Customer Reviews

A Course in Miracles

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Of the several Kindle versions of A Course In Miracles available this is by far the best one. It has a working table of contents and includes the full text of the combined books that make up the CIM including Text, Teacher's Manual, Workbook, Clarification of Terms and Supplements. In case this review gets combined with other reviews for different versions of the book as sometimes happen I'll mention I'm referring to the version that has an ASIN of B0018A01L4.

This is the deepest and most profound book I've ever read. And I have a ridiculously large collection of books.

ACIM presents spiritual truths so concise and raw, so pure, that one must often spend days or weeks (or more) studying + praying + meditating upon a single passage. Then one may begin to achieve the first insights into the passage, and begin to apply it directly to one's life. With each insight revealed by each passage, you'll suddenly become aware and see the miraculous spiritual world which is true life (all else is a false dream).

This book DOES teach miracles. I will offer you an example.

Of course, in everyday life you cross paths with countless strangers. Many you may only meet for a moment, and never again. For example, you may exchange a few INCONSEQUENTIAL words with a grocery store cashier, who is a total "stranger," as pay for your groceries. And typically we rate such an interaction as "meaningless." We don't even think about it.

Let's now re-imagine our "inconsequential" daily interactions with others in a new, deeply spiritual and profound way, that transforms these interactions into most consequential MIRACLES.

That cashier who is ringing up your groceries, may be quite happy, OR she might be quite depressed and that very moment is thinking about how she'll commit suicide once she gets home that evening. Her soul may be in that much pain. She needs a miracle encounter, and without it she'll be dead later that evening.

First, you understand you can never personally "make" miracles happen. Miracles are never under your command. You can only ready your consciousness through purification, making yourself a willing channel / vehicle through which God performs miracles.

You begin by caring. You open your heart and you hold precious a deep concern for the well-being (and advancement) of other souls. That mindset helps you sense the pain of other souls, even when they hide it under many layers.

Next you read this book. It teaches you how to be a willing channel through which miracles can be worked. This is fundamentally NOT an intellectual exercise of simply reading a concept and thereby "knowing" it and thus becoming a "miracle worker." It doesn't work that way. This is a non-rational, non-intellectual workshop for your soul, a process that only begins when you read each passage in the book. Then comes convulsions of prayer and meditation in which you beg God to reveal the meaning of the passage to your heart. Beyond saying that, the process is intensely profound and simply cannot be put into words.

Let's return to our example involving the cashier.

You see, God KNOWS the precise sentiment and the exact few words you must communicate to that cashier, in order to MIRACULOUSLY lift her soul and prevent her suicide. This will not merely prevent her suicide that evening, but will transform her life in a matter of a few seconds. She will FOREVER think of herself on a higher level, valuing herself much more, and that will change her life. That is the miracle.

So you stand in line at the grocery checkout. Your heart is open, allowing you to sense the pain of another soul, in this case a total stranger ringing out your groceries. You have made yourself ready for this moment through prayer, meditation, and reading ACIM.

You look at the cashier, as one looks at a beautiful sunset, meditatively. You don't see her "depression." Instead you see a perfect, precious spirit; that is, you see some truth about the angelic nature of another, and God can help you let that person see that in your eyes.

Then in that moment of your love, and your deep willingness to help, your mind clears as you wait fearlessly for God to work a miracle through you. And God does.

You hear a few sentences come out of your mouth as you look lovingly at the cashier. You understand those words came from above. Those sentences were SO PERFECTLY MATCHED to meet the needs of the soul of that cashier in that moment, you could not possibly have originated those words in your intellect. Often the words will even reference secret events or feelings in the life of the stranger that you have no prior knowledge of!

The reaction of that person to your words is often most amazing, because the person you spoke to just experienced that you (a total stranger) has just looked into the hidden recesses of their heart and soul, and has seen secrets and pain, and has helped dissipate that pain in a most loving way, in an instant!

Often the total stranger will immediately break down into the happiest of tears of JOY. They may look up at you with tears streaming down their face, but with their face glowing with a huge, happy smile, as if you've just saved their life and they are eternally grateful. However, all the work was by God, acting through you.

You may find yourself spontaneously giving that person (a total "stranger") a warm hug and both sharing tears of joy - all done with countless strangers watching on, perplexed by it.

Then you walk out of the store. The miracle has happened and you know it will work magic in the life of that person blessed by it.

Now it often happens, not always, but sometimes, that you will meet that same person again many years later. It may be 20 years later. You'll be running an errand or whatever, and suddenly a "stranger" walks up to you and looks at you lovingly as if you are a long-lost sibling, and says with heartfelt intensity:

"You saved my life by speaking a few words to me in a grocery store! Thank you! I could NEVER forgot you!"

