Overview

TOC

Foreword

Commentaries on Chapter 10: THE IDOLS OF SICKNESS

Introduction

I. At Home in God

II. The Decision to Forget

III. The God of Sickness

IV. The End of Sickness

V. The Denial of God

Commentaries on Chapter 11: GOD OR THE EGO

Introduction

I. The Gifts of Fatherhood

II. The Invitation to Healing

III. From Darkness to Light

IV. The Inheritance of God's Son

V. The "Dynamics" of the Ego

VI. Waking to Redemption

VII. The Condition of Reality

VIII. The Problem and the Answer

Commentaries on Chapter 12: THE HOLY SPIRIT'S CURRICULUM

I. The Judgment of the Holy Spirit

II. The Way to Remember God

III. The Investment in Reality

IV. Seeking and Finding

V. The Sane Curriculum

VI. The Vision of Christ

VII. Looking Within

VIII. The Attraction of Love for Love

Commentaries on Chapter 13: THE GUILTLESS WORLD

Introduction

I. Guiltlessness and Invulnerability

II. The Guiltless Son of God

III. The Fear of Redemption

IV. The Function of Time

V. The Two Emotions

VI. Finding the Present

VII. Attainment of the Real World

VIII. From Perception to Knowledge

IX. The Cloud of Guilt

X. Release from Guilt

XI. The Peace of Heaven

Introduction

Foreword

The Text is the foundation of A Course in Miracles. Doing the Course is simply a process of learning and internalizing its thought system, and the Text is where that thought system is laid out. It is an unparalleled spiritual tour de force. Careful study of it will change your outlook in ways that perhaps nothing else can.

Many students, however, find the Text to be very hard going. Many do not finish it, and even those who make it through, perhaps repeatedly, wish they had a deeper grasp of what they were reading.

For this reason, in 2006, the Circle of Atonement offered the Text Reading Program. This was a year-long tour through the Text of A Course in Miracles with commentary on each paragraph, written by myself and Greg Mackie, both teachers for the Circle. Before each weekday, we would send out to all the participants via e-mail the reading for that day. This would usually consist of a single section from the Text, accompanied by our commentary as well as practical exercises.

We often supplemented these sections with material from the Urtext, the original typescript of the Course. Our experience was that, especially in the early chapters of the Text, material from the Urtext that was eventually edited out was very helpful and clarifying. So when we felt it was useful, we included this Urtext material in brackets, and let it inform our commentary. We also indicated where a word had been emphasized in the Urtext, as this too often added clarity.

The reason we developed this program has a bit of history to it. In 2000, we offered a local program in Sedona that included a daily Text class, using a schedule that took us through the entire Text in a year of weekday readings. (On the sixth and seventh days, we rested!) Our friend, student, and colleague John Perry attended that program. When it ended, he began guiding people through the Text using the same schedule, only doing so online. He sent out the Text material for a given day and interspersed it with his own clarifying comments. In fall 2005 he felt guided to suggest we do something similar. Our guidance told us to go ahead, and so that's what we did. Without John's suggestion, however, it is safe to say we never would have done this.

2006, the year of the program, was an intense one. I would write commentaries for three weeks. Then I got a breather for a week while Greg wrote the commentaries. And then the schedule started over. Each day we wrote the commentary that needed to go out the next day. In addition, we led a weekly phone class for participants, in which we summarized the previous week's sections. (The recordings are still available to students who sign up for the online version of the Text Reading Program.)

The response to our program far exceeded our expectations. We have included a few edited comments at the front of the book, but if you want to read the unadulterated student reactions, straight from the various horses' mouths, then go to www.circlepublishing.org and click on the link for the Text Reading Program. During the year of the program, and actually ever since, we have had consistent requests that we put this material into published form.

So here it is, presented in book form as a multi-volume set. We hope you find these commentaries illuminating, and that they do indeed deepen your understanding of the spiritual masterpiece, A Course in Miracles.

Robert Perry
September 2009
Sedona, Arizona

Excerpts

Introduction to Chapter 10
Commentary by Robert Perry

1. Nothing beyond yourself can make you fearful or loving, because nothing is beyond you. Time and eternity are both in your mind [not beyond you], and will conflict until you perceive time solely as a means to regain eternity. You cannot do this as long as you believe that anything happening [Ur: that happens] to you is caused by factors outside yourself. You must learn that time is solely at your disposal, and that nothing in the world can take this responsibility from you. You can violate God's laws [which give you this responsibility] in your imagination, but you cannot escape from them. They were established for your protection and are as inviolate as your safety.

