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Well I haven't read it, but if it's anything like "The Universe is a Dream" it must be pretty good.

TUIAD, and this new book, are written in comic book format. They present ideas from the course, and cross-references them with pop culture stuff. Although it doesn't tell you at first that the ideas are from the course itself; to a casual reader it's just mind blowing concepts.

He uses symbols consistently to explain things like the Holy Spirit, the ego, true forgiveness and so on. Check out a "glossary of symbols" of The Universe is a Dream: http://www.alexandermarchand.com/symbols

I personally thought it was a lot of fun to read (and see!). It's a very good refresher, and to a newbie, a good introduction to the course.

I also read the first book of his "The Undreaming Chronicles" series: Revelations from the Holy Planet. It's about an alien taking Alex to her planet, in which ideas from the course are second nature. I found it kind of boring at first but then picks up and is really cool. This book continues to use the symbols presented in The Universe is a Dream, so it reinforces the concepts even more. For instance, the steps of "the separation" are explained really well, and there's an analogy of "the two pictures". Alex actually draws the two pictures, using the symbols, they're pretty neat.

So overall I enjoyed his books, and expect this one to be just as enjoyable as the others.

Edit: Check out the author's post about this book.

As others have said this is a fairly normal experience reading ACIM for the very first time. So you are in good company. LOL

Some suggestions:

1. Just keep reading it anyway but don't try to intellectualize or understand it, rather just let your subconscious mind process it instead. Read at whatever speed you feel like just enjoy the ride and focus on that feeling that it is extremely useful even though you may not understand it now. In my first read through I didn't understand much, but I kept at it simply because I enjoyed the language and poetry, and most importantly I felt the love of Jesus coming through the words in the parts that I do understand. It may not have helped my understanding much but it did help me connect with Jesus. When I got around to Chapter 5 I was left with no doubt that the the Author is divine!
   
   
2. Get yourself the Coa Editon of the Course. The first 5 chapters are much more accessible because it is full of examples and tone is warm and conversational, very unlike what is in the FIP Edition which is cold and clinical.
   
   
3. Get yourself a study guide such as Tara Singh's How to learn from ACIM.

May I recommend Women Who Run With The Wolves. :) It’s a fantastic work coaching women to stand their ground and stop being “nice” (fake, insincere nice) for the sake of superficial people pleasing and at the risk of compromising in their authenticity. Learn to be okay with making waves, both in your inner and outer world!

Regardless of anyone’s reaction to it, learn to be unfailingly authentic. So if you feel like having a potty mouth, have a potty mouth. What you resist, persists, so embrace it. EMBRACE ALL OF YOUR MESS.

As my ayahuasca teacher says (similar to ACIM’s message “you need do nothing”), but in a way I can understand it: “You don’t need to do a goddamn thing.”

You rock on, sister!! 💖💖💖

The book letting go is fantastic for this, I would see it's even more powerful than ACIM for me compliments it quite nicely. https://www.amazon.com/Letting-David-Hawkins-M-D-Ph-D/dp/1401945015

Buddhism and ACIM are very compatible. Not sure from your post where the split comes from. My understanding is that one of the main differences is that ACIM refers (or should I say defers) to God. Buddhism does not.

I really enjoyed: The Lifetimes When Jesus and Buddha Knew Each Other: A History of Mighty Companions https://www.amazon.com/dp/1401923151/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_nGrRCb8HK373F

Super enjoyable and informative read, if interested.

I applaud you at your patience. You're not attacking, and appearing to stay very calm in your writings.

> I feel like you are not really addressing what I am talking about, and what you are saying doesn't help me understand this subject any better. So, let me give an example. You're living in village and group of men are outside wielding weapons. You know who they are, and you know that their plan is to kill, rape, and kidnap everyone they can (very common historical event). Let's say you have someway to stop this from happening, but it involves fighting. Do you fight, or do you just allow them to come in and commit atrocities to the ones you love?

This is what the Dali Lama did with Tibet. He allowed them to come in, and commit atrocities to the ones he loved. 1.2 million Tibetans, one-fifth of the country's population, died as a result of China's attack; many more languished in prisons and labor camps; and more than 6000 monasteries, temples and other cultural and historic buildings were destroyed and their contents pillaged. The Dali Lama knew that violence wasn't the answer. God doesn't attack others, he only loves them. Jesus doesn't see attack, EVER, he only sees cries for love. It's the Ego that sees attack, loss, death, suffering, sacrifice. NONE of these things are attributes of God. You're either walking towards the light, or keeping yourself in the dark.

