Sydney Airport Holdings

A Course In Miracles is a spiritual book that offers a transformational way of seeing the world. It is an intellectually sophisticated thought system that combines spiritual inspiration with deep psychological understanding of such phenomena as belief systems, the nature of forgiveness and the ego-self. Yet it is also accessible to a wide audience, and one of the most widely read spiritual texts ever written. In this new edition, Miller explores the history and message of ACIM, evaluates its spiritual teachers and critics, and provides a comprehensive overview of the text's key themes.

The story of A Course in Miracles begins with two Columbia University psychologists, Helen Schucman and Bill Thetford. The pair was frustrated by the bitter hostility and divisions in their workplace and sought a better way to handle their conflicted emotions. In 1965, Helen had a series of inner visions, heightened dreams and psychic experiences that culminated with an experience of an inner voice that said, "This is a course in miracles, please take notes." Over the next seven years, she dictated a textbook to Thetford, who typed the manuscript into a computer. The author's name is never revealed in the Course, which was first published in 1976 by the Foundation for Inner Peace. It is now in over twenty-five languages.

Though the Course is Christian in vocabulary and terminology, its metaphysics is more aligned with Eastern mysticism, and it directly challenges significant elements of Western religion (for example, it rejects the notion that Jesus Christ died on the cross to atone for humanity's sins). It calls for a complete rethinking of our value system, and asserts that we all have the potential to attain this level of enlightened consciousness.

In its teaching, A Course in Miracles A course in miracles describes the ego-self as an illusion and teaches that love is the only true power. It focuses on forgiveness as the primary means to transcend the illusion and realize love's presence in our lives. It also encourages us to accept the fact that our problems are not our own, but are instead an aspect of God's plan for salvation.

The Course's alleged divine source and its challenge to conventional religious authority have made it both popular and controversial, especially with people who are looking for alternative spiritual guidance. It has attracted a celebrity following, including the Kardashians, Cher and Steven Tyler, and its author, Marianne Williamson, rose to fame in the 1990s as part of the pantheon of New Age megastars, along with Eckhart Tolle and Deepak Chopra. But she has also experienced high-profile feuds with fellow collaborators and had trouble managing her charity, which drew criticism for its intolerant management and elitist approach to fund-raising. Despite these issues, she remains convinced that the Course is the answer for anyone seeking spiritual awakening.