The impression I get from this paragraph is that the entire world of time is inside my mind, just as in a nighttime dream. In our dreams, we see a world that seems so obviously outside us, but in fact, it is all inside our mind, which means that everything that happens is being secretly controlled by our mind.

Normally, of course, we believe all sorts of things happen to us outside our will. This makes our use of time appear to be partly a product of our will yet largely a product of outside pressures. We try to walk a straight line, but outside winds keep knocking us off balance. Yet this paragraph is saying that there is only one force at work in our lives: our own will. Therefore, we can use time for whatever we want. We have it within our power to use time solely as a means to regain eternity, and we have no excuses not to.

Application: If you had total freedom to use your time for whatever you wanted, what would you use it for?

After you come up with your answer, realize that you do have that total freedom, and you are using it for what you want to. Would you like to change what you are using it for?

2. God created nothing beside you and nothing beside you exists, for you are part of Him. What except Him can exist? Nothing beyond Him can happen, because nothing except Him is real. Your creations add to Him as you do, but nothing is added that is different because everything has always been. What can upset you except the ephemeral, and how can the ephemeral be real if you are God's only creation and He created you eternal? Your holy mind [Ur: will] establishes everything that happens to you. Every response you make to everything you perceive is up to you, because your mind [Ur: will] determines your perception of it.

Application: The opening lines are mind-blowing. Let's repeat an altered version of them to ourselves:

Nothing besides me exists.
For I am part of God.
And nothing except God exists.

This idea that there is nothing beyond me has two very different implications in this paragraph. First, it means that nothing in this world happens to me outside my will. My will is moving each thing I see. Further, my will is determining my perception of it and thus my response to it.

Second, it means that nothing happens to me at all! For all happenings here are ephemeral, transient. Yet if I am the only thing that exists, and I am eternal, then the non-eternal does not exist. Try repeating these lines:
Nothing besides me exists.
I am eternal.
Hence, the non-eternal does not exist.
The happenings of this world are not eternal.
Therefore, nothing happens to me here at all.

3. God does not change His Mind about you, for He is not uncertain of Himself. And what He knows can be known [by you], because He does not know it only for Himself [He knows it for you, too]. He created you for Himself, but He gave you the power to create for yourself so you would be like Him. That is why your mind [Ur: will {by which you create}] is holy. Can anything exceed the Love of God? Can anything, then, exceed your will? Nothing can reach you from beyond it because, being in God, you encompass everything. Believe this, and you will realize how much is up to you. When anything threatens your peace of mind, ask yourself, "Has God changed His Mind about me?" Then accept His decision, for it is indeed changeless, and refuse to change your mind about yourself. God will never decide against you, or He would be deciding against Himself.

When God created you, He endowed you with eternalness (paragraph 2), which means you are changeless and last forever. He endowed you with the power to create ("He gave you the power to create"), which means your will contains all power. And He made you co-extensive with Him ("being in God, you encompass everything"), which means that there is nothing outside you, and that nothing can reach you from beyond your will. Try to believe this, and then spend a moment thinking about "how much is up to you."

You can know all of this, because God knows it for you. And He never changes His Mind about you, no matter what happens to you, no matter what you do.

Application: Notice the practice towards the end of the paragraph: "When anything threatens your peace of mind, ask yourself…" This is what will later be called a response to temptation practice. Begin by thinking about something that is compromising your peace of mind right now. Then say,
Has God changed His Mind about me?

Then accept His decision about you, which is indeed changeless. And then actively refuse to change your mind about yourself.

Related Products

SKU: B131	The Illuminated Text Volume 1 The Illuminated Text is drawn from the Text Reading Program, the Circle's one-year study program of the Text of A Course in Miracles. It provides detailed commentary on this spiritual masterpiece. Volume 1 covers Chapters 1-4. $16.95 Manufacturer: Circle of Atonement
SKU: B132	The Illuminated Text Volume 2 The Illuminated Text is drawn from the Text Reading Program, the Circle's one-year study program of the Text of A Course in Miracles. It provides detailed commentary on this spiritual masterpiece. Volume 2 covers Chapters 5-9. $17.95 Manufacturer: Circle of Atonement
SKU: B134	The Illuminated Text Volume 4 The Illuminated Text Volume 4. Drawn from our online Text Reading Program, it will guide you through each paragraph of chapters 14-17 of the Text. $16.95 Manufacturer: Circle of Atonement

Reviews

Reviewer: Sylvia and Cap Lyons

12/16/2009 12:00am

Robert Perry and Greg Mackie are experts at making the sometimes challenging Text not just understandable, but rich with meaning and poignancy. This is a priceless gift to anyone who wants to fully understand the awesome teachings of A Course in Miracles. I can think of no better form of support than this!

