Customer Reviews

Path of Light: Stepping into Peace with A Course in Miracles

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I've never written a book review, but I was very inspired after reading this book.
I have been on a break from studying A Course in Miracles (ACIM) and had no intention of starting the lessons again, because my time is so limited working full time. But the book really helped me find that time. What happened was the Holy Spirit moved into my heart and sent me on the right path. I have been a student of ACIM since 1990. This is the BEST book I have ever read on ACIM. I have started to do the lessons again. I do a lesson each day, and then after doing the lesson I read Path of Light. ACIM has a way of coming into an experience so timely when reading it, that it seems like it was written in that moment, for you in that moment. Path of Light has a way of fitting right into the lesson that I'm on for that day. I know that this book was Divinely guided, and I am so grateful that Mr. Perry wrote it. I just bought another Path of Light book for my stepdaughter. She lives in Ft. Collins Colorado and doesn't have a teacher there to help her. This book will be such a help to her. I wish that I had this book when I first started studying ACIM, it would have speeded up my learning. I'm so thankful to Robert Perry for being such a Light to all the ACIM students.

Robert Perry is one of the most respected teachers of 'A Course In Miracles'. His previous publications address many aspects of the Course's teachings. In 'Path of Light' he has produced what is arguably his most important work.

The Course has a simple teaching, based on explaining the true meaning and application of forgiveness in our daily lives. This transformative practice will enable us all to reawaken and experience our true Self and relationship with God. This process is not one that is always easy to follow or even accept. To progress requires determination and patience and frequently the support of others.

'Path of Light' is one of the latest support books available. Robert's conversational, but clear and concise, style is ideal for both the beginner and the more serious student. He explains how the Course was received and exactly what it is. He then goes on to explain the the Course's teaching and the role of the Text, Workbbook and Manual for Teachers. A glossary defines the more commonly used terms in the context of the Course. Uniquely, Robert uses diagrams to illustrate the concepts, I found this particularly useful.

As a Course student of over 20 years I have read many related books that have tried to explain the ACIM's overall concepts; this one is the best.

Mike Tolley

Robert Perry has a way of making the complex clear with sequential reasoning and sound logic. His book, The Path of Light, does just that by displaying the principles, background and study of A Course in Miracles (ACIM) in language that is easy to understand and read. The viewpoint is pure ACIM standing on its own with no personal prejudices getting in the way. The amazing thing is that it does all of this without sounding like a textbook. It has a page turning quality more like a novel. This is really an enjoyable book to read for either long-term ACIM students or those just beginning. I highly recommend it.

I will first say I am glad to be able to express some thoughts about this book.

In my opinion the greatest literary work of all time IS The Course in Miracles.

Having stated that, this is quite probably the second most important work. To say I would recommend this book to all students/teachers (and on the fence students) of the course is an understatement. It is indeed the "blessing" Mayranne Williamson was talking about.

I am a Teacher/Student of the course here in South Carolina. I have a group here and I am buying 20 copies to hand out to them. It seems like the map to the course I was seeking.

The writing in this book is what a true teacher does. I find myself using metaphor and all types of analogy to explain the course to members of groups. I, also need these metaphors and relations to help me understand. Robert Perry does that brilliantly on Jesus' work.

Now let me say, anyone who writes about the course is actually just basing their work on Jesus' words. So the content is already handled. I always find it imperative to seek the course directly on all matters. But this book gave me new insight, from human/soul to human/soul that I have not uncovered elsewhere. I also knew it to be truth in my heart, the same filter I used to know the truth of the course. Many writers of the course tend to make personal judgements in their books, Robert kept true to the course at every step under a watchful eye. =)

Do not hesistate to obtain this book. It is the shoe horn that allows you to slide easily into the course, and it is a light bulb for longtime course students and teachers alike.

God bless...

A COURSE IN MIRACLES is a three-volume set of books concerning what could be termed spiritual psychotherapy. Volume One is the Text; Volume Two is the Workbook for Students; Volume Three is the Manual for Teachers. The books were published in 1976 and have since sold over a million sets; the three volumes are now sold in a combined volume, printed on bible-thin paper. The Course does not have any official spokesman, and to be a "student" of the Course simply means you read the books.

