universe Yahoo Group. My book will consists of these quotes, along with some of my own commentary, as well as a section in the book about my spiritual path leading me to Gary's books and A Course in Miracles, and I've got some other cool stuff going on in it too - it's gonna kick ass! It's not too far away from being completed, and I plan to have it in print later this year. I do have a title for it but am not ready to announce that just yet. Stay tuned!


'Congratulations to the person who has forgiven and has found life.'
~ Pursah's Gospel of Thomas, saying #58 from Your Immortal Reality

The Hidden Hatred in the Subconscious Mind

Quotes from The Disappearance of the Universe, Your Immortal Reality, and A Course in Miracles in regards to the hidden hatred below the surface of the mind.

DU p 16
There’s a big problem holding people back that the popular New Age authors didn’t tell them about. Perhaps the most overlooked error of all religions and philosophies, including the New Age models, is the failure to understand that although doing things like thinking positively, being "in the now," saying prayers, affirmations, denying negative thoughts, and listening to famous speakers may have a temporarily helpful impact, they cannot release that which is locked in the deep canyons of your unconscious mind.

YIR p 64
People think it’s the beliefs that they have in their conscious mind that runs them, and that they can control their mind by changing their thoughts from negative to positive ones. That’s not true when it comes to the big picture. It will only have a temporarily helpful impact. What really runs us are the beliefs we have that are unconscious to us, the things we can’t see. A Course in Miracles presents a way to actually heal and remove the things that are hidden in the deep canyons of the unconscious mind. Very few spiritual teachings do anything on that level.

YIR p 80
Given that the Course is the only teaching that not only addresses but completely explains the issue of unconscious guilt, it shows you how vital it is to make this teaching more available to people. Right now most of the people who teach the Course don't even understand it. And the ones who quote from it without teaching it certainly don't understand it. They take lines from it out of context to support what they're teaching. But what the Course is teaching is that you can undo the ego that's in your mind, have the Holy Spirit heal all of your unconscious guilt, and be free. The fastest way to do that is to change the way you look at other people, events, and situations. It also teaches you how to do that. But the most important part of the Course isn’t what it means. The most important part of doing the Course is applying it into your everyday life.

DU p 159 & 160
The Course wants to help people realize what's in their unconscious - so they can get rid of it. Most people, especially nice, spiritual people, don't know about the murderous thought system that runs this universe, or the hatred that's underneath the surface of their mind. Nor do most of them want to know. Most people just want everything to be hunky-dory. You can't blame them for wanting peace, but real peace is found by undoing the ego, not by covering it over.

DU p 159
Your real life is in Heaven, but you can also achieve peace and joy during your temporary life here. Those are your motivations for quitting grievances. Sometimes those motivations won't seem like enough. What's going to happen is that when you try to forgive, sometimes you'll be able to. Yet if you're really trying to do the Course, then just as often you're going to come up against a lot of things that you don't want to forgive and you don't want to give up. That's how your resistance and your hidden, unconscious hatred shows up. Those are the things you're going to have to look at that you don't want to look at.

ACIM T p 202 (11:V:1:1)
No one can escape from illusions unless he looks at them, for not looking is the way they are protected.

ACIM T p 499 (24:Intro:2:1)
To learn this course requires willingness to question every value that you hold.

DU p 248
Any kind of an upset, from a mild discomfort to outright anger, is a warning sign. It tells you that your hidden guilt is rising up from the recesses of your unconscious mind and coming to the surface. Think of that discomfort as the guilt that needs to be released by forgiving the symbol you associate with it. The ego is trying to get you to see the guilt as being outside of you by projecting the reason for it onto an illusory image. The ego thought system is trying to put some distance in between yourself and the guilt, and any suitable object or person who comes along will suffice.

DU p 159
The things you won't want to forgive, or even look closely at, are ‘the secret sins and hidden hates’ that the Course talks about, which are really symbolic of how you hate yourself, except you've projected them, so they seem to be outside of you. The way to forgive yourself and help the Holy Spirit take over your unconscious mind is to uncover and observe these things with Him, and keep on forgiving them.

YIR p 215
When your forgiveness lessons are complete, then not one trace of guilt will remain in your unconscious mind. At that point, you will break the cycle of birth and death, and never dream of going into a body again. That is the end of reincarnation.

DU p 225
The Holy Spirit knows your afraid of your unconscious. The purpose of the Course is peace, not to scare the hell out of you. The more prepared you are, and the better you do your forgiveness work, the less scary your journey with the Course will ultimately be.

God Is....and nothing else is