A Course in Miracles Review

[Faheemkhatri4]

A Course in Miracles is a self-study curriculum of'spiritual psychology' that combines profound spiritual teachings with far-reaching and practical psychological insights. It has already touched the lives of millions of people worldwide.

Although the Course uses Christian terminology, it is not a religion. acim podcast The teachings emphasize the power of forgiveness for healing and transformation.
What is a Course in Miracles?

The goal of A Course in Miracles is to help us remember the truth about ourselves, other people, and God. That truth – love’s forgiveness versus the ego’s guilt – leads to an experience of perfect peace, freedom from fear and anxiety, and oneness with others and with God. It is an experience that all major spiritual traditions speak of, and it is what the Course calls salvation.

The course was first published in 1976, and since then more than three million copies have been sold. It is a self-study spiritual thought system that combines profound, spiritual teachings with far-reaching psychological insights. The workbook is composed of 365 daily lessons that emphasize experiential learning rather than belief in a theology. It also includes a manual for teachers that provides answers to questions commonly asked about the Course.

It is written in blank verse, and its poetic language has been compared to that of some of the world’s great literature. The course’s intellectually sophisticated thought system combines spiritual inspiration with deep understanding of such psychological phenomena as fear and the dynamics of choice and perception.

The Course teaches that God is Love, and that His one law, the law of love, governs everything He creates. It is not a religion, and it does not have an established organization with priests or any other formal authority to enforce its teaching. While it uses Christian terminology, it is ecumenical in its approach and states that “a universal theology is impossible but a universal experience is not.” The Course does not claim to be the only way to salvation; it simply states that it is an effective means of preparing for the experience of heaven.
The Text

The Course is a self-study system of "spiritual psychology" that contains profound spiritual teachings alongside far-reaching psychological insights. It has reached over three million people since it was first published in 1976, and has become a modern spiritual classic. While ACIM uses Christian terminology, it is not a religion. It is not based on any particular faith and there is no hierarchy or church overseeing it. It is a universal teaching that has attracted people from every major religion and from a wide range of life experiences.

Helen Schucman was a Columbia University psychologist when the Course began to come into her life in 1965 through a process of inner dictation. She did not claim to be its author and gave all credit to "the voice" that dictated the book. This is why the Course does not have her or Bill Thetford's name on the cover or anywhere else. It is considered a non-dual work authored by God (the Christ) and its lessons are not titled by chapter or page number, but by subject matter such as "forgiveness" or "love."

The course's basic premise is that there is no separation from love -- the one power in existence. The true nature of reality is unity, love and sinlessness. Its goal is to teach forgiveness as the path out of the world of illusion. This is accomplished through daily ACIM Lessons, the ACIM Workbook and the Manual for Teachers.

It can be a bit daunting to study ACIM on your own and it is difficult to apply the principles in your life without guidance. Alan offers a series of pre-recorded webinars that help make the course understandable and easily applicable to our day-to-day lives. You can find out more about these and other ACIM-related resources on his website.
The Workbook

The Workbook is a companion to the Text, providing a step-by-step approach for applying the teachings of A Course in Miracles. It contains the daily lessons for students of ACIM, a glossary-style "Clarification of Terms", and two pamphlets (supplements).

The lessons in the Workbook focus on healing relationships, releasing guilt and fear, and forgiving others. The Workbook also teaches how to listen for and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which replaces ego beliefs with the truth about ourselves and others. It's uncompromising, radical, and non-compromising approach to healing is why many find it so helpful to heal seeming lifelong issues such as abandonment, victimhood, or a lack of inner peace.

Although the Course uses Christian terminology, it is ecumenical in nature and does not identify itself as a religion. Its metaphysics is closer to Eastern mysticism than traditional Western religion, and it directly challenges many religious traditions, most notably the doctrine of sin and crucifixion.

A Course in Miracles is not a new religious movement, but it has become the Bible of the so-called spiritual but not religious (SBNR) movement, which has grown in the last few decades, particularly in the US and Western Europe. It is impossible to estimate the number of people who have been influenced by the Course, although it is easily in the millions worldwide.

The Foundation for A Course in Miracles (FACIM) has a comprehensive website including an introduction to the theory of the Course and Online Learning Aids such as a Glossary-Index and two pamphlets ("supplements"). David Hoffmeister, one of the world's most renowned teachers of A Course in Miracles, offers a series of audio teachings on YouTube based on the lessons of the Workbook. Each lesson includes a reading of the lesson and profound commentary.
The Manual for Teachers

The Manual is a book for teachers, to help them teach A Course in Miracles. It offers many techniques for teaching the lessons, and provides extensive commentary on the meaning of each lesson. This manual is an essential part of the ACIM curriculum, and it is recommended that everyone study it in order to understand the teachings.

The manual begins with a brief summary of the course, and then provides guidance for teaching it. It suggests that teachers will take two forms: the teacher of God, who has pupils (the Course’s version of a church); and the healer, who goes to people to offer forgiveness (the Course’s version of a therapy practice).

This second form of being a teacher is the focus of most of the sections in the manual. In five of these, the teacher is depicted as a faith healer or, as I like to call it, a forgiveness healer. He is expected to offer healing to his patients, even if the reason for their illness is not a physical one (Manual, p. 58-59; M-21.4-5).

As anyone familiar with A Course in Miracles knows, Helen and Bill do not claim to be the authors of this work. They give all credit to “the voice” that dictated the material. This voice is said to be Jesus’.

There are many online resources available for students of A Course in Miracles. Some of these are more practical than others, but all are helpful. For example, ACIM Share is a social network that connects students of the course; Remembered Song (formerly ACIM Monk monastery) features conferences, retreats, and workshops; ACIMessentials has daily readings and transcripts of the lessons; and Kenneth Wapnick's website contains much useful information.
Online Learning Aids

A Course in Miracles could easily be called the bible of the “spiritual but not religious” movement, a change in social and religious perspective that has slowly grown over the last few decades. Its three volume set of books is a unique work, combining profound spiritual teachings with far reaching and practical psychological insights. It is difficult to read, however, and it has a highly specialized thought system that makes it nearly impossible for people to study on their own without some guidance. As such, most ACIM students sooner or later join a study group or one of the accredited churches inspired by the Course.

The Foundation for Inner Peace has a large library of free online learning aids that will greatly help those looking to understand the Text of A Course in Miracles. This includes their extensive list of Q & A's that are a great companion to the Daily Lesson Insights.

In addition to this, many ACIM teachers have their own websites and other resources that are well worth visiting. Some examples include the MiracleShare website, which is a social network for ACIM students and teachers; The Remembered Song, which has musings on forgiveness from Australian ACIM teacher Michael Dawson; and the ACIMessentials website that offers audio recordings of the daily ACIM lesson.

Another useful resource is Kenneth Wapnick's "ACIM Made Easy" series of webinars, which are an excellent way to learn the basics of ACIM in a live online format. Each webinar features a lecture, Q & A's and guided visualization. These webinars are free and can be watched from the comfort of your home or office. Click here to start watching today!