Exploring A Course in Miracles

Marianne Williamson is running for president. The person who is probably most associated in the public mind with A Course in Miracles is running for the most powerful office in the world. What should we as Course students think and feel about that? Some believe the Course has nothing to do with politics. But what does the Course itself say? In this episode, Emily and Robert talk about Marianne's c...

Blessing is a familiar concept in our culture. We say "bless you" when someone sneezes or offer a blessing before a meal. Blessing has also been part of religion and spirituality for millennia, where it is seen as transferring sacred power to another person. Interestingly, blessing is also an important topic in A Course in Miracles , where it is referred to nearly 300 times. These references are a...

Spiritual bypassing is defined as using spiritual truth to sidestep the work of facing issues on a personal, interpersonal, or societal level. This is a topic that has been associated with A Course in Miracles due in part to the Course's core teaching of unconditional forgiveness as well as the teaching that, no matter what we do to each other here - including the worst of what human beings do to...

The "holy instant" is a lovely term in A Course in Miracles. Who wouldn't want to experience a holy instant? Yet unclarity abounds regarding this key aspect of the Course's path. Join Robert and Emily as they cover a wide range of topics regarding the holy instant, including: What is a holy instant? What are the benefits? How do you know if you are having one? What are examples of holy instants? W...

#spiritualawakening #spiritualpodcasts #spirituality #acourseinmiracles In this episode, Robert and Emily finish their tour through the ten traits of the spiritually advanced from the Manual for Teachers of A Course in Miracles. The final trait is open-mindedness, which the Course says is perhaps the last trait we acquire. That's because it involves truly opening our minds about who people are. Ou...

We are nearing the end of our tour through the ten traits of the spiritually advanced. This week Robert and Emily talk about patience and faithfulness and, as usual, the Course has unique things to say about both. First, it says that the basis for genuine patience is trust. If we truly trust in the outcome, we can wait with no anxiety whatsoever. In addition, the concept of faithfulness here is no...

As we continue our tour through the 10 traits of the spiritually advanced from the Manual for Teachers of A Course in Miracles, our episode this week centers on defenselessness and generosity. How can we be defenseless in an attacking world? What does the Course say about the kind of generosity required of someone spiritually advanced? Join Robert and Emily for closer look at this very important C...

In this episode we cover the fourth and fifth characteristics of the spiritually advanced: gentleness and joy. However much we may admire gentleness, we worry that in a stubborn world it's simply too weak to get the job done. But could it be that we have underestimated what the Course calls the "limitless the strength of gentleness"? Gentleness is so strong, says the Course, that it can grant us j...

This episode of Exploring A Course in Miracles covers honesty and tolerance, the second and third characteristics of the spiritually advanced in the Manual for Teachers. Perhaps we see these as beginner traits, far below the spiritual heights, but the Course grants them a much loftier significance. It speaks of an extreme form of honesty, which it calls "perfect honesty" and which we might call ul...

With this podcast we are embarking on a six-episode series, something we haven't done before. The series is on the remarkable section in the Course on "What Are the Characteristics of God's Teachers?" This section lays out ten character traits of the spiritual advanced. What kind of person are we aiming to become on the spiritual path? What kind of character will have as we near the end? That is w...

We often think of goals as being out of keeping with spiritual awakening.  A Course in Miracles, however, believes in the importance of goals.  It encourages the same kind of goal-directed behavior that an Olympic athlete might use, except that now we set and pursue spiritual goals, rather than material ones. The reason is simple: Reaching any sort of destination is a function of how much energy y...

This podcast episode features Jeffrey Mishlove, Ph. D., the first-prize winner of the Bigelow Institute contest for essays on the evidence for survival of physical death. He was the host of the long-running PBS series Thinking Allowed, and is currently the host of the YouTube series New Thinking Allowed. Circle founder Robert Perry and executive director Emily Bennington talk with Jeffrey about ev...

