In 2010, AVAIYA created this extraordinary film that interviewed many teachers and students in the course in miracles ACIM community. This Special Edition blends those interviews with new ones including Jon Mundy & David Hoffmeister. AVAIYA Co-founder, Ashley "Ande" Anderson narrates the film and shares her personal journey of applying principles from the Course to understand deep issues such as how the ego uses special relationships.
What is A Course in Miracles?
A Course in Miracles is a spiritual self-study thought system that combines profound spiritual teachings with far-reaching psychological insights. It has been used to bring healing and transformation to millions of people around the world.
It was originally published in 1976, and since then has become a modern spiritual classic, with its own unique scriptural status in the eyes of many. It has been read, studied and practiced by men and women of all walks of life, from all major religions. Its three books, Text, Workbook for Students, and Manual for Teachers, are written on a high intellectual level with sophisticated metaphysical, theological, and psychological concepts. Much of it is written in blank verse, making it comparable to some of the world’s great literature.
The Course uses Christian terminology and evocates universal, non-dual spiritual themes, including Eastern spirituality. It is not a religion and does not claim to be the only way to God. It does, however, emphasize experience over belief in a specific theology. Its emphasis on forgiveness as the means of restoring our memory of the love of God reflects the core wisdom shared by all major spiritual traditions.
In addition to its teachings on forgiveness, the Course also teaches the meaning of love and truth, the nature of guilt, and how to transcend fear and suffering. It is about awakening to the joy of living, and experiencing peace, happiness and oneness with all of life. This is the promise of the Course, and the reason why it has touched so many lives.
Author D. Patrick Miller is a professional writer who has combined his knowledge of spirituality and human potential with extensive study of A Course in Miracles, the Enneagram system of personality types, Jungian depth psychology, shamanism, and related fields of contemporary spirituality. He has applied these teachings to his own life and written about them in a number of print and online publications. He has been a contributing editor for Yoga Journal and is the author of several books. He resides in San Francisco, California. You can find him on Twitter @DPatrickMiller.
The Story
The Course is one of the most influential spiritual texts in modern times. It has been embraced by people as diverse as Oprah Winfrey, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer and Marianne Williamson. It has also been supported by countless New Thought churches, such as Centers for Spiritual Living and the Association of Unity Churches.
What makes the Course so special is that it has both spiritual AND psychological teachings. Many people find this combination to be the most helpful of all approaches they have ever experienced.
A Course in Miracles is very different from Christianity the way it is commonly practiced, but it does use Christian symbols and references. The movie, Originally created in 2010 by Avaiya Media, has been re-imagined by filmmaker iKE ALLEN. This Special Edition film combines interviews with Dr. Kenneth Wapnick, Gary Renard and Nouk Sanchez with the story of Kate, a woman who uses principles from The Course to help her understand what special relationships are truly for. The reimagined version also features Jon Mundy and David Hoffmeister.
The Course was allegedly dictated to Helen Schucman by an inner voice she identified as Jesus. The work does not identify Helen or Bill as the authors, but instead calls her the scribe and the voice as the author. This is a typical feature of spiritistic revelations, where the content is said to be dictated from the divine but the form is supposedly humanly written.
While Helen and Bill did help with the scribing, they had very little to do with the actual content. The Course is highly logical, with extensive use of syllogism and biblical archaicisms (as in the King James language). Helen was a fiercely logical mind and it shows in the development of her thought system in the book.
The Course is one of the most influential spiritual works of the New Thought movement. This tradition of spirituality is based on the idea that there are laws of attraction, and that our thoughts can influence the world around us. Unlike the teachings of The Bible, this approach is not dogmatic and does not promote one particular religion over another.
The Teachings
When Helen Schucman first published A Course in Miracles in 1976, it was widely debated. It was a book about forgiveness and the healing power of love. Despite the controversy, it went on to become a modern spiritual classic and has sold millions of copies worldwide. It has also helped many people heal their relationships and find peace in the face of pain and suffering.
The teachings of A Course in Miracles (ACIM) are based on a profound and universal message of forgiveness. It offers a way out of the ego's self-defeating thought system and into the Kingdom of Heaven, where love is the only answer to all problems. It is not a religion, but a comprehensive spiritual thought system that teaches how to recognize the truth and let it change your life forever.
Its 365 daily lessons are designed to teach you a new way of thinking, and to change your perception of the world and your own role in it. It emphasizes that it is up to you to choose happiness, regardless of the circumstances. It explains that the world we see is only a reflection of what is going on in our own minds. It teaches you to release all of the beliefs and assumptions that you have about the world and your own place in it.
Although the Course uses Christian terminology, it is ecumenical in its view of the world. It does not promote itself as the only way to God and makes it clear that a universal theology is impossible. It does not even claim to be a complete course in spirituality, but says that it is one of many thousands of paths that lead to God.
The language of the Course is poetic and written in blank verse, and the thought system is intellectually sophisticated. It combines spiritual inspiration with a deep understanding of human behavior and psychology. In this sense, the work is similar to climbing a ladder where each rung represents a deeper level of understanding. As the work is mastered, it becomes more and more practical, and the underlying principle is that the only answer to all problems is love.
The Movie
A Course in Miracles is a spiritual self-study text published in 1976 and currently available in over two million copies worldwide. It has been embraced by such mainstream commentators as Oprah Winfrey, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer & Marianne Williamson and is additionally supported by countless "New Thought" churches, including Centers for Spiritual Living & the Association of Unity Churches.
The movie is about the transformation of a young girl, named Anna, who is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. When she is told there are no treatments and she will die, she chooses to believe in the miracle. She is able to heal herself and her family by learning the key teachings of A Course in Miracles which are based on love and forgiveness.
Director and ACIM teacher iKE ALLEN has re-imagined his 2010 film to create this special edition that includes interviews with the original teachers of A Course in Miracles such as Dr. Kenneth Wapnick, Gary Renard & Nouk Sanchez along with additional interviews with Jon Mundy & David Hoffmeister. It is also narrated by Avaiya Media co-founder, Ashley "Ande" Anderson who shares her own personal journey of applying principals from the Course to understand how the ego uses special relationships.
The movie is not a religious film nor does it claim to be the only path back to God. Instead it is a restatement of the core wisdom found in every religion and is ecumenical in nature. The Course has a unique thought system that combines spiritual inspiration with intellectually sophisticated understanding of the nature of the mind, belief and defense systems, healing, perception and identity. It is a very practical approach to spirituality that is based on the principle that all of us have a natural inheritance in the light of Love. In this way it helps to remove the blocks we have to that love and allows us to experience our full potential. For more information, visit www.ACIMNow.com.