Day 11
What Is the Manual for Teachers?
The Manual for Teachers is the Course’s third and final volume. It is also the most misunderstood. After all, the common idea that this is a “self-study course” would dictate that there can’t be any teachers, let alone a manual for teachers. Yet this third volume is exactly what its title says it is.
The Manual openly talks about teachers taking on “pupils” and guiding them along the Course’s way. It even provides practical counsel in how to do this. What do you do when your pupils think they can solve their problems with their own will? Should you teach them reincarnation as part of the Course? How do you help them select which volume of the Course to begin with? The Manual provides answers to these questions and more.
Question-and-answer format
The Manual is written in question-and-answer format. It covers questions such as “Who are God’s teachers?,” “How is peace possible in this world?,” and “How should the teacher of God spend his day?” While these questions tend to be geared toward the role and journey of the teacher of God, they are also illuminating windows onto the Course’s overall teaching. That is why the Course says “In some cases, it may be helpful for the pupil to read the manual first" (M-29.1:5).
What is the Manual’s relevance for new students?
If you’re just beginning the Course, why would the Manual be relevant for you? Because it is a picture of where you are heading. Through study of the Text and practice of the Workbook, you will slowly change on the inside. As a result, you will enter into “an agreement with God” (M-1.1:7) in which He gives you a function, a special place in His plan to save the world.
The essence of this function is giving miracles—expressions of love—to all those He sends to you. But this function also includes particular roles that are especially suited to your strengths. One such role, as we saw above, may be that of mentor to newer Course students. Another role may be that of a healer who goes to sick people and extends the healing light of God’s love.
Serving those God sends to you will not only give meaning to your life, it will also cause you to ascend in your spiritual development. You will go from being a teacher of God to being an advanced teacher, one who possesses the ten characteristics described in the Manual. These character traits—trust, honesty, tolerance, gentleness, joy, defenselessness, generosity, patience, faithfulness, and open-mindedness—add up to what anyone would see as a supremely good person. And somewhere inside, don’t we all long to be that?
Tomorrow we will be sharing our approach to the Course, which is the cornerstone of everything we do here at the Circle.
See you then,
Robert Perry
Founder
Circle of Atonement
Reminder:
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