Ask: Will you read "A Course of Love"? If not, why not?

“….Last week I was reading Jon Mundy's magazine on the Course…. In his mag, there was an advertisement notice that there was a new book out, A Course of Lovewww.acourseoflove.com...Have you heard of this book?  Will you read it?  If you will not read it, why not?  I am curious to get your opinion about its close similarity to only knowing the Truth and meditating just on the Truth...” – SS


I heard of this book many years ago and I continue to get advertisements for it. But, no, I will not be reading it. The need to study fell away from me naturally many years ago. Since then I find reading spiritual material to be superfluous and, frankly, rather tedious. I can only liken this to reading a recipe for a dish I make every day. After a while the recipe becomes unnecessary and turning to it actually gets in the way of making the dish quickly and efficiently. So when I read spiritual material now I feel, “too many words”.  They are not necessary for me to experience Truth and they are a distraction from experiencing Truth. I get all I need from turning inward and communing with the Eternal Quiet.

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Learn about the books The ACIM Mentor Articles, The Plain Language A Course in Miracles, 4 Habits for Inner Peace, and Releasing Guilt for Inner Peace at www.acimmentor.com.

Comments

will said…
Well that answered that! Five minutes later and I'm still chuckling.
will said…
I had not heard of A Couse of Love until I read yesterday’s blog. I went to the link provided and took a quick look and decided to come back to it another time. It would take a lot of concentration to have some kind of understanding of what it is saying and right now I’m doing something else. What I did think about in meditation this morning was my first years with reading the Course. I really wanted to understand what it was saying and was forced to slow down to a crawl reading each sentence repeatedly trying to get the meaning. If I read any faster than that I would have no memory or understanding of what I had read. Later looking back on it I began to believe those first years were not so much about understanding but about slowing down, slowing the mind down, which led to slowing down in all areas of my life. If I wanted to do the Course I was forced to slow down. When I read it fast it is like skimming across the surface like water skiing, fast without depth. This morning I was thinking about the joy I sometimes feel just having the text open to whatever page I have been led to. The Course is about depth. There is nothing wrong with wanting to read the text three times so “you’ll get it.” It’s just a different experience.
Christine said…
I read this five hours ago and I'm still laughing! There should be an 11th one added to the "Characteristics of Teachers" in the Manual for Teachers section - "Humor".
You are an excellent communicator, too, Will - I really got what you said here.As for the "A Course in Love" book - I remember Dr. Wapnick saying emphatically on one of his cd's that "This is NOT a Course on love! The purpose for the Course is to seek and find what is false,unhealed in my mind..." Paraphrasing here. Reminds me that he said we are not truth seekers, we are not love seekers - we already have/are truth/love, etc. We are addressing and uprooting anything and everything that leads us to believe that the separation from God/heaven is real.But - now, if that book like the ones by Marianne Williamson, etc. can lead someone to thinking a little differently, then ultimately to study the Course itself, then it's OK! But Course students don't need to read other stuff - they can, but don't 'need' to.
bat said…
i feel the same way christine. As a course student, i feel ACIM is more than enough material to work with; and like liz, i feel reading other spiritual texts to be redundant. But if 'A Course in Love" can help other people, then so be it; all things can be used for good with the right teacher.
Anonymous said…
What an intriguing question and a contemplative inducing answer. Unlike Liz, I am still in need of study but I have advanced to where I can literally empty my bookcases of all the non-blue books with gold lettering and box the rest in gratitude for the place they served in the curriculum of this classroom. Eternal Quiet - Reaching!
Anonymous said…
A Course of Love is an etrordinary book. Perhaps it isn't for everyone. I don't find that it's like Ms. Williamson's books which are also good. It doesn't teach love it removes subtle blocks to love. It has some very explicit instructions for realizing a connection to oneness and making this connection permanent. For me it has been a fuller realization of ACIM. To have such explicit instructions from the master is quite a resource. It tends to approach the material from love and center the reader in love rather than the intellect.

