THE BASICS ~ .
A COURSE IN MIRACLES
IN THE REAL WORLD
 
Peter Solon, Ph.D. (FULL BIO)
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1. Love Is Letting Go of Fear (Jerry Jampolsky) and Return To Love (Marianne Williamson) are examples of bestselling books based upon the authors’ work with A Course In Miracles.
RETURN TO “THE BASICS” HOME PAGE This introductory article addresses the practical component of a Course In Miracles. In the paragraphs to follow, I’ll examine three issues: (a) why do people gravitate to the Course; (b) how is the Course practiced in the real world and (c) theory aside, what can A Course In Miracles actually www.acim-ebook.comoffer people in their day-to-day lives. I’ll provide examples from my own life. And I’ll conclude with several remarks about the unique elements of the Course: how it differs from other spiritual and psychological models. In the way of a disclaimer, the insights I’m about to offer aren’t relective of hard data but rather, they’re merely subjective impressions, based upon my own personal practice and work with long term practitioner friends, colleagues and patients. Why Do People Study A Course In Miracles? According to recent estimates, over the last thirty years, more than 1.5 million people have acquired the Course. Why do so many individuals–a few of whom are well-known scholars–choose to spend their time studying a massive, recondite three volume set of books entitled A Course In Miracles? This is a difficult, if not impossible question to answer accurately; nevertheless, several general statements can be made. People usually begin studying the Course for a very simple reason: suffering. While suffering isn’t the only factor that motivates Course practitioners, generally speaking, the most sincere practitioners do seem to begin their practice on their hands and knees, overwhelmed by desperation, the product of their own psychological or physical suffering. For example, before coming to the Course, people typically spend years-or even an entire lifetime-repeating destructive patterns in relationship––with romantic partners, friendships, colleagues and others. They may find themselves in the midst of a second or third divorce and while they may appear outwardly indignant, inwardly, they’re often genuinely puzzled by their own inability to get along with others. Others spend their lives isolated and depressed before they begin their study of the Course. Still others come to the Course as a direct result of psychological trauma–for example, a brush with death–either their own or a loved one’s. Generally speaking, whatever the particular modus operandi, people generally have to experience a fair amount of suffering before they arrive at a critical tipping point when the pain becomes too much to bear. It’s at this juncture, overwhelmed with pain–rather than continue treading the well-worn path of blaming their external circumstance–people suddenly motivated to examine the following critical question: how do they manage to impose suffering upon themselves and is there a way out. And if they’re fortunate, they stumble upon a spiritual discipline to assist them, a discipline like A Course In Miracles. Is it necessary to experience intense suffering to be a sincere Course practitioner? No. But it does seem to be a common pattern. The events of my own life reflect this pattern. Throughout my late twenties and early thirties, whenever I experienced a crisis––for example, financial problems or the ending of an important relationship––although I would work hard to change my external circumstances, I would also turn to the Course. After several months of study, almost magically, I’d start feeling better. My external problems may have remained the same or improved slightly, but my internal life would again be bursting with joy. It wasn’t until I reached my forties that I realized, I had two choices: I could either live the rest of my life on an emotional roller coaster, or commit to A Course In Miracles as a consistent practice. I chose the latter. How Is The Course Actually Practiced? The second volume of the Course, the Workbook, is generally considered the practice component of A Course In Miracles. A description of the Workbook along with general instructions are in the Preface: The Workbook includes 365 lessons, one for each day of the year. It is not necessary, however, to do the lessons at that tempo, and one might want to remain with a particularly appealing lesson for more than one day. The instructions urge only that not more than one lesson a day should be attempted. A fair number of Course purists hold to the one-lesson-per-day dictum–however, in reality, many students do not. A fair number of Course practitioners simply use the Workbook lessons as psychological medicine to counter emotional upsets. Some students, for instance, use the exercises in Lesson # 4–“These thoughts do not mean anything”–when they’re disturbed by uncomfortable thoughts. Others take comfort from in Lesson # 23–“I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts”–whenever an aspect of the their interpersonal world feels threatening. Some students practice the Workbook in a highly regimented fashion, striving to follow every step-by-step instruction including directions to repeat specific statements at regular intervals throughout the day. Some people even carry alarm clocks that beep whenever an instruction needs to be followed. Others are more relaxed and simply spend fifteen to thirty minutes each morning reading that particular day’s lesson; and don’t spend any further time with the Course throughout the remainder of their day. Still others take no interest in the Workbook whatsoever but rather, rely on practices found throughout the other two volumes. Veteran practitioners, on the other hand, will occasionally create their own practices, based upon their familiarity with fundamental Course principles. And still others practice the Course by simply reading sections of the Text, Manual and supplementary pamphlets on a daily basis. These are all variations on a theme. It’s very easy to find a teacher who will adamantly proclaim, there’s only one correct way to practice A Course In Miracles. But the truth is, there isn’t one way; there are countless methods. As a rule, students who listen to their own Inner Guide––and work with the Course in a manner that suits their unique personality and cognitive styles––are the very same students who make the most substantive progress. The Impact of the Course Upon Practitioners’ Day-To-Day Lives What can the Course actually do for people in their day-to-day lives? This is an entirely reasonable question that deserves a straightforward answer. A Course In Miracles