The Lifetimes When Jesus and Buddha Knew Each Other

Gary's 4th book is an outstanding complement to his other 3 books for those who have had enjoyed them, and an excellent stand-alone work for those who haven't yet had the pleasure of reading them or are new to A Course in Miracles. I enjoyed the entire book immensely and recommend it without hesitation to any earnest student of the pure non-dual metaphysics of ACIM, and/or to those wanting to gain deeper insights into two lives that have had such a profound influence on both Western and Eastern thought for millennia. I particularly enjoyed the 'backstory' context of the intertwining lives of these beloved representatives of our truest nature, and how their very relatable and accessible progress through a half dozen lifetimes gives us all an opportunity to be unceasingly compassionate with ourselves and each other as we learn our forgiveness lessons – and unlearn ego's insanely silly distortions and misperceptions. Packed with the same superb humor, rigor, context, and content as his other books, the book is a thoroughly fun and engaging read while delivering a hefty payload of spiritual insight. Even the author's note was substantial enough to take several weeks reading aloud with Lyn Johnson on our weekly Saturday morning PalTalk program on ACIM Gather, because each paragraph sparked so many interesting and relevant conversations, all contributing to our mindful practice of seeing All of Spirit in every seeming part. I'm enjoying the second reading even more than the first, and am sure I will be re-reading again numerous times again. Kudos, Gary, Arten and Pursah and many thanks! :-) – Bruce Rawles, author of ACIMblog.com and The Geometry Code: Universal Symbolic Mirrors of Natural Laws Within Us; Friendly Reminders of Inclusion to Forgive the Dreamer of Separation

Such a pleasure knowing these two masters shared several lifetimes together. Augments my perspective on life and living.
My hope is that everyone has the opportunity to read this book and others by Gary Renard.

Gary, I am just so grateful. The "inform"-ation is all well and good. Any time I can be in"formed" differently than I was a minute ago, it's a good thing. Keeps me off my rocker. But the glory of this book is how it propelled me into the experience of The Oneness. Can't be described. Every time there was an "opinion" I wanted to espouse that's different than yours, I now laugh. Hey, none of it is true. Another True Forgiveness opportunity. And I'm getting to know that your humor is exactly the potion to knock me off my very well-defined, know-it-all perch. I'm Jesus; I'm Buddah. Enjoying the experience. I love my antics in my myriad attempts to bust out of this place that is not home to us. Thank you!

Why not? Undoubtedly there will be the nay-sayers, but in the final analysis, both Buddha and Jesus taught of the equality, unity, and oneness of love and compassion for all, without any exception. True, Jesus represented this as the "Love of the Father," and Buddha represented it as the compassion found at the end of all illusion and desire. Why not?

It might seem redundant after reading the other reviews but I am another of the many that proclaim Gary Renard and his books have changed my life. I am so grateful for his work and had to share in the chorus singing our appreciation. I looked forward to this book from the time it was announced and now, after reading it, can validate my enthusiasm was justified. While he continues to be relentlessly uncompromising with his lessons of non-dualism, this book adds even more depth and history that validates ACIM. Thank you Gary!

The author did an amazing job of defining forgiveness and clarifing the exact process of forgiveness laid out in A Course in Miracles. The whole concept appears more achievable after reading this book. Written with a light hand, it makes living the Course seem easier to do.

As with all Gary's books, the message is centered around the principles of A Course In Miracles and Arten and Pursah guide Gary and the readers to greater understanding of how to apply the teachings. Learning of two of our greatest teachers, Jesus and Buddha and their paths is a wonderful way to realize our own challenges with forgiveness are achievable with the Holy Spirit's help.

Like Gary's other books this one keeps you thinking about what is real and what is not real; what is important and what is not important.
His books are unpretentious and very readable.

As always, he provides a great introduction to the Course in Miracles.

My wife and I laughed at a paragraph where he seemed to be worried about what his cat thought about him.
That sounds like the ego mind in action.

A good book.

