Past issues of A Better Way

Issues are offered as PDF files. PDF stands for "Portable Document Format." PDF files are readable on any computer using the free program, Adobe Reader. PDF files cannot be edited. You may download Adobe Reader here, and use the program to view or print PDF files.

Past Issues

A Better Way #98 by Robert Perry. This month's article is "The Religion of the Ego," by Robert Perry. Most Course students would call themselves "spiritual but not religious." But what if the truth is that we're all religious? In this article, Robert shows how, according to the Course, the religious impulse is inherent in all of us. And until we change our minds, we are all devoted followers of the religion of the ego.
A Better Way #97 by Greg Mackie. Our lead article this month is "The Earthquake in Haiti: A Call for Miracles," in which Greg Mackie shares his reflections on the disaster that has dominated the headlines these past few weeks. All of us at the Circle send our loving thoughts and prayers to everyone affected by this horrific event. In a bonus article, just in time for Groundhog Day, Greg draws out the Course-like themes embedded in the Bill Murray/Andie MacDowell movie Groundhog Day.
A Better Way #96 by Robert Perry. There is a deep-seated urge in our nature that we tend to associate more with art than spirituality: the impulse to create. This urge tends to get short shrift in spiritual circles, yet in various forms it is a major component in the Course's path. The Course sets forth a theory of the mind in which the creative impulse is portrayed as fundamental to the mind's nature, both on earth and in Heaven. In this article, Robert explores what the Course says about the impulse to create.
A Better Way #95 by Greg Mackie. In this article, Greg looks at fiction through the lens of the Course, both human fiction and the fiction we call life in this world. Why do we create fiction? What do we aim to accomplish with it? Is fiction exclusively the domain of the ego, or is it something the Holy Spirit can use too? If this world is indeed fiction, as the Course says it is, how should we regard the story we are living in, and what if anything should we do to change it?
A Better Way #94 by Greg Mackie. Greg shares a dramatic personal healing he experienced through working with the Course, and uses that as a springboard to explore different approaches to mental healing. He concludes with a few tips to help you in your own journey from darkness to light.
A Better Way #93 by Robert Perry. One of the most well known lines in A Course in Miracles is from the introduction: "The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught" (T-In.1:6). Most of us take that line to mean that the Course does not offer a verbal definition of love, for its real meaning is beyond words. Yet to really understand that line, we need to interpret it in light of related discussions in the Course. In this article, Robert draws on those related discussions to answer the question: What is the meaning of love?
A Better Way #92 by Robert Perry. What is the soul? Talk about the soul is rampant in our culture and in spiritual circles. But is it a concept in A Course in Miracles? Is there room in the Course for an individual spiritual entity that is journeying through time back to its Creator? In this article, Robert explores the usage of "soul" in the Course's early dictation, and then finds the same concept scattered elsewhere in the Course, as well as graphically depicted in one of Helen's inner visions. The result is a new concept of the soul, one uniquely Course-like. You may never look at your soul the same way again.
A Better Way #91 by Robert Perry. We all know that the Course is a course in miracles, and that it defines miracles in a new way. But what is this new way? Are they shifts in perception? Are they unexpectedly fortunate circumstances, like physical healings, remarkable coincidences, or experiences of serendipity? In this article, Robert shares fourteen examples of real-life events (drawn from photocopies of Helen's original handwritten notebooks) that Jesus identified as miracles. What these examples reveal is surprising, to say the least. They contain a whole new vision of what a miracle is, and thus a new understanding of what A Course in Miracles is.
A Better Way #90 by Robert Perry. Virtually every Course student is familiar with the idea that attack is really a call for love. Most take this idea to mean that even when a person's actions look like an attack, the person is really just looking for love. But is that what the Course actually means?
A Better Way #89 by Greg Mackie. This month's article is "The Law of Love Is Universal: Reflections on the Prayer for Lesson 345." Lesson 345, "I offer only miracles today, for I would have them be returned to me," suggests a whole new way of living in the world: a way of selfless giving rooted in the "law of love." In this article, Greg goes through this prayer line by line and draws out its meaning for our lives.
