Gary Renard is the author of the books The Disappearance of the Universe (DU) and Your Immortal Reality (YIR), two works whose stated purpose is to reawaken interest in and clarify the core purpose of the book, A Course In Miracles (ACIM), and which are due to be followed by at least two more books in 2011 and possibly 2012. In the first book (DU), Renard recounts, in dialog and commentary, a series of 17 claimed appearances by two 'ascended masters' over the course of nine years, from 1992 until just after the World Trade Center Disaster of 2001. In this first book, according to Renard, the two 'ascended masters' call themselves Pursah and Arten (not their real names), and claim to have once been two disciples of Jesus, Thomas and Thaddeus. Later in the work Pursah identifies herself as Renard himself in his next future incarnation. Renard says this encounter were his first introduction to ACIM and generally consistent with its teachings, though his early writings and activities stirred some controversy within the ACIM community.
After these reported encounters, Renard significantly redirected his focus from being a musician and an investor into being primarily a spokesperson and teacher for his understanding of the teachings of ACIM, as well as the promotion of his books.
In 2006, Renard published a sequel to DU called Your Immortal Reality: How to Break the Cycle of Birth and Death with Hay House Publishing. In 2007 Renard divorced his first wife, Karen Renard. In 2009 he remarried to musician and therapist, Cindy Lora, whom he believes to be the Arten/Thaddeus individual in his books. He moved from Maine, the site of the first visits, to southern California. Due to the recent significant changes in his personal life, the publication of his third book, "Love Has Forgotten No One" has been delayed since April of 2008, but is tentatively scheduled for distribution by Hay House in early 2011.In his Episode 39 podcast, Renard also notes that he is already embarking upon the editing of a fourth book, title to be disclosed. Renard currently travels and teaches in numerous locations, as described on his website.
In the course of the books, Arten and Pursah narrate unusual claims such as that humans once migrated from Mars to Earth, prior to which they had migrated from yet another planet to Mars.Also in the writings, Arten and Pursah assert the validity of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship,the pre-canonical authorship of the Gospel of Thomas by the disciple Thomas (including a fully narrated alleged original text prior to later additions and corruptions), and that Jesus was indeed married, though with no offspring.