Rating: 
Summary: I liked it
Review: A completely frustrating and yet relavent book. The material written in Christian terminology is far more than what it appears to be. It seems to speak in a dualistic language, this is the light of the spirt, this is the shadow of the ego. However it's main objective is to overcome this duality, what it calls the seperation. It took me three years to read this book, sometimes in frustration I would set it aside for months at a time. In these time periods I would find myself reading material related to what the Course teaches. The teachings are not far from Taoism, and Mahayana Buddhsim, Mystic Christianity, Rumi-poetry, etc. What this book teaches however can only be experienced. Just as a Zen teacher only points the way, the book too is only pointing the way. To argue what it teaches is just getting caught up in the manipulative needs of the ego itself. So when reading it I would often get a feeling of this is good, this is bad, but after a while I really got that what it was saying in fact was. This is the limited viewpoint, this is unbridled and true self. However it does not deliniate this and that, it gives you excercises which allow you to discover this self imposed limitation of your own accord. At times it has been a very sensual experience. I have walked around all day experienceing myself and not judgeing that experience ,and what I used to judge on a day to day, moment to moment basis, as this is good, this is bad, suddenly disapeared. All I was left with was "I am" and a strange sense of premanance, a connection to all that I experienced, making me a part of the whole. Truthfuly I can not go into what i have experienced without getting poetic and I could point out several prayers ,be they Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, Judaic, Pagan, (you name it) that have said exaclty the same thing this book says. Throughout history there have been people who have had the experiences this book is leading me toward. The book has to be set aside at times to have these experiences. It is rightully a text book, eventualy you have to set it aside and practice what your mind begins to understand, because it is not the intellectual interpritation of this book, but the implementation of it's practices, that justify the ordeal I have gone through by reading it. I have read many valid arguments agaist what it teaches and I can see the arguements and agree with them. However, again, you can not argue this book, we all know what it is like to hurt, to feel pain. This book will help you transcend those limited perspectives. It does not invalidate those feelings, no, as a matter of fact, it shows you why you got there to begin with. I can go on and on about this book and never get a true description down. It takes perserverence and an open mind to get to what it is saying. I reccomend this book simply because it is a "new" profound teaching. I have no doubt that eventualy, like the Talmud, New Testament, Koran, Prajnaparamita, and the Tao Te Ching, a religion will sprout around what it says. For now it is a clean, clear, teaching that has not had ritual nor massive books reinterpriting it, to cloud it's original intent.
Rating: 
Summary: Spirituality For the Non-Religious Thinking Person
Review: This book is not for everyone; it is "A" Course, not "The" Course. It seems like a good path for someone who enjoys somewhat obscure abstract ideas and then applying them through a semi-mystical/meditative, yet Christian-framed approach. (If you are somewhat anti-Christian, don't be put off: I was at first but eventually was able to appreciate this book's completely different approach from traditional Christian religions at least as they are practiced in my limited corner of the world. However, a warning: the book uses male terminology exclusively--e.g., we are "the Son" of God rather than even "the Child" of God, but I got past this by recognizing it is a language issue not a spiritual one.) It is both theoretical and practical, a book I mine for insights nearly every day if not as constantly as I would like. When I do apply the ideas consistently I experience joy and well-being and discover new viewpoints about my life issues that help me re-frame things in ways that help me discover my own happiness and inner peace. For example, the Course has taught me to recognize more often when I project my own mistakes (not sins or even flaws) on others and to notice that when other people are behaving obnoxiously they are usually terrified of something which helps me take a more compassionate as opposed to defensive stance. It also reminds me how temporary everything is here so I don't get too caught up in anxieties and materialism.
Rating:
Summary: The Light of Truth and Destiny
Review: Words are insufficient to describe the seemingly difficult yet entirely priceless and most important journey back to Reality that this book outlines.A road map to our true treasure of Life, Light and the Absolute Love of Sumpreme Truth that is Our Truth, our origin and our destination. Abandon all illusions and embrace the Reality of a world without fear, pain, suffering or lonliness. Accept your true identity as a devine child of the One True Source and Sustaining Love of all that is real.
