A Course in Miracles

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A Course in Miracles
A Course in Miracles, Combined Volume, Third Edition as published by Foundation for Inner Peace.
Author	no "personal name" listed with U.S. Library of Congress
Language	English
Genre(s)	Spiritual life
Publisher	New York: Viking: The Foundation for Inner Peace
Publication date	orig. 1976; 2nd ed., newly rev. 1996
Media type	Softcover, Hardcover, Paperback MME, and Kindle, Sony & Mobipocket ebooks
ISBN	978-1-883360-24-5 Soft cover
OCLC Number	190860865

A Course in Miracles (also referred to as ACIM or the Course) is a self-study curriculum (spiritual in nature) that sets forth an absolute non-dualistic metaphysics yet integrates (its definition of the principle of) forgiveness emphasizing its practical application in daily living.^[1]

There is no author listed on either the cover or the title page of the copyrighted publication, nor is there a "personal name" listed for author/creator with the United States Library of Congress. However, in the Preface of the Course, under the section entitled "How It Came," there is a first-person account by Helen Schucman who describes in her own words the process by which the material came to fruition. Schucman claimed to have written the material, with the help of William Thetford, based on the dictation of an inner Voice. In the last paragraph of this section, Schucman explains why the names of the collaborators do not appear on the cover.^{[2] [3]}

The most recent copyrighted, published edition of A Course in Miracles is the only edition that contains in one place all of the writings that Schucman authorized to be printed. It is published solely by the Foundation for Inner Peace, the organization chosen by Schucman for this purpose. It consists of preface, text, workbook for students, manual for teachers, including clarification of terms, and two supplements: 1) Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice; and 2) The Song of Prayer (see image and infobox to right).

Judith Skutch Whitson, President and Chairperson of the Foundation for Inner Peace, reports that nearly two million volumes of A Course in Miracles have been published and disseminated worldwide since it first became available for sale in 1976. Additionally, A Course in Miracles has been translated into nineteen different languages with eight new translations underway.^{[4] [5]}

Contents 1 Background 1.1 Overview of origins 1.2 Editors 1.3 Distribution 1.4 Copyright litigation 2 Structure of material 2.1 Preface 2.2 Text 2.3 Workbook for Students 2.4 Manual for Teachers 2.5 Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice 2.6 The Song of Prayer: Prayer, Forgiveness, Healing 2.7 The Gifts of God 3 Principles, themes, philosophy, theology, psychology and mythology 4 Scholarly study 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Background

[edit] Overview of origins

A Course in Miracles was originally written in a collaborative venture by Schucman and Thetford.^[2] In the beginning, the Voice (whom Schucman referred to as Jesus) described them as scribes. According to Kenneth Wapnick, Jesus was "a symbol of God's love and not the historical Jesus of Nazareth".

In 1976, A Course in Miracles was published and distributed as a three-volume set--which had evolved from the original notes--and comprised three books: Text, Workbook for Students, and Manual for Teachers.

During the first 19 years of its circulation, A Course in Miracles was published, printed and distributed directly by the students of the work. In 1995, the printing and distribution of the work was licensed to Penguin Books for five years.

The teachings of A Course in Miracles have been supported by such mainstream commentators as Oprah Winfrey in her interviews with author Marianne Williamson, and are supported by some "New Thought" churches, such as the Association of Unity Churches.

[edit] Editors

When Schucman experienced some personal difficulties and hesitance after hearing the "voice," Thetford, her work supervisor and friend, contacted Hugh Lynn Cayce (son of the celebrity psychic Edgar Cayce) at his Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Virginia to seek his advice and counsel. Shucman later met with Cayce before she began to record the Course.

Father Benedict Groeschel, who studied under Thetford and worked with Schucman, arranged an introduction of Wapnick to Schucman and Thetford in November 1972. In 1973, Schucman and Thetford presented the third draft of the complete manuscript to Wapnick and Groeschel. Wapnick subsequently became a teacher of the Course, co-founder and president of the Foundation for A Course in Miracles (FACIM), and a director and executive committee member of the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP).

At the time, Wapnick was a clinical psychologist who directed a school for disturbed children and served as chief psychologist at Harlem Valley State Hospital from 1967 through 1972. In 1972, Wapnick abandoned his Jewish faith^{[citation needed]} and sought to convert to Catholicism so he could become a monk. Groeschel, a priest and a member of a Franciscan order, and who also had a doctorate in psychology, heard of Wapnick's intended conversion, which interested him, and so they met.

Wapnick reviewed the draft and discussed with Schucman further revisions that were needed to place the book in final form. Over the next thirteen months, Wapnick and Schucman edited the manuscript again, substantially rearranging and deleting material, altering chapter and section headings, and correcting various inconsistencies in paragraph structure, punctuation, and capitalization. This editing process was completed in approximately February 1975.

