Gary Renard's Disappearance of the Universe - Background

Spirituality, reincarnation, the meaning of life, God, “we are all energy”, “let spirit guide you”.   I have attended numerous seminars and workshops attempting to discuss or educate people on some of these ideas.  Too often the moderator falls back on “we are all One” or “trust in God” to explain tricky spiritual debates, or the presenter is wearing 30 crystals and playing new-agey synthesizers in the background.  There is nothing wrong with doing this and it doesn’t bother me.  But a large portion of the population gets immediately turned off by this approach.  I have become a huge fan of Gary Renard’s teachings on the nature of reality and spirituality because he presents the ideas in a down-to-earth, matter-of-fact manner, without any pretense of ego.  Gary Renard does not claim to be a master that is graciously providing his time so lesser beings can learn/worship from him.  Finally there is a person that can explain intricate concepts of God, how to evolve, and doesn’t shy away from any debates, concerns, or pointed questions about God, afterlife, or what we are here on Earth to do.

I remember a trip to a Boulder, Colorado bookstore where I first discovered Gary Renard’s work.  I was having a computerized astrology chart generated, which was a pretty lame process by the way, and I kept getting drawn to his first book, The Disappearance of the Universe: Straight Talk About Illusions, Past Lives, Religion, Sex, Politics, and the Miracles of Forgiveness, on the book rack and thumbing through it.  No matter where I flipped to in the book, I stood entranced by what I was reading.  Somewhere in my scanning I found out the author lived in Maine, any other hesitations about buying the book faded once I found out the author was a fellow Mainer, I added this book to my stack of items I was purchasing.

Gary Renard has written two very popular books, The Disappearance of the Universe and Your Immortal Reality: How to Break the Cycle of Birth and Death.  The books are meant as companions to understanding The Course in Miracles.  The Course in Miracles consists of 1300 pages of material channeled by Jesus on what his teachings meant, how to view reality, the real meaning of the crucifixion, and so many other things I can’t being to tell them all in a blog post.  Now, I realize the statement “channeled by Jesus” is going to be interpreted wildly differently by everyone.  On one end of the perception spectrum, people with exposure to metaphysical teachings might read that statement without skipping a beat.  At the other end, Verne in Maine who still can’t believe I won’t eat chicken anymore will probably say “Desgrosseilliers you have lost your mind!” and then write a story about this on our fantasy football site!  When I am reading something, and this is especially important when it is a new or esoteric concept such as metaphysics and perception of reality, I suspend judgment and take the author’s side during the reading.  Simultaneously I keep tabs on how I am feeling while I read it.  I find this approach allows me to assimilate the information easier when the inner judge/critic is not constantly evaluating every statement.  But when feelings of “this is total horseshit” rise up inside of me, I hopefully will take notice and quit wasting my time on the book.

With Gary Renard’s The Disappearance of the Universe, I read the material and felt like it was the answer to a number of questions and concerns I had with organized religion.  Keep in mind this is my opinion and belief.  You are expected and welcome to have your own, and if your religion or church has made your life a joy, great for you.  It’s not my bag though, because too many things bug me about it.  For instance:

• Original Sin – This seems beyond retarded to me.  How have I committed a sin by being born?
• God on a throne in a white beard casting judgment – Let me get this straight.  God creates the world, and then spends his time nitpicking over whether I have said enough Hail Marys because I dropped an F-bomb when the Red Sox blew another lead?  I just don’t see how that is possible or how He would care to waste his time over something so trivial.
• Attending church to talk to/commune with God/Jesus – I have always felt I should be able to communicate with God or Jesus without going to a designated holy area such as a church sitting on a hard bench.
• Guilt – Why do I have to always feel guilty?  Feeling guilty sucks.  I don’t want to feel guilty because I had a few beers, made a few bets, and spent some time with a lady.  In my heart I feel God wants us to feel in love and joy all the time.

Gary deals with these issues in his books in a way that left me awestruck.  The answers seemed perfectly logical, but more importantly, when I read them, I felt like they are the answers that make the most sense to me about the world and God.  If you haven’t found your religion/creed/sense of the world that makes you feel at peace, give Gary Renard’s books a chance.  I will expand on his explanations of A Course in Miracles concepts in my next post.