Let's clear this up.
For the entire time that you have a physical body with working eyeballs, you will physically see the physical world based on the laws of physics. The body functions biologically based on photons of light entering the retina etc and sending messages to the brain and mind.
THIS WILL NOT CHANGE NO MATTER HOW MUCH FORGIVENESS YOU DO, how many workbook lessons, or how much you've read. Your physical eyes will continue to report the same exact differences, conflicts, problems, wars, destruction, sickness and death. This will NOT change. If you point your eyeballs at the physical world, of which they are a part, they will SHOW YOU exactly the same PHYSICAL world.
Meanwhile, you are working on forgiveness, and on changing your mind in order to change your perception. But this is to do with your MIND in terms of what it believes. What it believes determines what it projects in terms of MEANING, and thus how it categorizes the true and the false, the real and the unreal. It puts everything into a category, and so as the body SENDS IT physical messages of physical sights, the mind INTERPRETS those signals.
It is then up to the mind to decide what to DO WITH those signals that are coming in from the physical eyes. Initially, realize that the body is LOCKED IN to false perception. It CANNOT SEE reality and it never will. The body can ONLY look upon illusions and GIVE them reality, regarding them as equally of the same material and nature as ITSELF, and therefore one with them, and thus regarding them as REAL.
"These eyes made not to see will never see."
"The body is not the means by which the real world can be seen."
Consider also then that if your mind BELIEVES everything it is shown by the body's eyes, it will categorize all illusions as reality, which is "false perception". A failure to recognize that illusions are illusions, that dreams are dreams, and that the world is not real. Taking the body "at its word" is false perception and unconsciousness.
The mind therefore has to open up to another WAY of seeing, which is the spiritual eye, or the mind's eye. The mind can see directly without photons and does not rely on the body's eyeballs to do this. True vision can see anywhere and everywhere at any time without limit, even the other side of the universe in the past or future. The mind, as it begins to OPEN UP to reality, which requires transcending the physical world, starts to IGNORE the physical sight messages and tunes into another world.
As it does this, the mind is going to start categorizing everything the BODY claims is real, as unreal. It has to in order to awaken and move into true perception. Everything the body reports is a lie because the body is blind to reality. So the mind starts to open up to seeing without the body, and seeing beyond the body, and beyond form, and beyond the world, and beyond space and time. This means it is opening up to seeing light and reality, at the same time as DENYING AND CLOSING DOWN to the physical signals coming in from the body.
However, so long as you have a body, you will STILL CONTINUE to receive signals from the physical sensory equipment. You will STILL be shown images of a broken world, images of faulty bodies, images of war and death and sickness and suffering. The body CANNOT HELP IT but keep showing this to you all the time. As soon as you open your eyelids you're going to be shown this, every single day for as long as you have a body.
So the interesting thing is then that mind is changing but the body is not. Mind is still USING a body, at the same time as learning to see WITHOUT a body. And this means that the mind is going to have to deal with TWO CHANNELS OF INPUT at the same time, in parallel. The physical sight is being phased out, so to speak, while the spiritual sight is phased in, but until you reach total atonement and awakening to heaven's reality you're going to see BOTH AT ONCE. As Jesus confirms:
"Eventually, everybody begins to recognize, however dimly, that there MUST be a better way. As this recognition is more firmly established, it becomes a perceptual turning-point. This ultimately reawakens the spiritual eye, simultaneously weakening the investment in physical sight. The alternating investment in the two types or levels of perception is usually experienced as conflict for a long time, and can become very acute."
So this now means that you as mind are going to be getting inputs from a physical and FALSE sensory apparatus, which is going to KEEP remaining fixated on the PHYSICAL world for as long as it persists, while simultaneously it's going to get inputs from BEYOND the physical which the physical body CANNOT see. The mind is closing off to unreality and opening up to reality's at the same time. So you have a kind of DOUBLE VISION, at least for as long as the body persists.
If you think this is not true then you should consider the fact that you are STILL perfectly capable of reading every single workbook lesson no matter how many of them you've done or for how long. The words on the page have not changed, the color of the text has not changed, nothing about it has changed. It is PHYSICALLY THE SAME BOOK as when you started reading. This is because the physical sight has not changed. But your MIND'S SEEING HAS changed.
So what this means in worldly terms is, you're going to have to deal with the fact that you're going to STILL get input from the unreal physical world, claiming all kinds of things to be true which aren't, while at the same time opening up to a new reality BEYOND the physical world which the body can't even see.
This means that if you see a physical body with your physical eyes and your eyes report an image of that body which has a broken leg and skin cancer and bad hair and a limp and some blubber, you're going to KEEP ON SEEING THAT for as long as it's there physically, REGARLDESS of whether you are more spiritual or not. 10 years from now you will still look upon that same physical body and see the same physical symptoms. But what it MEANS to you will be different and what you make of it will be different, as well as your mind will be opening up to OTHER sights and sounds from beyond the world. Jesus again confirms twice:
"The body's eyes will continue to see differences, but the mind which has let itself be healed will no longer acknowledge them. There will be those who seem to be "sicker" than others, and the body's eyes will report their changed appearances as before. But the mind will put them all in one category - they are unreal."
"Awareness of dreaming is the real function of God's teachers. They watch the dream figures come and go, shift and change, suffer and die. Yet they are not deceived by what they see."
They use PHYSICAL SIGHT to watch the dream figures suffer and die, BUT their MINDS ARE HEALED. They have done forgiveness work. Their mind is opening up to unlimited spiritual vision and seeing BEYOND physical bodies, but the physical body is STILL reporting the same shit as before. This is not going to change just because you're waking up.
So if you see someone with your physical eyes and they report a certain condition or state, that's because your physical eyes are still functioning true to their design. Just because your MIND is different and is seeing from a more inclusive loving vantage point does NOT mean that you will no longer see the same physical sights! It does not mean that graveyards are going to disappear, or that the wars will be gone, or that people aren't writhing in agony and screaming for help. They will still physically do this and your body will STILL physically report it. But your mind will INTERPRET it different because it will OVERLOOK it and look PAST it, beyond it to the light of truth.
So you see, you can't say that "if you see it it's' yours". And you can't say that if you see someone doing something you are judging them. And you can't say that just because you're seeing it your mind is not healed. That's all bullshit. That's a denial of the mechanisms of perception. Many people think that perception is ONE THING and that you change this ONE perceptual mechanism and EVERYTHING you see will just transform and shift away from suffering towards some kind of beautiful world where nothing ever dies. That's SORT of true in that the mind opens up vision to seeing the real world, but it's NOT true in the sense that this causes you to NOT SEE the physical world UNTIL THE VERY END.