The author explains that ACIM needed to teach us in the traditional manner through the mind because this is the way we are used to learning. It may have the greatest value for those uncomfortable with their feelings on the one hand or on the other hand for those who find Mr. Wapnik a bit harsh. If you are unconvinced of it's value to you , you might try dipping into some of the later chapters such as "accept the present". It might be of particular value to people unfamiliar with ACIM or coming from other spiritual traditions.
ACIM Mentor said…
A reader who cannot access Google asked me to post the following:

I learned of ACIM in 1978, when I was given a copy of those three wonderful hardcover books, the fourth printing. I immediately recognized that they were true. I also realized tat I did not understand them. Fortunately that understanding has improved over the years, including with your help. I have purchased and appreciate several of your books and have contributed toward your wonderful, clear work. Like you, I have gone beyond studying. I live much more intuitively now, or perhaps I should say I feel guidance and try to stay in that flow. And a very joyful flow it is!

Yet two years ago I had guidance which led me to A Course of Love. There were three books, I bought them all, and thought I would read them in the next couple of weeks. To my great surprise, it took me more like eight months, and they had the same impact on me as did ACIM. To me the Voice is undeniably the same. The message is extremely similar but goes even deeper -- something I did not think possible, but as I reflect it, ACIM itself says that the Course is not the end but a beginning. At one point ACOL says that it is a "continuation" of ACIM, and I believe it.

The three ACOL books were recently combined into one volume (which is interesting -- perhaps it is just coincidental that ACIM also was originally published as three books and later combined into one volume). ACOL tends to be much more heart-centered overall than ACIM, much less of a "study" than people tend to make of ACIM.

I entirely agree with you that for many, the time for study is no longer. ACOL says exactly the same thing too, but as I read it, I feel a powerful transmission, as if it is using my mind to go beyond the mind to a united heart-mind, if you will. Both books urge us to resign as our own teacher, and both have a remarkable transmission. I know this might be a challenge for long-time lovers of the Course, but I think it is important for me to share the profound experience I have had with A Course of Love, and I sincerely hope that my fellow spiritual travelers will avoid the mental blinders that might say, "it couldn't be."
Anonymous said…
I am ACIM student and have been for almost two years now. I spent some time this morning reviewing what was posted on the ACOL website and even though A Course in Love may be yet another path for some, I could not help but sense in my mind, abandonment from my current study of ACIM. Sort of like a derailment from what ACIM is teaching me. Just expressing what came through. That's all.
will said…
In Journey Without Distance, The story behind A Course In Miracles by Robert Skutch he talks near the end of his book about the public’s reaction to the first printings of ACIM. Here are some quotes about the reception to the book:
“In addition, there was a tremendous sense of dedication to the Course and the personal stories that were told that evening about the transformations of so many relationships…”
“These letters came from people of every faith and background and for the most part recounted how by applying the principle's of the Course, various inharmonious relationships had begun to be healed. Many of the letters referred to the “miracles” that had happened when the writers began applying the lessons of the Course- miracles that helped change dramatically the direction of lives …”
“Sometimes the letters contained truly inspirational accounts of how the “impossible” had happened…”
The book goes on in this vein for many pages. This was all taking place in the first six months to a year of the first publication. A virtual feeding frenzy took place to get copies of the book. You can make of this what you will.
will said…
I guess my point is that for the first five years or so I was determined to figure out what the text was saying and was having only marginal success. Ten years into it I am beginning to get an overall idea of the Course but am still unable to fully understand much of it.
Anonymous said…
I just realized I need to be more careful with the content of my comments to eliminate ambiguity. What I meant to say is after reading the content of ACOL, for me personally it felt as though it would lead me away verses remaining steadfast to my study of ACIM and that it felt as though I would be abandoning what I am working so hard to understand. Maybe because I am still a young child in my awareness, topping anything over my ACIM study with something like a ACOL or any other spiritual material feels as though it would derail me. For now I will stay with ACIM and who knows, down the road to peace I may be lead towards something to enhance my study. I remaining open to Spirit and learning discernment.
Christine said…
Yes - for some people Ken Wapnick seems like Simon Cowell!! Anything or anyone who points you in a different direction than you're used to can seem "quite harsh" at first, at least...If you watched the older "American Idol" shows, the substance or content of what Simon Cowell said WAS usually true, too!
will said…
To go back to the book Journey Without Distance, its author Mr. Skutch and the letters he is reading from and the reports of personal transformations, apparently everyone is looking for a happier dream rather than a self happy outside the dream. It is what it is, how could it be otherwise at six months to a year of the first publication of the Course.
Christine said…
You are so right, Will. This is a "text book" scenario, though, and a repetitive one. Example: when Mary Baker Eddy's publication of "The Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" first came out in the 19th century - same thing. People scrambled to get it, they had miraculous physical healings, relationships were healed, etc., etc. Seems like the first twinkling of Truth coming through to our consciousness is wonderful at the onset and people are so receptive, then it gets muddled over and the same ego split mind doubts come in. Then it's on to the next, and the next. It's helpful to be aware of this phenomenon, though.
will said…
Last night before I fell asleep I was thinking about how I do not understand forgiveness. I have been aware of this for some time. Oh I understand like everyone else when I read about it (kind of) but when I try to put it into some kind of workable framework so I can practice it, it gets away from me. This of course causes guilt. I’ve been doing the Course for a long time and still can’t understand the basic tenet of what it is teaching. Tonight I read this in Lesson 161:

