The Disappearance of the Universe – Straight Talk About Illusions, Past Lives, Religion, Sex, Politics and the Miracles of Forgiveness
What would you do if you were sitting quietly in your living room when a mysterious couple appeared from out of nowhere – and then told you they were "ascended masters" who had come to reveal some shocking secrets of existence and teach you the miraculous powers of advanced forgiveness? Would you call the cops? Call a psychiatrist? Call out for pizza?
When two such teachers appeared before Gary Renard in 1992, he chose to listen to them (and ask a lot of impertinent questions). The result is this startling book: an extraordinary record of 17 mind-bending conversations that took place over nearly a decade, reorienting the author's life and giving the world an uncompromising introduction to a spiritual teaching destined to change human history.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Reconciled to God, finally
This is a book for those of you out there who cannot come to grips with both yours and God's existence. Something about the idea that a perfect creator could have created an imperfect world just doesn't jibe with your heart. Or, maybe you concluded along the way that God may or may not exist, but certainly that you must be real, right? But, then you found even this wanting for some further clarification or illumination. Why is the world like it is? None of the explanations satisfy. Certainly not the typical thoughts of Western philosophy coming from the many and varied fundamentalist and New Age teachings. The former being much too judgemental and the latter giving you lots to think about, but not much more. If you are at a place so described as well as in a place in which you don't really even know how much you thirst to be reconciled to Him, then buy, read, and devour your ego with this book. It will be the best read of your life.
5 Stars THE MOST EYE OPENING EXPERIENCE!!!
I FEEL TRULY BLESSED TO HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED TO THIS AMAZING EYE OPENING BOOK. THIS TRULY HAS REMOVED MOST OF THE COLLECTED MANIPULATIVE JUNK THAT HAD BEEN IN MY MIND THROUGHOUT MY ENTIRE LIFE INFLUENCED BY SEVERAL LIMITING TEACHINGS. I FEEL SO TRULY THANKFUL AND BLESSED TO HAVE FOUND THIS BEAUTIFUL MESSAGE NOW… A NEW PERSPECTIVE AND A TRUTH THAT JUST IS! IF YOU FEEL STIRRED UP BY IT, IT IS FOR A REASON — NOW CHALLENGE YOURSELF AND ALLOW YOURSELF TO READ THE ENTIRE BOOK BEFORE MISJUDGING IT — OPEN UP YOUR MIND AND ENJOY THE AWAKENING 
5 Stars In response to Sue's "warning" about the audio CD…
Hi, Sue (and your several friends),
Ouch! Sorry we so disappointed you. Many thousands of listeners think otherwise… but nevertheless, Doreen and I (especially me, apparently) beg your forgiveness. You may also want to warn your friends against listening to the Gary Renard Podcast (at iTunes and Forgiveness.tv), where I'm sure I'll annoy you even more… But perhaps not! One never knows. But forgive me, please, and I send love and good wishes your way (truly).
Peace & Bliss,
Gene Bogart (The Voice of Arten, and "The Annoying Man") 
3 Stars Some was very interesting
I listened to the abridged version on cd. Although I did not take a look at the book, I would recommend you do so before you choose the audio program. Gary Renard has an unpleasant voice as does Doreen Virtue, and the other guy sounds okay, but also sounds like he's amped up on caffeine pills.
The voices of the readers can make it unpleasant to listen to, and some of Gary's potty and beer humor is pretty stupid. The humor seems like an attempt to mix in a little dirt with a subject he may have felt to be too soft and new agey and feminine. I'm guessing. Whatever the reason, it only distracts, although I did laugh at the vagina joke.
There are 6 cd's. Most of the time, the masters are talking to Gary. The first cd is mostly "yeah I know that, get to something interesting" kind of material. The second is more interesting, and the third cd I actually listened to twice, and plan on listening to it once more. It talks about the process of creation and is very interesting and somewhat hard to grasp.
The other cd's are not bad, but are basically telling you to read A Course In Miracles. I don't fully accept the notion that "a part of God broke off" for some odd reason and then we were responsible for the subsequent downfall. It doesn't satisfy me. For me a big problem is why would God even create the possibility of suffering. So far noone has been able to satisfy me with answers to the fall of man and subsequent suffering, and this book was no exception, although it did add some fuel to the fire of my mental firestorm. Okay, bad metaphor.
All in all the material was interesting and inspiring. If better voices were used on the recording, I would give it 4, maybe 5 stars.
1 Star Painfully ridiculous and theologically absurd.
I found this book at a used book sale. After browsing its contents, I bought it out of curiosity and to remove it from circulation. I am an avid reader, and I can't think of anything I've read that even comes close to being as utterly outlandish and theologically warped as this work.
