Anyone?

Hi, Has anyone here read A Course in Miracles?

I haven't read that book. Is it good?

Hi Yaowen, I hope you are well. The Course in Miracles is actually 3 books, but it's more...a spiritual path, I'd say.

I own them started but haven't read them yet, my parents did.

The title rang a faint bell for me.

So I jogged on over to GoodReads and took a brief sample of reviews---and have come to the conclusion that, since all of the people who disliked it (intensely, it seems) stated the same points over and over, with surprising consistency, I think it is just another one of those rip-off, gobbledeegook things that come along every once in awhile. These tomes pretend to be profound and life-alteringly enlightening. But a really close examination of them reveals that they are a lot of hooey...dripping with intelligent-sounding language, but really never saying much.

Furthermore, the books are expensive.

They also appear to be tacitly misogynistic, circuitous, and at times, irritatingly unfathomable. The writer reduces the name Jesus to simply the letter "J", which is a bit disrespectful, as well. There are whiffs of snake oil all over these volumes. One review mentioned that the author makes illness (I'm not sure what kind) the responsibility of the person suffering---that we bring it on ourselves. So, that's an Oh, h***, no! moment for me.

I wish it was as it purports to be. But my alarms were ALL going off on this one.

No! I didn't know about the book. I do believe in miracles.

I've not read it but I've heard about it. I heard the story of how it came about and that blew me away.

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Originally Posted by MuseumGhost The title rang a faint bell for me. So I jogged on over to GoodReads and took a brief sample of reviews---and have come to the conclusion that, since all of the people who disliked it (intensely, it seems) stated the same points over and over, with surprising consistency, I think it is just another one of those rip-off, gobbledeegook things that come along every once in awhile. These tomes pretend to be profound and life-alteringly enlightening. But a really close examination of them reveals that they are a lot of hooey...dripping with intelligent-sounding language, but really never saying much. Furthermore, the books are expensive. They also appear to be tacitly misogynistic, circuitous, and at times, irritatingly unfathomable. The writer reduces the name Jesus to simply the letter "J", which is a bit disrespectful, as well. There are whiffs of snake oil all over these volumes. One review mentioned that the author makes illness (I'm not sure what kind) the responsibility of the person suffering---that we bring it on ourselves. So, that's an Oh, h***, no! moment for me. I wish it was as it purports to be. But my alarms were ALL going off on this one.

Your post is interesting to me, MG. Thank you for your reply.

41 years ago when I met my husband he was heavily involved with ACIM, both the study of and ACIM groups. I was only 18 and open to just about anything that wasn't abuse, and got me out of my mom's house of horrors.

I went with David to an ACIM group that met regularly. The woman who ran the group was just amazing. A lovely and vivid soul, intelligent, thoughtful. She was a professor of Women's Studies at a university in my home city.

Occasionally, David and I attended other ACIM groups, most of them in Marin County, an extremely wealthy county next to San Francisco. The people I met in Marin County were directly involved with the Foundation for Inner Peace (publisher & distributor of ACIM). Certainly a supremely well-educated bunch, and I would never take that from them. Also verrrry status-conscious, and given to a variety of New Age belief systems and paths. Everywhere one turns in this region of California someone has a spiritual path to offer.

Anyway, I could write a book on my experiences with ACIM. But, to put it shortly, David first began following the Course in 1970-something and devotedly follows it to this day. We have had many a discussion about the Course and many an argument over it about its assertions, and also over David's interpretation of them.

That said, I do think that there's often a misunderstanding of some of the tenets of the Course. I've read through all 3 volumes twice in my life, but many, many years ago. I don't remember the "J" reference. That's certainly odd.

Is ACIM more misogynistic than the Bible is? I'm honestly asking the question, because I don't know. The Bible always seemed to me to be quite misogynistic, but again, I was much, much younger when I read it, and also much younger when I attended synagogue/mass/church, and the Vedanta Center and a variety of Buddhist temples and centers. Then, too, Jesus would have been misogynistic by today's standards.

