What is A Course in Miracles?
A Course in Miracles is a path of spiritual development that takes the form of an educational course. It has three volumes, the Text, the Workbook for Students, and the Manual for Teachers. Here, I focus on the Workbook Daily Lessons.
A Course in Miracles’ aim is to reeducate my basic perception of reality and to teach me how best to extend this new perception to others.
There are many spiritual paths we can take, and this is just one of the many you can choose from.
The terminology used in A Course in Miracles can be extremely off-putting for many. It uses Christian terminology, and this in itself is problematic, because those who have grown up in the Christian faith have certain ways of ‘seeing’ and/or understanding certain words, which might (or might not be) an incorrect perception of the word used.
Those who have not grown up in the Christian faith, could find the terminology offensive in terms of their own beliefs. The easiest way to deal with this is to create a blank canvas in your mind for the terminology used in A Course in Miracles. Let go of preconceived ideas about their meaning, and know that what you are about to learn – the training of your mind, is beyond our current comprehension.
A miracle is defined (per A Course in Miracles) as:
A divine healing of the mind, which takes place either through us or within us, in which someone is released from painful patterns of thinking that he or she has been locked into.
The main usage is that miracles are ‘expressions of love’ (they are called this six times in the Course), in which one person expresses love to another, often in very ordinary ways, and thereby heals the perception of the other.
A secondary usage refers to miracles healing our own minds: ‘A miracle is a correction factor introduced into false thinking by me. It acts as a catalyst, shaking up erroneous perception and snapping it into place’ (T-1.37.I:1-2).
‘The purpose of the workbook is to train your mind in a systematic way to a different perception of everyone and everything in the world.
The exercises are planned to help you generalize the lessons, so that you will understand that each of them is equally applicable to everyone and everything you see.
The overall aim of the exercises is to increase your ability to extend the ideas you will be practicing to include everything. This will require no effort on your part. The exercises themselves meet the conditions necessary for this kind of transfer.’ (W.In.4,7) (Foundation for Inner Peace edition)
The introduction to the Workbook assures us that ‘the exercises are very simple. They do not require a great deal of time, and it does not matter where you do them. They need no preparation.’
‘Some of the ideas the workbook presents you will find hard to believe, and others may seem to be quite startling. This does not matter. You are merely asked to apply the ideas as you are directed to do. You are not asked to judge them at all. You are asked only to use them. It is their use that will give them meaning to you, and will show you that they are true. Remember only this; you need not believe the ideas, you need not accept them, and you need not even welcome them. Some of them you may actively resist. None of this will matter, or decrease their efficacy. But do not allow yourself to make exceptions in applying the ideas the workbook contains, and whatever your reactions to the ideas may be, use them. Nothing more than that is required.’ (W.In.8-9 ) (Foundation for Inner Peace edition)
Lesson 1 – Lesson 220
There are 6 Reviews in Part I of A Course in Miracles, which gives you the opportunity to really go deep into the meaning of each lesson.
- Lessons 1 – 50
- Review 1 (Lessons 51 – 60)
- Lessons 61 – 80
- Review 2 (Lessons 81 – 90)
- Lessons 91 – 110
- Review 3 (Lessons 111 – 120)
- Lessons 121 – 140
- Review 4 (Lessons 141 – 150)
- Lessons 151 – 170
- Review 5 (Lessons 171 – 180)
- Lessons 181 – 200
- Review 6 (Lessons 201 – 220)
Lesson 221 – Lesson 365
The following lessons are covered in Part II:
- What is Forgiveness?
- What is Salvation?
- What is the World?
- What is Sin?
- What is the Body?
- What is the Christ?
- What is the Holy Spirit?
- What is the Real World?
- What is the Second Coming?
- What is the Last Judgment?
- What is Creation?
- What is the Ego?
- What is a Miracle?
- What Am I?
Unless otherwise indicated, quotes used for A Course in Miracles on this website, my YouTube channel and in the Wellness Online School, all come from the Complete and Annotated Edition.