A Better Way #88 by Robert Perry. In Part I, Robert wrote about the important role behavior plays in the Course. Here, he draws out the Course's thought system on behavior, a thought system he discovered while doing research for Part I. In the end, he reveals a dramatically new vision of behavior—a vision which may give you a new vision of A Course in Miracles.
A Better Way #87 by Robert Perry. Behavior is a confusing and contentious topic among Course students. We often hear the claim that the Course is not interested in our behavior, since, after all, it is illusory. In part one of this article, "The Presence and Role of Behavior in A Course in Miracles," Robert provides copious evidence for the importance of behavior in the Course, and then describes the role behavior plays in the Course's salvation process.
A Better Way #86 by Robert Perry. This issue of A Better Way is timed to be concurrent with the release of Robert's first non-Course book, which is titled, Signs: A New Approach to Coincidence, Synchronicity, Guidance, Life Purpose, and God's Plan. The book is about a phenomenon that Robert has been working with for many years, which might be called an extreme form of synchronicity. Therefore, our article in this issue is about whether or not this phenomenon is in harmony with the Course. Robert argues that it is, not only on general grounds, but because an occurrence of this phenomenon played a pivotal role in the early story of the Course.
A Better Way #85 by Robert Perry. We Course students tend to shrink from the word "holiness," rarely using the word in our conversations about the Course and redefining it as "wholeness" when we do. Yet in the Course itself, the goal of holiness—true saintliness, godliness, purity, perfection of character, sinlessness—is front and center. In this article, Robert helps us reconcile ourselves with the word and idea of holiness and the central role holiness plays in A Course in Miracles
A Better Way #84 by Greg Mackie. "Brother, Can You Spare a Miracle?" The big thing on everyone's mind today is the economy. What do we do in the face of such hard times? In this article, Greg presents a prescription for how we can survive and even flourish during the current economic crisis, a prescription rooted in what the Course calls the "law of love": "What I give my brother is my gift to me."
A Better Way #83 by Robert Perry. The article for this month is "It's For Real: Finding and Fulfilling Your Special Function," by Robert Perry. In this article, Robert continues the exploration of the special function begun in the last issue of A Better Way. This time, he addresses the more down-to-earth side of the special function, drawing from his personal experience and the example of Helen Schucman to answer practical questions such as "How do I find my special function?", "How do I make myself fit for it?", and "How do I deal with my resistance to it?"
A Better Way #82 by Robert Perry. This month's article is "What on Earth Is Our Special Function?" by Robert Perry. We all yearn for a special calling or life's purpose, and the Course term "special function" seems to refer to exactly that. Yet we often resist this interpretation and conclude that our special function is simply to forgive particular people in our lives. What does the Course really teach here? Does it teach the "specific calling" or the "just forgive" perspective?
A Better Way #81 by Greg Mackie. A Course in Miracles regards holy relationships as "the source of your salvation" (T-20.VIII.6:9). Yet as appealing as the idea of holy relationships sounds and as important as holy relationships are in the eyes of the Course, the concept is almost universally misunderstood by Course students. This article aims to clear up some of the confusion. Just what is a holy relationship? How does it develop? Why are holy relationships such a vital aspect of the Course's path to salvation? And if they are so vital, how exactly can I find one for myself?
A Better Way #80 by Robert Perry. "These Words Dispel the Night." As Course in Miracles students, we have an ambivalent relationship with words. This is a truly unfortunate state of affairs, for repeating words is the Course's main practice, a practice on which it is resting the achievement of its goals for us. In this article, Robert explores the "why," "how," and "when" of the Course's practice of repeating words, drawing extensively from the Workbook's voluminous instructions on this practice. He hopes this will be the beginning of an ongoing discussion on this crucial topic. The goal the Course has set for us depends on it.
A Better Way #79 by Greg Mackie. Never Correct a Brother's Errors? The "Correction of Error" section in the Text (T-9.III) is a section that confounds many Course students. It is often taken to say that you should never correct a brother's error at any time for any reason. But does this section really say that? Greg examines the section carefully and draws from other Course material—especially the sections immediately following—to come up with an answer that may surprise you.