That's because you're in a state of transition BETWEEN the two ways of seeing, which will continue for as long as you have a body, and until you see the face of christ, and forget the world entirely, as the veil of illusions lifts from your sight and you see ONLY with vision, and completely VANISH the body from your existence. ONLY THEN will you no longer see the physical, and only then do the physical signals stop bombarding your mind. UNTIL then, until you are DONE, you're going to have to continue dealing with FALSE MESSAGES coming to you from a false world, at the same time as tying to look past them psychologically.
So no, if you see bad physical stuff happening, it's NOT because you are projecting bad stuff. It's not because you are not healed or are guilty. It's NOT YOUR STUFF. Your stuff isn't physical, it's mental. Your baggage of stuff to be healed in your false perceptions, which you project ONTO THE PHYSICAL SIGNALS, is an added layer of meaning which you GIVE TO the signals coming from the physical world. It's how you INTERPRET them. You can read into them and put hate and guilt and sin onto them, or you can OVERLOOK them and diminish their power and see them as false and sinless and nothing.
If I see a person walking past with a broken leg, that's because their leg is broken physically and it will carry on being broken physically whether I'm in a good mood or not, whether I'm lining up with the holy spirit or not, and regardless of anything else I do. OTHER than to say that if I move towards the light I WILL extend healing and this will INFLUENCE the other person, and may indeed miraculously heal their broken leg, but that's a whole other story. If I have physical eyeballs I WILL SEE the physical world. And I will keep seeing it until my mind is 100% totally committed to seeing ONLY reality. That's why you can still find your way to the toilet!
This is the point at which the physical stops showing you pictures of impossible worlds:
"The world stands like a block before Christ's face. But true perception looks on it as nothing more than just a fragile veil, so easily dispelled that it can last no longer than an instant. It is seen at last for only what it is. And now it cannot fail to disappear, for now there is an empty place made clean and ready. Where destruction was perceived the face of Christ appears, and in that instant is the world forgot, with time forever ended as the world spins into nothingness from where it came."
Note then that spiritual sight only very "lightly" touches upon the physical "veil of illusions", the world, earth, as it LOOKS PAST it and beyond it to the light of heaven or the real world. It sort of lightly sees the forgiven world (to forgive is to overlook) as a result of not looking heavily AT it, and instead looking THROUGH it and past it. This makes the world gradually more transparent until eventually the veil of spacetime lifts entirely, revealing christ's face. ONLY THEN will you stop seeing the physical (forgiven OR unforgiven) world. And then you will use ONLY vision and see ONLY reality.
"By focusing upon the "good" in him, the body grows decreasingly persistent in your sight, and will at length be seen as little more than just a shadow circling round the "good."
So can we please try to stop saying that everything you see is because of how you're seeing, and stop saying that if you see something you're judging, and stop saying that every single claim is a projection, and stop saying that seeing a broken body means your mind is not healed, and stop being CONFUSED about the fact that there are TWO PARALLEL CHANNELS OF INPUT coming into your mind. One of them is true, and one of them is false. And the false channel can and will show you earth EXACTLY AS BEFORE, until you no longer have a body to look at it with. And this has NO BEARING on how healed your mind is other than to say that only in TOTAL healing will you stop USING the body at all.
"Christ's vision has one law. It does not look upon a body and mistake it for the Son whom God created. It beholds a light beyond the body; an idea beyond what can be touched, a purity undimmed by errors, pitiful mistakes, and fearful thoughts of guilt from dreams of sin. It sees no separation. And it looks on everyone, on every circumstance, all happenings and all events, without the slightest fading of the light it sees."
Since my wife "died" in January, my perspective on this world and the body, sickness and death has changed drastically.
My wife (her body) was afflicted with various disabilities and medical conditions for over 12 years. For the past 4 years she lived in a bed, and unable to walk. We're talking amputations and strokes/paralysis and heart conditions and sleep disorders and cancer and diabetes and kidney failure, brain damage and dementia, eye problems, breathing problems, digestive problems, multiple trips to the ICU, declared brain-dead one time and barely making it through a triple-heart-bypass another.
The horror show compelled me to want to perform miracles, to heal her body and undo her limitations. Like any person would, driven to alleviate suffering and to make things easier. Avoiding death became the whole focus. And obviously this revolved around my mistaken belief that she was at least in part a physical body. A body with seemingly "real" sicknesses and serious problems.
For years we had this dynamic of me trying to get her (body) back to health, to keep her (body) going, to keep her (body) alive, to resurrect her (body) and fix her (body) and undo everything that happened to her (body). But it all took a toll and over time her body's condition deteriorated. It just couldn't function enough anymore to keep her going. While I helped in some ways, I failed.
Just before she passed, I reached a point where I finally found a willingness to consider, maybe I should just stop trying to keep her (body) alive. Maybe I should just let her go and let her die. All the years of fighting against it, resisting it, avoiding both sicknesses and interventions, trying to prop her up and keep her ticking, it all just kind of came to a point of surrender. It was long and cruel and stressful and fear-inducing. She'd had enough long before, and so had I. Eventually it becomes so ridiculous you just can't keep going.
It was then within a week or two that her body was really giving out, and quickly led to a brush with death, and then a very rapid but mostly peaceful passing. All the time spent resisting death, trying to stop the body being sick, and trying to keep it going indefinitely, culminated in what seemed to be a total failure. A failure to raise the dead, a failure to be miraculous, a failure to stop death itself. But despite appearances, it turns out that wasn't a bad thing.
Actually death turned out to be liberating for both of us. It wasn't what I thought it would be like, and nothing like I feared. In fact, as she continued to live in spirit and communicate me on many occasions in many ways, it proved to me that she was far better off now. She was thrilled and excited and happy, peaceful and calm, liberated and empowered. After she went through a kind of rehabilitation period, she showed up even more, refined and purified and centered in her soul.
Meanwhile her body was on ice shoved in a cardboard box, awaiting cremation. As I looked upon it I could shift perceptions back and forth between believing it was her and that it was nothing to do with her. Clearly something had left it, regardless of how convincing it looked and seemed to have all her features intact. But it wasn't her.
I deliberately viewed the corpse a few times to make the most use of the opportunity to forgive and see it correctly. To distinguish that the body was not her, and to separate out her spirit from the form. So now I was presented with this intense contrast between - the body says she's dead, and the reality and experience of spirit/mind says she's totally alive. And they can't both be true.
It became apparent while communicating to her and thinking about the soul's journey, spanning lifetimes and many bodies, that it never really was 'the plan' in this life for her body to reach an resurrected state. We had this dream that we would ascend to heaven together, and that was a total flop - but partly because in the big picture plan of atonement she is due to wake up in another lifetime, and I'm due for some radical change.
And that was ok, because there was a bigger picture. The really big picture has souls using bodies across many lifetimes, and they are just as easily discarded when no longer functioning well as they are picked up in the first place. They are just tools, devices, vehicles, that we temporarily use for a purpose and then throw away as worthless.