—Sylvia and Cap Lyons

Reviewer: Connie Porter

12/16/2009 12:00am

A very powerful tool to keep me on track, reading and absorbing just a few pages each day. This process has been an invaluable source of inner peace during this past year.
—Connie Porter

Reviewer: Julia Simpson

12/16/2009 12:00am

Robert Perry and Greg Mackie are experts at making the sometimes challenging Text not just understandable, but rich with meaning and poignancy. This is a priceless gift to anyone who wants to fully understand the awesome teachings of A Course in Miracles. I can think of no better form of support than this!
—Julia Simpson

Reviewer: Dietrun Buchman

12/16/2009 12:00am

The Text commentaries offer insights I could not have had alone, because of the deep understanding Robert and Greg have.
—Dietrun Buchman

Reviewer: Sharon Edwards

12/16/2009 12:00am

An amazing journey into the genius and magnitude of this material. Don't miss this opportunity.
—Sharon Edwards

Reviewer: Loretta M. Siani

12/16/2009 12:00am

Robert and Greg's insights illuminate Text principles like never before.
—Loretta M. Siani, Ph.D

Reviewer: Wendy Finnerty

12/16/2009 12:00am

I have studied the Text and read it through at least once a year for the last 19 years. I thought I knew it pretty well. However this year has been a real eye-opener. Many of those little question marks I made in the margins have been erased. I shall be forever grateful for this year of Text study.
—Wendy Finnerty

Reviewer: Ulla Wallin

12/16/2009 12:00am

After 20 years with the Course, I now understand it on a much different level.
—Ulla Wallin

Reviewer: Amy Ellison

12/16/2009 12:00am

Robert and Greg's intelligence, insight, and wit, create a fun climate of spiritual scholarship that helps make the Text more intelligible and alive. They're extraordinarily gifted.
—Amy Ellison

Reviewer: Nancy Nevitt

12/16/2009 12:00am

The clear and down-to-earth commentary has helped me connect with the Text as never before.
—Nancy Nevitt

Reviewer: Jan Worley

12/16/2009 12:00am

Robert and Greg have a tremendous comprehension of the Course and provide down-to-earth explanations. I know of no better way to learn the message of the Text than this program.
—Jan Worley

Reviewer: Katherine LaTorraca

12/16/2009 12:00am

Translates the beautiful poetry of the Course's Text into everyday common language, making the valuable meaning of each sentence easily understood.
—Katherine LaTorraca

Reviewer: David Colwell

12/16/2009 12:00am

Previously, I had never succeeded in completely reading the Text. Participating was the best thing that I did for myself this year.
—David Colwell

Reviewer: George Porter

12/16/2009 12:00am

There is nothing else in my years of studying the Course that has helped me so much!
—George Porter

Reviewer: Barbara Olson

12/16/2009 12:00am

I can honestly say I'll finally complete the reading of the entire Text-and I've been at this for 20 years!
—Barbara Olson

Reviewer: Jo Chandler

12/16/2009 12:00am

Robert and Greg's insights helped me understand and assimilate the Course's otherwise complex and difficult passages. I will do this again next year, and the next, and the next. This program is amazing.
—Jo Chandler

Reviewer: Don De Lene

12/16/2009 12:00am

Your program has been a revelation.
—Don De Lene

Reviewer: Kathy Chomitz

12/16/2009 12:00am

I would like to say that this year has been too amazing to actually put into words.
—Kathy Chomitz

Reviewer: Mirkalice Gore

12/16/2009 12:00am

Having studied the Course faithfully for 28 years, I never imagined the insights and miracles I would receive from these commentaries on the Text!
—Mirkalice Gore

Reviewer: David Flemming

12/16/2009 12:00am

I can truly say that this program has made an incredible difference to my life. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
—David Flemming

Reviewer: Rev. Jerry Cusimano

12/16/2009 12:00am

Nothing less than totally inspiring.
—Rev. Jerry Cusimano

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