A Better Way #78 by Robert Perry. "Interpretation and the Future of the Course" Course students tend to have an uneasy relationship with the whole idea of interpreting the Course, yet the issue of interpretation is crucial, for how we interpret the Course determines our whole relationship with it. There are many perspectives on how to interpret the Course but the key question is "What did Jesus think about interpretation?" Robert offers an answer to that question based on the Course material itself, an answer that provides a whole new vision of Course interpretation.
A Better Way #77 by Greg Mackie. "I Follow in the Way Appointed Me: Reflections on Workbook Lesson 317." Lesson 317 is a powerful and beautiful lesson. It says that each of us has a specific part to play in God's plan for salvation, and completing that part is essential for the world's salvation and our own. In this article, Greg shares his personal reflections on this lesson and invites you to explore its implications for your life as well.
A Better Way #76 by Robert Perry. "A Conversation with Readers about "Miracles Boomeritis." In this issue, we have "A Conversation with Readers on Miracles Boomeritis." We've collected the feedback to Robert's article "Miracles Boomeritis" (A Better Way #75), an article which suggests that the Course community has been infected by an intellectual virus that is pervasive in modern culture: the idea that there are no absolute truths, and therefore "no one tells me what to do!" Read Robert's responses to the feedback, and his overall comments on what that feedback suggests about the presence of boomeritis in the Course community. We'll be publishing more correspondence on this topic in the next issue of A Better Way, so there's still time to join the discussion.
A Better Way #75 by Robert Perry. "Miracles Boomeritis" "Boomeritis" is a term coined by transpersonal philosopher Ken Wilber to describe the pervasive cultural mindset of our time. This mindset, which Wilber believes began with the "baby boomer" generation, says that there is no absolute truth, there is only my truth and your truth, and therefore "Nobody tells me what to do!" In this article, Robert asks: Do we Course students have boomeritis? Are boomeritis and the Course compatible? What do we do about this issue?
A Better Way #74 by Greg Mackie. "The Urgency of Doing Our Part in Salvation," Most students of A Course in Miracles know that the Course tells us to be patient regarding the ultimate outcome of salvation. But it may come as a surprise to learn that the Course also tells us it is urgent that we start doing our part to bring about salvation. To awaken this sense of urgency in us, Greg draws out this theme in the Course material, with a particular emphasis on the "celestial speed-up" — the Holy Spirit's response to the "acute emergency" of our current condition, a speed-up that Jesus told Helen the Course was intended to help facilitate.
A Better Way #73 by Robert Perry. "Anchoring a Tradition: Why We Are Launching the Circle Course Community" How can the Course accomplish the purpose for which it came? If the Course really is Jesus' second appearance, how can we ensure that things don't go awry like they did the first time? In this article, Robert expresses his and the Circle's conviction that the Course needs to eventually be embedded in a tradition, a global support network of students and teachers seeking to walk the Course's path the way that Jesus intended. This, he says, is why we decided to form the Circle Course Community.
A Better Way #72 by Robert Perry. "Realizing the Promises of the Course Why We Are Launching the Circle Course Community" This month's article is Realizing the Promises of the Course: Why We Are Launching the Circle Course Community, by Robert Perry. We are all on the spiritual path for the sake of the benefits promised, and the Course promises us the biggest benefits imaginable. Yet it also ties those benefits to doing what it asks, something we seem to find nearly impossible. How can we raise ourselves up to follow the Course's instructions and realize its promises?
A Better Way #71 by Robert Perry. "The Practice of Being Present to God" We tend to think of meditation as turning inward, clearing away the distractions, and being fully present to something within our own mind. In a sense, then, we view meditation as an act of being present to ourselves. But many of the Course's meditations offer another perspective: They frame meditation as an act of being present to Someone Else, namely God. In this article, Robert explores the idea of meditation as the practice of being totally present to God.
A Better Way #70 by Greg Mackie. "The Joy of Realizing That This Place Is Hell." We have a hard time admitting just what a nightmare life on earth really is, because we think such an admission would inevitably sink us into the depths of despair. Greg shows how realizing that this place is hell, while sobering, can actually be a gateway to great joy.
