aka "A Course in Miracles".

Does anyone know anything about this? I couldn't find anything on the database on the main site but it seems familiar somehow. The closest thing I could find is a church that appears to be using its premises destructively, but nothing about the course itself.

I came across it (I seem to come across a lot of such things lately. I suppose I'm more aware of it, since my friend became a Landmarkian) at the airport, while poking around in the bookshop for something to read. I found a book called "The disappearance of the universe" which appealed to me as it promised a combination of physics, metaphysics and pyschology (the main character claims that "ascended masters" appeared to him from the future, and gave him instruction on the meaning of the universe -- I thought if nothing else it would be interesting to see a first hand example of how the schizophrenic mind works). It sounded like a totally bonkers but probably entertaining read -- and in fact one of the reviewers on the cover described it as such.

Well, I did think it was pretty crazy, but not for the reasons most would think. Essentially, the author was upselling another book, called "A Course in Miracles". And, from what I can gather, the belief system includes that the world doesn't exist, it's just a projection that we've created from Heaven because "we" had the idea of "what if". And that we're afraid that God will be angry that we've created this world, so we've segmented ourselves into separate consciousnesses so that we can hide who we are from ourselves. And all the hurt and pain and so on in the world is part of this charade, to keep us distracted from who we are (we're all the same person apparently, we just don't know it yet). And the secret to getting back to Heaven is to forgive everyone and the world every time we feel hurt or angry, to remind ourselves that it's all an illusion and the world doesn't exist, so nothing matters. In fact, you should thank others for hurting you, because this gives you "forgiveness opportunities" that will hasten your return to Heaven.

This to me seems like a belief system that is ripe for abuse, but I can't seem to find any particularly negative reports about it. The fact that the "disappearance of the universe" author mentions that he's been on est course, and then his "ascended master" guides praise Werner Erhard made me think something pretty fishy, beyond just a schizophrenic getting a book published, was up. I wonder if the author believes anything of what he's written, or if he's just a canny businessman who's figured out a way to tap into the New Age market and help his publishers sell more of another book.

Try this for a start

[www.apologeticsindex.org]

There are similarities in philosophy to Landmark I recall but its model of delivery is different.

I also recall threads on this board from back in 2003 on a Course In Miracles.

Mrs. Schucman, [the founder of a Course IN Miracles] a Columbia University professor and psychologist, was
an acquaintance of Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R. (seen on EWTN).
Fr. Groeschel gave a eulogy at her funeral. Fr. Groeschel wrote (2),
"This woman who had written so eloquently that suffering really did
not exist spent the last two years of her life in the blackest
psychotic depression I have ever witnessed."[/color:9c929d6237]

[www.ewtn.com]

I was involved with ACIM through a long-distance study group (Miracle Distribution Center) on and off for probably between 8-10 years. I think this group is relatively benign in the way they present this material. ACIM was channeled purportedly from Jesus. It is a ponderous amount of material and very confusing. It is also at times very black and white in its philosophy, e.g., "anger is never justified."

Over time, I realized that I could not reconcile the inconsistencies in the text and I found that trying to do so made me feel crazy. Also, I had borrowed some tapes on the course by a well-known teacher of ACIM and found it very disturbing. One of the teachings I found most disturbing was that children choose the circumstances in which they are born -- e.g., a child chooses to be born into an abusive situation.

I finally separated myself from the course and got rid of all the materials. After reading a lot about cults on various Internet sites, I see a great similarity in a lot of the beliefs of ACIM with those of other New Age cults. Even though I would hesitate to call it a destructive cult because it does not seem to have all the features of a destructive cult (though possibly some). However, my experience has been that ACIM's philosophy, taken to it's logical conclusion, is destructive and did not help me to be more at peace - quite the contrary.

P

Quote
Concerned Oz
"This woman who had written so eloquently that suffering really did
not exist spent the last two years of her life in the blackest
psychotic depression I have ever witnessed."[/color:3d0fd00b25]

That's pretty telling.

People find so many ways to deceive themselves, and even when what ever self-deception they've employed is evidently not working, still they cling on. I wonder why?

