A Course in Miracles - Original Edition
A Course in Miracles provides teachings about who we really are, what our true relationship to God and each other is, and how to use our experiences in this world as steps toward seeing all things more clearly, and with a renewed perspective. It teaches that love and forgiveness are all that is needed to transform how you see, and what you be.
There are three constituent parts to the Course: The Text, a Workbook for Students, and the Manual for Teachers. The Text lays out the theoretical foundation for the metaphysical system of the Course. The Workbook contains a series of 365 Lessons to be practiced daily for the purpose of retraining the mind and healing our perception. Finally, the Manual contains information for and about advanced teachers of God.
The absolute best definition of A Course in Miracles, is the one it provides for itself in its original Course in Miracles Society edition by Helen Shucman and William Thetford:
This is a course in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you can establish the
curriculum. It means only that you may elect what you want to take at a given time.
The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite.
This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way:
Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.
The Course is also about miracles, which students understand to be, in part, a shift in perception to healed vision. But miracles are more than a shift in perception, because the shift has consequences in the world as we see it. The Course is a self study educational program for retraining the mind that is spiritual, rather than religious, in its perspective. Although the Course uses Christian terminology, it expresses a universal experience.
Life as you know it will change dramatically upon absorbing the teachings provided in this book. Your perspective can take a 180 degree shift in how you see all the things you see, along with what your understanding of those things are.
One of the best ways to read this book is by reading the Text section and Workbook For Students section simultaneously. The Text section provides one illuminating thought after another, while the Workbook For Students provides you with a process of digesting and applying the new perspectives and ideas on a daily basis. When used together, your capacity to absorb these teachings will be greatly magnified.
The change in perception these teachings provide is almost beyond explanation. You will see that all things are equal, that nothing is either good nor bad, that nothing physical has any eternal place, so it is never pivotal.
One of the greatest teachings is how you are responsible for your own experience here, and that everything that seems to happens to you, is either directly asked for or simply allowed. This means you are not and never have been a victim. But the greatest aspect of this new thought is that if you brought all this on yourself, then you have it within you to make any change you desire. You were never without options or choices. You just didn't see they were yours to make.
Overall, you can't go wrong by reading this book, and then read it again, and again, and refer to it and digest it and the person you are today will transform into a kinder, more loving, more forgiving, more open and more peaceful being than you might conceive possible for yourself. In reality, the book never changes you, it just helps you to remember who you really are. You are an eternal being who can create their own path and be a light for others.
To access any lesson at any time, a free online version of the original edition of A Course in Miracles is available through the Course In Miracles Society.
Seeing God: Perhaps For The First Time
When you question your beliefs, question the Bible, or question the requirements within the church, these are signs you are seeking the truth and are willing to see things differently. Your loving and eternally patient Creator hears you.