Showing posts with label enlightenment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label enlightenment. Show all posts

The Disappearance of the Universe: Straight Talk about Illusions, Past Lives, Religion, Sex, Politics, and the Miracles of Forgiveness Review

The Disappearance of the Universe: Straight Talk about Illusions, Past Lives, Religion, Sex, Politics, and the Miracles of Forgiveness
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Every so often, a book comes along that has the potential to completely transform the way people think about a subject. In the business world, In Search of Excellence, the One Minute Manager and From Good to Great come quickly to mind. In the people development world, books like The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and Emotional Intelligence have been transformational.
In the spiritual development circle, the Disappearance of the Universe has moved to the top of my list. The book is quite simply, amazing. AND you have to be ready for it.
I have been especially blessed by the clear explanations and the clarity given to the role of forgiveness in our own salvation. And Gary Renard's humor and wit help to make it a very easy read. Let's start with the basic premise and storyline for the book.
THE PREMISE: When you dream at night that someone is chasing you, in the dream it feels very real and no one in the dream could likely convince you that it was not real. But in truth you are home in your bed. When you wake up, the dream disappears, because it was never real in the first place, and you find you were in your bed the entire time. Well, the basic premise for the Disappearance of the Universe is that we are really home in God, but dreaming a dream that we are bodies living this life. Of course our true home is out of our awareness. Yet when we wake up, the universe will disappear, because it was never real in the first place, we were at home in God the entire time. This is indeed an incredible and hard to believe premise. But what if it is true?
THE STORYLINE: Gary Renard, a self-admitted slacker whose major goals in life were to "move to Hawaii, commune with nature, and drink beer - not necessarily in that order," is visited 17 times over the course of nine years by two "ascended masters." They tell Gary that the reason for the visits is to answer the many questions he has about God, Jesus and this world, and to assist him in writing a book that will help facilitate the disappearance of the universe. His visitors tell him that he has asked in his prayers to know what it was like to walk with Jesus 2000 years ago and that they have come to tell him because they were there, as Thaddeus and Thomas. The entire book consists of the conversations during those 17 visits, with occasional commentary by Gary. The conversations are simply mind blowing. Of course this is an incredible and hard to believe storyline. But what if...?
ARE YOU READY? Are you ready to have your view of life, spirituality, religion and sex turned upside down? Are you ready to have your questions answered about why you are here, how you got here, why God "allows good people to suffer," and how you end this seeming craziness? Are you ready to learn with crystal clarity how you experience "the peace of God?"
When I introduce the Disappearance of the Universe to my many Christian friends who are unfamiliar with A Course in Miracles, I remind them, that if I were around when Jesus walked the earth, and if I were a strong believer in the Book of Moses, I would have had to reject Jesus. Why? Because I would have been looking at Jesus through my Moses "glasses" and what Jesus said in many cases didn't fit with what I already believed. The only way I would have been open is if I could have found a way to take off my glasses and ask, "Does this resonate as true? Does this answer the questions in my soul? Does this turn me to God?" Only then might I have had a chance to truly learn from the Master.
In the same way, anyone who reads The Disappearance of the Universe with the glasses of Christianty will have to reject the book, because it does not support all that we've been taught. But if you are ready, and if you can take off the glasses and ask those questions, you will likely find answers that transform your thinking and transform your life.
If you are already familiar with A Course in Miracles, this book is a must-read. I had studied the Course for over a decade, and even served as a group facilitator for several years. I was humbled by how little I understood and truly practiced non-dualism and how I had missed the critical message of practicing forgiveness every moment of every day as THE key tool for making the "journey without distance." The conversations in the Disappearance of the Universe make crystal clear the purpose of practicing "advanced" forgiveness, the steps in how to do it, and the way to live in this world as a teacher of God. Perhaps most importantly, the message is completely consistent with A Course in Miracles, which is quoted over 300 times by Gary Renard's special visitors.
So read this book if you are ready to have many of your beliefs challenged and if you are ready to learn how to truly experience and express the peace and love of God.
Are you ready?

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What would you do if you were sitting quietly in your living room when two mysterious strangers 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 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.

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The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever Review

The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever
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The Portable Atheist, edited by Christopher Hitchens, is a great selection of how atheism has transformed into what it is today. Hitchens' introduction itself is an astounding tour de force that should not be skipped. In his introduction alone, Hitchen's lays out the foundation and positive attributes of atheism. This is crucial as many people have the common misunderstanding that atheists are pessimists or discontented. He also makes the genuinely important point that in order to believe in one of the three major monotheisms, you have to believe that the heavens watched our species for at least one hundred and fifty thousand years with "indifference, and then- and only in the last six thousand years at the very least - decided that it was time to intervene as well as redeem." He concedes that it is preposterous to believe such a heinous thing - for it would be cruel if true. His introduction is intelligent, convincing and witty - and it doesn't stop there.
The selections in this book show the evolution of atheism (or at least nontheism) from early critics of religion such as: Benedict De Spinoza, Thomas Hobbes and David Hume to more of a middle stage (Darwin, George Eliot, Mark Twain and Bertrand Russell) and then to modern-day critics like: Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Steven Weinberg, Daniel Dennett, Carl Sagan, Victor Stenger, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and many more. Another great thing is the book is helpfully arranged in chronological order. All beliefs aside, the selections in this book are powerfully argued and well written. I'd recommend it to anyone with a hunger for the truth and an open mind.

