Identified by the New York Times in 2019 as "an esoteric bible that has gone mainstream," A Course in Miracles (ACIM) has become an influential movement within contemporary spirituality. In the past 30 years, it has expanded beyond the small circle of students with whom its founders began, attracting people from a wide variety of backgrounds and generating diverse opinions about its teachings and practices. But what is ACIM exactly, and how does it fit into the larger scheme of world spirituality? This article explores the answers to these questions through an interview with Robert Perry, an independent ACIM teacher and author of nineteen books and booklets on the Course.

The Course teaches that this physical world is a dream and that we have been caught in the midst of it. It also teaches that all the wars, crimes, calamities, and pains we experience are a result of our misperceptions about the nature of reality. To the extent that we can recognize the illusion of this world and release our attachment to it, our lives will be enriched and transformed.

A course in miracles is not a religion, but a self-study spiritual thought system consisting of three books: the Text, which sets forth the concepts that form its curriculum; the Workbook for Students, which presents practical applications of the ideas in the Text through 365 daily lessons; and the Manual for Teachers, which provides guidance in how to extend the Course's principles to others. It is a curriculum, rather than a book to be read at one time, and it encourages the formation of study groups.

Although the Course uses Christian terminology, it evokes universal, non-dual spiritual themes and has strong ties to Eastern spirituality. It does not impose a specific theology or belief system on its students, but it insists that any path can lead to God. It is a synthesis of Western Christian doctrine, Eastern philosophy, and a variety of New Age teachings. But the most important thing it teaches is the central idea that there is no real difference between God and humankind. This is a lesson that many of us need to learn again and again, over and over.