Loved everything in the book. Somehow I intuitively knew J and B were of like mind. Thank you Gary for your perseverance! My favorite chapter is chapter 8, J Channeled, 1965-1977: This Time the Truth Will Not Be Buried. Yay!

Consistent with the pure non-dualistic system of thought. This book has brought even more clarity to the teachings of ACIM. After All, understanding the ineffable nature of our own being is difficult to remember in this world of dreams. We need teachers like Gary to light our path.

It appears that this author has been around for a while, and has published quite a bit. However, too much of what he conveys within this text seems contradictory to what so many others have taught through channeled dictation. There is good stuff in here, but it’s interlaced with questionable and contradictory information. Struggling with this one; just doesn’t resonate as pure with me.

Please read Lesson 135 in the Course and then turn to page 51 in Gary's book. I'll quote, "Harish and Padmaj didn't live long lives. Their determination to not make the world or their bodies real caused them to neglect taking care of their own bodies, which is a typical mistake that spiritual students make. This is level confusion. Just because the world isn't real, it doesn't mean you don't live as though you're in it; and just because your body isn't real, it doesn't mean you don't take the necessary steps to keep it healthy. You wouldn't not put oil in your car. If you didn't, it would break down. Well, until you're a master on the level of J and B and know how to use the power of your mind to overcome the world entirely, your body will break down if you don't give it what it needs. Our friends didn't eat well. They also didn't usually have good water to drink, which was part of the ego's screeplay. They both lived to be around 27 years old."

Gary is suggesting that the body has "needs." He compares the human body to a car, a non-living mechanical device. He suggests that until you are a master on the level of J and B, you shouldn't even dream of not allowing the body to be your master, telling you what its needs are, you the slave dutifully filling these "needs," so as to prolong your human experience of life on Earth. Is this the nondualism he is so proud to profess?

A Course in Miracles emphasizes two things. First, mind training. And secondly, that you can not be your own guide and find your own way out. You need to follow the inner guidance of the Holy Spirit, which will be unique for you. This inner guidance pertains to things like food and medicine. The Holy Spirit does not want to scare you to death by asking you to relinquish all of your unconscious false beliefs all at once. It is a step by step process. Until you are ready to live without food and water (which is indeed possible for a human being), the Holy Spirit will give you instructions that are specific for you as to how to care for yourself. Meanwhile, mind training is very important. Comparing yourself to a mechanical object and saying, "You wouldn't not put oil in your car" is not good mind training. A better analogy would be to discuss free energy devices which have been invented but have been supressed. But "free energy" is not the lesson Gary is teaching here. He's teaching enslavement to the body.

I do believe that Gary really was once "doubting Thomas." And I do believe that Arten and Pursah have indeed materialized for him to be his teachers. Notice that doubting Thomas needed physical proof of Christ's resurrection, while Gary has been granted the physical proof of the Holy Spirit's guidance not in a quiet inner voice but in materialized "ascended masters." This speaks of someone enslaved by physical world. Perhaps Gary is attempting to teach what he needs most to learn.

Here is a quote from Lesson 135: Let us consider first what you defend. It must be something that is very weak and easily assaulted. It must be something made easy prey, unable to protect itself and needing your defense. What but the body has such frailty that constant care and watchful, deep concern are needful to protect its little life? What but the body falters and must fail to serve the Son of God as worthy host?

Yet it is not the body that can fear, nor be a thing of fear. It has no needs but those which you assign to it. It needs no complicated structures of defense, no health-inducing medicine, no care and no concern at all. Defend its life, or give it gifts to make it beautiful or walls to make it safe, and you but say your home is open to the thief of time, corruptible and crumbling, so unsafe it must be guarded with your very life.

Is not this picture fearful? Can you be at peace with such a concept of your home? Yet what endowed the body with the right to serve you thus except your own belief? It is your mind which gave the body all the functions that you see in it, and set its value far beyond a little pile of dust and water. Who would make defense of something that he recognized as this?

