A Course in Miracles, or ACIM, is a unique universal self-study spiritual thought system. It teaches forgiveness as the way to inner peace and love.
The Course is a restatement of the core wisdom found in every major world religion. While Christian in language, it is ecumenical, stating that "a universal theology is impossible but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary." The three volumes of the Course are: The Text, The Workbook for Students and The Manual for Teachers.
The Text
A Course in Miracles is a spiritual thought system that teaches forgiveness as the way to universal love and peace. It offers a curriculum for spiritual transformation, consisting of three volumes: the Text, the Workbook for Students and the Manual for Teachers. It was scribed, or typed up, between 1965 and 1972 by Helen Schucman and Bill Thetford, two professors of Medical Psychology at Columbia University. The Course teaches that God is love and that the way to experience this love is by undoing guilt through forgiveness. It also teaches that all relationships, including family relationships, offer fertile grounds for forgiveness. The Course emphasizes that it is not a religion, but a universal teaching.
Its language is poetic and uses blank verse, and it combines spiritual inspiration with deep psychological understanding of such phenomena as beliefs and defense systems, perception and identity. Its theory of mind and its practical application through the daily Workbook lessons form a unique approach to self-transformation. The Course has made a profound impact on many lives. It has also inspired hundreds of study groups worldwide. acim podcast
The Original Edition of A Course in Miracles consists of the Text, Workbook for Students and Manual for Teachers. It was published in 1975 by the Foundation for Inner Peace. It includes a FOREWORD by the Society which is not included in later editions. This original edition is now considered the standard text.
This is the most common version of ACIM available. It is based on the URTEXT manuscript, which combines the scribes' scribal notes to form early renditions of the HLC manuscript. It contains 53 Miracle Principles, but only 50 of them are listed in the final HLC Edition. It has undergone some editing and is considered the most authoritative text of A Course in Miracles.
This is a very good translation of the original language of A Course in Miracles. It is a more accessible edition of the ACIM text than the OCIE, with some changes to make it easier for non-English speakers to read. It is a little more expensive than the OCIE and the OCE.
The Workbook
The Workbook is designed to assist the student in applying ACIM's mind healing message to daily life. Each lesson includes a short passage from the Text, a series of questions and answers, and a reading from the Course's Manual for Teachers. Each lesson also contains a special exercise to practice the application of the material to daily living. The Pathways of Light website provides free daily emailed Workbook Lesson Insights. Subscribers can synchronize their subscription to receive the Workbook Insight that coincides with the ACIM Lesson for the calendar day they are studying.
The "Original Edition" of the Workbook was published by the Course in Miracles Society (CIMS). It was based on the URTEXT and early renditions of the scribes' notes that appeared in the HLC manuscript, but with significant editing.
The Manual for Teachers
In the course of reading ACIM, it is inevitable that some questions arise. The Manual is a special section of the Text that answers specific questions and provides additional guidance. It is not meant to replace or to be read in place of the Text or the Workbook. It is a special application of the principles in the Text and the Workbook.
The Course lays out a curriculum to bring about transformation and contains three volumes--the Text, the Workbook for Students, and the Manual for Teachers. It also includes a FOREWORD and several appendices, including the Song of Prayer, the Psychotherapy Pamphlet, and a brief Introduction to the Course written by Helen Schucman. The original manuscript was scribed from 1965 to 1972, and some photocopies were distributed before a hardcover edition was published in 1976 by the Foundation for Inner Peace.
Some people think that the Manual for Teachers is intended to answer common questions and is a sort of short summary of the Course principles in question-and-answer form. However, this view doesn’t make sense because the Course itself explains that the Manual is “a manual for a special curriculum, intended for teachers of a special form of the universal course" (Manual, p. 3; M-1.4:1).
It is not difficult to see that the teacher of God is envisioned as a spiritual shepherd, mentor or guide in this manual. He accepts particular pupils and guides them through the Course’s concepts, much like an Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor would. He helps them deal with egoic thoughts and ideas they pick up from outside the Course; he counsels them about relationships and helps them make decisions.
He also teaches them the practice of forgiveness, which is the only way to remove all guilt from their lives and free themselves from the illusion that they are separate beings. This is a major theme in the seven sections in the Manual that depict the teacher of God as a faith healer or, as the Manual puts it, a forgiveness healer (Manual, p. 5,6,7,8,21,22). This extension to others is a thought-reinforcement mechanism that will help them accept the teachings of the Course and give them dominance over their own beliefs.
The Teachings
The Course consists of three books: the 669-page Text, the 448-page Workbook for Students with 365 daily lessons, and the 92-page Manual for Teachers. It is a spiritual teaching that gently guides its students through an experience of transformation. It uses Christian terminology, but it is ecumenical in its approach and makes no attempt to replace any religion or doctrine.
ACIM teaches that God is love, and that reality is composed only of love and truth. Its view of the world is one of unity, forgiveness and abundance. It views evil and sin as misperceptions, calling for correction and love rather than punishment and guilt. It teaches that all experiences, good and bad, are just variations in the perception of the same thing: our relationship to God and the way in which we choose to see the world.
This edition combines the URTEXT, the actual reproduction of the scribes' notes, with early renditions of the HLC manuscript and some editing to produce this "Complete and Annotated" Edition. It contains 50 Miracle Principles, compared to the 53 in the final HLC Edition. It also includes a FOREWORD by the Course in Miracles Society that does not appear in any other editions.