A Course in Miracles - Chapter 1

[Faheemkhatri4]

Unlike many spiritual teachings, A Course in Miracles emphasizes the healing of relationships. It broadens the concept of a miracle beyond physical healing and into areas of depth psychology and mysticism.

Generally, a miracle occurs when true perception transfers from the mind of a giver to the mind of a receiver. It is this new self-perception that does the healing.
What is a miracle?

In the traditional view, a miracle is something that cannot be a course in miracles explained by natural or scientific laws. This is why the word has come to mean a supernatural event. Various religions attribute the events they call miracles to the actions of a deity, a god, or a saint. In some cases, they even claim that their religion is the one and only true path to God. A Course in Miracles does not make this claim. However, it does make a number of assertions that are quite different from the traditional view.

A Course in Miracles views a miracle as an event that occurs when a giver and receiver enter into a holy encounter. This holy encounter allows them to transcend the separateness that was foundational to their old pattern of interaction. In doing so, the miracle heals the relationship between them.

When we think of miracles, dramatic occurrences come to mind. An earthquake victim who’s miraculously rescued after being trapped for days under rubble, for example, often captures the attention of the news media. But, there are also countless quiet yet unexplainable events that happen. Many of them may be described as miracles by their recipients, but they often go unnoticed.

The Course describes a miracle as a change in perception, a shift from seeing the world as a place pervaded by disease, inequality, and separation to a reality of wholeness, equality, and unity. Although healing may occur on the physical level, the Course stresses that bodily healing is not the proper goal of miracles. Rather, miracles demonstrate that the body is only an illusion, and that healing must occur on a spiritual level.

Miracles occur when a miracle worker offers a new interpretation of the situation to a miracle receiver. This interpretation is guided by the Holy Spirit, who is ever present behind the scenes of a miracle. The Holy Spirit teaches the miracle worker what the new interpretation is, and guides the behavioral expression of this perception.

The miracle is a correction factor that breaks down erroneous thinking, restoring truth to the correct place in the Atonement principle. It is also a means of establishing real contact with reality, and of establishing clear boundaries between individuals, especially between the self and the other.
The miracle worker

The miracle worker is a person who has become open to giving and receiving miracles. A Course in Miracles describes this individual as having an experience of the Holy Spirit (Text, p. 3). The Holy Spirit teaches the miracle worker how to give a miracle. This entails a complete surrender of the miracle worker's mind to true perception, which is guided by the Holy Spirit. This allows the miracle to occur.

This surrender allows the miracle to take place in a way that is completely beyond the laws of this world. The miracle can heal the body, although this is not always the case. It is also possible that the miracle will simply transform the situation. This transformation is often psychological in nature, but it may be emotional or spiritual as well. In this way, the miracle does not need to be physically recognizable.

In this sense, the miracle is much like a play or a movie. William Gibson's play The Miracle Worker is based on the story of Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller. Sullivan was a teacher who helped Keller learn to communicate through sign language. The miracle that happened between them is an example of a dramatic psychological healing.

A Course in Miracles describes itself as a book of "spiritual psychology" that combines profound spiritual teachings with far-reaching psychological insights. It has already touched the lives of more than a million people worldwide. It transforms the popular image of a miracle by filling it out with an elaborate thought system.

For instance, the Course teaches that the miracle will often heal the physical body as a result of healing the mind. This is because the Course teaches that sickness is an expression of a deep-seated belief that one is an ego. This belief causes the ego to attack and deceive others, even unconsciously. This can eventually crystallize into a belief that one is guilty and undeserving of love.

The miracle heals this belief by showing that a person is truly natural and whole. The miracle worker may appear to be on a higher level than the receiver, but she realizes that they are equals because their naturalness is the same. She will heal the receiver by reawakening his own naturalness, which is eternally pure.
The miracle receiver

If a miracle is truly a healing of perception, it cannot be limited to the physical. Thus, the Course broadens the scope of the miracle to include psychological and interpersonal healing as well. It also enriches the content, extending it into areas of depth psychology and mysticism. This helps to remove the traditional prejudice that prevents us from considering a dramatic psychological healing a miracle. It also focuses the miracle away from the physical, teaching that it is actually more important to heal perception and relationships than it is to perform spectacular physical healings.

Moreover, it is taught that most diseases are ultimately the result of sick perception, which is an extension of one’s false self-concept, the ego. Sick perception makes us believe that we are separate from God and from our true selves. As a result, we become heavily burdened with unconscious guilt. This guilt is so deep that it can even seem to cause physical symptoms.

The miracle, according to the Course, is a way to heal this guilt. It is a way to remember our true nature, which is eternally whole and perfect. The Holy Spirit, which is ever present behind the scenes of the miracle, engineers this experience for the giver and receiver. He calls the miracle worker to offer a miracle of forgiveness to the miracle receiver and then guides his behavioral expression of that miracle.

This can involve anything, from a simple conversation to a major transformation in life circumstances. It is often triggered by a crisis, but can be any event that causes the receiver to set aside his or her ego identification and attempt to join with another person.

In this scenario, Bill asks Helen to join him in trying “another way,” and she agrees. He offers her a gift of new perception, which she accepts and returns, allowing him to join with her in transcending the separateness that had defined their relationship. From the point of view of the Course, this exchange is a miracle. The miracle heals both of them by releasing the heavy load of unconscious guilt that had kept them apart from each other.
The miracle of forgiveness

The miracle of forgiveness is the Course's major concept for healing. It explains how people who are locked into destructive patterns of behavior can step out of them. It describes how relationships can be healed, often leading to the healing of bodies. And it does all of this in a framework that is different from any other concept of miracles.

The Course transforms the idea of a miracle by filling it with a much more extensive thought system than the typical person would be familiar with. It includes concepts such as guilt, forgiveness, true perception, and the holy encounter. And it extends the notion of a miracle into areas that are normally not associated with the miracle concept, such as psychology, depth psychology, and spirituality.

It teaches that people suffer because they are carrying the heavy burden of unconscious guilt. This is the result of their identification with the ego, which causes them to attack others in order to advance their own self-interests. Over a lifetime of this, the attacks accumulate into a firm belief that one is guilty and deserves punishment. This burden is so pronounced that it can lead to disease of the body and mind.

To heal the body, the Course teaches that the miracle worker must first heal the mind. For example, if Bill is holding onto his resentments toward Helen, he must forgive her in order to remove the blockage that has kept them apart. If he doesn't, the healing will only occur at a superficial level and the relationship will remain unhealthy.

The Course also teaches that miracles are arranged by the Holy Spirit to provide the miracle receiver with what he needs to break out of the destructive pattern. This is why the miracle worker needs to allow himself to be guided by the Holy Spirit and become a willing vessel through which a miracle will happen (Text, p. 3).

Despite these important teachings, the book has never been taken seriously by church leaders, including President Spencer W. Kimball. In fact, the LatterGayStories audience was instrumental in convincing Deseret Book to stop selling a digital version of The Miracle of Forgiveness in 2021.