A Course in Miracles® entered the world in the last quarter of the 20th.Century. For those who found themselves inexplicably drawn to the teaching, life would never be the same again.
Two people who regarded their work as a sacred trust scribed it. They did not want their names printed as authors because they knew the material came from a higher source and not their individual egos. They sought neither fame nor recognition and wanted no personal gain to come from their many years of service to birth this book. Nor did they attempt to teach it publicly.
Never before has a thought system so different and so totally devoid of ego been presented to mankind with such possibilities. Many realizing what they had in their hands gathered people around them and began to teach. Some attempted to develop their own learning program to simplify the most superbly self-contained learning program the world has ever seen.
I believe this Course emanated from infinite Mind and only the grandiosity of the ego could think it could be improved upon. Attempts to clarify it or explain it have inevitably fallen short because the explanation had to be made through the perception of an ego mind.

Self-study Course?

Over the years new students have constantly asked us: - "Where do I go to learn this Course?" or "Where can I find a teacher of the Course." Usually the questioner has heard about the Course or just purchased A Course in Miracles® and wants to find some external teacher to help them learn it. Egos are always looking for the latest thing and 'wants it now!' In the early days of the Course's introduction into the world, discussion groups flourished everywhere the Course was available. In their excited enthusiasm many students who recognized the magnitude and flawless quality of the material wanted to be part of it becoming fired up with the desire to teach others, sometimes with evangelistic fervor. In our case we became the importer of the books into Australia, ran an ongoing discussion group for 9 years, brought out overseas speakers and organized many week end workshops. I realized some years ago that I only taught the Course to learn it and I learned it only so I could correctly practice its teaching with the people I encounter in my life.
Is A Course in Miracles® an extremely complex document that we can never master without the expert advice of those more intellectual, intelligent and cleverer than us, or is it a self study course learned totally within our mind by the practical application of its principles with the constant help of the Holy Spirit? I have come to learn by experience that it is the latter.
Firstly, it should be restated that this Course is not for everyone. If it isn't for you be not dismayed, there are thousands of pathways that lead to God.
If it is your pathway, you will know it whether you are ready for it, or you are not. When you are ready, it will be so compelling you will not be able to resist learning it. You would most certainly need to have the little willingness, which the Course says is a prerequisite. This is not to say you won't resist doing or thinking what it is saying. Any teaching that is so powerfully transformational is bound to upset your apple cart. But as displeased, as your ego might be to read this material, there will be part of you that knows it to be true. It says in the workbook

"Some of the ideas the workbook presents you will find hard to believe, and others may seem to be quite startling. This does not matter. You are merely asked to apply the ideas as you are directed to do. You are not asked to judge them at all. You are asked only to use them. It is their use that will give them meaning to you, and will show you that they are true". W-in.8.

"Training is always Highly Individualized" M-9.1.

It is impossible for us to second-guess what the Holy Spirit and/or Jesus has in mind for each and every one of us. Only Jesus and the Holy Spirit know what we individually need at any particular time. It is only the arrogance of the ego that could think up a learning program, which would improve the perfect one devised by the Voice for God.
Is this Course hard to do? Do you need to be an intellectual to learn it? Certainly not! There are many references in the Course to the effect that "this course is simple and can be understood."
References
T-11.VIII.1.,T-15.IV.6.,T-16.V.16.,T-20.VII.1.-,T-21.II.1,T-31.IV.7,C-in.3.
God gave us the Holy Spirit at the time of the apparent separation. Nothing we can do can remove this Voice for God implanted permanently in our mind. We can refuse to listen to it, and not do what it says, but we cannot ever be rid of it. The Holy Spirit's patience and gentleness knows the perfect way for each one of us to learn this Course. He knows how different are these ideas to our 'normal' way of thinking and how our ego will resist using them.
You could learn this Course alone on a desert island if you had the desire. In my work with the Course I have met many students who have been studying A Course in Miracles® alone without a teacher, or even contact with other students or groups for a number of years. I am amazed what a wonderful pure unspoiled understanding of the Course they have developed. I am convinced that with the required little willingness anyone could learn this Course.
I remember well when I spent a year studying the Course on my own. I was convinced of the Course's integrity as it was affecting me in a way I had never experienced. Sure I struggled with the language at first, which seems strange to me now as I now find all other writings fail in comparison with the beautiful prose of the Course. When I came across a passage I could not grasp I asked sincerely that I be shown the meaning and just carried on reading.
The next morning I might be having a shower or doing something equally mundane, not even thinking about the Course or the passage that troubled me, when a perfect explanation (for me at least) of that difficult passage would leap into my head. It was as if the Holy Spirit or Jesus was tutoring me in a manner just right for me. That is why I know without doubt that anyone wanting to sincerely learn this Course can do so.
I always suggest to new students that they work on their own for a while to get a feeling for what the book says to them. After that an external teacher might be beneficial to speed things along. If you are like me, you can use all the help you can get. The trap is making them special and using them as a substitute for direct communication with the Holy Spirit. It is a teacher's role to become redundant when the pupil has learned what he can from him. All good teachers know this.

"The ego analyses, the Holy Spirit accepts" T-11.V.13.

Analyzing the Course in minute detail can become an ego substitution for learning the Course through the diligent application of the workbook lessons and the corrective thinking outlined in the text. No one can truly analyze the workbook lessons for everybody, because it is beyond anybody's skill to second guess Holy Spirit's most appropriate approach for each one of us to best fulfil God's plan.
Each will get his own experience from sincerely doing each lesson and it will more than likely be different from somebody else's doing the same workbook lesson. The method may vary but the end result will be the same.
Knowing the terminology is important but you would work it out in your own time with the Holy Spirit's guidance. Sometimes in the beginning you can save time by listening to an earthly teacher who has been working with the material longer than you have. However it is a mistake to linger too long analyzing the material instead of doing what it says. The relationships in your life will provide all the lessons you need and when all problems are handed over to the Holy Spirit the loving solution will present itself to you in your mind.

When the workbook is completed it has to be just you and the Holy Spirit as it says in the epilogue to the workbook.

"No more specific lessons are assigned, for there is no more need of them. Henceforth, hear but the Voice for God and for your Self when you retire from the world, to seek reality instead. He will direct your efforts, telling you exactly what to do, how to direct your mind, and when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure direction and His certain Word. His is the Word that God has given you. His is the Word you chose to be your own." W.ep.3.

You can only learn this Course with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Nowhere in the Course does it say that we need to join a group or be involved in any organization teaching the Course. Nor would the Course say that there is anything wrong with these as social activities. It is always pleasant to share ideas with like-minded people.
However in the end the Course can only be learned on you own as you face your own 'demons' and by removing your personal blocks to the awareness of love.
Our real lessons will come from our interactions with those in our lives and everybody we meet or even think of, under the constant guidance from the Voice for God within.

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Bill McDonald