Summary
The great classic work, A Course in Miracles, is devoted to teachings about who we are, our relationships to God and with each other, and the actual mental nature of our bodies and the world. There are three constituent parts to the Course: The Text, a Workbook for Students, and the Manual for Teachers. The Text lays out the theoretical foundation for the metaphysical system of the Course. The Workbook contains a series of 365 Lessons to be practiced daily for the purpose of retraining the mind and healing our perception. Finally, the Manual contains information for and about advanced teachers of God. A Course in Miracles is also about miracles, which students understand to be, in part, a shift in perception to healed vision. But miracles are more than a shift in perception, because the shift has consequences in the world as we see it. The conversational tone of this Original Edition invites the novice student into conversation with the Author, and even advanced students of A Course in Miracles have found a new clarity and a deeper understanding from their study of the Original Edition of the Course. The restoration of the previously lost material and presentation of the text in its original sequence enlivens the conversation with the Author and gives him a presence that some feel is lacking in the later editions. When encountering Schucman and Thetford’s original edition, students frequently find fresh clarity as they read its wording or new understanding. Surely study of the Original Edition is essential to your curriculum.
About the Editors
The story of the Course began when, in the midst of an environment of intense competition and negative attitudes, Columbia University clinical psychologist Dr. William T. Thetford decided he had had enough and declared to his colleague, Dr. Helen Schucman, “There must be another way, and I'm determined to find it." Dr. Schucman vowed to help him. What ensued was a dramatic progression of waking dreams for Schucman, which culminated in October 1965 with her experience of a voice which spoke clearly in her mind, saying “This is a course in miracles. Please take notes." With Thetford's support and assistance in transcribing her shorthand notes, Schucman took down some fifteen hundred typewritten pages of A Course in Miracles over a period of seven years. Schucman did not claim to be the author of the material herself. As she often explained, she heard a kind of inner dictation and she felt compelled to write it down, even though at times she disagreed with the content and resisted the process. The voice which spoke through Helen clearly identifies himself as Jesus. Nonetheless, one need not be Christian nor accept Christianity's traditional doctrines to benefit from the teachings of the Course. Indeed, traditional Christians will at first find many of the pronouncements contained in this work to be startling and perhaps unbelievable. Persistence and open-mindedness will nevertheless be rewarded.