We hope you will join in for a conversation that is more personal than usual to learn practices that will benefit your own relationships. Holy relationships are a bit of a mystery. What makes them work? What throws them off track? In this podcast, Circle founder Robert Perry and executive director Emily Bennington will share what they are learning within their own holy relationship. In particular,...

Wouldn't we all love to have our material needs effortlessly supplied by God? What does the Course say about this idea? In the second of our 2-part series on "Manifesting and A Course in Miracles," Robert and Emily discuss places in the Course that address trusting God with the physical journey of our lives which includes our finances, possessions, and circumstances.

One of the most influential spiritual teachings of our time is that our thoughts create our reality and that we can use our thoughts to manifest the things we desire.  We do this by employing "the law of attraction."  Does A Course in Miracles teach anything like this? Does the Course address it? And, apart from manifesting, does the Course ever say that through our use of spiritual means our mate...

We consider being well-adjusted to be the epitome of mental health. But what if we are adjusting to an insane world? Could we be like good cult members who learn to blend right in with the craziness around them? What is the origin of our obsession with adjustment? Listen as Robert and Emily discuss the true results of adjusting to insanity and what A Course in Miracles recommends as our way out.

In this bonus episode, Circle of Atonement executive director Emily Bennington shares how Jesus' original message changed our world and asks, "Are we willing to make our lives, even in their most ordinary details, a witness to our care for others? Can we truly reorient ourselves towards living his love ethic?"

Fear is an emotion that undermines all of us, draining our strength and ruining our peace.  Thank goodness, then, A Course in Miracles contains extensive teaching on fear—on its cause and its solution. We tend to believe that fear is caused directly in us by outside events, and that the only way to dispel it is to master our fear and assert our power.  But there's another way. The Course teaches t...

The Golden Rule (e.g. "do unto others as you would have them do unto you") is found in all the world's great religions. The language used may be different, but the wisdom behind it is the same. Accordingly, it's safe to say there is something about The Golden Rule that has commanded humanity's universal respect. But does it have a place in A Course in Miracles? Indeed, the Course does contain a wh...

We see ourselves, quite naturally, as being on a physical journey in which we are constantly trying to control our external circumstances in order to erect a good life.  But while we are engrossed in that project, we are simultaneously on another journey, a spiritual journey.  In this podcast, Circle founder Robert Perry and executive director Emily Bennington discuss the relationship between thes...

There is no more basic and universal response to the Divine than prayer.  Yet we all have questions about how to do it.  Whom do we pray to?  What do we pray for?  How can we pray most effectively?  These questions can be especially confusing for students of A Course in Miracles, who often wonder if we should pray at all. Yet there is no mystery about any of these questions in the Course itself. ...

Author's Note: "This is an edited version of a very long email I sent to the Circle board on January 30, 2002. I had recently discovered the guidance Helen received on December 31, 1975, in which Jesus spoke of the Course growing 'from infancy into a helper of the world.' This guidance electrified me because it so closely mirrored long-time guidance and thoughts of my own about the Course's purpos...

Millions of people are streaming out of the Christian church these days. Most of them are unaware that A Course in Miracles may be the perfect landing spot for them. The Course was intentionally written to those who were rooted in the Christian tradition yet also need healing from it. It brings to the foreground all that we loved about Jesus and Christianity, but that was buried beneath so much th...

A Course in Miracles says that Heaven is "merely an awareness of perfect oneness." Yet it also talks about God, Christ, Sons of God, our creations, the Holy Spirit, and angels all being within that oneness. So how do we resolve that? Are those names just different ways of talking about the oneness? Or are there distinct beings within the oneness? And if there are, is it still "perfect oneness"? If...

Many students ask us what A Course in Miracles has to say about plants and animals? If the world around us is an illusion, what does that mean for nature? Should we just ignore it? We usually assume that humans have great worth and intelligence, but we don't tend to grant that same assumption to plants and animals. In light of this, when the Course talks about animals, plants, and even grains of s...