The body is in need of no defense. This cannot be too often emphasized. It will be strong and healthy if the mind does not abuse it by assigning it to roles it cannot fill, to purposes beyond its scope, and to exalted aims which it cannot accomplish. Such attempts, ridiculous yet deeply cherished, are the sources for the many mad attacks you make upon it. For it seems to fail your hopes, your needs, your values and your dreams.

The “self” that needs protection is not real. The body, valueless and hardly worth the least defense, need merely be perceived as quite apart from you, and it becomes a healthy, serviceable instrument through which the mind can operate until its usefulness is over. Who would want to keep it when its usefulness is done?

Defend the body and you have attacked your 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. You will not see the mind as separate from bodily conditions. And you will impose upon the body all the pain that comes from the conception of the mind as limited and fragile, and apart from other minds and separate from its Source.

These are the thoughts in need of healing, and the body will respond with health when they have been corrected and replaced with truth. This is the body’s only real defense. Yet is this where you look for its defense? You offer it protection of a kind from which it gains no benefit at all, but merely adds to your distress of mind. You do not heal, but merely take away the hope of healing, for you fail to see where hope must lie if it be meaningful.

 Where to even begin with this review? This book is all over the place and filled with distracting shiny junk food for the mind. It goes from Gary's usual dogmatic fundamentalist language of how only he and maybe a handful of others are the only ones actually teaching the course, to criticizing other teachers and other books. Actually, this is par for the course (no pun intended) because Gary has been attempting to set himself up as the premiere teacher of the course and the course as the premiere spiritual path for years. 

   The book then veers off into cheap 1950's sci fi and once again talk about the "wisdom" of the Nordic looking Pleiadian aliens. Mary Magdalene, or since Gary's "ascended masters" love to abbreviate everyone's name (Jesus is J and The Buddha is B) to a letter, I'll call her M&M, is mind travelling across Europe after J's crucifixion.

   Then apparently we're teleported to Alex Jones' "Info-Wars" home page for a healthy dose of government conspiracy theories. For instance:  Gary's "ascended masters"  have already brought up the 9/11 conspiracy. This time they double down on it and state that the people in the supposed airplanes that hit the Twin Towers, either were given a lot of hush money and put into witness protection or were killed if they did not cooperate. 

   All the while a tale is spun about how J and B reincarnated into all of these lives where they were conveniently students of persons such as Lao Tzu and Plato, before becoming the spiritual masters that they are known as today. Oh, by the way, did you know that Gary is friends with Helen Schucman's reincarnated self? Of course he is. 

  This book will cater to Gary's die hard fans who will believe anything he says and who want to believe this poorly written story where the "wisdom" of these 2 wise cracking "ascended masters", where the characters of this book involved runs about as deep as a Wikipedia page. Just to give an example at the level of sophistication of this book, at one point I am told that dolphins have to come up for air every once in a while because they are mammals. Does Gary think his target audience are five year olds?  I cannot imagine anyone taking what is written in this book seriously, unless they have not read anything beyond Hay House. 

  Gary starts the book off with his usual form in the preface, almost to a cut and paste with his explanation that that a layman like himself couldn't have possibly written this book without the help of his "ascended masters". Considering that a lot of this book is filler with personal anecdotal stories and very lengthy passages from the course and a very lengthy critical review of a book, along with conspiracy theories peppered in with Gary's rather superficial story, I have no doubt that Gary is fully capable of writing this book, and believe he has done so. There is also a lot of re hashed material from his previous books, so I wouldn't consider this actually writing.

  Gary then states to the reader that he doesn't care what the reader thinks in reference to believing in Arten and Pursah. I'll agree on that statement. Gary doesn't seem to care at all what people think when reading what he has written in his books, because some of his claims are absurd and have me thinking, "You really honestly expect me to believe this?!" 

  It is ironic how much Gary dislikes Trump (I am no fan of Trump either BTW), because the audacity of some of their statements that they expect you to believe, I find amazing. 

