A Course In Miracles
By Helen Schucman
Publisher: Foundation for Inner Peace



IF YOU are faced with a choice of reading only one book for the rest of your life, let it be this one. It is certainly the most amazing book I have read in my entire life.
It is actually a three-in-one book. The first volume is called the Text; the econd is Workbook for Students and the third, Manual for Teachers. Originally, it was published in three parts but the ACIM, as it is generally called, has merged to be one book.
This book was born under unusual circumstances. The writer is Helen Schucman who was a research psychologist as well as an associate professor of medical psychology. Schucman preferred to refer to herself as the "scribe".
Schucman had made public that the writing on this book was through inner dictation. She said she was aided in the process by Dr William Thetford, who was a professor of medical psychology.
ACIM is a comprehensive self-study spiritual thought system. It does not impose any special conditions on the part of the reader except a willingness to partake in its lessons.
In its introduction, it says:

"This is a course in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what you want to take at a given time. The course 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, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite."

Even though the book is all about spirituality, the writer herself is a self-professed atheist. Schucman said: "I do not believe what has been written but I do know the principles work." A strange statement about an otherwise astounding book.
ACIM was published in 1975 and has since been translated into nine other languages with another 11 in the translation process.
This book alters a person's perception of life in general. It teaches you to "see" beyond what is before your eyes. It makes you understand the link of all that exists and what can never die.
The whole message of ACIM can be distilled into just a few lines. And they are:

Nothing real can be threatened
Nothing unreal exists
Herein lies the peace of God.

ACIM changes your life if you allow it to. It alters an individual's sense of perception and transports you to another level of consciousness. If you have the discipline to follow the 365 lessons in the Workbook for Students, it will clear your mind, unlock your heart and free your soul to wander to its real home.
In its 30 years of existence, it has spread its message and lessons across the world. The ACIM book cannot be found in bookshops. It can only be obtained from its source, the Foundation For Inner Peace. That is, through the Internet.
Students who have "undergone" the course believe the book "finds" them when the desire and quest for spiritual fulfilment burns brightly in their hearts.
To read the book is to embark on a journey without distance. It teaches its reader that "heaven is here, there's no other place; heaven is now, there's no other time."