A Course in Miracles International
A Course in Miracles International (ACIM) a course in miracles has become one of the world's most successful channeled spiritual texts. It offers a profound and challenging alternative to the usual way of thinking about happiness.
The Course was "scribed" in secret over seven years by Helen Schucman through inner dictation she identified as coming from Jesus. It consists of a Text, Workbook and Manual for Teachers which includes clarification of terms.
The Course
The Course in Miracles, or ACIM, has captured the minds and hearts of millions of people worldwide, delivering inner peace where fear and pain once reigned. This self-study spiritual thought system, which consists of three volumes – the Text, Workbook for Students and Manual for Teachers – is not just a book about healing; it is a spiritual training course designed to lead us to an entirely new perspective on the world and our place within it.
The work of ACIM is intellectually sophisticated, using figurative language that has earned it comparisons to some of the world's great literature. But it is also accessible to anyone willing to make the effort. The Workbook contains questions and answers that are meant to guide you through an experiential process that teaches the way to change your perception of the world. In doing so, it is teaching you to release your identification with the ego and embrace the spiritual truth that God is Love.
In its spiritual and practical teachings, the Course explains that forgiveness is the path to universal love and peace. It describes how the ego distorts our perception of the world and our relationships by perceiving sin – guilt – as real, and how to undo that distortion through the practice of forgiveness. It emphasizes that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the problem of suffering, and teaches that everyone shares the same underlying experience of fear.
Despite its Christian roots, the metaphysics of the Course is closer to Eastern mysticism than to traditional Western religion. It rejects many fundamental concepts of Christianity, such as the notion that Jesus Christ died on the cross to atone for human sins, and that only through his sacrifice can salvation be achieved.
The Course in Miracles International, or CIMI, is an organization that evolved from the Foundation for Inner Peace, a non-profit group founded in 1975 by Helen Schucman, the author of A Course in Miracles. Its purpose is to disseminate the spiritual teaching of the Course, and it publishes and distributes its materials, offers seminars and workshops, and holds an annual conference. It also serves as a nexus for an international network of study groups. In addition, CIMI administers the copyright of the Course and provides legal representation for its members when needed.
The Way
A Course in Miracles is an internationally recognized day-by-day self-study program that teaches you to undo the beliefs that cause fear and pain, replacing them with a perception of love and peace. This unique teaching blends psychology, Christianity and Eastern philosophy to offer a complete mind training curriculum that helps you achieve inner peace.
When the Course was first published in 1975, it was a groundbreaking spiritual teaching, challenging many of the religious concepts held by Western culture. Its mystical language, controversial claims of authorship and the absence of a traditional church structure made it difficult to categorize. Nonetheless, it remains widely read and is practiced by people of all backgrounds.
Although the Course has no specific religious affiliation, it combines elements of Christian spirituality with some of the ideas found in the Bible. It also draws heavily from a wide variety of world religions, particularly Buddhism and Hinduism. Its intellectually sophisticated figurative language has led many to compare it with the greatest literature of world history.
In early versions of the Course, Schucman used shorthand notes to record her thoughts. Her work was later edited by William N. Tetford and released as a textbook, a workbook and a manual for teachers.
The premise of the Course is that your fear and judgment can be replaced with unconditional love, and that the miracles we see in our world are not accidents but natural extensions of the loving energy that created us. The Course is an experiential learning course that aims to help you recognize the love and power that is your true inheritance.
The Message, or the "Manual for Teachers," is written in a question-and-answer format to provide answers to questions that might arise as you study the text. It clarifies many of the terms that are not readily apparent from its mystical, poetic language, and provides a framework to help you apply its concepts in your daily life. It is an important supplement to the Text and Workbook, and should be studied by any serious student of A Course in Miracles.
Practicing
A stroll through the Religion and Spirituality section of a bookstore can be disquieting: so many popular books offer simplistic thought systems and discipline that excludes rather than includes practice. Yet A Course in Miracles is different. It offers a system of spiritual mind training which is both intellectually sophisticated and thoroughly practical, combining perennial philosophy and perennial psychology with seven central practices.
The Course is also a unique book in that it addresses all of the major existential challenges of life: meaning and purpose, sickness and suffering, aloneness and death. It is designed to undo the limited perception through which these challenges are perceived, and to replace it with a true perception, one in which there is only love and compassion. It is a transforming agency for the mind, and it does so in a very straightforward way, requiring no special religious beliefs to practice.
Helen Schucman wrote the Book of A Course in Miracles (ACIM) as a form of self-healing, based on a message she received from an inner voice that she identified with Jesus. She kept her identity confidential and did not publish the original edition of the Course, published in 1975, although she was responsible for its content. Since that time the Course has become a widely distributed book, and it has formed the basis for a number of organized groups.
Kenneth Wapnick edited the 1992 edition of the Course, and he obtained copyright for it. This edition contains the Preface, Text, Workbook for students, Manual for Teachers and two Supplements. This edition is the version most widely distributed today.
The book is difficult to read because of its dense, figurative language. This makes it difficult for the average reader to grasp its loving and healing message. However, there are a number of ACIM students who have translated the workbook into more accessible language in order to make its teachings available to a wider audience. Alan Cohen is a longtime ACIM student and teacher who has taken the challenge of translating the original figurative language into more readable words. His new book, A Course in Miracles Made Easy: A Paragraph-by-Paragraph Translation, is intended to serve as a Rosetta stone for the understanding of this spiritual classic.