  For example, Gary's "ascended masters" have told him that he hasn't aged in the 20 years since he started the course. Am I really supposed to believe that. Not only would I have to completely suspend belief to accept that as true, I'd have to literally be blind. Who is he trying to convince of this? Himself or the reader, because it is painfully obvious (I won't go into detail why it is so obvious)  that Gary has aged. Thankfully this time he has at least toned that nonsense down. I do see that he is once again using his drinking as a measuring stick for his spiritual advancement though.  

  I'm not going to go too deep about the actual story of Jesus and The Buddha, because it is just not very good. It is obviously written to promote the esoteric sounding Wapnick coined phrase, "pure non-dualism" theology in which Gary has picked up the torch and ran with. Some of the lines attributed to Lao Tzu for instance, are just Gary speak about the course restructured into an almost caricature of Eastern philosophy language where it almost felt that Gary was channeling Yoda. Yes, I'm sure that The Buddha was sitting around saying course phrases about God also.

  Gary's book is filled with what I would consider the "safe" usual suspects for what the typical (new age) spiritual community of western society would think of as wise. You have Lao Tzu, Plato, Socrates, Shakespeare, The Buddha, Jesus, etc.   Interestingly enough, there's no real discussion with Muhammad involved. Was it a timeline issue, since Muhammad was after Jesus' death? What about his previous lives? Was  he just not a spiritual master like these others or was it just easier and safer to skip over a character who might be considered a little more controversial to some?

   Whatever the case, Gary's "ascended masters" had an opportunity to share some wisdom from a Muslim, but for whatever reason did not. In Gary's book, either he or his ascended masters quote the line from the course,  "Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."~ACIM

  What Gary's "all knowing ascended masters" didn't tell his readers was that this beautiful and profound saying in the course that I just quoted is originally attributed to the 13th century Sufi mystic (Muslim) poet, Rumi. It is curious that supposed all knowing ascended masters wouldn't have brought this up and gave a nod to Rumi. So either these "all knowing ascended masters" knew this and chose not to share it, or more likely, Gary was ignorant on this subject when he wrote his book. 

  That being said, I am going to address specific statements in Gary's book because he is simply trying to carry the torch for Wapnick's pure non dualism theology and claims are being accepted as fact simply because they have been repeated often enough. This will be in no particular order.

 It is amusing how the western world has grabbed onto the phrase "non-dualism" and held on to it so tight, thinking that the term is so spiritually advanced and sounds so wise. It is like when someone puts the word "Quantum" in front of a word or phrase in the attempt to make what they are talking about sound more profound. The term non-dualism has been so over saturated through the new age community that it has basically become a spiritual platitude and hollow. It is interesting that the course says do not let theology delay you, and yet the pure non-dualism theology crowd use it so often as a measuring stick of  one's claim to being spiritually advanced. 

  The course does not use the term "non-dualism" once in its entire combined volume and I think for good reason. It doesn't bother with trying to take abstract metaphysical ideas and attempt to reduce them down to a physical concrete number. For example, even in the workbook section that Wapnick claimed is the non-dualism part of it, before lesson 321 the course asks and answers what Creation is, and it answers it in the plural. So one can see that the course is not too concerned with this "pure non dualism" numeral reductionist theology that is all too often superimposed onto it. Instead it uses the term OneMindedness, because as the course says, it is a practical course. It is not concerned with mythology and theology, but practicality and the course aims at healing the mind, as it says, from the bottom up.

  One of the topics Gary and his "ascended masters" discuss is the editing of the course. The story of this editing is in the preface of the FIP Edition and has been shared by Wapnick and a couple of others. It is generally accepted that this story is accurate.   

  The story goes,  that the course is generally untouched and that simply some of the more personal information had been removed, along with simple corrections of chapter titles, punctuation, and capitalization.   

  Anyone who has read the UrText and the HLC Edition will find that this story simply isn't true.

The HLC has approximately 50,000 words removed from the earlier UrText. The HLC Edition was essentially the result of Bill and Helen editing together, as "The Voice" told Helen that Bill should be left in charge of what should be taken out of the course and what should be left in. 