A Better Way #69 by Greg Mackie. "Questioning Every Value That You Hold" At the Circle, we've had many Course students who have been drawn to our teaching approach and have benefited from it. Yet at times, we've also gotten the impression that at least for some, our teaching can be a bit of a downer. While I don't regard our teaching as a downer myself, I can understand where that perception comes from. It's really true that we don't use the kind of "feel good" approach so prevalent in the self-help and alternative spirituality markets today. Given that our teaching style can be challenging and contrarian at times, it's reasonable to ask: Why do we teach the way we do? This article answers that question.
A Better Way #68 by Robert Perry. "What is God like?" Is He angry, indifferent, or loving? This is a hugely important question, for how we see God colors how we see everything. In this article, Robert takes a look at our attitude toward God and at how A Course in Miracles portrays God. We will find that the Course's view is so extreme, so different from conventional assumptions, that we may find ourselves quite surprised.
A Better Way #67 by Robert Perry. "How Do We Spend Our Days After the Workbook?" If you are a student of A Course in Miracles and have completed the Workbook, what do you do afterward? The epilogue to the Workbook gives the impression that you just sail along under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. However, we receive a much more specific picture of what to do after the Workbook in Section 24 of the Manual for Teachers, "How Should the Teacher of God Spend His Day?" The general rules laid out in this section provide a great snapshot of how Jesus sees more mature students living his course.
A Better Way #66 by Robert Perry. "The Importance of Relationships in A Course in Miracles " Interpersonal relationships in this world are "the means of return" according to the Course, but Course students often have difficulty reconciling this with the Course's metaphysics. If the world is an illusion, why would relationships in this world matter? Robert shows that the Course's emphasis on relationships is actually an expression of its metaphysics: Relationships are part of the very fabric of Heaven, so our earthly relationships are meant to be a reflection of Heaven's perfect relationships.
A Better Way #65 by Greg Mackie. "Seek Not to Change the World?" The Course famously says, "Seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world" (T-21.In.1:7). Course students generally take this to mean that changing things in the external world, including behaviorally extending help to others, is not part of the Course's path. But is that really what this line means?
A Better Way #64 by Robert Perry. "Why I Am a Course Purist." The term "Course purist" may sound like rigid fundamentalism, but for Robert being a Course purist is reasonable, healthy, freeing, and life-giving. In this article, Robert explains why he is a Course purist and describes the many benefits this approach to the Course has given him.
A Better Way #63 by Robert Perry. "What If Jesus Really Did Write This?" This is a lightly edited version of a talk Robert gave at the 2007 ACIM Conference in San Francisco. Robert presents his reasons for believing that Jesus really did write A Course in Miracles, and explores the huge implications of that amazing claim.
A Better Way #62 by Greg Mackie.
A Course in Miracles and The Secret Greg answers the question—Are the teachings of the popular video The Secret compatible with those of the Course?
A Better Way #61 by Greg Mackie. The Rules That Promise You a Happy Day: My Practice of the Rules for Decision. Greg briefly examines the "Rules for Decision" (T-30.I), describes his experience of practicing them, and shares the benefits this practice has brought to his life.
A Better Way #60 by Robert Perry. How Is Our Brother Our Savior In Course circles, it is often said that our brother is our savior because he pushes our buttons and thus gives us an opportunity to look at our egos. But is this what the Course means when it says our brother is our savior? Or does it have a more exalted view of our brother in mind?
A Better Way #59 by Greg Mackie. The Course's Nondualism: Love is a Law Without an Opposite
A Better Way #57 by Robert Perry. The lead article in this issue is entitled "Open Mind Meditation: The Practice of the Final Step." It is both a theoretical and practical guide to the Course's crowning form of meditation, the form that we practice throughout Part II of the Workbook.
A Better Way #58 by Robert Perry. Conclusion of Return to the Heart of God
A Better Way #56 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is a powerful piece by Nicolas "Mezz" Mezzanatto, a 21-year-old infantryman serving in Iraq. He attends an ACIM group run by Army Reserve Lt. Col. Elizabeth Bowler, a psychiatrist working with the Army's Combat Stress Control Company in the most dangerous area of Iraq. Mezz's piece, entitled "Invincible," teaches us that the Course can truly be applied anywhere and everywhere—even in a war zone.
A Better Way #55 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "This is a Course for Miracle Workers: Please Clock In." For a long time, we at the Circle have believed that Jesus' central purpose for the Course is right there in the title "A Course in Miracles." It is essentially a vocational training manual for the job of miracle worker: a person who extends miracles of true perception to others in thought, word, and deed.