The destruction of the idea of saving her body from death, the complete failure to cause her to avoid death, the surprising discovery that death was liberating and "not all bad", the experience of her continuing to live and interact, the expansive perspective of the soul and its use of bodies, and the way her passing into the light lifted me into the light also, has altered how I look at all this.
What has become super clear is that as soon as we identify with bodies, we immediately go into fear, and start feeling compelled to defend the body against its own nature - its ultimate purpose of dying. As a body we want the body to carry on forever. I wanted to be with my wife's body forever. Then the body snuffs it. Good luck with that, cus you're all gunna die, unless you stop being a body.
By believing a person is a body we develop an entire culture of body preservation, keeping people in their bodies as long as possible, freaking out when the body is attacked or sick, not allowing anyone to leave their bodies voluntarily, trying to stop the body being sick, and generally just resisting the body's death at all costs. It all adds up to a mindset of the fear of death and an attempt to protect and defend the body at all costs. Until that entire mindset goes crashing against the rocks and is smashed to smithereens.
That's what's happened for me. The whole mindset of "lets keep the body going forever" has been destroyed. All the cultural and social ways that we have concern for it, fear of dying happening, avoiding things, trying to create security and safety, freaking out when "someone dies", valuing the body, wanting it to live, even the idea of using miracles to rescue the body endlessly, all has been destroyed for me. And that's a good thing because it was all rooted in believing bodies are people, valuable objects, and something to keep.
I've shifted from a horizontal to a vertical perspective. I would even go so far now as to say "let it all die". Not just the bodies, but all the things of the world. It's dying anyway, and it's going to. All the resistance I had and the fear of it happening was pointless and worthless and ended in a total inability to stop it. It was actually good that I ended up at the end of this lesson surrendering and "letting death happen". Because funnily enough, that was a key to stopping preserving it through the wish to defend the body at all costs. I'm guided now to simply "let her be dead". Because in truth, she isn't.
Trying to prevent death induces it. And I also realized that trying to stop sickness is just making it real and fueling it. So you can imagine that being exposed to someone with many severe sicknesses for a long time has drilled this home for me. I had to get past her body, get past believing she was sick, get past trying to resist the sickness, and get past believing she could even die. And she's proven to me many times over now that she absolutely has not died.
That then becomes a strange irreconcilable contrast. On the one hand the body is sprinkled in the wind as ashes and is no more, seeming to suggest the person is totally destroyed, and yet there she is even more alive than ever, happier than ever, having a great time. When I told her it would be great to be able to see her walking again, and she showed me herself running through fields, she even said "I can fly!". So she's having a great time, and what appeared to be "death" on a physical level did nothing but leave her better off.
So now my whole perspective on bodies and the world and sickness and death is different. I've used her death against death. I see people believing they are bodies, when it's been shown to me that people are not bodies. I see people fearing the body's vulnerabilities, when it's been shown to me that this is because they think they are bodies. The whole culture of body preservation and trying to stop people being sick is a joke. And even in this world the idea of voluntarily going to heaven is illegal and taboo, forcing people to suffer horrible conditions until they "naturally" snuff it.
I know this sounds a bit potentially anti-miraculous but, the hard lesson has actually been to let someone die and to stop fighting it. It was actually less spiritual and much more psychologically unhealthy to believe someone was a body and to be constantly worried for their safety and fearing for their life. What dies is not even a real thing, its not the person, and they cannot die. What dies is a lie, and death is a lie, and the whole basis for avoiding it is a lie.
So now I am much more flippant. Not to say like, okay, go ahead and die on purpose just so you can realize that being in heaven is totally amazing. Because we are still using bodies to learn shit. But in the big picture souls don't give a shit about the body really, they just use them temporarily as learning devices. Then they throw them in the trash. In and of themselves they are worthless junk. They are nothing. They are not people and they are not life.
My view now is much more aligned with my wife's view, seeing from her perspective and from the vantage point of the bigger picture. Souls coming and going, taking on bodies and then discarding them. Not identifying with them. Not falling into the trap of believing they are people, or the nightmare of fear that comes from that. My fear of death has melted because a) dying and going to heaven is wonderful and b) I can't die. Just as my wife can't die.
I've lifted up out of the body-identified body-worshipping death-avoiding culture of the world. Avoidance of death is definitely the same thing as promoting it. Nothing real can be threatened. The whole problem of the world is people believing they are a body and not knowing they are spirit, which results in a nightmare of danger and threat and attack and vulnerability. Then everyone starts barricading themselves in trying to avoid the bad stuff happening, and the sicknesses set in and the people want it to all go away so they can stay in their bodies forever and never go home to God.
I couldn't care less about stuff dying now. It's everywhere and relentless. It's the way of the world, driven by laws of death. Stuff is dead before it's even born. Everything here is guaranteed to end, to rot and decay and turn to dust. So I say, let it. Fuck it all. Who gives a shit about it anyway. It has no effect whatsoever on our reality as spiritual beings. And trying to stop it happening is madness. But what does it matter when an illusion dies? It really means nothing at all. The death of an illusion means nothing.
No-one who believes that bodies dying means something can work miracles. No-one who believes that a person is really sick can work miracles. No-one who believes that death can actually change the sons of God can work miracles. And no-one who fights against it happening can have any power over it. I had to go through the lesson of associating my beliefs in sickness and death with my wife's body, so that as her body died so too did my beliefs in these things.
I failed to raise the dead or to stop sickness happening, and it was the best thing I could've learned. The lesson is that death doesn't matter. But the key is to let death be what it is, because in truth it is not anything. Surrender the fear of death and let it all go, let it all die, and you'll be free from it. And then maybe you'll be ready to be a miracle worker. To surmount death is to transcend it, and you can't do that while you're resisting it. But letting it be also lets it go, and then you can rise above it and have power over it.
"But time, with its illusions of change and death, wears out the world and all things in it."
"But this you do not see; that you made death, and it is but illusion of an end."
"Behold the body, and you will believe that you are there. ⁴And every body that you look upon reminds you of yourself; your sinfulness, your evil and, above all, your death."
"There is a risk of thinking death is peace, because the world equates the body with the Self which God created."
"And fear, denying love and using pain to prove that God is dead, has shown that death is victor over life. ⁷The body is the Son of God, corruptible in death, as mortal as the Father he has slain."
"The “reality” of death is firmly rooted in the belief that God’s Son is a body."
"This is what death should be; a quiet choice, made joyfully and with a sense of peace, because the body has been kindly used to help the Son of God along the way he goes to God. ²We thank the body, then, for all the service it has given us. ³But we are thankful, too, the need is done to walk the world of limits, and to reach the Christ in hidden forms and clearly seen at most in lovely flashes. ⁴Now we can behold Him without blinders, in the light that we have learned to look upon again."