I suppose the one thing it has in its favour is that it doesn't look as though it was deliberately set up to exploit people... it's just unfortunate that it seems it could very easily be used for that purpose (and has on at least one occasion).

Quote
QuestionEverything
It is also at times very black and white in its philosophy, e.g., "anger is never justified."

This just cracks me up. Coming from a "psycho-neuro-immunological" perspective, it would be like saying the natural, hereditary, genetic, instinctive, autonomic, or cellular reaction that is a pysiologic response to injury, threat, or injustice (real, imagined, or potential) is a matter of some kind of "choice." It's part of the "fight or flight" response. It's something we all have inherited as part of a whole "menu" of survival mechanisms. Adreneline and noradreneline (terror and rage) are the neurotransmitters of response to a situation that demands immediate action. If you believe that "god" had something to do with evolution, than it would be like second-guessing Him.

(What one does with anger, or how one tailors his response to a situation, might be another subject entirely, but that doesn't seem to be addressed in what you've stated above.)

Quote

Over time, I realized that I could not reconcile the inconsistencies in the text and I found that trying to do so made me feel crazy. Also, I had borrowed some tapes on the course by a well-known teacher of ACIM and found it very disturbing. One of the teachings I found most disturbing was that children choose the circumstances in which they are born -- e.g., a child chooses to be born into an abusive situation.

Yuck! The same nonsense. "New Age" cr*pola that can mean anything or nothing and often serves as just so much "permission" or "absolution" for abusers.

And the same old "nothing-up-my-sleeve" routine of cognitice dissonance (confusion or distraction).

Quote

I finally separated myself from the course and got rid of all the materials. After reading a lot about cults on various Internet sites, I see a great similarity in a lot of the beliefs of ACIM with those of other New Age cults. Even though I would hesitate to call it a destructive cult because it does not seem to have all the features of a destructive cult (though possibly some). However, my experience has been that ACIM's philosophy, taken to it's logical conclusion, is destructive and did not help me to be more at peace - quite the contrary.

P

I haven't heard or seen a lot of negative information about it over the years. I wonder if it's "students" aren't just so confused by the whole thing they don't have the time or the inclination to cause a lot of trouble.
I tried to read a couple of pages of it once and put it down in disgust. Plus, it taps into the big "Miracle, Mystery, and Authority" triad so precious to scammers of all times. Selling "miracles" is, after all, their stock-and-trade.


Ellen

maybe they pay landmark for the rights to do their work ?

For whatever it may be worth to anyone here who has an interest in the cult-like aspects of ACIM, please check out the new Wikipedia article on ACIM at:

[en.wikipedia.org]

Would like to know what people's impression of this article are.

Thanks,[/code]

I am beginning to think you are spamming this board with links to Wikipedia.

Again, Wikipedia is not a reliable source for information.

See their disclaimer [en.wikipedia.org]

"Wikipedia cannot guarantee the validity of the information found here. The content of any given article may recently have been changed, vandalized or altered by someone whose opinion does not correspond with the state of knowledge in the relevant fields."

This discussion between Ellen and Question-E. about the teachings on anger and error in A Course in Miracles, or ACIM, leaves out four crucial teachings of ACIM,

1. ACIM teaches that anger, after much work, can always ultimately be replaced with love.
2. ACIM teaches that love [b:903d5c8de1]does[/b:903d5c8de1] include the correction of error.
3. ACIM teaches that love [b:903d5c8de1]does not at all include [/b:903d5c8de1]the denial that correctable errors do exists.
4. ACIM teaches that uncorrectable error (sin) does not exist, and instead that all errors can ultimately be corrected.

So, bearing these four ACIM teachings in mind, perhaps it should be understood that ACIM teachings about anger are not to [i:903d5c8de1]condemn[/i:903d5c8de1] anger, but rather to always strive to [i:903d5c8de1]resolve[/i:903d5c8de1] anger by correcting whichever underlying situation might be its cause. Perhaps a slightly different view, of the same statement. Thanks for allowing me, with your permission, to briefly elaborate here on this ACIM teaching which seems to so often be misunderstood.

Scott P.