POINT OF VIEW
Every teacher of the Course has a unique point of view––a particular way of understanding A Course In Miracles. Ours is as follows.
1. A Course In Miracles is a dogma-free transformative practice. One can hold any set of beliefs––be of any religious persuasion––practice any other spiritual path––and still derive the maximum degree of benefit from the practice of the Course. 2. At its core, A Course In Miracles is a sophisticated discipline that addresses the love component of spiritual practice. Its central theme strikes at the core of every human being’s primary wish––to love others more fully. It offers freedom from any and all suffering; and demonstrates how anyone, in any circumstance, can live a life characterized by an authentic, boundless joy. Its explicitly stated ultimate objective is a comprehensive awakening; toward this end, it prescribes countless practices, assisting the practitioner at every stage of her development. 3. The Course is an astonishingly effective, non-traditional form of psychotherapy. Practitioners are able to make enduring, substantive changes in their relationships with other people. Few if any psychological tools embody the Course’s therapeutic power. 4. The practices of the Course relentlessly zero-in on the practitioner’s actual day-to-day, moment-to-moment interpersonal encounters. 5. The single most important and yet, most difficult aspect of the Course is its all-inclusive component. The Course teaches that to understand the meaning of the term, “love”––to even perceive other people accurately or to know one’s own identity––one’s love must include everyone without exception. The Course teaches, “Hold back but…one offering, and love is gone.” 6.Contrary to popular belief, the Course is not merely a set of lessons to be done at predetermined points during the day; rather, A Course In Miracles is a twenty-four hour, seven day-a-week, every minute of everyday, lifetime project. 7.Students derive the most from the Course when they’re following a personally meaningful, individually tailored practice strategy. (If you’re interested in issues of practice, visit our Practice section.) 8. The Course is the quintessential “always/already” spiritual practice.2 Always/already paths––also known as “paths of recognition”––teach that we’re already who we are trying to become. We engage in spiritual practice to remember, or recognize, who we already are (hence the term, “path of recognition”). According to this perspective, we’re already enlightened; practice is the means by which we recognize this pre-established fact. Paths of recognition are generally viewed as the apex of practice.3 9. Contrary to popular views, the Course has nothing whatsoever to do with the “New Age” movement, historically or otherwise. Rather, A Course In Miracles represents a modern-day expression of the philosophia perennis––the universal core wisdom and principles underlying every great spiritual tradition the world has known. 10.The single most impressive feature of the Course is that it’s unequivocally effective. Through practice, students begin to perceive other people as they actually are––apart from their own projections––with love. Eventually, a sense of peace and authentic joy become consistent companions. Students begin to appreciate ideas that, in the past, may have seemed irrational––for example, the idea that death isn’t real; and that freedom from suffering is not only possible, it’s possible now, today, this very moment, through an act of choice. 11. Such changes in one’s internal life, however, are mere reflections of a more profound, all-encompassing transformation, described by the Course as “awakening from the dream” (of this world); further described as “awakening to reality;” and more fully elaborated as our return home. We return to a home that “always stands ready,” closer than our very breath. Peter Solon, Ph.D. Licensed Psychologist Bellingham, Washington, USA Mcleod Ganj, Dharamsala, India ~PRACTICE.htmlshapeimage_2_link_0
The emphasis of this course always remains the same;--it is at this moment that complete salvation is offered you, and it is at this moment that you can accept it....Heaven is here. There is nowhere else. Heaven is now. There is no other time.   (M-24.6:1-7)
Those who seek the light are merely covering their eyes.  (W-pI.188.1:1-4)
1.   Buddha Shakyamuni
 
2.   Ken Wilber, the contemporary philosopher/theoretical psychologist and scholar of comparative religion, coined the term, “always/already.” It appears throughout his published work.
 
3.  See Dr. Roger Walsh’s reference to Ken Wilber in his article on the Course.
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If one knows that what is born will
end in death, then there will be love.1
 
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