Please Don't Be a "Good Course Student"

It is always important to read a book’s introduction and/or preface because they lay out the context of the book, orienting your mind toward its purpose. When A Course in Miracles was first published, it did not have a preface. This came later, after requests from readers, and was originally a pamphlet one could insert into their copy of the three hard-bound books. It was included, however, in later editions. Over the years of my study of the Course, I sometimes found it helpful to return to the Preface, which lays out what the Course is and what it is about in very simple terms. It cuts to the chase.

In the Preface, Helen Schucman states about the Course:

 

“Its only purpose is to provide a way in which some people will be able to find their own Internal Teacher.”

 

Notice “only purpose” and “some people” in this statement. The Course may or may not be for you. And if it is, all it is for is to lead you to the Holy Spirit within. How simple and undemanding is that?

Moreover:

 

“As its title implies, the Course is arranged throughout as a teaching device.”

 

“At the end, the reader is left in the hands of his or her own Internal Teacher, Who will direct all subsequent learning as He sees fit.”

 

The Course is not an end in itself.  It leads you to Spirit within and drops you off. After doing the lessons in the Workbook, what you do with the Course, or any other teaching, is between you and Spirit.

The Preface says nothing about how you need to nail down the Course’s philosophy or theology, and in facts points out that the Course states that it is not concerned with theology but with application and experience. Nowhere in the Preface, or anywhere else in the Course, does it lay out what it means to be a “good Course student.” In fact, the Workbook emphasizes the “highly individualized” nature of the curriculum because Spirit is to be your Teacher. Given the highly individualized nature of the curriculum, and that you are to follow Spirit rather than a book, what would a “good Course student” even be?

I bring up the phrase “good Course student” because I hear this from life-coaching clients sometimes: “I thought if I was a good Course student I would (or wouldn’t)…” Always, there is some rigid box they put themselves into, trying to control their thoughts and feelings or behavior to be a “good Course student.” This is always something highly unrealistic that leads them to repress their natural responses. Often, they are attempting to be more advanced than the awareness of Spirit they have yet acquired.

Sometimes students will say, “What does the Course say about…?” and state a situation or issue in their life. What they mean is, “How does the Course say I should approach this…?” As a teaching device, the Course is not a guide to how to “live life correctly” or to “be a good person” in God’s eyes. Often, students understand the goal is not to appease God, but instead of asking Spirit how to handle a situation, they want to know what the Course says, making the teaching device a substitute for Spirit. And what happens when a book is made a substitute for Spirit can be seen in fundamentalism in any of the world’s religions: self-repression, rigidity, and cruelty towards others.

The goal of the Course is for you to have less conflict and more peace through an awareness of Spirit’s Everpresence within you. Instead of aiming to be a “good Course student”, perhaps aim to be a disciple of Spirit, allowing Spirit to guide how you use the Course to diminish your conflict and increase your peace.

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