Day 8
What the Course Doesn't Say
While we are getting clear on what A Course in Miracle says, it’s also helpful to be clear on what it doesn’t say. Because of popular currents in contemporary spirituality, people tend to see the Course as being about our private search for inner peace. Yet if we read the book itself with fresh eyes, we find a far richer and more varied teaching.
The Course is extremely relational
Conventional Course wisdom is that it’s solely about one’s own mind. Yet despite teaching that this world is a collective dream, the Course is highly focused on our relationship with others within this dream. Forgiving them, giving to them, and joining with them is how we liberate our own minds. Here are a couple of examples of this relational focus:
- Forgiveness is not primarily aimed at ourselves. Rather, it is mainly directed at others. And it is through this other-directed forgiveness that we find forgiveness of ourselves. “Only in someone else can you forgive yourself” (S-2.I.4).
- The miracle is mainly interpersonal. The miracle of A Course in Miracles is often understood to be a shift in perception, but the Course speaks of it as primarily an expression of love to others that in turn heals us. “Miracles are expressions of love” (T-1.35.5:3).
God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are real and personal
Course students often see God as impersonal and Jesus and the Holy Spirit as metaphors. The Course, however, consistently characterizes Them as personal and fully real:
- God is not impersonal. Though unbounded and formless, He is a Self with a Mind and a will. He is our Creator and yearns for our return to Him.
- Jesus is not a mere symbol. He encourages us to view him as real (“as I become more real to you” T-12.X.13:5) and our relationship with him as real (“Let my relationship to you be real to you” T-17.III.13:2).
- The Holy Spirit is not our memory of God’s love. He is a real creation of God, Who loves us and works patiently to bring us back to God.
The Course is not a journey away from the mind
In contemporary spirituality, thinking is often seen as the antithesis of spiritual awakening. The mind is denigrated, while the heart is exalted. This orientation has bled into the Course community, resulting in widespread negative attitudes toward thinking, study, concepts, and words. Yet the Course itself has a very different perspective on the mind:
- Ideas and thinking are central to awakening. Understanding and applying the Course’s ideas is the heart of its path. “For the ideas are mighty forces, to be used and not held idly by" (T-16.II.10:4).
- Words are essential tools. While contemporary spirituality emphasizes experience over words, the Course uses words as powerful gateways to experience. Most of its practice consists of repeating words.
- Study is vital. The Course says, “It would be very intelligent of you to set yourself the goal of really studying for this course. There can be no doubt of the wisdom of this decision, for any student who wants to pass it" (T-4.VII.10:1-2).
The practice of the Workbook is too good to miss
We have found many justifications for not doing the practice instructed by the Workbook, yet its opening paragraph says that “it is the exercises that will make the goal of the course possible" (W-In.1:2).
- Handing things over to the Holy Spirit is only a small part of Course practice. It is not a replacement for the wealth of transformative practices contained in the Workbook.
- The Workbook is really meant to be done as instructed. You may hear that you don't need to do the Workbook as outlined, yet the real benefit is in the practice. The real focus of the Workbook is on the benefits that come from actually doing the practice. When you lapse in your practice, you forgive yourself so that you can “return to it again as soon as you can" (W-95.7:3).
- It is not true that God does not hear prayers. Though students are sometimes told that God doesn’t hear our prayers, the Course repeatedly says He does: “God has promised He will hear my call and answer me Himself" (W-327.1:2). Believing otherwise causes us to miss out on the Workbook’s 145 beautiful prayers to God.
The Course is a genuine course
While students tend to see the Course more loosely, it is designed as a genuine course. This view differs from common perspectives in several ways:
- It is not a self-study course. The Course never characterizes itself as “self-study.” Instead, it has a Manual for Teachers that repeatedly speaks of Course teachers taking on new students as their “pupils” and guiding them along the Course’s path.
- Every page does not say the same thing. In important ways, the Text is a real textbook. Just like a lecture in a college course, each section introduces new ideas and relates them back to what has gone before.
- It is not saying the same thing as every other teaching. The Course is full of unique teachings, many of which are central to its path. Given that, if this is truly your path, the Course wants you to walk it alone: “You are not making use of the course if you insist on using means that have served others well, neglecting what was made for you" (T-22.VII.8:1).
We hope you’ve found this helpful in clearing up some misconceptions in the Course. This is particularly important at the beginning of your journey, before these ideas become so embedded that they are difficult to challenge.
Now that we have concluded our exploration of the Course’s teaching, tomorrow we will begin looking at the Course’s structure, at the nature and purpose of its three volumes.
See you then,
Robert Perry
Founder
Circle of Atonement
Reminder:
This content is for registered participants of Getting to Know A Course in Miracles, a free 14-day guided journey from The Circle of Atonement. You are welcome to invite any friends to register for the series at no charge by sharing the following link: circleofa.org/events.
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