This is a profound collection of 12 books covering a wide variety of ACIM topics. Each book in this series is a curated collection of inspired insights on A Course in Miracles, written by Paul West. They each represent a portion of his profound sharing of over 2 million words, created over more than 20 years of ACIM study and practice.
Paul has gifted the ACIM community with a treasure-trove of insightful writings, teachings and a deep study of the course. Originally written as blog posts and articles, these works are given with a more casual, conversational, and yet sincere tone.
Each book focuses on a specific subject area of course study, such as God, The Sons of God, Forgiveness etc. Within each book you'll find a carefully chosen selection of Paul's best and most popular articles, focusing on the most useful and insightful works.
Articles lengths range from a reading time of 2 minutes up to almost 20 minutes. Each chapter represents one article. The chapters do not follow on from each other, so you can read them in any order. Approximate reading times are given for each chapter.
The articles have been lightly edited from their original form. Please note that some articles may contain some mild profanity. Portions in double quote marks and/or on a gray background are quotes from A Course in Miracles - from the Urtext edition. Some quotes may be slightly paraphrased (written from memory).
These books are written less formally than regular books, but this also makes for a more relaxed reading experience. The books won't necessarily speak to every part of each subject, but should cover many of the popular bases and areas of interest.
This is a highly valuable resource on your A Course in Miracles journey home to God.
The book series has its own page on Amazon where you can see all 12 books together.
All books are available in e-book, paperback and hardcover versions. Each book is printed on demand so is always in stock.
Paperbacks and hardcover are available from Amazon, including country-specific Amazon sites such as amazon.co.uk.
The e-book versions are available on Kindle via the same amazon sites, through a kindle device or free kindle reader app. A kindle device is not needed - you can install the Amazon Kindle Reader App on your desktop computer, laptop, tablet or phone (PC, Mac, Android, iOS).
You can "look inside" or "read a sample" of each book on the Amazon websites. Note that the Kindle edition sample is longer than the paperback sample. Note also that each book is a different length, ranging from 230 to 550 pages.
The paperback and hardcover books are printed in a modern style with a matte-finish cover.
Most stores include Kindle e-book ($5.99), paperback ($17.99) and hardcover ($24.99) USD. I typically make only a few dollars from each book sale due to Amazon fees.
Amazon.com (USA)
Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom)
Amazon.de (Germany)
Amazon.fr (France)
Amazon.es (Spain)
Amazon.it (Italy)
Amazon.nl (Netherlands)
Amazon.jp (Japan)
Amazon.com.br (Brazil)
Amazon.ca (Canada)
Amazon.mx (Mexico)
Amazon.com.au (Australia)
Amazon.in (India)
Amazon.pl (Poland)
Amazon.se (Sweden)
To see the table of contents for each book, go to an Amazon website, find the book and either "Look inside" or "See a sample". Each book focuses on a specific area of ACIM teaching such as God, the world, forgiveness etc.
All thoughts create form at some level. This is because thoughts (ego thoughts) are ideas about separation. Regardless of their specific content they are always separation ideas.
Separation ideas always therefore lead to "form" in some way.
What this means is, the idea of separation from God, having that tiny mad idea, AUTOMATICALLY means that form MUST come from it. Form must be the end result of an idea of separation. The thought ITSELF shows up as form - separate images appearing real, and eventually being so "firm" that they seem like solid matter.
Form results from thoughts of separation because separation requires us to make an illusion of how two things are different and disconnected, not sharing space or properties. These illusory appearances make it seem like separation is real and result in the illusion of "separate objects".
Any ego thought therefore emphasizes separation between illusions. As the division between thoughts intensifies, or becomes more "dense", it HAS to eventually lead to the illusory manifestation of what we would call "physical solid matter" - a physical universe - which is essentially just a very heavy/serious thought.
Or to put it simply, the mad idea of being separate from God HAD to create a physical universe. It is a completely logical progression and consequence of having such an idea. Form derives from separation.
If separation is perceived or believed to be real, some kind of universe of forms, to some degree, must seem to manifest.
Before the physical universe there were also prior "stages" if you will, subtler levels of this, which have produced additional levels in the dream. Other dimensions. These are all part of the same ego holographic dream and many of these levels feature form to varying degrees.
As Jesus says for example, nighttime and waking dreams differ only in their forms/content. Being in the physical world is nothing more than being inside the tiny mad idea of separation. It is just an idea, and is not really happening. This is why the physical universe is an illusion. It's an illusory thought of separation - a thought of impossibility.
When you can recognize the illusion correctly, you have completed forgiveness. This means being able to transcend and overlook the thought which has made the physical world. Seeing the truth of this, is seeing the "real world", ie the true nature of the worlds of form (which may pertain to physical level as well as higher levels/dimensions of form).
Overlooking illusions makes them disappear. Overlooking the thought of separation makes it, and everything which has come from it (is inside it), disappear. This is why the physical and other higher dimensional universes MUST eventually disappear, or rather be recognized as having been nothing more than a dream/illusion to begin with. Illusions recognized must disappear. The tiny mad idea, recognized as purely false, must end.
Only Heaven is reality, the home of Immortal Spirit. Only Heaven will be left when all of these illusory universes disappear. Only Heaven is the Home of God and the Son of God. Only Heaven, God's Creation, is the real truth - the real universe of oneness.
Psychotherapy is a process that changes the view of the self. At best this "new" self is a more beneficent self-concept, but psychotherapy can hardly be expected to establish reality. That is not its function. If it can make way for reality, it has achieved its ultimate success. Its whole function, in the end, is to help the patient deal with one fundamental error; the belief that anger brings him something he really wants, and that by justifying attack he is protecting himself. To whatever extent he comes to realize that this is mistaken, to that extent is he truly saved.
Patients do not enter the therapeutic relationship with this goal in mind. On the contrary, such concepts mean little to them, or they would not need help. Their aim is to be able to retain their self-concept exactly as it is, but without the suffering that it entails. Their whole equilibrium rests on the insane belief that this is possible. And because to the sane mind it is so clearly impossible, what they seek is magic. In illusions the impossible is easily accomplished, but only at the cost of making illusions true. The patient has already paid this price. Now he wants a "better" illusion.
At the beginning, then, the patient's goal and the therapist's are at variance. The therapist as well as the patient may cherish false self-concepts, but their respective perceptions of "improvement" still must differ. The patient hopes to learn how to get the changes he wants without changing his self-concept to any significant extent. He hopes, in fact, to stabilize it sufficiently to include within it the magical powers he seeks in psychotherapy. He wants to make the vulnerable invulnerable and the finite limitless. The self he sees is his god, and he seeks only to serve it better.
Regardless of how advanced the therapist himself may be, he must want to change the patient's self-concept in some way that he believes is real. The task of therapy is one of reconciling these differences. Hopefully, both will learn to give up their original goals, for it is only in relationships that salvation can be found. At the beginning, it is inevitable that patients and therapists alike accept unrealistic goals not completely free of magical overtones. They are finally given up in the minds of both.