"False healing rests upon the body’s cure, leaving the cause of illness still unchanged, ready to strike again until it brings a cruel death in seeming victory. ²It can be held at bay a little while, and there can be brief respite as it waits to take its vengeance on the Son of God. ³Yet it cannot be overcome until all faith in it has been laid by, and placed upon God’s substitute for evil dreams; a world in which there is no veil of sin to keep it dark and comfortless. ⁴At last the gate of Heaven opens and God’s Son is free to enter in the home that stands ready to welcome him, and was prepared before time was and still but waits for him."
"The “self” that needs protection is not real. ²The body, valueless and hardly worth the least defense, need merely be perceived as quite apart from you, and it becomes a healthy, serviceable instrument through which the mind can operate until its usefulness is over. ³Who would want to keep it when its usefulness is done?"
"From here the body can be seen as what it is, and neither less nor more in worth than the extent to which it can be used to liberate God's Son unto is home."
In this world, death is inevitable. This is a scientific and metaphysical fact. Entropy guarantees the end of the universe. It's all going to die.
"Without the idea of death there is no world."
Meanwhile, since it seems that the dying is long and drawn out, this can create the impression that there is some life to be lived. There are even what we call new births, growths, things to see and do, entertainment and short-term goals. Do it all - while you still can. The clock is ticking.
This however doesn't mean that even these new things won't die. All the flowers that ever bloomed are dead now. All the babies that were born are dead in the ground. And there's only a handful left to populate the Earth, seeming to live, standing in line, waiting to die.
All that remains of what we call "alive" is a thin surface, a small collection of those things that temporarily aren't fully dead yet. And it's a vey small amount compared to what has come and gone. Life is a small slither of the dying, and billions of years have already come and gone.
The fact is that the world does not GIVE you a choice in this matter. It is set up to guarantee death. It can appear that there is life temporarily, but it is also certain that it will not last. What appears to be life, such as a seed growing into a plant, producing a flower and then dying off, is all living on borrowed time. The flower was destined to die as soon as it was sown.
All the world's roads lead to death. Sometimes there are roads which don't seem like they're so bad, and are tolerable, and sometimes even seemingly enjoyable. These are diversions and detours. They present an illusion of what seems like it's not dying. They might even look like growth and building and construction and birth. But not one of these things will escape death.
There is not one single city that has been built that hasn't crumbled. There is not one house that hasn't been reduced to a pile of rubble. There is not one body that hasn't been laid in the ground, if there was anything left to bury. There is not one food that hasn't rotten. There is not one place that hasn't deteriorated. And there is not one meaningful civilized movement that hasn't come to an end.
Why is that? Because death is built into the system. Space and time MEAN death. Delay, which is time, is an avoidance of being present, an attack on permanence, and an attempt to overthrow eternity. Time means death and time guarantees death. All the things in spacetime end up dead because time itself forces them to change, to stop being what they are, and to stop existing.
"This is the world of time, where all things end."
There is a seeming regurgitation of death, appearing to turn into new life, such as when trees in a forest are feasting on the corpses of their ancestors. New flowers seem to bloom as so-called "nature" attempts to find a way to perpetuate itself. Only to continually be met with an onslaught of destruction. Yet while the "new" stuff seems to perpetuate an illusion of a life, the rest of it just withers and dies. And even the new stuff will end someday.
This dire situation is simply the state of the world. It is hopeless. Anything you begin will end. Anything you build will crumble. Anything you think you've achieved will come tumbling down. Everything you've tried to create will be destroyed. Not one thing you've ever made will withstand the laws of physics. And time will sweep your whole life under the carpet.
Given that death is inevitable then, logically speaking it really means there is no point in living. After all, what's the point in putting in so much effort to do and achieve and accomplish when it's all just going to be destroyed anyway? At some point the sun is going to go supernova and blow your hopes and dreams to smithereens, and there will be not one trace left of everything you worked for.
Civilization rests on the idea that somehow you will leave a legacy and pass on the relay baton to the next runners who, like you, will also have to pass it on to the future generations because they too will die before the finish line. And so mankind pretends to live as screaming corpses toss the temporary illusion of life to the newcomers and ask them to do the same when their time comes to die. And we call this a sustaining of life against all the odds.
This is what spacetime has in store for you. And because of this, there really is no point doing anything. There can only be seeming short-term rewards, temporary advantages, momentary gains and short-lived enjoyment, all guaranteed to come crashing down and be trampled on by the universe. Have you not realized this yet, that the whole world is set up to try to kill you off? It was MADE as an attack on God and as an attempt to destroy you.
The truth is then that even though there sometimes seems to be a reprieve or temporary ceasefire, ALL the worlds roads and paths and choices eventually lead to death. All its roads do NOT lead to God. They all lead to destruction and despair and suffering. This is the way of the world. If you attempt to deny this you are mentally ill, and out of touch with reality. Death has plans for you that it will never give up.
So the truth is that, really, in the big picture, you do not HAVE a choice in life. You are not really choosing between life and death. You are choosing between death now or death later. You are choosing only to some extent when it will happen, and certainly not IF it will happen. And for the most part, it is going to choose for you. A sudden tragedy, a spontaneous seeming sickness, an accident, an act of nature, whatever it is that comes knocking to give you a really bad day.
You don't have a choice, if this world of spacetime is all that exists. If this is all there is, you are bound to death. If this world is the only reality, you will never escape death and it is your destiny to die. That means you are bound by fate and there is nothing you can do about it. Therefore you are not free. You are prisoner in a prison world, doing time, and waiting to die.
The only way, logically speaking, for you to have an ACTUAL CHOICE, is if there is some kind of way of existing that is not bound by the laws of spacetime. The only way you can have an alternative TO choose from, is if there IS actually a real alternative. There has to be an alternative to spacetime, otherwise you have no choice at all.
And don't be deceived in thinking that you have a lot of choices in life, to decide how you can make your life better, to choose something you prefer over something you don't, to choose which compromise appeals to you more. For everything you gain you will lose something else, and will not come out on top overall. Life will give you little scraps and will then take them away again. It will award you and please you and delight you and then shit in your face.
And you'll think it was unfair and unnatural and just some exception that things went to hell. But then it will happen again. And again and again and again. And you won't seem to be getting the message that this is how the whole system is set up. There is NO ESCAPE from the problems of the world. The world was made so that problems would be endless and no escape is possible. There's plenty more in store for you if you stick around. The world has an unlimited supply of hands to slap your face with.
You might believe that problems are only temporary. You might be delighted with your ability to fix things and problem solve. You might think that you're able to create a little oasis in the desert where you seem to be relatively safe and life is good. But that means you're living in denial. You are not prepared for what could happen, and it will happen, and you will be shocked and upset because you thought it could never happen. And then you will exclaim it is unfair and try to move on and look for the next lull in the storm, ever lurching onwards towards the grave like a half-living zombie.
