What is A Course in Miracles? A Course in Miracles is a book. More specifically, it is a set of three books and some related pamphlets all published within one cover. The material was written down by a pair of professors in New York City in the years from 1965 to 1973. The professors would say they transcribed the book, not wrote it. One of them, Helen, would receive the words by a process she called inner dictation or automatic writing and write the words down in shorthand. Later, she would read her notes aloud to the other one, Bill, who would type up the scribed material.
The author of the course material is Jesus. This bold claim is the one way I can speak my true relationship with the course. Through the course, I have come to know its author and his love. The author speaks with a one-pointedness, an authority, an honesty, and an uncompromising joy that helps me see this world and my place in it through eyes of love, truth, and power. Over time, it has become easy and natural to simply accept what the book itself says about its own authorship, namely that the author is Jesus, rather than quibble, doubt, or theorize. It rings true.
The first book is the Text. The Text is the heart of the course. It is through the text that you will begin to see the all-encompassing scope of what is possible in the thought reversal of this world. It is a self-study course. One can do it together with others (and this makes most things easier and more fun). Yet it is through ones own internal work that one will make the material ones own and start to live it in ones life.
The second book is the Workbook. I will not attempt to improve on what the Workbook says about itself. The Workbook starts with the following:
A theoretical foundation such as the text provides is necessary as a framework to make the exercises in this workbook meaningful. Yet it is doing the exercises that will make the goal of the course possible. An untrained mind can accomplish nothing. It is the purpose of this workbook to train your mind to think along the lines the text sets forth.
The exercises are very simple. They do not require a great deal of time, and it does not matter where you do them. They need no preparation. The training period is one year. The exercises are numbered from 1 to 365. Do not undertake to do more than one set of exercises a day.
The third book is the Manual for Teachers, which could equally well be called the Manual for Students. Many have found that this description of the pathway involved in becoming a Teacher of God is exactly the missing piece to sustain them in their studies and to point the way forward. It seems in many ways more practical, more focused, more down to earth than either the Text or the Workbook.
Without the Course, I could never hope to occupy the job description known as World Prophet, in training. Here are a few of the reasons:
- With the Course, I have come to trust the aspect of the Voice for God that speaks through me. I have accepted the call.
- The year of "mind training" that the Workbook represents, and which I have now repeated several times, shows me at deeper and deeper levels that there is no substitute for joy, that joy is our natural inheritance, and that the pathway to joy is giving freely that which is given us. The course calls this forgiveness.
- To fully inhabit the role of World Prophet requires partners -- lots of partners. My job is to gather together with the "tribe of ten thousand". A few of the partners are ready for the call and just need to be reminded of what there is to do. But many of my partners need help. Some need help to even begin to hear the call. Many more have spent their entire life hearing the call but have reached an impasse where it has become clear that what they started out with will not go all the way. With the course, there is something to give them. The course demonstrates both where to start and how to keep going all the way home.
- Saying, "Yes!" to life can be deeply disturbing to the status quo. If one is not used to it, it rearranges everything. The course provides a foundation, a stepping stone, and a safety net when people are reaching out into the new.
- If used properly, the Course helps one see through ones own hesitation, puffed up arrogance, and lies.
To explore further, I suggest the website ACIM.org, which is run by the Foundation for Inner Peace, the original publishers of the course. On that site, one can read the full text of the Workbook and a good overview of how the Course came into being and what it says. And lots more.
When buying a copy of the course, I recommend the third (complete) edition. This edition includes the two pamphlets that were published later but were received through the same process of inner dictation as the rest of the Course. You can purchase this version through the acim.org site online store or at a discount through online stores such as amazon.com (hardcover, softcover, or mass-market paperback). I do not recommend the copies of the course through other sellers.
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