Tips for Beginners undertaking study of A COURSE IN MIRACLES
My congratulations on your beginning a great journey!
1. Familiarize yourself with a textbook (T), a Workbook for Students (365
lessons) (WB), and a Manual for Teachers (TM).
2. Read the INTRODUCTION, the famous paragraph beginning, "This is a course in
Miracles", found just behind the table of contents in the T, over several times.
Review it frequently until its profundity begins to penetrate your being. One
study group I have attended reads it at the start of each meeting.
3. Turn to the end of the volume, TM page 73, entitled CLARIFICATION OF TERMS.
Read the Introduction and the six essential small essays and the EPILOGUE in
this section. These should be read over several times because they contain terms
and concepts that are the basis for ACIM and do not mean what you might expect
by common usage. You need not read all these in one sitting, nor is it
recommended, because there is so much critically important information in them
and you want to give yourself time to assimilate them.
4. Turn to the WB, (about the middle of the book) and read the INTRODUCTION over
carefully. The author is very specific about how to undertake the lessons.
5. Start with lesson #1 and try to do a lesson every day, sequentially. Do not
be discouraged with the fact that the first 40 lessons seem to negate everything
you hold true. This is a "divine software program" for your mind and you will
come to see the value in "deactivating" the "old program" prior to installing
the new one.
6. Read the first article in the Textbook (TB) , "Fifty Characteristics of
Miracles". This will give you an idea of what a miracle is and further clarify
what Course is about.
7. Do the lessons as close to daily as suits you.
8. Try to read a few paragraphs or a few sections in the TB as frequently as you
are moved to, beginning with Chapter 1. There is no rush. Reading and reflecting
lets it sink in. Only every other sentence is profound. The other ones are just
important.
9. Any time you wish, feel free to read sequentially in the TM, especially if
you want to see where ACIM is going. In fact, The Teachers Manual is easier
reading than the Text.
10. The idea of the course is not scholarship. It is forgiveness, peace and
happiness.
Lovingly,
Philip B. Rothenberg, MD
Philip B. Rothenberg, M.D., is a retired plastic surgeon, practicing in Houston, for over 20 years, he has enjoyed long-standing interests in spirituality, alternative medicine, healing, archeology and comparative religions. He is a devoted student of A Course in Miracles and facilitates Carmel's ongoing ACIM study group every Monday night at 7:30 P.M. in the Carmel Temple Annex.