In this first talk on the book A Course in Miracles,
I will have a look at the origin of the course,
What the course consists of and introduce what it says.
Origin of the course.
The course came as an answer to a call for help from two people,
Dr Helen Shuckman and Dr William Thetford,
Professors of medical psychology at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City.
They worked together in a prestigious and highly academic setting.
Their relationship was difficult with each other,
Often blaming the other for their own lack of peace.
One day in 1965,
To Helen's surprise,
Bill announced there must be another way.
He meant another way in which they could relate to each other.
Helen agreed to join him to find out what this better way could be.
This is an example of what the course would call a holy instant,
Where instead of seeking to separate from another,
A decision is made to join in a common goal.
Almost immediately,
Helen began to experience a heightened awareness,
Highly symbolic dreams and strange images,
Which lasted three months and preceded the actual writing of the course.
She also started to hear an inner voice,
Which she knew to be Jesus.
This was the further shock to Helen,
Who described herself as an atheist.
During October 1965,
Jesus told Helen,
This is a course in miracles,
Please take notes.
Helen described this voice,
It made no sound,
But seemed to be giving me a kind of rapid inner dictation,
Which I took down in a shorthand notebook.
The writing was never automatic.
It could be interrupted at any time and later picked up again.
This quote is from the preface to A Course in Miracles.
Helen would take down what the voice said and the following day,
Before work started,
Bill would type it up.
This process lasted seven years,
With the course being published in 1976.
What the course consists of.
The course consists of three books,
Text,
Workbook for students and manual for teachers,
Arranged in a self-study format.
The text sets forth the thought system of the course and is largely theoretical.
The concepts in the text are practically applied through the 365 lessons of the workbook,
One for each day of the year.
The manual for teachers and the manual for teachers provided answers to the more common questions a student might ask.
Two supplements to the course were published later,
Entitled Psychotherapy,
Purpose,
Process,
And Practice,
And The Song of Prayer.
What the course says.
The course makes it clear that it's not the only spiritual path we should follow.
In the manual,
It states there are many thousands of different paths,
All with the same outcome.
Although anyone can derive benefit from the course,
It will not appeal to everyone.
It is written on a high intellectual level,
And for most of us,
It requires a lifetime of patient study and practice.
Many Christian terms are used,
And there are over 700 references to the Bible.
However,
The course uses many of these terms,
With slightly different implications.
We are not depicted as sinful,
Guilty creatures who have displeased God,
And are thus worthy of punishment,
Unless we sacrifice and atone for our sins.
Instead,
Our sinless,
Formless spiritual nature is emphasised.
Jesus seeks to awaken us to the truth about ourselves,
Through his path of forgiveness.
The course's Christian context is often a problem for students.
However,
The course emphasises we are never upset by what we perceive in the world,
But only the unforgiving content of our mind,
That the world is mirroring back to us.
In this way,
We can even use the course's language to help us with forgiveness.
A similar problem is for students with regard to Jesus being the author of the course.
As he says himself in the textbook of the course,
I am constantly being perceived as a teacher to be exalted or rejected,
But I do not accept either perception of myself.
Some bitter idols have been made of him,
Who would only be a brother to the world.
Forgive him your illusions,
And behold how dear a brother he would be to you.
Here again,
We are being given an opportunity to see what the symbol of Jesus is reflecting back to us.
The course is written on two levels,
Metaphysical and practical.
Metaphysics investigates what is truth and what is illusion.
The following quotation is from the metaphysical level of the course.
You dwell not here but in eternity.
You travel but in dreams while safe at home.
The practical teachings of the course seek to awake us to the reality contained in that statement.
Jesus teaches us that this universe is not our real home.
What is true is eternal,
Which means it was never born.
Anything that has a beginning must have an end.
That as such is not real.
As God is eternal,
So must his creations be.
His creations exist outside of time and space,
And therefore cannot be threatened by change or death.
What we mistakenly take as real changes all the time,
And death can strike at any moment.
The course sums this up on the first page of the text.
Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.
In further talks,
I will explore the major themes of A Course in Miracles.