I became a student of A COURSE IN MIRACLES in 1997 when I was 21-years-old. That is merely seven years of study. Therefore, I must humbly admit to being a mere beginner on this path, or perhaps an advanced beginner. Not that there are any truly official guidelines with which we use to gauge our level as a student of the Course, I am just trying to emphasize that there are many aspects of A COURSE IN MIRACLES that I do not yet grasp. Therefore, I sometimes wonder if I am qualified to give my opinion on books about Course interpretation. But I suppose that if I state my opinion lucidly, all the while emphasizing that it is only my opinion and no more important than anyone else's, then there is no harm done in writing this review.

To back up a bit, I think perhaps I should qualify the phrase "Course interpretation." A COURE IN MIRACLES is not exactly an easy book to read or understand. For starters, the language is highly sophisticated, with much of the Course being written in Shakespearian Iambic Pentameter. There are passages, particularly in the Text, where the Course can seem impenetrable. Style aside, the Course makes many seemingly outrageous claims, such as the statement that the world we see is not real and was not made by God but made by the ego as an attack on God. Further, the Course mixes in many familiar terms found in Christianity and Freudian analysis, though such terms are often used in radically new ways. To top it off, the Course makes the astonishing claim of having Jesus Christ as its source. Needless to say, this can be quite confusing. Many authors have come forward with many, many books explaining how to interpret and relate to these teachings. I refer to works of such authors as "Course interpretation."

One of the most influential authors to offer their interpretation of A COURSE IN MIRACLES is Robert Perry. Mr. Perry became a student of the Course in 1981. He taught at the Miracle Distribution Center (a workshop center and clearing house for books on Course interpretation) from 1986 to 1989. In 1993 he founded the Circle of Atonement in beautiful Sedona, Arizona. Perry has authored several books about the Course, and has lectured internationally. PATH OF LIGHT is his latest book.

Due to the intensely personal nature of spirituality, there is always a risk in reviewing books on spirituality. This is because if I, for example, say that such-n-such a book didn't resonate with me or that the author expressed opinions with which I do not agree, it may appear that I am discounting the spiritual experience of those who do agree with the author and who appreciate the book. It can come across as me pointing my finger and saying, "Your spiritual experience is invalid!" Needless to say, such a statement would be highly offensive. That's why I strive to emphasize that I am NOT saying any such thing in this review. I have no right to comment on the validity of another's experience. I can, however, comment on my own experience.

I believe Robert Perry is heartfelt in what he writes, he is a good writer, and I am thankful that I read PATH OF LIGHT because I like to know what the influential voices in Course interpretation have to offer. (Roger Walsh's preface to PATH OF LIGHT was quite a pleasure to read.) But I must humbly confess that there are several points that Robert Perry makes with which I do not agree. For example, my opinion is that the most profound statement in the Course is that the world is not real and was not created by God. In line with this, it is my opinion that the Course does not present any guidelines for behavior within the world, but guidelines on how to perceive the world. Robert Perry, on the other hand, seems to direct a lot of PATH OF LIGHT toward our experience in this world and how the Course can improve our experience in this world, occasionally - in my opinion - taking portions of the Course out of context to back up his points. For example, Mr. Perry comments on the passage in the Course that says that when the individual Course student is healed the whole world is healed with them, seemingly indicating that physical and/or spiritual healing can occur across the globe in something of a chain-reaction among people who have never met. That may be the case, I don't know. But I do believe that this is not the level on which the Course is written. I believe that on a deeper level this statement about healing the world is merely a symbol, a reminder that the world is only in the mind, or, in the words of the Course, "There is no world!" (There are many such symbolic passages in the Course that I do not believe are meant to be taken literally. For example, there are passages in the Course that refer to God as crying.) The healing the Course refers to is only on the level of the mind, because the Course says that the level of the mind is the only level capable of healing. All the pain we experience on a physical level is merely an effect of a much deeper cause: our decision within the mind to be separate from God. I didn't really see these deeper aspects of the Course highlighted by Mr. Perry in PATH OF LIGHT.

I certainly agree with Mr. Perry in regard to the Course's importance and revolutionary nature, but I feel that he doesn't fully convey that revolutionary nature. Does this mean I believe I am destined for heaven and Robert Perry isn't? Of course not! My understanding of the Course says that we are all destined for heaven. In fact, we never left.