The biggest problem I've had with the Course, the one I cannot resolve any way I look at it, is the "we choose illness" assertion. I get that "choosing illness" is explained as being an aspect of choosing the Illusion. Still, I can't make sense of it to my satisfaction. Theoretically, choosing the illusion goes back into the suggestion of reincarnation. But when Christianity meets reincarnation it too often smacks of "original sin" and that belief just plain pisses me off. Just my opinion.

There are aspects of the Course I feel good about. The concept of "at-one-ment," as it was described to me by the Foundation of Inner Peace people (not atonement in the tradition sense). I love, love the Lesson that states "In my defenselessness my safety lies." I first read that when I was 18 and have carried it with me for all these decades. That Lesson is one I challenge myself to work on. And it is a challenging conviction.

Anyway. I'm typing this off the top of my head, and typing quickly, because I tend to be more of a doer than a philosopher; I only have so much patience for going over various beliefs and interpretations (something David and I very often clash over).

Oh - I will mention that someone(s) may have found a price on a book site that was erroneous. There are, unfortunately, a few online booksellers who scam people and somehow, they get away with it. Having been an online bookseller for 14 years, those scammers infuriate me.

Anyway, the three volumes of ACIM are available on Amazon (new) for $25. Also, if someone wants the set but cannot afford it contacting The Foundation for Inner Peace and asking for the set is a good thing to do, because they will send anyone who wants them a set at no cost.

From what I've read of the Bible, Jesus was not the misogynist. He was actually a socialist and very fair to women.

The misogynist was Paul who came after him and wrote things like "Wives should obey their husbands" and that women should not be leaders in the church and also should cover their heads. Interestingly, I don't see many Christian women covering their heads anymore. But I hate most of Paul's letters.

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Originally Posted by downandlonely From what I've read of the Bible, Jesus was not the misogynist. He was actually a socialist and very fair to women. The misogynist was Paul who came after him and wrote things like "Wives should obey their husbands" and that women should not be leaders in the church and also should cover their heads. Interestingly, I don't see many Christian women covering their heads anymore. But I hate most of Paul's letters.

Yes, you are absolutely correct. Thanks for the reminder. Yeshua was definitely a man before his time. Paul irritates me all over the place.

I checked it out; just for reference, there is no "J." in ACIM; the reference, when he's mentioned in the original writings, is always "Jesus." I suspect that someone may have read one of the many publications about the Course and that publication, article, book, whatever, mentioned "J." and the reviewer on Goodreads was referring to that, maybe not realizing that they hadn't read the actual, original volumes. Just a possibility that popped into my mind, because there's such a mega-ton of stuff written on ACIM.

I'm guessing that the "misogyny" is about "brothers" instead of "brothers and sisters" or "sisters," or well, the list of possibilities goes on. I...nah... can't refer to ACIM as misogynistic because of the brothers thing. I'm not nuts about it, never was, but imo, misogyny runs deeper than that.

Thanks for thoughtfully explaining it, and laying out the facts, and separating them from misconceptions.

I am organized religion-weary, myself. I am a seeker after truth who leans toward agnosticism.

I am not inclined to run anybody else's beliefs into the ground; I've run into far too many well-meaning zealots (and atheists) who seem determined to do that, and I know how it feels to be on the receiving end. It always feels like an attack on free thinking. Our chosen religion, after all, is a form of community. And that should be protected, not assaulted.

I'm fine with whatever religion or spiritual path anyone follows. I grew up with a number of religious influences that were quite contrasting. That said, they all had common goals. Whatever floats your boat, or whatever your heritage is, it's all good. (And why is it that God is always 'in the sky'? Interesting.)

I didn't know Good Reads had a review option. I don't usually read book reviews written by people who are not professional reviewers of the genre they are reviewing, because books are so personal. And too many people who claim to have read a book haven't, or haven't finished the book, or have the wrong book in mind, or approach the book with a bias, or.....So I avoid book reviews written by the hoi polloi. (My favorite: "I'm giving this book only 1 star because the corner of the front cover was bent.")