The book is written mostly in a dialogue format, and it recounts how the author was visited by two "ascended masters"–two other-worldly beings that appeared as a human couple (named Pursah and Arten)–who over time instructed him in a religious world view based on teachings contained in a work called "Course in Miracles." (This book contains numerous citations from ACIM and its related textbooks.) Either work could be entitled "The Christian Faith is a Cruel Hoax," since both claim the Bible's contents–particularly the details of Jesus' life and ministry–are unreliable, distorted, fabricated and/or misunderstood. Disappearance's theological errors are extensive, so for space considerations these lists are actually pared down (page numbers in parentheses):
Biblical References That Are Contradicted:
the Bible is mostly false (9, 10, 88, 111)
John the Baptist rather than Jesus said "Love your enemies" (26)
everyone will end up in Heaven (46, 117, 387)
resurrection has nothing to do with a physical body (48, 246, 264)
reincarnation is real (57, 403)
the Virgin Birth didn't happen (65)
humans are "equally God's only begotten Son or Christ" (98, 105, 214, 240, 246, 303)
the central teaching of the New Testament, Jesus' passion and death, was a distortion of Jesus' message (111, 246)
all spiritual paths are the same and ultimately lead to God (117)
Jesus' cross is not a call to sacrifice (246)
sin is not real (260, 303, 336)
Heaven is "not a reward that is bestowed on you by an outside force for good behavior" (264, 277)
Christ's second coming is not a literal, physical return (270)
in Heaven humans will be "exactly like" God (364)
Erroneous Teachings About Jesus:
He was not resurrected in the same body that was crucified (22)
He rejected most of the Old Testament (26)
He did not teach about the existence of hell (26)
His miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes never happened (27)
He did not atone for humanity's sins (28, 246)
He was not sinless (37)
He did not claim a unique relationship with the Father (41)
He didn't say more than 80% of what the NT records Him as saying (54)
the prophecy about His virgin birth was made up (54)
resurrection and physical immortality are "fantasies" (109)
His crucifixion was "nothing" to Him (111)
He is not God the Son in the flesh, He is a creature (123)
the nails that pierced His hands on the cross didn't hurt Him (246)
He didn't really die on the cross (246)
He was married to Mary Magdalene (361)
Disappearance and ACIM both overlook the fact that Jesus promised His guidance to His followers (John 15:26; 16:1), that the Holy Spirit would guide them into truth (John 14:26; 16:13), and that He would always be with them (Matthew 28:20). To say otherwise is to assert that Jesus was a liar or a fool for promising He couldn't deliver and that centuries of biblical scholarship by thousands of researchers studying tens of thousands of manuscripts were all for naught and ended up being entirely misguided. That's preposterous.
But Disappearance's absurdity doesn't end with theology; it is equally appalling when it comes to reality:
Common Sense or Reality That is Contradicted:
humans have no objective existence (34, 111, 246, 385, 388)
existence is entirely non-dualistic (60-61, 266, 390)
the world, physical sickness, and time are illusions (9, 34, 71, 123, 131, 212, 214, 301, 311, 387)
"intelligent humanoid life migrated from Mars to Earth" (342, 376)
death is not real (385, 388)
There is a term for people who deny reality: mental illness. I assume Renard does not suffer from it, so the only other explanation for his book is that he *chooses* to deny what his senses clearly detect. This possibility also requires an explanation.
I have no reason to doubt Renard was visited by someone–but who? Renard did have one moment of clarity, but he dismissed it because Pursah poo-poo'ed the idea: "I have a cousin who's a minister and he'd say you two [Pursah and Arten] are witnesses for Satan, not God" (p. 14). It's not coincidental that the Bible states, "for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light…his ministers also masquerade as ministers of righteousness" (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). Herein, I submit, lies the identity of these "masters" based on three main reasons: (1) they wholly contradict the Bible; (2) they say sin is unreal and humans can save themselves; and (3) Renard frequently engaged in spiritually questionable practices that likely exposed him to demonic influence: he participated in a New Age Harmonic Convergence (p. xv); he had psychic episodes of "little flashes of light out of the corner of [his] eye, or occurring around certain objects" (p. 4) and "mystical images" of previous lives (p. 57); he practiced meditation (presumably Eastern) (p. 4); he practiced est (p. 15); he read the New Age _Out on a Limb_ (p. 180); and he experienced astral projection (p. 299). It seems he made himself ripe for spiritual deception.
I have many more critical observations about this book, but space is limited. At least the author can claim being deceived by demons disguised as angels. What explanation do other people have for choosing to deny reality and the Christian faith merely by reading this book?! Mostly 5-star reviews? That's deeply troubling. Let the sane reader beware! This book is proof positive of the toxic effects of irrational thought and the profoundly disturbing choice to be uncritical of the paranormal.
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- The End of Your World Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment
- Get Out of That Pit – Straight Talk about Gods Deliverance
- Many Lives, Many Masters – The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient and the Past Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives
- Past Lives, Dreams and Soul Travel
- Sacred and Secular Religion and Politics Worldwide Cambridge Studies in Social Theory Religion and Politics
- Speaking of Faith – Why Religion Matters and How to Talk About It
- Religious News Verses: Jesus Gets Jury Duty, Religion in Politics and God's Holy Gals
- Murder by Family – The Incredible True Story of a Sons Treachery and a Fathers Forgiveness
- Illusions – The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah
- The Great Derangement – A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics and Religion
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