Unless there is another world beyond space and time, out of reach of death and destruction, you have no hope. Unless there is an actual reality where you can live and have life and experience, out of the reach of death's clutches, there is no hope. Unless there is GOD, heaven, creation, God's Kingdom, you do not have any hope. Unless there's an actual real alternative to this world, you are not going to surmount death or overcome the world or find a way to live forever.
It is quite insane to suggest that being born, living for a while, and then dying, is natural. It is commonplace yes, but that doesn't mean it's natural. All the things of "nature" seem to do it, but that also doesn't mean it's natural. It is completely insane to suggest that there could be a life which is given, but you only have a short time, and then it's going to be ripped away unfairly before you're done. That you could live for only a short period and then stop. It makes no sense at all to think that people could just be destroyed endlessly.
Due to death seeming to be so inevitable, people think they do not have a choice. That there is nothing else to choose. In fact they don't even think they have a choice at all, not really. Even though they pretend to choose things all the time, they are just choosing different roads to death that temporary look appealing. And none of them offer any REAL choice because none of them lead to permanent life. There is no alternative when the only option is death, and that means you have no choice to choose with.
If there were to be another option, you actually would have a valid choice. This would mean two things. Firstly that you can choose something else, and secondly that if you choose it you will have it. It has to be true then that death is actually a decision, and that you somehow have it within your power to choose what you want and to make it happen. Otherwise, if permanent life were an option and you chose it, death could still take it away from you. It has to be that somehow in you there is a power of decision which overthrows what happens and determines your own destiny.
This means ultimately that, even while death disguises the fact that you are free to choose, death itself must be chosen in order to happen. This same power in your mind that can choose eternal life can also choose the illusion of death in space and time. If there really is an alternative, and you can choose it, and by choosing it it becomes yours, you must have the power to NOT choose death, to not consent to it, and to therefore PREVENT it. Even to reverse it, undo it, cancel it, and make it impossible.
The only real alternative therefore to this world of eventual death is a world of permanent life, in which death is impossible, and life is inevitable. Where there is a power capable of keeping death at bay, of guaranteeing immortality, of ensuring invulnerability, of making certain that nothing can be attacked or harmed or destroyed in any way. It must be a world of creation and not destruction, rooted in laws of permanence and protection, of safety and of love, of harmlessness and order.
To entertain that there is a valid alternative to the world requires you to believe in God. To have faith in heaven. To trust and be open to the possibility that such a place actually exists, that you can go there and merge with it and live there forever, out of harm's way. To do this is the only way to step out of the downhill slide towards destruction. You have to believe in a movement towards life, and life is God. Going towards life resurrects you and restores your life, while going away from God takes you into the world and towards death.
If you want to live forever, you will have to turn your back on death and on the world. You will have to overthrow the laws of physics. You will have to violate every seeming natural consequence of the world. You will have to become able to demonstrate through miracles that you are under the laws of God and not the laws of death. You will have to be able to raise the dead, resurrect to life, and restore order. Only by surmounting death and preventing sickness and reversing decay can you prove that you really mean business in your commitment to living.
Accepting sickness is not a commitment to living. Sickness is a form of death. Tolerating suffering is not full living. Putting up with dying is not living. Only the sustained continuation of life endlessly is real life. And if you are not in favor of that, are not actively choosing that, are not causing that to happen, then you are choosing death. It's not a difficult thing to consider. You either choose to live or die, and it's on you. Living doesn't mean living for 80+ years. It means living forever.
Since everything in the world points toward death, even in its forms of life and its new births and so on, you will have to fly in the face of the entirety of spacetime in order to overcome death. You will have to believe in laws that are not of this world, you will have to side with God, and you will have to reject every belief in sickness and death. All forms of suffering will have to by uprooted and every denial that you use to pretend you're going to live has to be questioned.
There IS a real alternative to death, and it's not of this world. Life is of God who is eternally alive. If you want to live you will have to side with God. You will have to choose to resume your natural station of being like God. If you do not choose this, you are choosing to be unlike life, and therefore dead. And that is what you will receive. If you do not want to receive it, you will have to choose immortality. And the only way to choose it is to stop choosing anything the world says must happen.
You're going to have to go against the grain, run contrary to the worlds beliefs, defy the opinions of everyone, stand up for the real truth, stop supporting the number-one religion of death-worship, have faith and trust in God's power to correct all problems, and become a medium through which resurrection can occur. The ONLY way out of this is through miracles. The ONLY way to end death and guarantee life, is through the expression of life and the giving of life. And through miracles you will return to an endless life in God.
"Real choice is no illusion. But the world has none to offer. ALL its roads but lead to disappointment, nothingness and death. There IS no choice in its alternatives. Seek not ESCAPE from problems here. The world was made that problems could not BE escaped." "The world you see is merciless indeed, unstable, cruel, unconcerned with you, quick to avenge and pitiless with hate. It gives but to rescind, and takes away all things that you have cherished for a while. No lasting love is found, for none is here. This is the world of time, where all things end."
"Be not deceived by all the different names its roads are given. They have but one end. And each is but the means to GAIN that end, for it is here that all its roads will lead, however differently they seem to start; however differently they seem to go. Their end is certain, for there is no choice among them."
"All of them will lead to death. On some you travel gaily for a while, before the bleakness enters. And on some the thorns are felt at once. The choice is not WHAT will the ending be, but WHEN it comes."
"Death is the central dream from which all illusions stem. Is it not madness to think of life as being born, aging, losing vitality, and dying in the end? We have asked this question before, but now we need to consider it still more carefully. It is the one fixed, unchangeable belief of the world that all things in it are born only to die. This is regarded as "the way of nature," not to be raised to question, but to be accepted as the "natural" law of life. The cyclical, the changing and unsure; the undependable and the unsteady, waxing and waning in a certain way upon a certain path, - all this is taken as the Will of God. And no-one asks if a benign Creator could will this."
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[BOOKMARK,about-the-acim-book] [PREVIOUS,top] [NEXT,whats-inside-acim] Part 1About the BookThe ACIM book comprises a theoretical Text, a practical Workbook with 365 lessons, and a Manual for Teachers. The course is:
Let's take a look at some of the facts about this deeply spiritual and transformative book. |
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[BOOKMARK,acim-editions] Official ACIM EditionsA Course in Miracles First Edition
A Course in Miracles Second Edition
A Course in Miracles Third Edition
Physical Book Specs
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[BOOKMARK,whats-inside-acim] [PREVIOUS,about-the-acim-book] [NEXT,acim-audience] Part 2What's inside the BookA Course in Miracles - the Official Foundation for Inner Peace 3rd Edition, combines all the major portions of scribed material into one volume:
Let's take a look inside. |
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[BOOKMARK,inside-cover] ACIM Book CoverThe cover of A Course in Miracles print editions have traditionally been a dark blue background with metallic gold text.
