| A Course in Miracles by Debi Miller The story of the conception of a channeled book which has been defined "one of the most important spiritual documents known to humanity" or "The New Age Gospel". Since 1975, more than a million copies have been sold, and it is estimated that there are 2,000 independent study groups formed in the U.S. More than 112 books about or inspired by this one book are now in print. For all these years, it has been available through the non-profit Foundation for Inner Peace, and ass of this month, through a major commercial publisher, Viking/Penguin. A Course in Miracles is currently available in English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, and now Italian (and a dozen other language translations are currently in progress). Back in 1965, no one would have predicted such an astonishing future for a channeled book. The whole concept of channeled writing was not a part of our popular culture yet. It was not authored by a person, but by an "inner voice" that dictated to Helen Schucman, a research psychologist and professor of medical psychology at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, in 1965. William Thetford, her colleague and also a professor at Columbia, assisted Helen in the dictation and typing of the information as it came to her. A better way Both Helen and William found their jobs to be extremely frustrating. Their department at the university was plagued with a lot of resentment, competition and hostility. Even their own relationship, though essentially a cooperative one, was also ridden with anger and stress. It was in this state of affairs that a very uncharacteristic yet highly significant occurrence happened between them. One day, before a regular morning meeting, William made a lengthy and, for him, serious speech. "There must be a better way," he said, "and I'm determined to find it." He felt there was a better way of dealing with their meetings, professional relationships, and indeed their own lives. This outburst was extremely out of character for him as was Helen's response. Unexpectedly, she agreed with him, said he was right, and she would join with him to find this better way. Within the next three months Helen began to have startling visionary and psychic experiences. She began to have vivid mental images, both waking and sleeping. This caused her extreme inner turmoil, for Helen did not believe in the validity of such things. These occurrence continued on until reaching a high point late that October. Helen called William in a panic and told him that the inner voice would not leave her alone "It keeps saying, This is a course in miracles. Please take notes. What am I going to do?" Helen's story Being a psychologist and a self-professed militant atheist, she feared for her sanity. Bill reassured her and calmed her down. He then suggested that she do what it says and take notes. They agreed to meet in the morning and if the notes made no sense, they would tear them up. Helen's first-person account can be found in the preface. "Three startling months preceded the actual writing, during which time Bill suggested that I write down the highly symbolic dreams and descriptions of the strange images that were coming to me. Although I had grown more accustomed to the unexpected by that time, I was still very surprised when I wrote, 'This is a course in miracles.' "That was my introduction to the Voice. It made no sound, but seemed to be giving me a kind of inner dictation which I took down in a shorthand notebook. The writing was never automatic. It could be interrupted at any time and later picked up again. It made me very uncomfortable, but it never seriously occurred to me to stop. "It seemed to be a special assignment I had somehow, somewhere agreed to complete. It represented a truly collaborative venture between Bill and myself, and much of its significance, l am sure, lies in that. I would take down what the Voice 'said' and read it to him the next day, and he typed it from my dictation. I expect he had his special assignment, too. Without his encouragement and support I would never have been able to fulfill mine. The whole process took about seven years." The Publishing Adventure Thus Helen and William received their answer to the request for a better way. A friend, Ken Wapnick, helped them with the final completion of the manuscript. Even though it was essentially finished, capitalizing, punctuating, paragraphing and sectioning needed to be done. The three of them finally completed their task in early 1975. But what were they now to do? Even though this started out as a personal quest, it was obvious the answer was not meant for them alone. Yet they did not think it was their place to be the ones making it available to others. Then one day in May of 1975, William attended a conference. The introductory lecture was given by a woman named Judith Skutch and as he sat in the audience, William felt an inner connection with her and a need to meet her. A few days later Judith did meet with Helen and William. Judith knew after hearing their remarkable story and looking at a manuscript of the Course that the message she had received recently from an numerologist was coming into fruition: "Within a year you will publish one of the most important spiritual documents known to humanity." Several publishers came forward asking to publish the Course, but every time the Voice was asked if this was the right one, the response was always "No." They were finally told by the Voice that only those who had the Course as their focus and nothing else were to publish it. They resolved to find a way to make this happen between the four of them. Monetarily Judith had no idea how this was going to happen. The next morning she received a call from a friend in Mexico who had received a photo-copy of the Course from a friend and was so moved by the information that he felt guided to sell a piece of real estate and send the proceeds to her to publish the first five thousand sets of the Course in hardback. And so in June of 1976, after an utterly unique history, the Course became available in published form. The Message It is interesting that the names of the collaborators in the recording of the Course do not appear on its cover. Helen states that the Course can and should stand on its own, that it is not intended to become the basis for another cult, and that its only purpose is to provide a way in which some people will be able to find their own Internal Teacher. The curriculum the course introduces is laid out and explained at both a theoretical and a practical level. The Course emphasizes application rather than theory, and experience rather than theology. The Course is arranged throughout as a teaching device. It is a work of 1,200 pages consisting of three books in one: Text, Workbook for Students and Manual for Teachers. It has many deep similarities with traditional Christianity and some major themes of Eastern religions. It includes 365 lessons, one for each day of the year. The purpose is to train our minds in a systematic way, first dealing with the undoing of the way we see things now, and then dealing with the attainment of true perception. The Course is designed to draw our minds into a completely different way of thinking, a thought system based on God, love, forgiveness, caring and sharing. It also puts heavy emphasis on human relationships. It could be called a course in the healing of relationships, for it is how we see and relate to others that puts us in touch with our own true nature and state of being. Copyright © 1996 Aquarius On-line | 
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