If you understand that example, and you have started to understand what is inside this most miraculous book!

NOTE: this review is NOT intended to suggest I understand most of what is in ACIM, or have in any sense "completed" the spiritual workshop that the Course is. Very optimistically, maybe I "understand" (intellectually) say 5% of the sentences in this book, and maybe (who knows) I've managed to start applying maybe 1% of the book into my daily life. And that's a lot. And that little is life-transforming. This is the kind of book you work with for multiple lifetimes. I'm not sure the concept of "completing" even applies to this book!

"You will not see the Father until you first see the perfection of your holy brother". The language is that of classic western theology, but that's where the similarity ends. I read this work years ago, and with considerable effort. I haven't been the same since. It lead to other books and teachers that I had previously thought to be unbalanced or worse. This book marks a turning point in the lives of many because by the time you finish it, you are able to perceive and understand much which had previously escaped you. And this has a domino-effect which changes the way that you experience reality. Of course, everyone's experience will be at least somewhat different, if not totally different. This massive and powerful volume was not a pleasurable read for me, it hurt. I felt an almost continual and irrational fear in my gut throughout most of it. My ego was terrified by the intense exposure. As cliche as it may sound, it felt like a part of me was dying. But here I am, and certainly the better for it. The greatest benefit for me has been the elimination of confusion, who should I believe, what should I believe. I no longer look outside of myself for answers. This review is for anyone for whom it may resonate. If you get this book and find that you hate it, or don't understand it, or just can't handle it for some reason, just put it aside, store it in a safe place. Don't ever part with it.

I am well educated by modern western standards - I have a masters degree in electrical engineering, and a masters degree in business (MBA)...I am middle-aged so I have had plenty of time to witness life on earth...I was also in the US Navy at an early age...I hope this gives you a context for my review........I have to honestly say, without any reservation, from the bottom of my heart - that this is the single MOST IMPORTANT book - rather EDUCATION - of my entire life...Nothing else comes close....If you are seeking true happiness, inner peace, would like to really internalize "why you are here", this is the best work around....If you want to learn how to deal with your resentment, prejudices, and maybe most-importantly, ego - this book will do it for you. And if you don't think you have any of these issues - perhaps you need this book even more!...This book goes beyond formal religion (which I do not partake in), beyond meditation (which I've practiced for ~30 years), and beyond the Bible (which I've read but didn't really "internalize")....I am about half way through the lessons (this is the part you should focus on - the other parts are optional), and I look forward every morning to reading a new lesson - or internalizing the previous lesson...I like this book so much I am going to give out about 7 copies for the holiday's to family and friends......And for any of you with significant health challenges (like me) - what you learn from this book will help you.....Start with lesson one, practice each lesson, have patients, and before you know it - you will see the light....As far as some of the reviews on here that were not so kind, I will not pass judgment of these folks - but wish them well in there journey to "seeing the light".

This review is a review of the Kindle formatting not of the content itself. This version has no table of contents and is not the combined set of books that make up A Course In Miracles. There are several Kindle versions of this book available on Amazon. The one I settled on was the published December 25, 2007 with the ASIN of B0018A01L4. It has a fully workable table of contents, is the combined set of books that make up the CIM including Clarification of Terms and Supplements and is the 3rd edition. That version is twice as long as this version.

If you are just looking for the first volume you might want to check out some of the other Kindle offerings that are about a 1/3 the price of this version (ASIN: B0023B13KK) - I have not compared them but they seem to be the same size as this one and I suspect they have no Table of Contents (which may be OK for you since it is only one volume and the price is lower).

I'm listing the ASINs because sometimes Amazon combines reviews of the same titles even though they have different ASINs or ISBNs - just want to make it clear which one is lacking in case they do that.

Does A Course in Miracles really work? Isn't that possibly the heartfelt question, the bottom line request that a potential buyer and student might ask? One must have some understanding of just what the goals of the Course are before an honest answer to your question might be offered.

Many interested individuals naturally lean towards the customary definition of the word "Miracles" but the goal is not healing of the body. There are a multitude of words within the Course book that are defined differently from what you'll find in Webster's dictionary. "Forgiveness" is perhaps the greatest of these. You'll soon realize that like "Miracles", "Forgiveness" has a whole new meaning.

"Miracles" are shifts in perception in your mind not a restoration of sight or hearing etc. "Forgiveness" is not letting someone off the hook for what you think they did to you or failed to do for you. Rather it is realizing that what you see in others is always a projection of what you think you are yourself and a willingness to have the "Holy Spirit" change your perception. Again, even "Holy Spirit" has its own definition for although the Course uses Christian terminology, it is independent of any organized religion.