“One brother is all brothers. Every mind contains all minds, for every mind is one. Such is the truth. Yet do these thoughts make clear the meaning of creation? Do these words bring perfect clarity with them to you? What can they seem to be but empty sounds; pretty, perhaps, correct in sentiment, yet fundamentally not understood nor understandable. The mind that taught itself to think specifically can no longer grasp abstraction…”
Then in Wapnick’s workbook on the lessons he says this about the above quote where it says “do these words bring perfect clarity with them to you?:

“Everyone lies who says they do. There is no way a specific individual can understand abstract and non-specific oneness. Jesus lets us know he does not expect such understanding.”
Anonymous said…
I can share an example of a forgiveness lesson I just learned. I titled it “trash removal”. I have a neighbor next door who, like me, maintains a house by herself. Last summer I became aware she was having difficulty with her trash removal service so I came to her rescue and offered her to put her trash with mine (in hindsight this was my first error). I remember thinking, how much trash can one person make and besides it is only temporary as she spends the fall and winter months in CA and will be leaving soon. Well, just last week she decides to come home for the Christmas holiday with her CA family in tow and leaves me a message yesterday to see if she can bring up her trash. I did not actually want this arrangement to continue and especially now with trash from 6 people. I became annoyed she assumed this arrangement could continue but being the good Course student that I am, I recognized that I was making this a problem outside myself, knowing it was in my mind. I made a mistake and chose the wrong teacher. I made this real by giving my peace away and needed a miracle, I needed to practice forgiveness and choose once again. I then went back to where the problem originated, in my mind and said, “I must be perceiving falsely because I am seeing a problem as outside and I am reacting to it.” So I looked at the problem with the Holy Spirit and judged it not. I needed to get out of my way for release of the obstacle to the Loving Presence could shine in my mind. The tricky part was the letting go. I had already made it real in my mind and so I was not letting it go easily but once the fear abated, I then was able to handle the situation on the level of form with love beside me. I returned her call and with truth said I went back to an every other week trash pickup and that this week is a non trash pick up week. I don't know what will come next week but I trust whatever does come it will be handled with peace. This lesson turns out to be a good analogy . . . the real problem was not my neighbor's trash removal but the removal of the trash from my mind.
Unknown said…
This is from the ACOL website "About the First Receiver": "Finally on December 1, 1998, after many months of uncertainty, she began to “hear” a Voice in her mind. The first words were: This is a course in miracles. It is a required course. The time for you to take it is now. You are ready and miracles are needed. (C:P.1)" Hmmmm....where have I heard that before???....
will said…
So did she start doing ACIM?
Anonymous said…
My ACIM study group the facilitator selects a new topic every week. So my “topic” (it was my turn as facilitator) was “Love”. Using Ken's glossary I found and read every passage on this subject – it took hours.

“The course (ACIM) does not aim at teaching the meaning of Love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of Love's presence”.

Just about everything I read via Ken's glossary was about the “BLOCKS” to the awareness of Love's presence... NOT about the very awareness of Love's presence.
I have studied for years both ACIM & ACOL. ACIM is about the mind and the blocks to Love. ACOL is about the heart and the awareness to Love's presence.

There are a thousand different paths back to God. What ever works... that's the right path.

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