"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." -Albert Einstein
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The Library of Lessons
Is A Course In Miracles religious?
Is A Course In Miracles a religious text? No. It is a spiritual text. What is the difference between a religious practice and a spiritual practice? A religious practice is social in nature and involves participating in organized social customs that are (ideally) practiced to bring peace into daily life. A spiritual practice is a private activity you engage for relaxation and connection with nature and the cosmos which may or may not involve an organized religion.
Even though A Course In Miracles uses Christian language to describe its lessons, the book is not a religious text. Most traditional Christian religions do not recognize the book as part of the Christian worldview and even consider the work to be dangerous. On the other hand, at first glance, the work can easily be wrongly seen as religious. This can discourage non-religious readers. But A Course In Miracles is, first and foremost a spiritual text, not a religious one. And the book itself explains the difference between spiritual and religious quite eloquently.
The use of religious language in A Course In Miracles is deliberate on the part of the author. The words and phrases that were originally intended to clarify an accurate description of Reality have instead been twisted by religious institutions for centuries for their own purposes of control. Because of this misuse of language, A Course In Miracles puts great effort into reclaiming those terms and restoring them to their spiritual and truthful intent. That is also the main goal of this blog project. The purpose of this “3.0 version” of A Course In Miracles is to continue in the same spirit of the book’s own message and purpose to keep updating the language of how the spiritual ideas are conveyed to modern minds. Language changes. Language becomes dated and ineffective. But the messages of true spiritual teachings stand the test of time because what is true is eternal.
Who am I to translate this classic work?
Who am I to offer translations for the classic work A Course In Miracles?
I am someone who feels that the teachings in this book could reach more people if it were explained in a more modern way. I am someone who has completed the course several times and have made the daily lessons part of my life. I turn to the concepts in this book multiple times a day whenever I feel confused or challenged. And I receive practical guidance from the daily lessons that help me live a more peaceful and joyful life. The work helps me and I want to make the teachings available to those who do not have the time or patience to sit and plod through the archaic off-putting religious language. I want to make the work more relatable to modern vocabulary and modern analogies. I am someone who wants to update the Course to a 3.0 version.
The only way I was able to finish the 365 lessons of A Course In Miracals in one year was to redefine every religious term I did not understand. My journaling process with the book was a place where I asked questions, examined my frustrations, and overcome my irritation with the old-fashioned Christian language. After reading the book three times, I now have a very enjoyable morning spiritual practice that truly helps me deal with difficult people and confusing situations.
While reading A Course In Miracles, I began to notice that when I came to a lesson I didn’t understand, I would ask to myself, “What in the world is that supposed to mean?” and to my great surprise… later in the day at some point, on a walk or while doing dishes, I would experience an answer to my earlier question arrive in my mind, like a little bird landing.
I felt reluctant at first to share with others how I was redefining the religious terms found in A Course In Miracles because in part I didn’t want to offend religious people and in part because I didn’t want people to think I was a traditional religious Christian. But the Course itself often encourage the reader to put the day’s message into one’s own words. So, with the book’s own encouragement, I started to create variations of the daily teachings that offered a more secular language.
I do not feel my commentary in my modern translation of A Course In Miracles should ever replace the original publication because that publication was a transmission. It holds more energy and power than any translation ever could. My 3.0 version is only offering modern guide and help for readers to go to when something in the Course slows them down.
Spiritual teachings endure throughout all the ages of time because an effort is made to reconnect the messages with more useful language of the times. The book itself encourages the readers to put the lessons into their own words. And that is what I’ve done in my book series to help readers finish the 365 lessons.
Completing A Course In Miracles A Modern Translation
Do you find these blogs helpful? Please consider buying my self-published book to support my efforts. In this book series, I offer a modern, non-religious translation of the daily lessons with guided details for each day’s exercises. Available in ebook or print.