Frequently Asked Questions about A Course in Miracles (1)
What is A Course in Miracles?
Q: What, exactly, is A Course in Miracles?
A Course in Miracles is a spiritual path in the form of a book. Its purpose is to train us to work miracles—to accept and extend to others the healed perception that awakens us to God. The Course consists of three volumes (usually bound together in one book), which follow the model of a college course. The three volumes are the Text, the Workbook, and the Manual for Teachers.
The Text gives the theoretical foundation of the Course's thought system, which is essential to make the exercises of the Workbook meaningful. The Workbook, in 365 daily lessons, trains the mind in how to think along the lines the Text sets forth. Based on the Text, it emphasizes experience through practical application. The Manual for Teachers gives instruction for those who have studied the Text and completed the Workbook and are ready to deepen their learning by extending it to others—in other words, those who are ready to become full-fledged miracle workers. While this extension can take many forms, the Manual discusses two forms in particular: 1) a teacher of the Course who extends the Course to pupils through his or her thoughts, words, and example (a kind of Course mentor), and 2) a Course-based healer who extends healing to patients.
For more on this question, see the page on this website entitled What Is A Course in Miracles? If you would like to order a copy of A Course in Miracles, there are four formats to choose from: the original edition, hardcover, softcover, or the mass market paperback version.
In traditional usage, the term "miracle" refers to a divine healing of the physical world or the body, in which the normal physical laws are momentarily suspended. In Course usage, the term "miracle" refers to a divine healing of human perception, in which the "laws" that normally govern ego-based thinking are momentarily suspended. This healing shifts our perception from the view that others are attackers who deserve condemnation to the view that others are holy children of God who deserve love. This healing is of the mind, but can also lead to healing of the physical world and the body. The primary definition of "miracle" in the Course is the extension of healed perception from one mind to another.
For more information, see the entry for "miracle" in Robert Perry's ACIM Glossary. If you want to learn more about miracles, you may also want to order Robert Perry and Allen Watson's book entitled The Answer Is a Miracle.
Q: Why is it called "A Course in Miracles"?
In short, because it is a course whose purpose is to train us to be miracle workers. The author chose the title, and began with these words: "This is a course in miracles, please take notes."
The individual words of the title are significant:
A
The Course presents a teaching which lights a pathway for returning to God. It does not claim to be the only pathway. Other spiritual paths, in the view of the Course, all lead to the same goal of awakening to God, each in their own unique way. "All such attempts will ultimately succeed because of their purpose" (T-18.VII.5:9).
Course
The course presents a course of study, practice, and extension designed to enable its students to work miracles. As a course it is meant to be "taken" in a rigorous and committed manner, just as one would take any course one wants to pass. Another term for "course" is "path"; this course presents a path to God.
in Miracles
As mentioned in the answer to the previous question, the primary definition of "miracle" in the Course is the extension of healed perception from one mind to another. This is a course that teaches us how to work such miracles: to be miracle workers who extend healed perception to miracle receivers.
Q: What are the benefits of taking the Course?
The Course promises that countless benefits will result from walking its path, benefits it often portrays as gifts from God's infinite treasure house. Among those gifts are the following:
- The gift of a deep and profound sense of inner peace
- The gift of releasing our grievances through forgiveness
- The gift of relationships transformed from contentious war zones into truly holy relationships
- The gift of frequent holy instants, spiritual experiences in which we temporarily enter a boundless realm of peace, joy, and love
- The gift of receiving guidance from the Holy Spirit for all the decisions of our lives
- The gift of finding our special function, the particular role God has for us in the world
- The gift of giving to others, of being truly helpful to other people
- The gift of days filled with happiness.
- Finally, the indescribable gift of awakening fully to the awareness of God and our true home in Heaven
One of the benefits in the above list is the holy instant. The following is a description of a holy instant that one Course student had in an encounter with a woman whom, under normal circumstances, he held unkind judgments against. (It is excerpted from Robert Perry's book Path of Light: Stepping into Peace with A Course in Miracles.