At last, in 'Path of Light' we have a book that meets the need for a clear, accessible, non-daunting answer to the question: "What is 'A Course in Miracles'?"

There are plenty of other wonderful course-related books available; but, for me, this is the one that really captures the spirit, explains the seeming complexities, and does full justice to the remarkable, healing vision of the Course itself.

It's a brilliant, inspiring introduction for new Course students. Which is why I'm so grateful to Robert Perry for having written it. Finally, I've got the perfect book to offer anyone, my kids included, who ever wants to take a real step towards understanding more about the path I follow.

This book helped piece the course together to make it understandable and so relevent. It totally changed my studying habits of the course and broadened my understanding of it. I cannot recommend this book enough for those interested in the course. It was invaluable to me.

This is simply a wonderful book, a real breath of fresh air amid some of the arid commentary out there.

If you're interested in the Course, but unsure if it's for you, this is a great place to find out. Or, if you're like I have been in the past, and are something of a wayward student, then you'll find big doses of both inspiration and insight to get you safely back on your Way.

Long-term, faithful students will get "extra credit" for this read. Truly there's something here for everybody. As of this writing I've dug into this book three times and I'm sure there's still gold I have yet to mine. Spend the money, spend the time, get the value.

My experience with Circle Publishing's books is that they are consistently well written, contain great wisdom and are delightful not only to the mind, but also to hand and eye. They are quality productions. This book is no exception and showcases Robert Perry as a gifted communicator and excellent interpreter of A Course in Miracles.

Peace to you.

Path of Light has been such a gratifying book! I tremendously enjoyed the smooth way Robert Perry used to lead us through the principles of the Course. I have no doubt that this book is the answer to the confusion the ego can manage to raise in Course students minds towards understanding the Course.
I thank Robert for illustrating his points with such vivid examples! But mainly I thank Robert Perry for a complete book!

Robert Perry's Path of Light would make an excellent gift for anyone who is, or might be, interested in spirituality. It is a "must read" for anyone who would like to understand more clearly the message of A Course in Miracles (ACIM). His writings set the Gold Standard for interpreting ACIM. He promises careful scholarship in the Introduction, and delivers just that.

He begins by asking what is A Course in Miracles? Along the way he tells of how the Course was scribed in the 1960's by an eccentric (perhaps bi-polar?) genius, Dr. Helen Schucman. She was, at the time, professor of medical psychology at Columbia University's School of Medicine, in New York. She has since passed on. (Perry says that you don't have to believe that Jesus wrote the Course to fully benefit from reading it.) He also discusses the problems people have had trying to categorize the Course. Mostly, they are trying to use familiar conceptions from the past, which don't fit the Course at all. One mischaracterization is that the Course is a kind of Christianized ... Vedanta.

I, with Perry, have learned from reading the Course that the past is a trap for understanding. Whether one is seeking to understand a great book, like the Course, or oneself, the past is a dead weight that obscures more than it clarifies. In my view, ACIM, if it is to be understood, must be seen as pregnant with the future.

I read the Course as a treatise on scientific social psychology, but written in pre-scientific language. In the same spirit that moves science, the Course seeks to describe and explain its take on reality. But the language given in the social sciences of the 1960's was incapable of conveying the realities and dynamics captured in its author's vision. The Course goes way beyond Christianity, Vedanta, Buddhism, and the other religions of the past, because it presents a unified intellectual system that can be tested in practice here and now. That makes the Course a science, albeit one in need of a new scientific language. In other words, the insights and understandings of the Course are so far ahead of the drab, inhuman, mechanistic and objectivistic language of its time, that it had to be written in a default language; namely, Christianity.

Robert Perry's writings go a long way towards trimming away some of the excess religious rhetoric in the Course, and presenting the science embedded in it. His aim is to clarify the actual realities of which the Course speaks. ACIM deals comprehensively with inward realities that can't even be mentioned in the constraining language of contemporary social science. Perry's Path of Light is an introduction to the Course's social psychology. He lucidly summarizes the elements and dynamics of mind that all humans share, but of which most are unaware. This includes the façade that most people present to others, the rage underneath it, and the potential for love buried under the human anger (although I wonder if the term "themes" might do better than "levels").