The root issue is that you don't realize you are God himself, dreaming all of this. That IS the root issue which I was trying to address. Of course God's dreams would be "this real". God can pretend to do anything he wants to, including, being you. He isn't really you, he is God, he's only pretending to be a "you" in illusion.

When you go to the movies, you forget yourself. You get lost in the movie, the darkness of the theater. You don't sit there saying "I am me, I am me, I am me" the whole time you watch the movie. The whole point is that you get lost in it. This is what God is doing. He's given himself amnesia, forgetting himself, so that he can be fully immersed in his own illusion, his own movie. He wrote the whole script, he plays every part. Since you are him, it's really you that are doing all of this. Making the entire universe, playing every part, every person, every animal, every rock.

You list common historical events, and scenarios, but these things are likely not happening to YOU personally. Someone else in this thread said the same, you have to look in the 2 foot space around you. The ego plays tricks on you. If you see all of this as illusion, and you've personally never starved to death, was murdered, or killed, then how do you know it's not all a trick just to make yourself scared? I don't even mean your friend was killed, or your mother was attacked physically. I mean, have YOU been stabbed with a knife? You personally? Was it your DIRECT experience? What if it's all a trick, and the "really bad things" don't really exist, it's all a show of trick and light? Can you prove otherwise? If you did suffer some in your life, was it not just thoughts you were experiencing? "This is bad...(more thoughts) this is so bad...". This goes DEEP. You can't prove there is actually someone "else" inside any person you see. Sure, the "forms" act like they are alive, they are dancing around and showing what appears to be emotion, but because you CAN NOT experience the inside of another form you see, another BODY, you can't prove that there is anything going on in there. It could be shells of people walking around. It COULD all be a light projection from YOUR own mind. You create the world you WANT TO SEE. Perception is not real.

The ego will have GREAT resistance to this. It's likely saying that this is all crazy talk. That's it's job. If you see beyond the veil, it will burn up your entire world. Jed Mckenna wrote a great book about this here: http://www.reddit.com/r/enlightenment/top/

When your world does end, you can read Adyashanti's wonderfully helpful book here. Titled: The End of Your World

> Besides, if ACIM teaches that it is all an illusion and there is no punishment from sin, why not protect the innocent from torture and abuse?

Because there is no one else out there, it's only you. There is no one to protect. If someone did come into your house, and attack YOU personally, it would be you only doing it to yourself. It's up to you how you want to handle yourself. You can love yourself, or you can attack yourself back. What happens physically is meaningless, because illusions don't have meaning (Lesson 1). How you choose to see a situation, as LOVE or MURDER is up to you. God always chooses Love without question, the Ego always chooses Murder without question.

> I'm very passionate about my spiritual and intellectual journey, but I worry that aspects of ACIM negate critical thought.

God does not need thought. God is infinite. Thought is limiting. We use thoughts to POINT beyond illusion and that's about it at best. Thought itself is what created this whole mess to begin with. Critical thinking IS the Ego. We want to move to the infinite intelligence that's beyond Thought. The place where thoughts come FROM. You seem to think that you pick your thoughts. You absolutely do not. You do not go into a library of billions of thoughts, and say "I want THAT one next". You merely sit there and one appears. Then another thought appears, then another. It's the ego that possesses us and says "I am these thoughts". You are none of them. At best you can say you are the awareness in which thoughts appear. This Eckhart Tolle video which is his book The Power Of Now, explains this excellently.

From ACIM Workbook Lesson 10: http://acimsearch.org/workbook-for-students/wb-010/

> “My thoughts do not mean anything.”

> This idea applies to all the thoughts of which you are aware, or become aware in the practice periods. The reason the idea is applicable to all of them is that they are not your real thoughts. We have made this distinction before, and will again.You have no basis for comparison as yet. When you do, you will have no doubt that what you once believed were your thoughts did not mean anything.

If you really want to wake up, and aren't just playing games with yourself, do the workbook lessons, and ask the holy spirit for help (for real, out loud, even if you feel silly).

Finally, thank you Brother, (or Sister) for your genuine questions and well written responses. I can only learn as I teach for they happen simultaneously. I'm grateful for this interaction.