A Course in Miracles is acim a three-volume curriculum that teaches forgiveness as the way to universal love and inner peace. It consists of a Text, a Workbook for Students, and a Manual for Teachers.
This is the version that Helen Schucman, the Scribe of the Course, authorized to be published in 1975. It is the edition that is commonly used around the world.
What is A Course in Miracles?
When A Course in Miracles (ACIM) was first published in 1976, it stunned its readers. It swept them up into a profound spiritual symphony that challenged almost every value they held as important and demanded that they let go of all their beliefs about themselves, the world, and the path to happiness. It has since sold more than three million copies, and has become a modern spiritual classic.
It is a self-study system of "spiritual psychology" contained in a 1250-page three volume book that combines profound spiritual teachings with far-reaching and practical psychological insights. Its thought system is intellectually sophisticated, often using poetic language and referring to such concepts as guilt and fear, belief and defense systems, the nature of God, and perception and identity.
Although it uses Christian terminology, the Course is ecumenical in its view of God and religion. It teaches that it is a restatement of the core wisdom of all the major world religions and states that its purpose is to lead people back to their own experience of God.
The Course\'s text was dictated to Helen Schucman by an entity she believed was Jesus Christ. Her husband, Kenneth Wapnick, a clinical psychologist, helped prepare the Course for publication and has served on the board of the Foundation for Inner Peace, the nonprofit organization established to publish and distribute the Book.
He also has written extensively about the Course and its principles in various books, including A Course in Miracles for Everyday Living, a widely used textbook. He and his wife Gloria operate the Foundation for Inner Peace and a study and retreat center in Crompond, New York. Several of their graduates have gone on to teach the Course worldwide. In addition, they offer workshops and academy courses. The Foundation also is the publisher of the Text and Workbook and holder of copyright and trademark for the Course. It has distributed more than one and a half million copies of the Course to date. Currently, the foundation is working on translating the Course into many other languages. In addition, the Foundation operates a number of websites devoted to ACIM.
The Text
A Course in Miracles (ACIM) is a self-study spiritual thought system, a three-volume curriculum that teaches that the way to universal love and peace -- or remembering God -- is through forgiveness. It is based on the principle that everything in this world and everyone we encounter are here to give us an opportunity to practice forgiveness. The Course combines profound spiritual teachings with far-reaching and practical psychological insights. It has already changed the lives of more than one million people.
In 1965, Helen Schucman, a Columbia University research psychologist and professor of Medical Psychology, began experiencing a series of visions, heightened dreams, and psychic experiences. By fall of that year, she had begun scribing the material that would become A Course in Miracles. She dictated to her supervisor, William Thetford, who typed the manuscript. Although the manuscript includes no names, the author is referred to as "Jesus."
The Course has two primary volumes: the 669-page Text, which provides the philosophical basis of its thought system; and the 488-page Workbook for Students, which prescribes 365 daily lessons for training the mind to accept the thought system in the Text. A 92-page Manual for Teachers answers questions that are most likely to arise for a student, and clarifies many terms used in the Workbook.
While the language of the Workbook and the Manual for Teachers is poetic and mystical, the thought system that emerges from their study is highly intellectual. It combines spiritual inspiration with deep psychological understanding of phenomena such as belief systems and defense mechanisms, perception and identity.
Since its founding in 1975, the Foundation for Inner Peace has served as the publisher, disseminator, and copyright holder of A Course in Miracles. The Foundation has also facilitated the growth of a worldwide network of over three hundred local groups for the purpose of studying and sharing this remarkable text. The Foundation also offers an extended library of audio and video materials, as well as a host of related educational and training opportunities. The Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. It is supported solely by donations.
The Workbook
The Workbook is a companion to the Text, a three-volume course in self-study that teaches forgiveness as the way to love and inner peace. It is a practical application of the principles taught in the Text, helping students to apply the teachings to their daily lives.
A Course in Miracles is a unique, universal spiritual thought system which teaches that the way to love and inner peace is through forgiveness. It uses Christian language and terminology, but emphasizes that it is a non-sectarian teaching, not a religion. It also makes clear that it is only one of many thousands of versions of the same curriculum.
It was transcribed and typed from 1965 to 1972 by Helen Schucman, a clinical psychologist and tenured professor of Medical Psychology at Columbia University, and her colleague William Thetford. Then it was edited, and along with the Text, published in 1975. Since then, it has been translated into 25 languages and is used worldwide by millions of people.
The Course is written in an unusually poetic style, and its intellectual complexity has led some critics to compare it to the world\'s great literature. Its teachings are profound and life-changing, offering a way to find lasting joy and happiness.
While the Course is not a religion, it does encourage students to study it in a group, and its scribes were concerned that it would be misinterpreted. It therefore recommends that all students read the entire book together, and that they meet regularly to discuss their experiences and questions.
Kenneth Wapnick, a clinical psycholo-gist and a longtime student of the Course, has written several books that help to clarify its meaning and application. He is also a member of the board of directors for The Foundation for Inner Peace, the organization that publishes and distributes the Course, and he has led workshops and retreats on its teachings throughout the United States and internationally.
The FIP version of the Course is widely used around the world, and this edition is the official one sanctioned by the Scribe, Dr. Helen Schucman, to be the Fifth Edition. It contains a number of changes from the original version, and includes the final version of some material that was deleted from an earlier edition (sometimes called the "Nun\'s Edition" because it was originally typed by a nun).
The Manual for Teachers
A Course in Miracles is a spiritual thought system that teaches forgiveness as the path to peace and the remembrance of God. Thousands of people worldwide have found A Course in Miracles to be a life-changing experience. By applying its concepts and practicing the daily lessons of the Workbook, people are able to release the fear-based thoughts of the ego and replace them with unconditional love.
The manual was conceived to guide students who have become mature enough in their application of the Course\'s principles and are ready to extend its teachings to others. The manual describes this extension as taking two different forms. One form is that of a teacher who acts as a healer (a Course in Miracles version of a Christian Science practitioner). In this role, the teacher goes to people with physical illness and demonstrates that healing comes through forgiveness.
In this way, the teacher helps his pupils to understand that they are not sick because of anything they have done or not done, but because of the thoughts they are holding in their minds. The other form of the teacher is that of a mentor who assists his pupils in learning and applying the Course\'s principles to their lives. This is a more personal involvement with each student, and the teacher is expected to "speak to his pupils verbally at times, and give them teaching that I assume would reflect Course principles" (Manual, p. 51-52; M-21.4-5).
Throughout the manual, the teacher is expected to provide healing both verbally and through his actions. For this reason, it is important to read the entire manual and to practice the concepts of forgiveness and unconditional love as described in its pages.
The scribe, Helen Schucman, was aware that the purity of A Course in Miracles and its non-dualistic thought system were bound to be rejected by many and even condemned by some. For this reason, she provided in the Manual for Teachers a set of guidelines and procedures for teaching and healing the Course\'s teachings, which are designed to protect the integrity of its thought system.
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