For those who haven’t heard of a course in miracles, it’s a 1976 book that claims that the greatest “miracle” is simply gaining a full awareness of love’s presence in your life. It says this is a goal that you can achieve, but only once the habit of forgiveness has become perfectly established in your mind. It’s a very deep spiritual teaching that teaches a completely different way of looking at everything.

It teaches that the real world, which reflects truth, is one of unity, love, sinlessness and abundance. It views evil, disease and death as misperceptions of reality that need healing rather than punishment and guilt. It sees the universe as being composed entirely of God’s thoughts, which are loving, constant and eternal. Its language is poetic and poetically arranged, which has led some to compare it with classical literature.

The Course also teaches that the way to happiness is through undoing the illusion of separation in every form it takes, including the ego’s self-serving beliefs, fears and anxieties. The daily Workbook lessons, Acim which are a key part of the Course, offer a practical system for doing this. They aren’t easy, but they are simple. You just need to make the choice to apply them.

a course in miracles is a 1976 book by Helen Schucman. Its underlying premise is that the greatest “miracle” is simply gaining a full awareness of love’s presence in a person’s life. Schucman claimed that the entire book had been dictated to her, word for word, via a process she called “inner dictation.”

The book is a self-study spiritual thought system which teaches that forgiveness is the key to healing and happiness. It uses Christian terminology, but evokes universal, non-dual spiritual themes that are consistent with Eastern spirituality. It combines spiritual inspiration with deep psychological understanding of such topics as belief systems and defense mechanisms. The Course’s text lays out the concepts which form its thought system; the Workbook for Students, comprised of 365 daily lessons, emphasizes experience rather than belief in a theology; and the Manual for Teachers provides answers to questions that commonly arise.

What Is a Miracle?

A miracle is the choice to see a loved one as God’s child and to forgive the fear and guilt that hold them hostage. It is the decision to return to the awareness of truth which was always present, but which had been obscured by the misperceptions of a world that is separated and consuming in conflict.