ACIM is available in hard-back, soft-back and paper-back versions, all of which feature a blue and gold coloring, with the inscription "Foundation for Inner Peace" near the bottom of the front cover. When the second edition combined the volumes into a single book, the cover and spine were redesigned. The three main books (text, workbook, manual) are listed on the cover, but not the clarification of terms (which is included at the end of the manual). A small logo of a star (or representing the Holy Spirit) was added to the cover also. In the third edition, more details were added including:
[BOOKMARK,inside-preface] PrefaceThe preface was added in the second edition of A Course in Miracles. It provides an introduction to the book, due to requests for one by the course community. The preface contains three sub-sections:
Each section briefly describes an aspect of the course, as follows: 1. How it cameWritten by Helen Schucman, this section briefly describes how Helen Schucman and William (Bill) Thetford were struggling in their professional relationships and felt that "there must be a better way". This willingness to find a better way together, led to the beginning of transmissions from Jesus to Helen, dictating the Course material. 2. What it isWritten by Helen Schucman, this section provides a brief overview of the structure of the book, describing the text, workbook and manual for teachers and their purposes. It touches upon the curriculum of the course, the theory of the text, and the practical application of the workbook. 3. What it saysDictated by Jesus, this section begins to present some of the general themes of the course in terms of its theology and message. It begins with the now well-known and very abstract truth: "Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God." There is a brief discussion of the difference between the worlds of knowledge and perception, which have given rise to heaven and its opposite. It touches upon the basic idea of how the world appears to change as our perceptions of it change. There is also brief mention of minds joining, special relationships, and the body. It finishes with a brief introduction to the idea of christ vision or true perception, coupled with forgiveness. [BOOKMARK,inside-text] TextThe "Text" portion of A Course in Miracles was originally a separate book volume when the first edition was printed. It was later combined into the unified volume in the second edition. The text provides a mostly theoretical, metaphysical and psychological presentation.
A vast majority of ACIM's theology is presented in the Text, and lays a theoretical foundation for being able to better apply the workbook lessons which follow. As the introduction to the workbook states: "A theoretical foundation such as the text provides is necessary as a framework to make the exercises in this workbook meaningful." This suggests that the text should be read and understood first. Jesus covers a wide range of subjects in the Text ranging from miracles to forgiveness to relationships, from the body to the world, all manner of aspects of perception and mind, and provides extraordinary insight and depth into the functioning of our minds. He also details how we arrived in our present condition, and how we can return home to God. The text is incredibly deep and profound and life changing and provides a metaphysical framework for the workbook and further transformation. [BOOKMARK,inside-workbook] Workbook for StudentsThe ACIM "Workbook", also known as "the lessons", features a lesson for each day of the year. There are in total 365 lessons, all of which include additional descriptive material, meditations and practices. The lessons may involve a few minutes of application and may be repeated a variable number of times throughout the day and as needed. The intention is that you:
In addition to the lessons, the workbook includes an introduction and several additional pieces of material which act as introductions to later sections of the workbook. The workbook also revisits and summarizes earlier lessons in "review" periods to help cement and generalize the learning. The workbook is intended for the development of Christ Vision, which A Course in Miracles refers to as a highly spiritual state of perception, establishing your function of forgiveness, teaching and miracle-working, while also paving the way to returning home to God. As it states: "The workbook is divided into two main sections, the first dealing with the undoing of the way you see now, and the second with the acquisition of true perception." ... and ... "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." [BOOKMARK,inside-manual] Manual for TeachersThe manual for teachers recognizes that after a period of learning and transformation, a student may become equipped to teach and help others. While many aspects of the course appear to be a "self study" or experienced in private, other aspects call for providing services to others. Content includes:
It also speaks on topics answering some common questions, such as whether reincarnation is real or helpful, the meaning of healing, etc. [BOOKMARK,inside-clarification] Clarification of TermsThe clarification of terms in ACIM is a short section attempting to clarify and distinguish what certain terms in the course mean. It provides some extra background and context to put these terms into perspective. Originally this document was called the "Use of terms". The clarification covers these topics:
[BOOKMARK,inside-psychotherapy] Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice
The supplement is presented in such a way as to be of interest to someone in a therapeutic role, such as a psychotherapist, but can be applied to any relationship in which there is an aim to provide help and healing. It has the following sections:
The psychotherapy pamphlet talks about the various roles of the two individuals, how one helps and teaches and heals the other, and how they might work together for a common goal. It also suggests that psychotherapy is the only therapy due to everything being in the mind. [BOOKMARK,inside-song-of-prayer] The Song of Prayer
This supplement describes how we are in a constant state of prayer, always asking and always receiving. It describes how the spiritual quality of this prayer ranges from requests which are heavily identified with forms, objects and worldly problems, to a very high form of communication with God which paves the way to communion. The aim of "singing a higher song" spiritually is to raise one's mental giving and receiving to "tune" closer to God. This results in receiving higher spiritual gifts and support as well as a more spiritual outlook. The Song of Prayer is divided into three main sections, a kind of "how to do it" on each of these subjects:
[BOOKMARK,inside-gifts-of-god] The Gifts of God
Helen Schucman also published some of her poetry in a book called The Gifts of God. Although the book is described as poetry, it include a portion of material which distinctly appears to be further dictation from Jesus. The material uses iambic pentameter and expresses in the same way as the rest of the ACIM material. The Gifts of God is named as such because it talks about gifts received from and given to God. The material is not included in any official edition of ACIM, but can be purchased from the ACIM.org website. It includes the following sections:
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[BOOKMARK,acim-audience] [PREVIOUS,whats-inside-acim] [NEXT,where-to-buy-acim] Part 3ACIM Audience and CommunityThe official editions of A Course in Miracles have sold over 3 million copies worldwide. Along with several unofficial editions, ACIM has spread to a worldwide community of individuals and organizations. Read on to learn more about its audience and reception. |