can turn your entire life around. There’s simply no other way to put it. In fact, there are numerous published accounts––several quite well-known1––of people using A Course In Miracles to transform a life of unbearable suffering into a life of joy. Here again, in my own case, the events of my personal history bear this same pattern. Once I began practicing the Course consistently, my life changed quite dramatically. At this stage of my life, often for weeks at a time–and frequently for months on end–my feelings, mood and thoughts are infused with a joyful attitude toward nearly every facet of my life. This was not the case throughout my twenties and early thirties when I was overwhelmed by despair and anxiety. For the most part, I attribute the overall change to my work with A Course In Miracles. A Course In Miracles has an uncanny ability to direct the student’s attention to her true underlying difficulties. Once the student can see the root-problem, she is thus in a position to resolve it. Most of us search our entire lives, despairing over a myriad of apparent–but not necessarily real–external and internal difficulties, without ever facing our true problems. The Course demonstrates how the mind tricks itself into thinking the problem is in one area when in reality, it’s in another. “I’m never upset for the reason I think” is one of its many profound lessons. The Course teaches that our root problem inevitably harks back to relationship––not necessarily romantic but any relationship––from the briefest encounter to the most intimate long-term personal friendship or spousal relationship. But the Course goes even further. At some point, the practitioner realizes, there’s only one fundamental problem- the problem of separation, versus connection, toward every facet of one’s internal and external world. Once the practitioner sees this root problem and is able to take responsibility for it––this is to say, once the student realizes, every personal difficulty reflects a choice to remain apparently separated (no one is ever actually separated) the work of choosing to reconnect can begin. Practitioners typically use A Course In Miracles to make enduring, substantive changes in their everyday relationships with other people. This alone can turn one’s life around such that, instead of hopelessness and despair, the student begins to experience authentic joy. Instead of feeling victimized by life, the Course student begins to feel genuinely empowered; and in place of anger, the practitioner develops a sense of peace and gratitude. I’ve personally seen this kind of transformation–in fact, over and again, in myself, colleagues, patients and friends. As a clinical psychologist, over a period of twenty five years, I’ve been trained in numerous psychotherapeutic and spiritual traditions including Jungian psychology, dream work and treatment; Freudian psychoanalysis; object relations, self psychology and Sullivanian psychoanalytic psychotherapy; Gestalt Therapy, Primal Therapy as well as a variety of other New Age therapies; Theravada insight meditation known as Vipassana; Tibetan Buddhist practices including Dzogchen, Tong Len and full body prostrations; Advaita Vedanta; Iyengar yoga; entheogens and Sufi practices among others. In my view, A Course In Miracles ranks as one of the most powerful psychological and spiritual tools available to practitioners. Some years ago, I led a Course group in Dharamsala, India and toward the end of the group, was startled by an angry middle-aged man who challenged me with the following question: “How does A Course In Miracles differ from other so-called nondual paths?” His tone betrayed a mind that was already made up; basically, he was saying–in the context of the spiritual marketplace–the Course was nothing new under the sun. Indignant or not, this man’s question was entirely legitimate. How Does The Course Differ From Other Traditions? There are actually a variety of ways in which A Course In Miracles differs from other spiritual models. First, the Course is remarkably pragmatic. The practices of A Course In Miracles relentlessly zero-in on the practitioner’s everyday encounters with other people. In fact, the entire Course may be conceptualized as a seamless bridge between (what may best be termed) ever-present Being or “God” and everyday life. More than any path I’ve personally encountered, A Course In Miracles truly does bring the sacred into one’s day-to-day existence. Second, the Course demonstrates precisely how the mind engages in self-deception. The mind is a master at tricking itself; and its greatest trick is that it makes itself believe that our everyday problems, and emotional upsets, are the product of external circumstances when in fact, they’re not. A Course In Miracles offers us the opportunity to unravel the mind’s self-deceptions and re-direct our attention to that aspect of the psyche where our root-problem actually lies. Third, the Course doesn’t let the practitioner get away with avoiding the shadow component of the psyche. Hundreds of pages are devoted to delineating the dynamics of the insidious ego––that sewer system of self-dislike, self deception, denial, anxiety, hatred, (apparently) repulsive fantasies and so on. Unlike any model I’ve come across, the Course describes how the mechanisms of denial and projection function to hide one’s own sense of self-hatred. If all you want is love and light––if you’re unwilling to face the shadow elements of your own psyche––A Course In Miracles is probably not for you. Fourth, the Course offers a wide variety of remarkably powerful practices that, in my own experience, are not to be found in other traditions. One particular practice––and in a sense, the crux of the entire Course––is its unique version of forgiveness. The Course’s version of forgiveness is unrelated to either the Christian or dictionary definition. Essentially, the Course teaches, we forgive others in order to realize, whatever wrongdoings we assumed had occurred, never actually transpired. If we’re angry, for example, we’re actually distorting our interpersonal world. We practice forgiveness in order to realize, our grievances simply don’t have a basis in external reality. Over time, with practice, we begin to realize, when we’re viewing the world through loving eyes, we’re in reality; otherwise, we’re not. The fundamental principle here is clear enough: only love is real. Fortunately, A Course In Miracles offers hundreds of remarkably powerful practices along with step by step instructions. Overall, it’s a brilliant, meticulous, extraordinarily detailed instructional manual that guides the practitioner through every step of the remarkable process of spiritual re-awakening. ~