[edit] Distribution

The Foundation for Inner Peace (or FIP) was originally called the Foundation for Para-Sensory Investigations, Inc. (FPI)., and was founded on October 21, 1971, by Robert Skutch, and Judith Skutch Whitson. Robert Skutch and Judith Skutch Whitson were married at the time of its inception, and have since become directors. Robert Skutch was a businessman and writer, who for many years had been a writer of television plays and advertising copy. Judith Skutch Whitson was a teacher and lecturer at New York University on the science of the study of consciousness and parapsychology. On May 29, 1975, Douglas Dean, a physicist engineer, introduced Schucman, Thetford, and Wapnick to Judith Skutch Whitson. Soon thereafter, they introduced her to the Course and the four of them met regularly to study, discuss, and share their common enthusiasm for it. At some point in 1975, Schucman appears to have authorized Skutch Whitson and Ken Wapnick to initiate the process of copyrighting ACIM and to assume responsibility themselves for the resulting copyright.

In mid-July 1975, Skutch Whitson met briefly with her doctoral adviser, Eleanor Criswell, who had a small printing company called Freeperson's Press. Criswell advised Skutch Whitson that she would be willing to assist in having the manuscript published and took responsibility for the manuscript pages, and in August 1975, they were taken to a Kopy Kat copy center in Berkeley, to be reproduced. In August 1975, Skutch Whitson organized a reception at 2000 Broadway, San Francisco, where Schucman and Thetford were introduced to a number of people. During this time period, a number of copies were distributed—hundreds according to Skutch Whitson and Skutch. The first edition of 100 copies of the Criswell edition was bound with a yellow cover and a copyright notice. Robert Skutch filed the copyright for ACIM for FIP on November 24, 1975, swearing to a date of first publication as October 6, 1975, in the form of the Freeperson Press edition. Zelda Suplee, director of the Erickson Educational Foundation,^[6] a friend of Skutch Whitson, was given a copy of the uncopyrighted manuscript by Skutch Whitson prior to the publication of the Criswell edition. In 1976, Reed Erickson, a wealthy transsexual philanthropist,^[7] received a copy of the manuscript, which he used as a basis for study by a group in Mexico. Erickson was the primary financial backer of the first hard-bound edition of the Course, donating $440,000 for this printing.^[8] Later that year the FIP began to publish the Course in a set of three hardcover volumes. Five years later, in 1981, Schucman died of complications related to pancreatic cancer.

In 1983, control of the copyright was transferred to the FACIM as headed by Wapnick.

In 1985, the FIP began publishing the three volumes in a more manageable, single soft-cover volume, but without any editorial content changes.

In 1992, the FIP published a second hardcover edition, which contained some editorial content additions and minor changes. Amongst these changes were the addition of a verse-numbering system and also the addition of a "Clarification of Terms" section, which had been written earlier by Schucman. It was Schucman's desire that a non-profit foundation publish the work.

In 1995, FIP entered a five-year printing and distribution agreement, which expired in December 2000, with Penguin Books for $2.5 million. Currently some copies of some of the earlier draft versions of the book are available both online and through private publishers.

[edit] Copyright litigation

Beginning in June, 1996, and ending in April, 2004, a copyright lawsuit initiated by Penguin Books and FIP was brought against the Church of the Full Endeavor for their unlimited independent publication of substantial portions of A Course in Miracles. It was found that the contents of the FIP first edition, published from 1976 through 1992, are in the public domain. However, copyright in all of the changes introduced in the Second Edition remains intact, as does the copyright for the Text Preface, "Clarification of Terms" found at the end of the Manual for Teachers, and the two supplementary pamphlets, Psychotherapy and Song of Prayer, as well as Schucman's poetry, The Gifts of God. The Urtext manuscript of A Course in Miracles, which has been widely published on the internet, was obtained deceptively under false pretenses. ^[9] This material is under separate copyright^[10] and all duplications and versions of this copy are in violation of its copyright protection.

[edit] Structure of material

[edit] Preface

The Preface was written in 1977 and was subsequently added to the published volume. The first two sections--"How It Came" and "What It is"--were written by Helen Schucman. The last section, "What It Says," was written by the process as described by Schucman.

[edit] Text

The Text contains the largest volume of material--containing 31 chapters--and discusses the theory upon which A Course in Miracles is based.

[edit] Workbook for Students

The Workbook contains 365 lessons, which are designed to help a student practice applying the principles set forth in the text.

[edit] Manual for Teachers

The Manual is presented with questions as the headings of each section followed by a discussion in answer format. The manual is based on the primary themes of 1) separate versus shared interests (shared interests is at the core of A Course in Miracles' concept of forgiveness); and 2) asking the Holy Spirit for help. ^[11] The Manual also includes a section entitled "Clarification of Terms" and an epilogue.

[edit] Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice

The psychotherapy pamphlet is an extension of the principles of A Course in Miracles and discusses the principle of healing within the context of a therapist-patient relationship.

[edit] The Song of Prayer: Prayer, Forgiveness, Healing

The song of prayer is another supplement and was written by the process as Schucman describes in the preface after there began to be among students a general misunderstanding of the practicing of the principles as the Course sets forth. This pamphlet introduces the concepts of forgiveness-to-destroy and asking-out-of-need. The metaphor of a ladder of prayer is used to symbolize an evolving process of understanding and application.