In this article, I share some highlights from the first two chapters of the Course (including additional material from the Urtext) on the job of miracle worker. This material has had a major impact on how I see the Course and my own life's purpose. I hope you will find it as thought-provoking as I have.
A Better Way #54 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "Make This Year Different. How the Course Would Have Us Approach the New Year?"
A Better Way #53 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "Shadows on the Wall. How Would the Course Have Us Regard Modern Physics?" For many students of the Course, especially in the wake of the movie, What the @$%#* Do We Know?quantum physics is seen as scientific support for the Course's view of reality. Yet would the Course see it that way? Greg's answer may surprise you.
A Better Way #52 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "Does A Course in Miracles Commit the 'Sins of Scripture'?" Based on the presence of these "texts of terror," he maintains that we should not see the Bible as the Word of God. What does all of this imply about the Course?
A Better Way #51 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "Medicine for Those Pangs of Guilt." This article unpacks a portion of Lesson 133. This lesson teaches that the way to heal our pangs of guilt is not to assert the purity of our motives, but to look on our motives undisguised. How can this wipe away our guilt? The lesson provides a brilliant answer.
A Better Way #50 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "'Do You Believe in Miracles? The Holy Encounter between Ashley Smith and Brian Nichols'." Greg looks at the celebrated story in which Ashley Smith showed love to the criminal holding her hostage. He demonstrates that this is a classic, real-life example of what the Course calls a holy encounter.
A Better Way #49 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "Helen and Bill's Joining. A Window onto the Heart of A Course in Miracles." What is the heart of the Course? What is the point at which it all comes together. This article views Helen and Bill's joining in "a better way" as that point, as the example of what the Course is trying to have happen in the lives of all of its students.
A Better Way #48 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "Good King Wenceslas."
A Better Way #47 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "The Earlier Versions and the Editing of A Course in Miracles."
A Better Way #46 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "Practice-Oriented Spirituality." Unleashing the Power of Concious commitment. Based on a book by prominent sociologist Robert Wuthnow, this article examines three different ways of living the spiritual life: dwelling-oriented spirituality, seeking-oriented spirituality, and practice-oriented spirituality. Embracing the Course as practice-oriented spirituality offers huge benefits because it unleashes the power of conscious commitment—the key to successfully taking hold of the glorious promises of the Course.
A Better Way #45 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "Ten Character Traits of the Spiritually Advanced." Robert answers the question: What kind of person are we trying to become on this path? An exposition of the ten characteristics of God's teachers from the Manual. Taken from the final chapter of Robert's book Path of Light: Stepping into Peace with A Course in Miracles.
A Better Way #44 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "Life Is but a Dream." We may believe that this life is a dream. Yet how can it be, when things so often act against our wishes, seemingly proving that they have an independent will and are not mere figures in our dream? This article offers a lengthy and mind-expanding answer, based on the section in the Text entitled "The Forgiving Dream."
A Better Way #43 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "Traveling Lightly." We all want to travel lightly through life, yet most of us feel weighed down wit a series of heavy, seemingly unshakable burdens. Nicola offers counsel on how we can learn to travel lightly without resorting to denial.
A Better Way #42 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "Above the Battleground. Applying the Course to the War in Iraq." Greg says, "Forgiveness entails looking upon all of the conflict in our world from a higher vantage point: a place above the battleground. With the Holy Spirit's help, we can look upon the Iraq war with Christ's vision." The article includes a lengthy visualization for rising above the battleground, written by Robert Perry.
A Better Way #41 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "Beauty from My Christian Past." Allen reflects on how much truth and light reached him while he was a practicing fundamentalist Christian.
A Better Way #40 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "Teaching and Learning."
A Better Way #39 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "Does God Have a Plan?" Robert answers this universal question by telling the story of when he first received the Course and how he became aware of his calling to teach the Course. He concludes that there is a specific plan, but it may not match our plan for our lives.
A Better Way #38 by Circle Staff. The lead article in this issue is "The Relationship Between the Circle's Teachings and the Teachings of Ken Wapnick."

Return to top

Printer friendly version

Please report problems to the webmaster.