This is when Wapnick came on the seen, and in Wapnick's own words, he urged Helen and Bill that it needed more editing. Bill did not want to be part of the further editing, so with Wapnick's urging, he and Helen did the further editing.  The story is removing more personal information, capitalization, and punctuation. Yet, at this point with the HLC Edition, the more personal information has already been removed and from the HLC to the FIP Edition, there are 10,000 fewer words.  Doug Thompson wrote an outstanding preface on this topic in the HLC Edition that he edited and put together on this. 

   

  Gary and his "ascended masters" also discuss that Wapnick's interpretation is not an interpretation but a fact, as the course simply says what is says. Not only is this absolutely arrogant, but it's just flat out wrong. Everyone (including myself) interprets the course, because it is a book with symbols that are read through one's perception and perception IS interpretation. 

   Another obvious fact that Wapnick interpreted the course is that Wapnick's interpretation had also changed over time, and sometimes dramatically throughout his years with the course. Some of his earlier works when Helen was still alive actually contradict his later works. In fact, new editions of his earlier books often have lengthy prefaces discussing why he no longer believes some of what he wrote in the book. The claim that Wapnick has been 100% consistent in what he has written all through his years is ignorant at best and at worst, flat out dishonest. 

   Another obvious point about interpretation is Wapnick also stated that the course was very metaphorical. This again requires re-interpretation of the metaphorical into the literal. This also flies in the face of Wapnick having said that the course says what it says, because he often times said that when the course says "this" it doesn't really mean what it says, but being metaphorical, it actually means "that". 

  But this goes onto another important point. Gary always gives lip service to not making ACIM a religion and yet his language, which he adopted from Ken Wapnick is some of the most fundamentalist dogmatic language of any course teacher/author I have read. It is interesting that Gary would talk about the story with Bill ripping out a page in the course because two students were arguing over a passage, then write books with dogmatic language expecting that people accept his interpretation of the course as infallible fact through authoritative voices of "ascended masters". 

   In fact, speaking of dogmatic fundamentalism, Gary's mentor, Ken Wapnick essentially attempted to set himself up as the Pope to ACIM and FACIM as the Orthodox Church. When Wapnick was given the copyright, he then went on a crusade to quash any other voice and had his lawyers send out cease and desist letters to websites with ACIM or A Course in Miracles in their site name. No longer could authors or websites use quotes beyond fair use. Anyone who didn't comply was threatened with legal action. Thankfully, thankfully, thankfully, Wapnick lost the copyright and now ACIM is public domain.

   There is no one else that I'm aware of that tries so hard to exalt the course over other paths and themselves over other teachers like Gary does. Gary's "ascended masters" over the years have spent quite a considerable amount of time criticizing other teachers and other paths, even going as far as using the analogy of moving furniture around a burning house. 

   In this book, Gary's "ascended masters" attempt to tone down their rhetoric a little and state that the course is not the best path, but it is the fastest path. Yet, even in this book, it is implied that people will be on various paths until they're ready for the course. 

  It must be emphasized what the course actually states about itself. It says that it is but one form of the universal curriculum in which SOME people will find their inner teacher. The key word is SOME people, not all.  It also says that it is not an end but a beginning.

  Also, for the course being the fastest path it is interesting that Wapnick continually said that course students were some of the worst people on the face of the earth. Hugh Prather, a former course author wrote an article that can be read online called, "What is the Course? Will it exist in the 21st Century?"  His assessment at a gathering full of course students was that after years of studying the course, many of the people had become even more egocentric, sometimes to the point where they couldn't even hold a simple conversation. 

  There is an example in this book that needs to be discussed because Gary making this criticism is utterly ridiculous. Gary makes a criticism about some course teachers who have their students tap different parts of their bodies while making noises. 