[edit] The Gifts of God

Additional mention should be made of The Gifts of God, which was published after Schucman's death. It is a collection of poetry that Schucman wrote by the same process as she describes in the preface; however, her name does appear on the title of this anthology. The reason for this, Wapnick writes, is that unlike A Course in Miracles wherein Schucman got herself out of the way to let the material come through, with the poetry Schucman felt that her own voice joined in the collaboration of writing the poems. ^{[12] [13]}

[edit] Principles, themes, philosophy, theology, psychology and mythology

Be kind

Ideas leave not their source

There is no world

God did not create the world

The world was made as an attack on God

The body was made as a limitation on love

One or the other (kill or be killed)

Together, or not at all

Purpose is everything

To say yes means to say not no

The reversal of cause and effect

This is a course in cause (mind) not effect (body/world)

Separate versus shared interests (shared interests = giving and receiving are the same = teaching and learning are the same)

Asking the Holy Spirit for help

Asking-out-of-need

The principle of scarcity or lack versus the principle of abundance

The principal purpose of A Course in Miracles is to restore to one's awareness the power of one's mind to choose

Forgiveness-to-destroy versus forgiveness-for-salvation

False healing (healing-to-separate or healing-to-destroy) versus true healing

False empathy versus true empathy

Do no harm to anyone

Distinction of form and content

Confusing mind with body/world

Minds are joined; bodies are not

Projection makes perception

Nothing so blinding as perception of form

Defenses do what they would defend

Bringing illusion to truth (or darkness to light)

Confusing symbol with source

Duality as metaphor

[edit] Scholarly study

A scholarly study of ACIM and Schucman and Thetford appeared in 2009. The book is A Course in Miracles: The Lives of Helen Schucman & William Thetford by Neal Vahle (Open View Press).

Wapnick, Kenneth (1989). Love Does Not Condemn: The World, the Flesh, and the Devil According to Platonism, Christianity, Gnosticism, and A Course in Miracles. Foundation for A Course in Miracles. ISBN 0-933291-07-8. A comprehensive discussion of the God-world paradox that compares and contrasts these perspectives, approaches and resolutions.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Foundation for Inner Peace (1996). A Course in Miracles (2d ed., newly rev.). New York: Viking Penguin. ISBN 0-670-86975-9.
• Foundation for Inner Peace (1992). The Song of Prayer: Prayer, Forgiveness, Healing (2d. ed.). Glen Ellen CA: Foundation for Inner Peace. ISBN 0-9606388-4-9.
• Miller, D. Patrick (1997). The Complete Story of the Course: The History, the People, and the Contoversies Behind A Course in Miracles. Berkeley: Fearless Books. ISBN 0-9656809-0-8. Discusses the post-publication history of ACIM and various pertinent groups.
• Skutch, Robert (1996). Journey Without Distance: The Story Behind A Course in Miracles. Mill Valley: Foundation for Inner Peace. ISBN 1-883360-02-1. Discusses the pre-publication history of ACIM.
• Wapnick, Kenneth (1999). Absence from Felicity: The Story of Helen Schucman and Her Scribing of A Course in Miracles (2d ed.). New York: Foundation for A Course in Miracles. ISBN 0-933291-08-6. Discusses Helen Schucman and the pre-publication history of ACIM.
• Schucman, Helen (1989). The Gifts of God. Berkeley: Celestial Arts. ISBN 0-89087-585-5.  (contains 114 poems that share the spiritual content of the Course as well as the prose poem "The Gifts of God," which summarizes the teachings of the Course)
• Williamson, Marianne (1996). A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0060927488. Widely-read adaptation of ACIM principles.
• U.S. District Court Southern District Of New York (2003-10-24). "Opinion, Case: Civil 4126 (RWS) ruling (#03-08697) dismissing complaint and granting judgment" (PDF). http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/courtweb/Pdf/D02NYSC/03-08697.PDF. Retrieved 2006-07-06. 
• U.S. District Court Southern District Of New York (2000-07-21). "Opinion, Case: Civil 4126 (RWS) ruling (#00-07413) summary judgment denied" (PDF). http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/courtweb/Pdf/D02NYSC/00-07413.PDF. Retrieved 2006-07-06. 
• U.S. District Court Southern District Of New York (7 May 2003). "Opinion, Case: Civil 4126 (RWS) ruling (#03-04125) motion to admit evidence" (PDF). http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/courtweb/pdf/D02NYSC/03-04125.PDF. Retrieved 2006-07-06. 

[edit] External links

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• Foundation for Inner Peace
• A Course in Miracles at the Open Directory Project

v • d • e A Course in Miracles Books A Course in Miracles • The Disappearance of the Universe • A Return to Love People Helen Schucman • William Thetford • Kenneth Wapnick • Marianne Williamson • Robert Perry • Gary Renard • Related articles Forgiveness • Endeavor Academy