As I read it, the Course rests upon the implied axiom that all people need completion. Of course, most people are not aware of this need. That is why they spend their lives pursuing illusions. (A point which Perry didn't emphasize enough.) This is why, as Perry points out, the Course is largely an educational program. One lesson to be learned is what one needs. A person who has learned to recognize the need for completion in himself or herself is then in a position to realign his or her wants in accord with this universal human need.

As Perry notes, completion consists in experiencing oneness with God. This experience entails a joyous feeling of being one within, with others, and with nature. Everyone has the potential for this experience and understanding, and after one has attained these, one will feel complete. Prior to that, each person lives in the false feeling of "separation." This is a false feeling because in reality we are already one, but most of us are simply not aware of it. Of course, science has always aimed at undoing humanity's ignorance about reality.

Perry astutely underscores that the Course's focus is on meaning. The Course presents a system in which meaning occupies a central place. Thus, people live in the feeling of separation because they define themselves as living in separation. The variance between the reality of our oneness, and our definition of ourselves as separate is the cause of our frustration, anger, emptiness, loneliness, and other ill feelings. Conversely, a change of meanings, based on our recognition of our realities, can generate the healthy feelings of unconditional altruism and happiness.

The Course offers a text, a workbook, and a guide for teachers in a one-volume book. These, as Perry explains, are aimed at educating its readers as to how to reconfigure their personal meanings so as to fill their lives with joy, inner peace, and love. Our self-defeating, self-made meanings produce a frustrated and resentful ego that finds its greatest pleasure in life to be attacking others. This may result in violence, as in wars, but mostly it is done by casting "killer judgments" at others in the safety of one's imagination. An ego thus inflicted with self-caused pain sees the world darkly, and fails to find true joy in living. Perry makes it clear that in the Course's social psychology, fear prevails where there could be love.

Three minor quibbles: First, the Course's ego is not Freudian. The Course focuses on spiritual, one could say existential, motivation, not sexual or reproductive. Also, the Course follows a strict theory of responsibility that denies us all the excuse that my unconscious made me do it. In Lesson 136 the Course says that all decisions are conscious, but are often made quickly and then covered over with a false face of innocence, or "quickly forgotten." (Cf. Thomas Szaz.)

Secondly, Perry zips past the Course's conception of the last step, with only two sentences. Yet, this is the vital transition point from separation to completion. How does this work? More importantly, why doesn't it work more easily, and for more people?

Finally, Perry nods to the extent that he characterizes the Course as proscribing a life of Christian ethics. ACIM is concerned with cause and effect, and is not a pious guide to living the life of a "good Pilgrim." Perry's last two chapters are especially tainted with the fallacious suggestion that we must force ourselves to engage in gentle and generous behavior, if we are to achieve our full spiritual potential. This notion entails several problems. One is that the Course is not about behavior, it is about changing meanings so as to experience a better quality of life. Also, slipping ethics into a reading of the Course invites the very dogmatism and judgementalism that the Course virtually curses.

The cause and effect principle that the Course teaches ultimately rests upon a certain kind of willingness. That is this: if you have the willingness to be as one, and to see yourself and others with compassion, and to fully disengage from thinking that you know what is right and wrong, or good and evil, and to desist from judging yourself and others by those arrogant thoughts, then completion will come to you. Perry's insertion of ethics into the Course obscures the point that most needs clarification and emphasis.

In the same vein, Perry sets up a moral model, or what I call a "spiritual hero," which is quit contrary to the Course. Boosting a saintly model of behavior that no mere mortal can live up to risks encouraging the very profound self-loathing, that Perry correctly says the Course wants to replace with a compassionate self-understanding.

Nevertheless, I have no problem forgiving Perry's tiny misstatements given the gratitude I feel for the sterling scholarship and easy read he has given us. Although the Barbarians have been disarmed, the Course community must still beware of false gurus, as Perry wisely says. Path of Light is a well-written and reliable reference point by which to check the teachings about ACIM by would-be gurus. This is why Perry's book is a fine gift for every season.

William J. Kelleher, Ph.D. is the author of the Course inspired Progressive Logic: Framing A Unified Field Theory of Values For Progressives.