First of all, Gary is trying to imply onto the reader that this is WHAT these teachers teach and not just something that is within their teaching. Second of all, I practice Qigong, so I am familiar with this, though I don't normally do it, but it is something used in Qigong and probably Tai Chi also in opening the energy meridians. The "noises" as Gary flippantly refers to them are healing sounds as the one I am familiar with, "The 6 Healing Sounds". They are not just "noises".

Also, this is the same person who sells some "miracle" Magic Max vitamins on his website. He is also the same person who's "ascended masters" are promoting the one minute cure with hydrogen peroxide and using potassium. Gary had an entire chapter (though a horribly written one as I've seen more insight in my wife's glossy magazines) on health stuff in his previous book and he then criticizes others as being dualistic when they do? This is hypocrisy at its best.  

Gary also devotes a lot of time criticizing a book called, "A Course of Love". He even reprinted an entire critical review from Dr. Bob Rosenthal in this book. I have not read the book, "A Course of Love", but I have read Dr. Bob's review quite some time ago and replied to it because I found quite a few flaws in his argument which I addressed point by point. I cannot seem to find it now on the store and it seems to have been deleted by Dr. Bob since then.

Ironically, Gary's "ascended masters" have been telling the reader to only read the FIP Edition of ACIM and though Dr. Bob's (who's affiliated with FIP) review of ACOL seems to have gone missing, he has written a most in depth positive 5 star review of The Circle of Atonement's "Complete and Annotated  Edition" of ACIM. I concur, this is an outstanding edition and I believe this is the best edition of the course there is, and I have read every available edition. 

Gary also states that it's not really the early chapters that are important but the later "nondualism" chapters. These earlier chapters are the foundation on which the course aims at teaching and correcting. To put it metaphorically, Gary's statement implies that once you build the house, you can then remove the foundation as it is unnecessary and no longer matters, when in reality you build a solid foundation for which the house can be built. 

  The importance of the early chapters (such as the 50 miracle principles) cannot be over stated. In fact, the course states: 

 This is a course in mind training.  All learning involves attention and study at some level.  Some of the later parts of the course rest too heavily on these earlier sections not to require their careful study. You will also need them for preparation. Without this, you may become much too fearful of what is to come to make constructive use of it. However, as you study these earlier sections, you will begin to see some of the implications that will be amplified later on. ~ACIM

Eric: It is the dismissal of these earlier chapters and the foundation they set, that from my experience is what causes a lot of spiritual bypassing and level confusion, which results in a solipsistic/nihilistic hybrid and sometimes even sociopathic tendencies (that both Wapnick and Prather have discussed) disguised as spiritual enlightenment.

As the course says, it is not about attempting to counteract error with knowledge, but correcting error from the bottom up.

Speaking of which, Gary states that the Holy Spirit does not do anything in the world, because the Holy Spirit is in your mind not in the world. This statement is completely dualistic and a complete misunderstanding of what the course says.   

Gary let me ask you, where is the world according to the course, but in your mind? How can you make the statement that the Holy Spirit is in your mind and not in the world and not be making the world real and outside you? This is why the course states that there is nothing outside you, which Gary confuses with there is no one out there, resulting in solipsism.

It may seem spiritually advanced to walk around saying, " I made you up and you and you and you're all an illusion and there is nothing out there and no one else is here", but that is actually the problem the course is attempting to correct  within the process of healing, not the solution. As the course states about this solipsistic problem unintentionally manifested through egoic identification of not only yourself that you made, but the egos you made for others and listening to this voice and thoughts as reality:

As you look with open eyes upon your world, it must occur to you that you have withdrawn into insanity.  You see what is not there, and you hear what makes no sound. Your manifestations of emotions are the opposite of what the emotions are.  You communicate with no one, and you are as isolated from reality as if you were alone in all the universe.  In your madness you overlook reality completely, and you see only your own split mind everywhere you look.  God calls you and you do not hear, for you are preoccupied with your own voice.  And the vision of Christ is not in your sight, for you look upon yourself alone.~ACIM

Eric:The special means of the course is through the Holy relationship, as the course states:

Your way will be different, not in purpose but in means.  A holy relationship is a means of saving time.  One instant spent together with your brother restores the universe to both of you~ACIM

Eric: There are 2 passages in the course, one of which speaks of the problem and the other speaking of the solution out of the problem that expound on the two previous passages.