The thing that struck me right away is that I felt more love/joy in being in [her] presence than I have ever felt before....It was an experience of pure absolute bliss in coming into contact with someone....I felt a love, a sense of love, that surpassed any concept of love that I have experienced on a conscious level. I have been in love, I've had many male/female relationships, and in looking back it was no comparison, because it was so much greater than anything that I had ever experienced. And I said, "this is love."
Q: What is the goal of the Course?
The goal of the Course can be expressed in a number of different ways. The Course's ultimate goal for us is full awakening to the awareness of God. To pave the way to this ultimate goal, the actual learning goal of the Course is the attainment of true perception through forgiveness: the perception of everyone and everything as pure, holy, innocent children of God. One could also say that the goal of the Course is to bless us with gifts of God like those listed in the previous question.
Finally, one could say that the goal of the Course is to produce a particular kind of person: a person whom it calls an "advanced teacher of God" (see Section 4 of the Manual for Teachers). This is someone who has so fully accepted the gifts of God that he or she embodies the character traits of trust, honesty, tolerance, gentleness, joy, defenselessness, generosity, patience, faithfulness, and open-mindedness. In other words, the person the Course aims to produce is a person who is pure goodness, a person who in any time or place would be considered a saint.
The origin of A Course in Miracles
Q: How and when was the Course written?
An inner Voice, identified as Jesus, dictated all three volumes to Helen Schucman (1909-1981), a Professor of Medical Psychology at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. The dictation began on October 21, 1965 and ended around September 14, 1972. William ("Bill") Thetford (1919-1988), another Professor of Medical Psychology at Columbia, assisted Helen with encouragement, typing, and friendship. The Course came in response to an agreement Helen had made with Bill several months earlier: to help him find "another way" in which to conduct their personal and professional relationships.
The Course was first published (in notebook form) in 1975; the first printed edition appeared in June 1976. The Second Edition was published in 1992.
For a longer version of the story of the scribing of the Course, see Allen Watson's article The Story of the Course.
Q: What is the basis for claiming that Jesus is the author of the Course?
The many first-person passages referring to the teaching and life of Jesus clearly identify him as the purported author, and one passage flatly states that this course came from him (M-23.7:1). Robert Perry has identified a number of similarities between the Jesus of history and the author of the Course, similarities which lend support to the claim that the Course's author is Jesus. However, it is not necessary to accept this claim in order to benefit from the Course. "It is possible to read his words and benefit from them without accepting him into your life" (C-5.6:6).
For more on this topic, see two articles in which Robert discusses parallels between the Jesus of history and the author of the Course. One is entitled Who Was the Jesus of History and Did He Write A Course in Miracles? The other is condensed from that article, and is entitled A Joint Portrait of Jesus.
Q: What other writings came from the same source as the Course?
In the years after the Course was scribed by Helen Schucman, several other writings were scribed in the same manner:
- Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process, and Practice (1973-75): This supplement to the Course applies the principles of the Course to the practice of psychotherapy.
- "Clarification of Terms" (1975): This is now in the back of the Course, after the Manual for Teachers. It came as a result of a request from Helen, Ken Wapnick, and Judy Skutch for a glossary that would define some of the terms used in the Course.
- The Song of Prayer: Prayer, Forgiveness, Healing (1977): This supplement to the Course presents a Course perspective on three topics associated with traditional religion: prayer, forgiveness, and healing.
- "The Gifts of God" (1978): This currently appears at the end of Helen's book of poetry, also entitled The Gifts of God. It is Helen's last scribing, and came in response to a fearful situation she was facing in her life. Its main theme is the contrast between the deceptive "gifts" of fear and the glorious gifts of God.
For more information, consult the following teaching materials based on these works: For the Psychotherapy supplement, see Robert Perry's article A Basic Outline of Course-Based Psychotherapy.
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