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[BOOKMARK,acim-worldwide] Worldwide AudienceIt is estimated that editions of A Course in Miracles published and sold by the Foundation for Inner peace total near to 3 million copies, as of 2020. But there are also other unofficial editions for sale, and also a variety of freely available editions. The list includes:
It's very difficult to estimate the audience size, but there could be as many as 5-10 million individual readers/listeners of the course. We must also consider that the number of people actively still using or studying the course is likely far less, perhaps less than half. But A course in Miracles still likely has a reach of at least a few million active users. A Course in Miracles has found its way around the world and is now available in almost every country. |
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[BOOKMARK,acim-curriculum] The Universal CurriculumIt's worth mentioning what A Course in Miracles itself might say about its audience. The course teaches that before the world seemed to come into being, all souls lived happily in heaven with God. "The separation" or "fall of man" resulted in the making of the physical universe and its contents. This places every separated soul in a position of needing salvation. God responded to the separation with the creation of the Holy Spirit and the initiation of His Atonement Plan. The goal of the plan is to eventually return everyone back to Heaven, with no exceptions. This means that for all separated individuals, which includes everyone on Earth, there is one Truth to learn (the Truth of God), which is accepted in the Atonement. Therefore the same truth is to be learned by all individuals. This leads to a universal curriculum in which everyone must eventually learn the same truth. However, the path by which an individual comes to that same truth may be unique depending on their current beliefs, yielding an "individualized curriculum" for each person. The plan of The Atonement is to bring about the atonement of each individual, leading to the return of all souls to Heaven. Regardless of what beliefs, religions, opinions, attitudes, states of mind, preferences or conditions any individual is currently experiencing, all individuals are a part of the mandatory curriculum and are learning whatever is necessary to eventually awaken to the reality of God. This means that even those who do not study A Course in Miracles - as given in the book, are still participating in the universal curriculum, no matter their present path or interests, because all roads lead to God. As ACIM says: "It is crucial to say first that this is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what to take when. It is just because you are not ready to do what you should elect to do that time exists at all." "Their readiness will bring the lesson to them in some form which they can understand and recognize. Some see it suddenly on point of death, and rise to teach it. Others find it in experience that is not of this world, which shows them that the world does not exist because what they behold must be the truth, and yet it clearly contradicts the world. And some will find it in this course, and in the exercises that we do today." Whether or not a person is well suited to gaining from A Course in Miracles, depends on their readiness, baggage, beliefs and history. Some are more willing than others. Some would see the course as a serious danger, even accusing it of being evil. Some would be completely disinterested. And some would never even encounter it in their lifetime. ACIM itself is not for everyone, but the universal curriculum is. ACIM is just one form of the curriculum designed for a particular audience, who will encounter it if that is part of the plan. Others will take different routes on the journey home. For this reason you will naturally see that those who believe things highly contrary to what A Course in Miracles claims, will be most offended or adamant about its wrongful nature, while those who can relate to it and benefit from it, will be more open and ready to receive it. In the big picture, this means that all criticism of the course is really just an interplay of egotism between certain individuals and the course's representation of the truth. which they are not yet willing to be open to. Some may accept parts of it, some may accept parts and recoil and rebound. Others may avoid it entirely. But everyone will go home in the end. If we give due credit to Jesus, author of A Course in Miracles, recognizing his mastery and perfection, and trusting his word, then we can see that reactions agains the course are almost certainly egoic in origin, and faulty at best. Essentially everyone should accept its truth, but many will likely find other paths which lead to the eventual same goal. God guarantees that everyone will return to Him sooner or later, it's just a matter of willingness and their individualized curriculum. |
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[BOOKMARK,acim-translations] Language TranslationsOriginally A Course in Miracles was dictated in English, leaning towards American English, since its scribe, Helen Schucman, spoke American English. Jesus delivered the words in the language which its scribes and the later audience were able to understand. The Course has now been translated into more than 25 languages with more languages to follow. The list includes:
Some translations are of the 2nd Edition of ACIM, while others are the 3rd edition. ACIM is also available in translated languages in e-book format for Kindle etc. Translations of unofficial versions may also be available. TIP: It's possible to freely translate an online ACIM website page, using a translator service such as translate.google.com. Simply choose the source and destination languages, enter the full url of an ACIM website page, and it will provide a link which, when clicked, will take you to a translated version of that website. If you apply this to a website which hosts A Course in Miracles online, you can read the whole course in over 100 languages. Note that the translation may or may not be accurate in capturing the meaning of the words. |
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[BOOKMARK,acim-reception] Reception"The Course in Miracles" has been generally well received and is respected for its depth, clarity, insight, beauty and transformative power. This is not to say it is popular with everyone. Indeed some groups would consider the book to be evil or wrong, depending on their current belief system. A Course in Miracles uses a somewhat Christian language, and there is some overlap with Christianity in many areas, just as there is also some overlap with Christian Science, Buddhism, Hinduism etc. But there are also areas where it diverges profoundly, often opposing common beliefs. There are subjects in ACIM which are similar to subjects in a variety of religions, such as God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, sin, forgiveness, love, peace, etc. Different people find it more or less relatable depending on their current state of mind and preferences. Some criticism has been made that the course is too long, too wordy, too difficult to understand, too dense, too hard to apply, too hard to relate to etc. Some people do not like the language or how it is written. The course may not be for everyone in its current book form, but for some it is very accessible. Some have accused ACIM of stealing existing or long-held beliefs and theologies present in other doctrines and religions, suggesting that it does not offer anything new. This is partly because there is always some truth in every life path or belief system, so it's natural for there to be some overlap. ACIM doesn't really claim to be 100% unlike anything that has ever been said before, although in some areas it is highly original and groundbreaking. But it does claim to be giving the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Any individual or organization will have to decide for themselves whether ACIM is right for them.