In sleep you are alone, and your awareness is narrowed to yourself.  And that is why the nightmares come.  You dream of isolation because your eyes are closed.  You do not see your brothers, and in the darkness you cannot look upon the light you gave to them.~ACIM

God's Will is your salvation. Would He not have given you the means to find it? If He wills you to have it, He must have made it possible and easy to obtain it. Your brothers are everywhere. You do not have to seek far for salvation. Every minute and every second gives you a chance to save yourself. Do not lose these chances, not because they will not return, but because delay of joy is needless. God wills you perfect happiness now. Is it possible that this is not also your will? And is it possible that this is not also the will of your brothers?~ACIM

Eric:Walking around saying, "I made you up, you're an illusion, there is no one out there, I'm the only one here" is simply solipsism resulting in ego enlightenment and it actually negates the very means in which the course is attempting to use.

As the course states:

Like you, your brother thinks he is a dream. Share not in his illusion of himself, for your Identity depends on his reality. Think, rather, of him as a mind in which illusions still persist, but as a mind which brother is to you. He is not brother made by what he dreams, nor is his body, "hero" of the dream, your brother. It is his reality that is your brother, as is yours to him. Your mind and his are joined in brotherhood. His body and his dreams but seem to make a little gap, where yours have joined with his.~ACIM

Eric: It is also strange that Gary started insisting that Arten and Pursah are the Holy Spirit coming into physical form (since Gary sees and speaks to bodies) when the course says that the Holy Spirit cannot be seen and is invisible and also as I mentioned before, Gary also insists that the Holy Spirit cannot be in the world. So by his very reasoning, this cannot happen.  But even Wapnick warned his readers in the 2 book set, "All Are Called, But Few Choose to Listen" when he told his readers about people who have claimed to have been visited by "higher beings" and are offering short cuts to the course through their "wisdom".

Gary also has a section in which Arten and Pursah ask him about listening to the Holy Spirit throughout the day and then he goes on a spiel about it. One criticism I've had of Gary is that he seems to just say the same handful of course quotes over and over like he simply focuses on only a few aspects of the course (I'll give him credit this time, he has put in different passages in this book, but it seems more to be filler than anything). This spiel seems to demonstrate this. There is a section in the text, Chapter 30 called, "Rules For Decision" that hardly anyone talks about. It seems rather strange that 2 supposed all knowing ascended masters who are supposed to be teaching the course do not discuss this at all, because this section goes into great detail with step by step directions in answering this very question.

But back to the "pure non-dualism" theology that  Gary is promoting. Gary states that there is only one ego. This is an example of level confusion. Gary conflates that since there is only one Creation or as the course calls it, the Sonship, Family of God, or Son of God, then there is only one ego pretending to be many. Actually, Gary's claim that this is what Hindus believe is also inaccurate. Brahman is not the equivalent to the course's ego.  

    What Gary is also doing is attempting to superimpose a mythology onto the course that the ego is some kind of Gnostic demiurge god. It would probably take pages to take this all apart discussing context (like the fact that the course is speaking to the reader specifically when it says the world the ego made, which implies the reader's specific ego they made) as well as other aspects to explain that the course is speaking psychologically rather than mythology. One example is that the course states that the ego resides within consciousness, not the other way around. Yet, no where in the course does it say that the ego is one and for good reason. It is because the ego by definition of the course cannot be whole, but is merely a fragment of the part of the mind that has become concrete.  On the contrary, the course explicitly states that the ego is legion. This is because the course calls this concrete part of the mind private and that which cannot be truly shared, which then, as the course says, these private thoughts make a private world. 