So if you are interested in healing your thoughts rather than your body, in taking responsibility for your judgments rather than blaming others, and in establishing a whole new way of thinking about the world including yourself, then consider buying this book. In these goals A Course in Miracles is quite effective.

I wrote this review at a time when I felt Guided by holiness. One might consider this mind state as a result of prolonged practice of forgiveness as redefined above. For most students it is indeed a lengthy process, a year minimum if you consider just the 365 lessons of the Workbook section of the book, usually much longer to comprehend the Text. (Took me many years, I was really miserable lol) The language differences are again apparent in that the third section, The Manual for Teachers, does not relate to the usual academic terms "Students and Teachers". Buy ACIM with the expectation of a long term commitment to a life altering experience, rather than a "Quick fix".

What it did for me. I realize that God has nothing to do with the occurrences of earthquakes or bad weather, nor the uncertain healing of the kid I backed over in the driveway. In other words the book offers a solely constant loving God unrelated to the either way syndrome that "It was God's Will". What a sense of clarity, relief and peacefulness this learning brings. God is 100% loving, how could we assign traits otherwise? (The answer by the way is that we project our fears onto Him, love and fear cannot coexist.)

The ardent study Course has given me a new perception of "Life and death." Since we are solely spiritual beings, death of nothing (the body) is nothing. I recall an instant at my grandmother's funeral when my mom consoled me that Gram's spirit was in Heaven now, not to cry. My response to an unsatisfactory answer, "Where the hell was her spirit while she was alive? (light smack on the back of my head, age 6) and where was it before she was born?" (I had to get the last word lol). I didn't realize it then but I was already being prepared for ACIM back then. I know now there is nothing to fear in life or in death as we perceive ourselves on earth.

Think you want to buy this book? I'm sure glad I did. I hope my comments were helpful, even light hearted for there is nothing to fear. Experience Love and Peace. Get to know why the book is often called "earth shattering") Thank you for reading. Jim

I had heard this book referenced by many sources and subsequently bought a copy. I looked through the pages but just could not 'get into it'. It sat for almost 10 years before I picked it up again. I must have been "ready" for it because I entered into a very intense study of the book for the next 3 years or so. There were times during the first read where I would throw the book down on the chair and think I was done with it. The truth of the words would coax me back to have another look.

The writing for me was challenging on two points. First, it is written in such a "precise" and meticulous style that I found myself reading whole paragraphs over again. I found the writing to be very intricate, very eloquent, beautiful and well, tough. Some sentences were as long as a paragraph and yet, it seemed to me that if the sentence had been written any different the meaning would have been altered (meticulous).

The second and even more challenging aspect of this work is the effect that the words had on the psyche. The book DOES threaten the ego and the ego will find oh so many ways to stay in control (survival). Hence the occasions I found myself tossing the book. But the truth of the words would work themselves in and I would find myself picking up the book again.

Thus I read the book through twice and then joined a year-long study group which met weekly and we did the 365 lessons daily for a year. As you might imagine, this was quite challenging and even more rewarding. Working as a group allowed us to witness the antics of the ego through each other.

I will not 'dis' any of the negative commentators, as they have a right to their position, but what I will do is offer up that the study of this book had a profoundly positive effect in my life. I can certainly understand that for some, the book will be too threatening to their present beliefs. For me, the concept of "channeling" used to be foreign. And now it seems like many channelers draw from the astral plane and not the spiritual. This is definitely spiritually inspired.

ACIM is one of the most 'influential' books that I've encountered. If you do read this book, you will definitely want to follow it up with 'A Course Of Love' (Perron), which I was introduced to during the ACIM group. ACOL is for the HEART what ACIM was for the MIND. Both books are from the same source and together (in sequence) had the effect of shifting my own awareness and giving me the peace and certainty I had longed for. No more seeking! The ACOL series (3 books) were a softer read and even more sublime.

In summation, I will recommend this book highly to anyone that has a strong desire for truth and is willing to invest a bit of effort. For me it required that. It is not an 'airy-fairy' sort of book but of an extremely pragmatic nature. If the time is right you will enter into a sort of 'relationship' with this work, and for me THAT is the difference.

I received my copy of this book back in the early 1980s when the Foundation for Inner Peace gave them away for free to those who couldn't afford it which, at the time, I couldn't. After a few false starts over the next few years, I finally read the text, workbook and manual for teachers. And, after much stalling, I was then compelled to do the exercises which I did, daily, for 365 days in a row. This book is useful only to those who are inwardly compelled to read it to the point where it won't let you alone until you do. It states that it is directed to a particular audience. If you are one of them the book will seek you out or, having run across it, you will feel a resonance that will compel you to read it. If it turns you off, don't read it and don't worry. There are as many paths up the mountain as there are people on Earth.

