A Course in Miracles is a Foundation for Inner Peace

A Course in Miracles is a unique, universal, self-study spiritual thought system that teaches that the way to love and inner peace is through forgiveness. It is a three-volume curriculum consisting of a Text, Workbook for Students and Manual for Teachers.

The Course was "scribed" by Helen Schucman through a process of inner dictation she identified as coming from Jesus. It was first published by the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP) in 1976.
What is A Course in Miracles?

A Course in Miracles (ACIM) is a self-study curriculum and spiritual discipline that has inspired millions of people worldwide. Its alleged authorship and challenge to Western religious tradition have been a source of much controversy, particularly in conservative Christian circles, but it has also been embraced by many seekers of alternative spiritual guidance.

The Course was written and channeled by Helen Schucman during a period of inner dictation she believed to be coming from Jesus. She was a clinical and research psychologist who worked at Columbia University. She was assisted by Bill Thetford, a tenured professor of medical psychology.

What the Course teaches is that the miracle worker's primary responsibility is to accept true perception for him or herself. When the miracle worker does this, the Holy Spirit will engineer his behavior so that he performs the miracle without even thinking about it. The Course also explains that the Holy Spirit's presence can be felt in an instant, and that when the miracle worker focuses on a specific problem in his or her life, he or she will be sent a healing message from the Holy Spirit through some extrasensory means.

This interaction between a miracle worker and a receiver is based on a fundamentally new idea: that the miracle is a process of divine intervention in human consciousness. Rather than seeing a physical encounter between two human beings, as in the traditional miracle, the Course envisions a spiritual encounter based on wholeness, equality, and unity.

As a result of the interaction, the miracle worker's perception changes from one of disease, inequality, and separation to one of wholeness, equality, and unity. The miracle worker then becomes a vital catalyst of the receiver's own development. The Course calls this process "the Atonement." It is a new perception of reality that cancels out the effects of our past sins and lacks of love.
The Text

The Course in Miracles is a complete self-study spiritual thought system. It consists of a Text, a Workbook for Students and a Manual for Teachers. The Text describes the theoretical foundation of the Course's thought system, and the Workbook presents a series of daily lessons designed to train the student's mind in its practice.

The thought system of the Course is intellectually sophisticated and combines spiritual inspiration with deep psychological understanding. It teaches that the real world is one of unity, love, sinlessness and abundance. Evil, sin and guilt are regarded as misperceptions rather than as facts.

This thought system was scribed by Helen Schucman through a process of inner dictation she identified as coming from Jesus. She was a clinical and research psychologist, and a tenured associate professor of medical psychology at Columbia University in New York City.

Since its publication in 1975, A Course in Miracles has been published worldwide by the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP). The foundation administers the teaching of the Course and publishes a number of translations in English and other languages.

There are many editions of the Course in Miracles, each with its own distinctive characteristics. Some versions contain more personal material, and some versions have been edited differently than others.

In some versions the text is written in a style that is similar to that of classical literature. However, the Course in Miracles focuses on universal themes that can apply to anyone.

The Text of the Course in Miracles is arranged symphonically, with selected passages chosen to illustrate each theme. This arrangement makes it possible for students to follow the text non-linearly and to develop a deeper appreciation of the Course's thought system.
The Workbook for Students

A Course in Miracles is a foundation for inner peace, offering a non-dualistic philosophy of forgiveness and practical lessons for the practice of forgiveness. It is an intellectually sophisticated thought system, combining spiritual inspiration with deep psychological understanding of such phenomena as belief and defense systems, perception and identity.

The text of the Course is accompanied by two books, the Workbook for Students and the Manual for Teachers. The workbook is divided into 365 lessons. You can take them at a tempo of one lesson every day, or you can spread them out over several months.

Some of the ideas presented by the Workbook are very startling, so you may not agree with them at first. But that does not mean they are untrue. What matters is how you apply them to your life. The more you use them, the deeper you will find them.

Jon Mundy, an esteemed ACIM writer and lecturer, does his most profound writing to date in this book. It is a 259-page work divided into three parts: basic terms and concepts (a necessary prelude to what will follow); the metaphysics of miracles; and living A Course in Miracles, which deals with practical application.

If you are an ACIM student, the app "Lesson Insight" will send you a link to a daily ACIM Workbook Lesson, preset at recommended time intervals during your day. This way, you can study the lesson at your leisure, and review it throughout the day if you like. It is a great way to be reminded of the mind healing message of A Course in Miracles throughout your day!
The Manual for Teachers

The Manual for Teachers is a companion volume to the Text and Workbook for Students. It is meant to help those who have come to the point where they are able to extend their spiritual teaching to others and to provide them with guidance.

This course is a universal curriculum for teaching forgiveness, and it differs from the curriculum of the world only in form. But its outcome is the same: to lead each pupil to God in the end (Manual, p. 1; M-1.2).

A teacher is a spiritual shepherd who guides his pupils in the path of the Course. Throughout the course of their study, he helps them overcome their egoic thoughts and beliefs, reclaim their sense of self and of reality, and find the freedom and peace that are their true natures.

He also helps them deal with the ideas that they have picked up from outside the Course. And he helps them decide whether they are ready to accept and practice the principles of A Course in Miracles.

In the Manual, we see two forms of being a teacher of God, and these are reflected in the title of the book: "The Manual for Teachers" and "The Course for Teachers."

The first form is that of a healer or "miracles practitioner," a Course in Miracles version of Christian Science. The healer, in this case, is expected to go to a sick person and offer them the healing power of forgiveness, just as a Christian Science practitioner does. But the healing is not just verbal, it is real.
A Course in Miracles on YouTube

If you’re interested in learning more about the spiritual teachings of A Course in Miracles, there are many resources that can help. These include ACIM study groups, online courses and videos.

The Course is a non-dual study system designed to create a consistent state of happiness and peace for its students through the application of its principles. These are based on the idea that the fear, anxiety and judgment that is caused by mistaken perception can be changed to joy and trust in Spirit.

A Course in Miracles is a profoundly gentle, subtle and profound process that focuses on clearing the egoic debris from one’s mind. This helps one to let go of judgment that may distract from the beauty of Truth and allow it to reveal itself in each moment.

It is a powerful, life-changing program that will change your worldview and how you think about the people and circumstances in your life. It will help you to experience peace, forgiveness and love – all of which are inherent in our nature and available to each of us at any time. acim

There are hundreds of YouTube videos featuring talks and discussions about a wide range of non-dual topics from A Course in Miracles. These include enlightenment, developing trust in the Holy Spirit and advanced forgiveness.

The Foundation for Inner Peace is the organization that brought the Course into publication and lovingly cared for and stewarded its distribution and subsequent translation into 25+ languages. Its website features a variety of educational resources and offers an ACIM Lookup Tool to find ACIM study groups around the world.

The Foundation for Inner Peace also publishes a series of books on the spiritual teachings of A Course in Miracles. These include a Combined Edition of the Text, Workbook for Students and Manual for Teachers, as well as two valuable Supplements: Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice and the beautiful and inspiring Song of Prayer.