The course also states: 

Everyone makes an ego or a self for himself, which is subject to enormous variation because of its instability.  He also makes an ego for everyone else he perceives, which is equally variable.  Their interaction is a process that alters both, because they were not made by or with the Unalterable.  It is important to realize that this alteration can and does occur as readily when the interaction takes place in the mind as when it involves physical proximity. Thinking about another~ACIM

  The bottom line is this. ACIM is not McSpirituality and it needs no dogmatic label superimposed onto it to "get it". That's just the same old trap that has plagued organized religion for thousands of years. The course is simply one form of the universal curriculum in which SOME people can find their Inner Teacher. It is not better or faster than other paths. When it said that it was a means at saving time and it cautioned about using other methods that helped others but was not made for you, keep in mind that at the time, it was specifically speaking to Helen and Bill. It is not the most spiritually advanced as it is promoted as. It is not special, and the minute one thinks it is either the best and/or fastest path, it is no longer. 

If the course truly speaks to you, reading cliff notes from an interpretation presented as infallible fact is no substitute for actual study and practice of the course. Believing stories about The Buddha and Jesus, is just that, believing in stories. 

 

   Whether you agree with me or not, to truly find a deeper understanding of the course, read it, and read it again and again and again. If you don't understand a passage, sit and ask your Inner Teacher for guidance in what it means. If you continue to read the course and stop relying on people to explain it to you, you will find a much deeper level of understanding of it. Your interpretation might not be exactly like my interpretation, or his interpretation, or hers, or theirs. After all, this is an individual curriculum and it is read through one's perception. 

  When someone tells you through dogmatic fundamentalist language that this is the way it is and attempts to not only exalt themselves above other teachers, but also attempts to exalt the course above other paths, you should ask yourself if this really isn't the same religious trap being disguised as spirituality. 

Eric

Reading this farce is definitely a forgiveness lesson. Historical inaccuracies and philosophical misunderstanding of the eastern traditions certainly can't be attributed to "ascended masters". It could be an entertaining fiction, if regarded as such.

This book contains a TOTALLY RIDICULOUS 9/11 conspiracy tale (p 63) and truly invalidates the integrity of Gary's books and his supposed "ascended masters". Would not recommend this or any of Gary's books to anyone. Wish that this (and Gary's other books) did not speak of ACIM because I feel that ACIM is truly inspired material unlike the material in this book.

I waiited for months with baited breath! I knew it would be a juicy fun romp. Lots of joy reading and laughter. Definitely an awesome read! What else could u expect from water boy #2 ????

There are three different version concerning the hidden story of Jesus: 1.Edgar Cayce, 2. Seth Material, 3. Gary's book
There are obviously contradictions among them.
1. Edgar Cayce: Jesus has no wife
2. Seth Material: Jesus has not been crucifiied
3. Edgar Cayce: Jesus has past life different from those mentioned in Gary's book

I've heard about this book recently in an interview with Gary Renard on YouTube. I got intrigued by the title and curious to find out how Jesus and Buddha got to be the master teachers they were. This was one of the questions I needed an answer for. I told my husband that I want this book as a gift from him for Christmas. (He also gave me Cindy's book "A Course in Health and Well-Being" which I am looking forward to read!).I love books and this one proved to be one of the best. I love the way you wrote it, (it's easy and pleasant to read), and I love that it answered my question and provided very interesting information about the past lives of Jesus and Buddha. Most importantly this book is presenting "A Course in Miracles" forgiveness process in such a clear and easy to understand way! There are also other teachings from ACIM ("A Course in Miracles") that is worth hearing again because it helps me learn and apply them daily. Thank you so much Gary for this book and for all your work dedicated to teaching the ACIM, all your books, videos with interviews on YouTube, etc. Like it happened with other people, your book "The Disappearance of the Universe" helped me go back to ACIM to start reading it again (the first time I started I did not understand a thing) and be able to understand it because you made it easier by sharing Arten and Pursah's teachings. You are a great teacher!
With deep love and gratitude,
Monica Costan, Camas, Wa (originally from Romania).