"Teach only love for that is what you are." (From A Course in Miracles) Welcome Home! Peace Is With Us
Rating:
Summary: The Most Beautiful and Profound Book Ever Written
Review: A Course in Miracles is so pure, so wonderful, so powerful, and so much more spiritually advanced than any other piece of the world's literature (past and present), that you have to actually experience it to believe it. But those whose minds are too attached to worldly thoughts, and lack the underlying thirst for true spiritual knowledge that is necessary for its understanding, will likely not comprehend a single whole page. That is not because ACIM is confusing - on the contrary its principles are remarkably simple - but rather because it is the nature of spiritual knowledge that those who are not ready to understand it, simply cannot understand it. As stated in the Bible, at the beginning of the book of John: "The light shineth in darkness, and darkness comprehended it not". Ever since I first became aware of the majestic and awe-inspiring presence of God, I have enjoyed reading many wonderful spiritual works like the Bible (my favourite parts are the Sermon on the Mount and Psalms), the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, the Koran and the poetry of Kabir and Rumi. None of them come close to the greatness of a Course in Miracles. Reading it with an open mind and heart, your fears and troubles wash away. You become aware of a marvelous love deep within you - deeper than anything you knew before. The future begins to seem so bright for you and your loved ones. You feel love for everyone including those you previously have tried to leave excluded. These experiences are very powerful and at times throw you off balance a little, but it is worth it: ACIM introduces you to a love so peaceful, so strong and so universal - you will wonder how so many of the world's religions, whose aim is supposedly a similar experience, got so off track. I would like to say here to any Christian who feels that his church's teachings do not truly satisfy his thirst to know a kind, merciful and loving God, but is somewhat afraid to read the Course because of others' claims that it is inconsistent with "true" Christianity: Don't worry! I have read the gospels many times and I assure you that a Course in Miracles is completely consistent with Jesus' teachings while he was on earth. Don't fear the fanatical defenders of exclusionist dogma - these poor people think themselves to be the only carriers of Jesus' message, and the only ones worthy of his blessings, while all other will go to hell. ACIM reflects Jesus' true message: unconditional love for *all people*. While he was on earth, Jesus said to judge a tree by its fruit. So give it a try and see how the fruits that ripen in your life taste. If they taste bad, you can abandon ACIM. But if they taste as sweet as mine do, and the millions of other true seekers who have found ACIM to be nothing less than a heavenly treasure, then congratulations - and may your heart always be abundantly filled with peaceful, loving joy.
Rating:
Summary: Transformative & challenging
Review: I was introduced to this book 22 years ago while struggling with a life-threatening illness and facing my mortality for the first time. I attempted to read the "text" first and found it quite difficult to comprehend. So I did the meditations for an entire year. The effect was transforming. Despite spending nine years in a Jesuit seminary, I felt I has discovered the true meaning of Jesus' words for the first time. The message of the Course in Miracles is quite simple and extraodinarily challenging -- to judge no one, accept everyone, abandon fear, give without reservation and trust that all we need to have and to understand will be provided when we need it. Each subsequent reading of the Text reveals deeper levels of meaning and greater challenge to our ways of thinking and acting. If a person thought and behaved as the Course suggests, he or she would truly become a saint. This is not a book for those looking for a quick & painless fix or "feel good" spirituality. The Course is just as demanding as Zen Buddhism, but delivered within the context of the Christian tradition. However, one need not be Christian to find value in its message. If people persist in the performing the meditations and slowly contemplating the text, their experience of life will imperceptibly and dramatically change. For a more accessible introduction to the same ideas, read Inner Christianity by Richard Smoley. The Course provides a methodology to experience the transformation that Smoley describes.
Rating:
Summary: Try it !!
Review: I ran across A Course in Miracles by in a small bookshop in the Lake District of England in 1992, and on a whim I bought it. The first pages put me off mainly because the word "miracle" has been so overused it's lost it's currency for me. The Christian terminology also put me off because of the legacy of suffering and misery the Christian religion has caused humanity. However, I stuck with it and found the message good and simple. The voice speaking through the pages is one that rings true for me. I won't claim to have practiced everything the Course teaches and maybe that's why I won't wax lyrical about the book. My whole life hasn't changed, and I don't feel better/more fulfilled than anyone who hasn't read it, still I'm glad I bought it and glad I've read it, it's helped me, and I hope if you decide to read it it helps you too. That's it !
Thanks !
