Introduction to “A Course in Miracles”
A Course in Miracles is a self-study spiritual thought system. It is published in
three volumes consisting of a Text, Workbook for Students, and Manual for
Teachers.
"A Course in Miracles" is a way to live with more peace and love by asking
the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Voice of God to help us to remember
God. It focuses on the practice of forgiveness, to remind us that we are all
Spirits, One in God. The Miracle is when we choosing to forgive, that is when
we choose to change our mind, choosing to see Spirit, beyond the body,
choosing the Voice of God and not the ego.
Therefore "A Course in Miracles" teaches us to remember our Oneness with God and to go Home to
Heaven by healing our relationships with ourselves and others through forgiveness which leads to
the undoing of the ego and unconscious guilt.
"A Course in Miracles" maintains that it is one way to remember who we are and that there are many other valid spiritual paths. Although the language of the Course is Christian, it expresses a nonsectarian, non-denominational, non-dualistic spirituality which is presented in various other spiritual traditions such as in Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Sufi and Zen.
"A Course in Miracles" is not a religion but a spiritual way of thinking about our self, the world and God which promote deep healing and inner peace.
"A Course in Miracles" was “scribed” by Dr Helen Schucman through a process of inner dictation she identified as coming from Jesus. A clinical and research psychologist and tenured Associate Professor of Medical Psychology, she was assisted by Dr William Thetford, her department head, who was also
a tenured Professor of Medical Psychology at the Medical Centre where they both worked.
The introduction to the text succinctly present a summary of what a Course in Miracles is about: “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 can 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.”