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[BOOKMARK,acim-community] ACIM CommunityThe proliferation of A Course in Miracles around the world has naturally led to the formation of various groups and organizations. ACIM is not a religion, it is a spiritual path which you can participate in individually or as a group. And its aim is to restore openness, sharing and communication. "Miracles are given by those who temporarily have more to those who temporarily have less." "A miracle is a service. It is the maximal service that one soul can render another. It is a way of loving your neighbor as yourself." Various ACIM study groups have sprung up in various communities and countries. Some students meet periodically online or in person to share discussion and application of ACIM principles, to study the material and to share a connection. Indeed ACIM encourages all special relationships to become holy relationships and tells us: "Those who are to meet will meet, because together they have the potential for a holy relationship. They are ready for each other." ACIM students also congregate on all social media platforms including facebook, pinterest, reddit, twitter, youtube, forums etc. There are also groups who meet or participate in courses over "zoom" and through other media, as well as through online radio and podcasts. There have also been movies made about the course and a wide variety of course-related books have been published. The ACIM community is growing. There are A Course in Miracles conferences of various kinds every year, including meetups, workshops, training courses and various other events held periodically by various groups and individuals. Many cities host one or more ACIM study groups. It is also easy to meet and talk with other ACIM students on social media channels. Some ACIM organizations and non-profits have also been established, some of which offer courses, church-like gatherings, and in some cases ordained ministerial training. Phone support, websites and various other forms of interaction have all sprung up to support and build the growing A Course in Miracles community. Ultimately every soul God created is a worthy member of God's Family, whether they are using A Course in Miracles or not. |
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[BOOKMARK,where-to-buy-acim] [PREVIOUS,acim-audience] [NEXT,bottom] Part 4Where to buy ACIMMost editions of A Course in Miracles are available at Amazon. You can simply search for the book titles. Alternatively, and perhaps of more financial benefit to the publishers, you can also purchase most editions from the publisher's websites. You can also find versions of ACIM in various bookstores. Below we'll take a look at some of the more popular editions. |
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[BOOKMARK,buy-acim-choosing] Choosing an EditionWhen A Course in Miracles was first scribed, Helen Shucman wrote down the words Jesus dictated into note books, using her own shorthand. Later "The Notes" were typed into plain English with the help of Bill Thetford. This formed an early version commonly referred to as "The Urtext". The urtext was then considered to contain some material which was somewhat personal, various typing errors and so on, so further editing took place. Various material was removed and/or changed, especially in the earlier chapters. Chapters and section headings were inserted and this eventually formed the "Hugh Lynn Cayce" edition, so named due to a version given to the Edgar Cayce foundation and uncovered in the ACIM copyright trial. Some consider this version to be where Helen and Bill had finished editing. Ken Wapnick later arrived and felt the Course needed further editing. More material was removed and changed and cleaned up. This eventually became the Criswell edition, which then become the Official First Edition. The Foundation for Inner Peace published an initial run of 5000 copies of the 1st edition, with the 1975 copyright, in mid 1976. There was then a legal court case in which the copyright of ACIM was brought into question, mainly due to general distribution of course material prior to the 1975 copyright. The copyright was then voided, making the first edition public domain. This then led to further editing, which accomplished a few things:
This became the official 2nd edition, sold by the Foundation for Inner Peace. In years to follow, a final 3rd edition was published as a result of further edits, including two of the supplements. Meanwhile, relating to events in the court case, the Notes and Urtext were photocopied and leaked on the internet. Also later editions such as the Criswell and first edition were typed and posted online. Efforts by various individuals and organizations resulted, legally or otherwise, in the publishing of the earlier material in book form. Since that time, various editions of ACIM based on available materials have been published in print, and are available for sale. This includes the Original Edition, Urtext Manuscripts, Sparkly Edition and the newer Complete and Annotated Edition. RecommendationIf you are newer to the course, I would recommend either the Foundation for Inner Peace 3rd Edition, or the Circle of Atonement Complete and Annotated edition. The Circle of Atonement edition has a lot more material, but it includes material which was edited out by FIP. This includes many references to souls, discussions about sex and various other matters. The material reads more conversationally than in the FIP edit, but may not be as "clean and to the point" or "sanitized" as the FIP edit. More experienced students may benefit from extra insight gained from the earlier material. The urtext is a popular go-to, since the notes are not easily human readable. But now that the "Complete and annotated edition" and "The complete authentic original edition" are or will be available, which are based on a new translation of the notes, these are fast becoming more popular renditions of Jesus's original dictation. |
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[BOOKMARK,buy-acim-popular] Popular ACIM EditionsSeveral editions of A Course in Miracles are now available for purchase as physical print books. To follow are the more popular books. Most are available at the publisher's websites, otherwise all are available at Amazon.
A Course in Miracles Combined Volume"A Course in Miracles Combined Volume" published by the Foundation for Inner Peace. This is the current official version as published by the original publisher, originally authorized by Helen Schucman. It includes all material except "The Gifts of God", and is quite highly edited.
A Course in Miracles Complete and Annotated Edition"A Course in Miracles, Complete and Annotated Edition" published by the Circle of Atonement. This is a modern new edit, combining as much material as possible from The Notes, and some from the urtext. It provides a version as close to the original scribing as possible, but does not include supplements.
A Course in Miracles Urtext Manuscripts"A Course in Miracles Urtext Manuscripts" published by Miracles in Action Press. This is a a complete set of all urtext material including all supplements. A new edit based more firmly on the Notes will soon be available, titled "A Course in Miracles - The authentic original edition".
A Course in Miracles Original Edition"A Course in Miracles Original Edition" published by the Course in Miracles Society. This is the same as the Hugh Lynn Cayce edition, the final version following editing by Helen and Bill prior to the official FIP versions. This edition also includes some additional material from the urtext, but contains no supplements.
A Course in Miracles Sparkly Edition"A Course in Miracles Sparkly Edition" published by the Thetford Foundation is similar to the Original Edition, minus some urtext material, and has some capitalization/punctuation changes. The version is called "Sparkly" due to it sparkly cover. It also contains no supplements. |
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[BOOKMARK,buy-acim-free] Free Online EditionsMost versions of the course are available online with free access. These are usually hosted as a set of web pages on a website, or as a downloadable pdf. One of the most extensive archives of ACIM material available for free is at the Miracles in Action Press website. You can browse based on the edition of the ACIM material, and also by the volume (Text, Workbook etc). Material hosted includes pdf facsimiles, transcribed e-texts, the Urtext Manuscripts book in pdf form, html versions of various editions, and also a concordance. It includes documents on the Notes, Urtext, Hugh Lynn Cayce/Original, Criwsell and FIP editions. There are also other websites hosting A Course in Miracles as web pages. A few of the better ones include:
You can find ACIM online by Googling ACIM online or A Course in Miracles online. Most of the online websites have a search feature built in. TIP: You can also use Google in combination with one of these websites to find content. For example, if you type site:a.courseinmiracles.com forgiveness into Google, you will see Google's search results for the terms you enter, confined to that website. You can also put terms in quotes like site:a.courseinmiracles.com "forgive your brother" for narrower results. Note that Google might not include every single page in their search results. You can also find various editions in PDF form, by Googling ACIM pdf or ACIM urtext pdf etc. Note that these will either be transcribed versions, or might be a collection of facsimiles of photocopied pages, which can be harder to read. |
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[BOOKMARK,buy-acim-other] Other EditionsA well as print books and online versions, ACIM has been published via many types of media. You can experience it in book form, for example as an ebook on a device like Kindle or via Apple Books. You can also experience it as audio recordings in various ways. There are official and unofficial audio book recordings of various versions. You can also find these converted into videos on YouTube, sometimes where a person is visibly reading the book and other times just as audio with pictures. On YouTube there is a wealth of ACIM material including collections of videos from a variety of organizations and individuals, either reading the ACIM books or talking about ACIM topics. There are videos for every workbook lesson from several sources. If you are on social media platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Reddit etc, you are likely to encounter ACIM quotes and memes and various visual expressions of A Course in Miracles which are socially shared. You can also find ACIM distributed in software app form, with apps for iOs and Android, a well a for desktop PC's (windows). These are available from ACIM.org and others, and on the app stores. It's also worth mentioning again that ACIM has been translated into over 25 languages and a vast majority of these are available at the ACIM.org website, which is the official website of the Foundation for Inner Peace. |
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[BOOKMARK,bottom] [PREVIOUS,where-to-buy-acim] Part 5ConclusionA Course in Miracles is a truly profound and potentially life changing book.
I'd love to hear from you. Go ahead and let me know in the comments below. |
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