Rating:
Summary: Radical, Miraculous and Transformative
Review: I've read many books that proclaimed to be life changing, but not one really stood up to its claim. This is the single one that has truly transformed my way of looking at life and people and challenges. Its thought system is totally consistent but be prepared for radical changes in your thinking and be prepared for challenges. ACIM is not for the casual reader. It is a book to study and to practice. If you can stick with it, you will be transformed or as the Course might put it, you will rediscover who you always truly were. I have been studying it for ten years, and there aren't enough stars here to click to evaluate it's worth. In our study groups I have yet to encounter anyone who has practiced it for more than a couple of years who wouldn't happily testify to its attitudinal healing and life changing capacity. I hope you find this true for you too, and you will if you are ready.
Rating:
Summary: nothing real can be threatened, nothing unreal exists
Review: Warning: Reading A Course in Miracles could be hazardous to your ego...obviously some people are threatened by this book; The course is in my estimation a benificent phenomenon on many levels. It's writing is couched in christian terminlology but its content is rife with spiritual, rational/psychological insight that mirror many spiritual paths as well as pioneering new ones. The course is by nature very radical and demands a complete re-evaluation and transfer of perception and belief from an egotistical framework to a divine psychology that aims at healing the schizm of consciousness which has made us believe we are susceptable to sickness, suffering, and death. If you are currently experiencing and are comfortable with a dysfunctional lifestyle, don't read this book, it could impair your "enjoyment", otherwise brace yourself for exposure to a potently righteous higher order of consciousness that could possibly bake your metaphysical noodle for many years to come. Go on!, be the first kid on your block to have one! "This is a required course, only the amount of time in which you choose to take it is optional." **once you get past the stigma of the christian terminology its all gravy
Rating:
Summary: Good stuff
Review: This book has served as a catalyst for a growing number enlightened writers, who have extracted the intense and sometimes impenetrable 'raw fodder' of wisdom contained in the book, and expressed it in a more manageable, commercial form. (i.e. the likes of Neale Donald Walsch, and Marriane Williamson). Due its style and intensity, it's not very accessible to the masses, but it sure serves its purpose. For me personally, it brings Christ back to Christianity.
Rating:
Summary: A Review Of All These Reviews
Review: I love Amazon book reviewers - no self-censoring! I read the ACIM materials ages ago, plus a lot of the ACIM cottage industry material as well. I must say, the reviewers here have this material covered very well! I ESPECIALLY recommend the incredibly well-thought out review (below) entitled "A fake - but a unique and important one..." Beautiful. sbyogaman, you have really provided a service here - refined truth. I also really like "It Was Like Trading Emotional Novocain For Suicide..." - such emotional honesty! Thank you for your truth also. A Course In Miracles is one of the real paradoxes of truth. It really is all that the reviewers here say it is (positive & negative). In SO many ways it is NOT like the Christ of the Gospels - yet in so many ways it adds to them. An 'important fake' indeed. For those of you who enjoy similar truths - there is a book called "God Calling" by "Two Listeners" published by A.J. Russell. If memory serves, it is the diary of two women during the war (in England, I think) who prayed a great deal and were rewarded by daily "automatic writing" from their lord, Jesus Christ. While this sounds like a phoney, if not occult 'setup' - the writings are so beautiful. Could be Jesus - and similar to ACIM. Just shorter and more poetic. Very meditative. You can find used copies everywhere - it has been a very big seller. Someone else I admire (who was inspired by ACIM) is Gerry Jampolsky. In the first edition of "Teach Only Love" he describes how a 'chance encounter' with an Indian holy man put a cynical Jampolsky so deeply into the Light that they have photographs of him being carried out of the room in a daze. Does Jampolsky then sign on as a guru worshipper? No! The guy jumps into ACIM and becomes wonderful at it's teachings! For those of you who want the fruits of ACIM but balk at it's Everest size challenges, get some Jampolsky. For anyone who finds ACIM fantastic, but need more - I would say try studying Advaita in a university course. Advaita is the centuries old teaching of Sankara and others who also understood oneness - or rather 'one without a second.' There are few commercially available books that really deal with Advaita well - although the 'Disappearance Of The Universe" shows promise. (I haven't read it.) For myself, I had been studying / practicing Zen when I first cracked open ACIM, and even just browsing the text casually - I found no conflict with the goals of ACIM and the ideas behind zen satori. How is zen similar? Try looking up the poem: "Hsin Hsin Ming" (excerpt) "The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences...
When (desire) and hate are both absent everything becomes clear and undisguised...
Make the smallest distinction, however, and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart...
If you wish to see the truth then hold no opinions for or against anything...
To set up what you like against what you dislike is the disease of the mind... The Way is perfect like vast space where nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess...
Indeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or reject that we do not see the true nature of things.../"
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