After a ten-day stay in Hawaii we flew to San Francisco and by bus to Tiburon, the home of The Foundation for Inner Peace. The President of the Foundation, Judy Skutch-Whitson welcomed us graciously and the next day showed us all over their offices and arranged for us to meet all the staff and associates at Tiburon. We were very grateful that someone as busy as Judy could be so attentive and hospitable to us every day we were at Tiburon. Both Judy and her husband Bill Whitson were very interested to know what has happened in Australia particularly since they both launched A Course in Miracles® here in 1980. We discussed openly many of the projects in which they are involved and it was easy to see the deep commitment each one of them has to his or her role in the team who publish and maintain the Course in it's pure form as scribed from Jesus to Helen and Bill. Judy told us that there was no overlapping of duties or intrusion into the roles played by the others in the team and it was also clear the respect and love each of them have for the others, and their clear sense of direction and their eagerness to fulfil the covenant they entered into with Jesus.
Judy's original role was to launch the Course into the world and this she did with
tremendous enthusiasm
as she Xeroxed the manuscript by hand showing it to anyone who
could be interested. She later supervised the printing of the
books after which she traveled the world including Australia with
Bill Whitson in the seventy's and early eighty's, publicly speaking
about the material. Since then she has been at the helm of the
Foundation's activities looking after copyright issues and supervising
the translations into several languages. Ken Wapnick's role, apart from his major teaching assignment in his jointly run Foundation with wife Gloria, has been to work closely with the translators making sure that the content remains unaltered. Translations have been completed in Spanish, Portuguese, German and Hebrew. Translations in many other languages are in progress.
Bob Skutch is Vice President and Treasurer as well as being responsible for the worldwide distribution of books and tapes. Judy's husband Bill Whitson is busily involved in constant discussions with various authors on copyright issues. Pam and I had noticed the orderly state of the office and Judy later explained that almost everything is now done with the computer and remarked jokingly how clever Jesus was to bring the Course into the world during the computer age when information could be disseminated quickly around the world. Visitors to the Foundation often ask to see the packing and shipping room but are told that orders received at the Foundation are relayed to the printers of the books in Tennessee by computer where they are packed, labeled and dispatched from there. The computer has also greatly simplified the work of the translators and has enabled the production of the electronic version of the Course in MS DOS, Windows and Macintosh formats. Centerlink produced these in Putnam Valley NY through the dedicated work of Ronnie Whitson (No relation to Bill).
She has also been closely working for some time with Ken Wapnick on the Course concordance. It had been an exacting and painstaking operation with constant checking and crosschecking necessary. She told us during our visit to her office that her work on the long awaited concordance should be completed soon and printing should take place early in 1996.
The Foundation for ACIM.
Ken Wapnick is the only member of the board still living on the East Coast. He also founded with his wife Gloria, the teaching organization of the Foundation for Inner Peace known as The Foundation for a Course in Miracles. We spent two weeks at this centre observing the organization and attending both a three-day workshop run by Gloria and Ken and an academy class run by Dr. Rosemarie LoSasso and Dr. Jeffrey Seibert.
Our first impression of the Centre was the remoteness of the location in the Catskill Mountains about three hours out of New York by bus. It is set alongside a lake amongst private homes and an access road goes right through the centre. I liked this openness and compared it with so many cult like communities with high walls around their buildings to keep out strangers. The accommodation varied in each building and all were very comfortable. Many were self-contained with private facilities. Plans are in hand for future expansion that will provide an increased sized lecture room, cafeteria and more student accommodation.
Being a former resort there are many leisure activities available. There is swimming in the lake, walking, tennis, table tennis and comfortable places to relax. They also have an extensive library of books and tapes (both audio and Video), but the real emphasis is on the serious study of A Course in Miracles.
We received a warm greeting from Ken and Gloria, and the next day they showed us around the whole complex, introducing us to the staff. We did not get the opportunity of socializing with the staff but in retrospect it was probably due to their being busy getting ready for the workshop in three days time. Our impression then, was that the atmosphere felt somewhat cloister-like but that suited us fine, as we needed a rest after our busy time prior to arriving.
On the Friday afternoon the atmosphere changed dramatically when the whole place burst into life as we greeted and chatted to the arriving guests. 117 people arrived from all over the US and overseas and the place was almost full. The workshop was of a very high standard with Gloria and Ken putting on a very professional presentation. The whole workshop was superbly researched and delivered and no one should have been disappointed. We did not hear anything we didn't agree with and everybody seemed to appreciate the workshop and enjoy the presentation.
This time Gloria did the lion's share of the workshop with Ken by her side quite content to add some clarifying comment or crack a joke to soften a situation that looked like getting too serious. Nothing slipped by Gloria's guard. Even if there was a only a slight incorrect inference by someone in the audience or an erroneous statement disguised as a question, Gloria with one raised eyebrow and a long quizzical look, refuse to let it slip by without comment, lest it could be construed as being in line with the teachings.
The academy classes are quite different
to the workshops, more like an extended Miracle Group. There was
some lecturing at the beginning with the usual charts and explanation
of the basic thought system but students are encouraged to actively
participate by asking questions, which were in the main very honest
and soul searching. As the days went on, students opened up more
and more, freeing them to look at their personal blocks to the
awareness of love. On this occasion Ken and Gloria were required to attend a Foundation meeting in Tiburon and could not participate in the academy classes as they usually do. However, Rosemarie and Geoff are skilled facilitators and teachers in their own right, well trained by the Wapnicks and they kept a tight but loving reign on proceedings.
The Wapnicks see their main role is to maintain the pure essence of the Course's message and they have never wavered from that responsibility.
Although A Course in Miracles® is essentially a 'self study' course, many of us can use help in understanding this totally new way of thinking. Dedicated teachers of the Wapnicks' caliber can accelerate our learning, particularly in those tentative early years when we can easily misinterpret the teaching by refusing to let go of our old irreconcilable beliefs and instead try to incorporate them into the Course's thought system.
We should also keep in mind, that no matter who the teacher is, or what they are teaching, there comes a time eventually when the student must move on and continue his learning with the help of his own internal guide who will lovingly answer every question we could ever ask. I didn't see any evidence that Ken and Gloria wanted to be gurus and in fact Ken mentioned that they soon become aware of any long time residents who become too dependent on them. I believe Ken and Gloria would consider their objective was to help students reach a point where they no longer needed a teacher. There is no greater compliment we could give any teacher in any field
"Every good teacher hopes to give his students so much of his own learning that they will one day no longer need him. This is the one true goal of the teacher." T-4.I.5