Customer Reviews

A Vast Illusion: Time According to 'A Course in Miracles'

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The concept of time as illusion is hard to grasp. This book does a remarkable job of explaining the Course in Miracles stance on this subject. Just incredible!

I feel that this is an excellent book...really clarifies about the linear concept of time...Being stuck in a body, this was the most difficult concept for me to grasp.

Excellent

Any students of ACIM or any spiritual path will greatly benefit from the explanations provided by Dr. Wapnick on this subject of time. In the process, many other "untruths" are also clearly revealed. A comprehensive read, and well worth some of the mind twisters along the way.

This is one of the more dense works of Dr. Kenneth Wapkick. I found it to be among his most brilliant. I learned so much and am eternally grateful to be walking the earth with him in the same decades.

As the author of a series of spiritually-themed novels, [...] I am always looking for books that will add to my spiritual understanding. This is definitely one that did that for me.

Kenneth Wapnick was closely associated with the authors of "The Course in Miracles." Most of his books lend insights into the course. I have found his books to be much clearer in getting the course principles across. This book has embraced truths that were always within me. It will help the reader begin to understand the paradox of time as we know it. It helped me affirm what my eternal nature is all about.

If you like the books of Eckhardt Tolle, Deepak Chopra, and Eric Butterworth, you will love this book. Whether or not you are a Christian, this book speaks to universal spiritual truths.

Whether or not you are a spiritual seeker, this book is a mind opener. It will help you begin to understand some of the paradoxes concerning the illusion of time. Time as we perceive it, in a linear fashion, is not what eternity is all about. The book will help you understand that the seeming reality which we experience is just an illusion. You may not choose to accept that and that is okay. Even so, it will provide you with food for thought. It certainly did that for me.

What it affirmed for me is that the only thing that is real is the moment. What is done is done and the future is for none of us to see. It helped me to remember the importance of remaining present in order to make the most of each moment. That is where I believe my eternity lies. After reading this book, perhaps you will understand that eternity is happening now!

Davis Aujourd'hui, author of "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude"

If you're a student of ACIM you'll find this book a very valuable addition to your library. It's an in depth discussion of time from both a metaphysical level (Level One) and a practical level (Level Two). Over "time" I continue to reread this book and get more out of it. Very happy to see it is now on Kindle!

All kenneth Wapnick's books are essential support material for any earnest student determined to understand the message of A Course in Miracles and change his mind and his life.
Dismantling the belief in time - at least in my opinion - is one of the most difficult aspects of re-programming your mind in favor of truth. Without this book, and in accordance with A Course in Miracles - at least in my opinion - it would be next to impossible.

A Course in Miracles is an intellectually sophisticated masterpiece, and this book, like all of Kenneth Wapnick's books, is equally intellectually sophisticated.
But, do not let this put you off. Remember the task undertaken here. To undo the side of your mind devoted to illusions, littleness, limitations and far, far worse.

This book will help guide you on a journey with no distance towards a place within yourself of Peace and Joy and Love. A place of timeless, space-less, One-ness.

I recommend you read this book slowly, thoughtfully, and many times.

Kurt. (kurtwrebel@hotmail.com)

This is a book that can take you places, if you have a firm grip on a course in miracles. If your not very familiar with ACIM, then it might not make much sense. I have found that just about all of Ken Wapnick's work is great and I am very pleased with all I have read and studied. I have about five solid years studying ACIM and probably would not have been ready til now for a book like this. I consider this a must read for any serious and dedicated course student.

This book is a Ken Wapnick work that is a "focus" on "Time" as it is covered in A Course of Miracles (ACIM). ACIM teaches that we live in a temporal illusion or miscreation. The way back is thru Forgiveness which is the only "illusion" that undoes a miscreation. Once the bad dream is dissolved, then the illusion of time and space is dissolved and we are returned to God and eternity. Dr. Wapnick did an excellent job of presenting this work as a focus on time. In addition to his ACIM presentation, he includes many questions and answers from seminars that focus on time as an illusion. I have found all of Dr. Wapnicks books to be interesting, helpful and enjoyable. One of my favorite references in this book is to the Gnostic "laughing Jesus" as follows:

"There is an interesting parallel found in the teachings of Basilides, one of the great Gnostic teachers of the second century. He had a fascinating theory, which on first reading sounds totally preposterous. Basilides maintained that Jesus did not die on the cross. Rather, he changed his form and instead Simon of Cyrene hung crucified, while Jesus was off on a tree Laughing. Basilides, who remained in opposition to Church teachings and its leaders, saw Jesus derisively laughing at all the people (primarily the Jews) who could not understand what was truly happening. The content of Basilides' inspiration was correct; namely, that Jesus `remembered' to laugh at the tiny, mad idea of the ego and not take it seriously. Thus, he knew that he was not being crucified, as he was not his body. Merely an observer, Jesus watched himself, knowing that what he was seeing was not real but only a dream. We may thus conclude that Basilides' mind could not fully encompass the magnitude of the thought of Jesus' non-derisive laughter. The inspiration thus filtered through his limited ego mind, manifesting itself in the form of attack."

From birth we are taught how to think of everything we perceive in this physical universe as "real". But is "it" real? Have you ever looked at it? Have you ever really looked at it from your "mind" as opposed to the 5 limited senses? Would God create a temporal universe and stick his children in it?

A Vast Illusion is one of those books that one needs to have a background in the subject before one can really grasp the concepts. My favorite subject has always been time, time is discussed in this book. It may seem boring at time that is if you're not familiar with a course in miracles. I would recommend reading "The disappearance of the Universe" and "A Course in Miracles" first.