This evening I happened to be browzing Amazon looking for George Carlin DVDs and just wondered how much the Course is selling for these days. I am absolutely shocked to discover that there are various "editions" of it up for sale. That undoubtedly results from the well known copyright feud between Judith Skutch and Wapnick fighting over which one is entitled to sale royalties. Apparently, neither have the means to support themselves with a day job and both have latched onto A Course In Miracles as a lifetime profit center. I know they sued each other and some court accommodation was made allowing each to make enough money to bury the hatchet.

However, neither of these people nor others who claim to be Course preachers and give lectures for profit (Ms. Williamson take note) "based on the Course" are worthy of serious note. Perhaps they skipped the part of the book that contains an absolute injunction NOT to disseminate any summaries of it. I take that to mean either written or oral. Some time ago I checked the web and discovered that Wapnick runs a Course In Miracles retreat center and blatently hawks his summary of the entire Course. I wonder how rich the Virgin Mary would have been had Jesus copyrighted The Sermon On the Mount.

The book also states that it is a SELF-STUDY course and there are reasons for both injunctions. The shift in thinking that the Course generates is "person-specific"; i.e., what the Course describes as "wrong thinking" manifests itself differently in each person. The unique terminology and sometimes complex reasoning it employs need to be studied by each person carefully, in quiet and with much introspection. That can't happen by listening to paid lectures that, by nature, must be concepts filtered through the mind of the speaker, taken out of context and not in the order of learning dictated by the structure of the Course.

Attempting to summarize the Course is patently harmful to genuine seekers of the truth. Reading the text is a painstaking mental process requiring the devotion of much time and sometimes painful introspection. And it is through that ordeal that people learn. Human nature dictates an inclination to take the path of least resistance when presented with a difficult learning task. Presenting the public with what is essentially a Cliff Notes summary of the Course discourages the actual doing of that which is required to grow in understanding and knowledge.

There is also a reason why the true author of this book (you have to read it to find out who it is) has dictated that it be used as a "self-study course". It doesn't teach anything remotely similar to a religion that can be memorized and mimmicked. Different words, sentences, passages and chapters will have different effects on each reader but they are all written and designed to bring everyone together in "right thinking" in the end. No one on Earth has the qualifications to "teach" or summarize the Course and no one in any study group has any right to tell others what is important to them and what is not. It is an ordeal that can only be undertaken alone.

A Course In Miracles is not a book that one can pick up, scan a few chapters, read the last page and then judge whether or not it is suitable for him. A prospective student is one who believes that this entire world is somehow headed in the wrong direction, is very dissatisfied with the usual pat answers, philosophies and religous tenents developed by men over the past thousands of years, possesses a burning desire to learn the truth, is willing to detach significance to every material thing and pre-existing thought that he has and is fearless (or desperate) enough to take a free-fall backwards into space believing that the entire universe is there to catch him. And it is.

I don't review books, but for this I'm making an exception due to the profound positive effect it has had on my life. I discovered ACIM through Disappearance of the Universe by Gary Renard. I found DU so profound that I immediately bought copies for every member of my immediate family. None have read DU, but I now realize that the path back to spirit is personal and in each persons time. I have been reading and practicing ACIM for 5 years but am yet to complete the text or workbook. I have however found peace in my lifetime through practicing forgiveness and the principles in ACIM. For me ACIM is intensely private and no one in my family knows much about it despite me having the book next to my bed and on my iPad. For me the greatest change has been in my approach to my relationships with loved ones which I feel have gone from good to great. I still get stressed out by work and a normal busy life (who doesn't) from time to time, but I I feel peace enveloping my life experience almost all the time now.

If this book is right for you, you will know. For others a different path to spirit / peace will be better suited. Those that leave negative reviews about ACIM are on a different spiritual path, and require nothing, from us that practise ACIM, but forgiveness, as they too will find peace but by another route. We are all spirit pure and innocent.

There are many good reviews for this book here at Amazon, so I will let those speak for themselves.

I just want to clarify some things.

As of 10/2008 - the book shipped is the NEW THIRD EDITION, which isn't clearly stated. It is the most current version available.

This is the exact book as published by the Foundation For Inner Peace, the COMBINED VOLUME.

The following is included :
PREFACE
TEXT
WORKBOOK FOR STUDENTS
MANUAL FOR TEACHERS
CLARIFICATION OF TERMS
SUPPLEMENTS

* supplements include : "Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice" and "The Song of Prayer". These sections are extension of the Course principals.

This is the COMPLETE COURSE as authorized by the scribe and published by it's original publisher.

This combined volume is the only edition that contains in one place all of the writings that Dr. Helen Schucman ( it's Scribe )authorized to be printed.

It's the real deal.