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What About Now?: Reminders for Being in the Moment Review

What About Now: Reminders for Being in the Moment
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I found this book by chance searching for books on DBT. Part of DBT is mindfullness-being in the moment. This book is perfect. I bookmarked on my new Kindle about 20 that are relevant for me on a regular basis. I love that they are short (1 Page) excerpts from her other books that can be read in a short period of time, hence almost used as a daily guide. Plan to look into her other books. If you want to quiet the brain and it's negative chatter- then this book is a good place to start.

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Don't Sweat the Small Stuff--and it's all small stuff (Don't Sweat the Small Stuff Series) Review

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff--and it's all small stuff (Don't Sweat the Small Stuff Series)
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The cover of this book says it was a bestselling book of the year at one time. After opening it up and glancing through it, it't not hard to see why.
The pupose of the book is to get you to look at things, common situations we all come across everyday, like being criticized or being given more work than you can possibly finish, and see them a little differently. Believe it or not, it delivers- and in just a page or two at a time if you can believe that!
That's because the wisdom is definitely there, on every page, and it just plain makes sense. Many times I've read a chapter or two and thought, "Why didn't I think of that before?".
The other good thing about this tiny book is that you could either sit down and read it cover-to-cover, or just pick it up once in awhile and pick a random chapter to read. Either way, the mini-chapters are sure to quickly leave most readers wondering why they make such a big deal out of the things they do. Other short self-help books I like include "Finding Happiness in a Frustrating World".

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The Shift: Taking Your Life from Ambition to Meaning Review

The Shift: Taking Your Life from Ambition to Meaning
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The Shift is a companion book for the movie with the same title, both of which are self-sufficient. Nonetheless, I recommend reading the book before seeing the movie, as it will help you grasp much of the significance. The book doesn't give away the plot of the movie, though it refers to it once in awhile.
Like the other 30-some books by Wayne Dyer, this one is filled with inspirational quotes from famous spiritual teachers and classical holy texts, personal stories, and parables. This one, however, is only 112 pages and can be read easily in a day or two. It can be read several times and you will still get something out of it.
The original title of the book and movie was "From Ambition to Meaning," and interestingly, there are only four chapters, each with one of these words. The first chapter, "From," discusses the void where we came from and how in the womb, we are doing nothing but being lived by "all creating energy that seems to do nothing, and at the same time leaves nothing undone." Wayne cites quantum physics to validate the nothingness from whence we came. We are reminded that everything in the material world is truly like what it came from. Ergo, we are truly spiritual beings having a temporary human experience. And "our real self is the loving observer of our sensory experiences." He leads us to the conclusion that "nonbeing and love are synonymous." We are given tools on how to get back to the Nothingness, such as meditation, feeling the oneness, and surrender. We are even challenged to give away one item a day, anything we do not use on a daily basis!
Before we realize that, however, nearly all of us get sucked into "Ambition," which is the title of chapter 2. Here we learn how our false self develops as we identify with the ego. This entails beliefs such as "Who I am is what I have, what I do, and what others think of me." This "somebody training" involves learning more lies such as "I am separate from everyone else, from what's missing in my life, and from God."
In chapter 3 ("To") we make the U-turn back to our "fromness." There comes a time in everyone's life when they see that the inauthentic self is a lie. This doesn't mean the loss of ambition, but rather that our drive is now directed toward a life based on meaning and purpose. Some signs that we may be ready include: the ego's "mantra of more" becomes less attractive; we find ourselves doing less; we shun the spotlight to work in the shadows; we believe in unity more than separateness; we begin to realize we're connected to Spirit; we begin to trust the wisdom that created us. Next, Wayne tells us what to expect and gives a 7-point summary of our U-turn. He describes four qualities of the shift from ambition to meaning: surprising, vivid, benevolent and enduring.
In the final chapter, "Meaning," Wayne tell us how he told his buddy Ram Dass many years ago, "All of my life I wanted to be somebody. Now I finally am somebody--but it isn't me." All the fame and wealth did not satisfy him and he didn't feel fulfilled till making the shift back to his authentic self. Wayne describes the four virtues that constitute our original nature: reverence for all life, natural sincerity, gentleness and supportiveness. "Today," Wayne declares, "my life is almost 100 percent devoted to service in one way or another. Each day begins with a prayer of `Thank you.'" He describes the three most important things to watch for during the shift: the shift from entitlement to humility; the shift from control to trust (in yourself, others and God); and the shift from attachment to letting go.
Great little book packed with inspiration and encouragement! With the tendency we are heading in for shorter books at smaller prices, this makes a really great gift to yourself or to someone who is over 30 and perhaps beginning to question life's meaning and his/her purpose.

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