“Everything you believe is upside down and backwards”- Carol Howe, A Course In Miracles teacher.
Shell shocked much? Probably.
But its true… Until now, you probably haven’t stopped to think about why you have your beliefs about certain things. You also probably don’t stop and think too often about how your family beliefs consumed you before you were able to form your own.
Classic Examples: “That person’s out of your league.” “Some people are prettier than others.”
THESE ARE REFERRED TO AS LIMITING BELIEFS!! So why do we limit ourselves? We have been taught from a young age that this is just plain old fact. But it ain’t.
Where does A Course In Miracles come in?
A Course In Miracles was developed in the 1970s by Dr. Helen Schucman as a curriculum (self study program) for anyone and everyone to access as a Foundation For Inner Peace or a spiritual transformation as Wikipedia lovingly puts it.
Back to it. So A Course in Miracles is a curriculum built around spiritual transformation. The objective of this program is for the participant to gain awareness of love’s presence.
How to get a hold of it? There are many options. The original comes in a set of three books:
- The Text
- Workbook for Students
- Manual for Teachers
Other options:
Marianne Williamson’s version of A Course In Miracles (Famously talked about on Oprah, she is also the author of A Return to Love which I mentioned in my last post.)
Various other books and YouTube videos.
Tons and tons of people have made a living and provided free resources as professional teachers of A Course In Miracles.
Me: I was originally told about this course from a coworker who had restarted the curriculum from a book. FUN FACT: You can repeat this course as many times as you want!!!
After almost 6 months, I decided to start through short YouTube videos. They are very condensed and are easy to follow.
I chose Carol Howe’s YouTube videos. As of right now, I have done the first 12 lessons.
Important Note: These lessons are actually meant to be taken lightly. As Carol firmly states “practice these lessons, don’t judge them”. It is also important to note that when practicing these lessons, no exceptions or exclusions can be made or the course is virtually useless. You need to come at this with an open heart and accept that you may not like all the principles; they could even anger you. That’s OK. Don’t spend a lot of time on the principles in a days time. Most lessons only require practicing 3-5 times for 2 minutes each time, in a 24 hour period. It is in your best interest to not tackle more than one principle at a time. It’s a lot to take in. Let yourself sit with each lesson for at least 24 hours; take more time if need be.
Definition of Practice: Applying lessons in your daily life. If you choose to listen to Carol like I did, she gives examples during each lesson on how to implement practice.
An underlying tone that Carol repeatedly emphasizes is that Joy + Peace + Understanding have to all coexist. You cannot have one without the other. In her words, if you do not possess all of three things, “YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING”.
Recap:
A Course in Miracles is a curriculum meant for those who seek Spiritual Transformation.
It can be digested through many means; book, YouTube video, teacher etc…
They are meant to be practiced not judged
Practice 3-5 times per 24 hour period in 2 minute increments
1 lesson per day
Joy + Peace+ Understanding
Word to the Wise: Take notes no matter the format you use. They are very helpful for reflection especially if you want to remind yourself of past lessons.
I will leave you with the first lesson of A Course In Miracles as well as a link to the YouTube video series that I choose to use and A Course in Miracles official website address.
Lesson One: Nothing I see in this room means anything
Official Website: https://acim.org/
Authentic Empath 