D. Patrick Miller - Understanding a Course in Miracles: The History, Message, and Legacy of a Spiritual Path for Today

Copyright 2008, 1997 by D. Patrick Miller

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except brief excerpts for the purpose of review, without written permission of the publisher.

Celestial Arts
an imprint of Ten Speed Press
PO Box 7123
Berkeley, California 94707
www.tenspeed.com

Distributed in Australia by Simon and Schuster Australia, in Canada by Ten Speed Press Canada, in New Zealand by Southern Publishers Group, in South Africa by Real Books, and in the United Kingdom and Europe by Publishers Group UK.

This book is a revised edition of The Complete Story of the Course (Fearless Books, 1997; 978-0-96568-090-5)

Portions from A Course in Miracles, The Song of Prayer, and Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process, and Practice copyright 1978, 1985, 1992, 1996 by the Foundation for Inner Peace, Inc., PO Box 598, Mill Valley, CA
94942.

Portions of Absence from Felicity, A Course in Miracles and Christianity: A Dialogue, and the unpublished papers of Helen Schucman are reprinted by the permission of Kenneth Wapnick, PhD, and the Foundation for A Course in Miracles.

Transcribed portions of the audiotape The Universal Course are published by permission of Miracle Distribution Center and Roger Walsh, PhD.

Portions of The Guru Papers are reprinted by permission of Frog Ltd. and North Atlantic Books.

Portions of Double Vision are reprinted by permission of Celestial Arts.

The ideas represented herein are the personal interpretation and understanding of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher of A Course in Miracles.

This book is the result of an independent journalistic effort and is in no way financed or sanctioned by the Foundation for Inner Peace, the Foundation for A Course in Miracles, or any other Course-related organization.

Brief portions of this book are revised excerpts of articles originally appearing in Free Spirit (Brooklyn, NY) and The Sun: A Magazine of Ideas (Chapel Hill, NC).

Library of Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Miller, D. Patrick, 1953
Understanding A course in miracles : the history, message, and legacy of a spiritual path for today / Patrick Miller.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-80779-3
1. Course in miracles. I. Title.
BP605.C68M58 2008
299.93dc22
2007051291

v3.1

Most of us have that one friend we consider different, strange, or a bit weird. I had one such person in my life. She was absolutely addicted to the mystical, magical, metaphysical things in life, which she felt compelled to share with me. She was in search of what she called the keys to a better life. That search took her into many places I dared not go, but I would listen and indulge her because I loved her spunk and energy. I rarely engaged with what she offered until 1986, when she gave me a gift that changed my life forever. The gift was the three-volume set of A Course in Miracles: the Text, the Workbook, and the Manual for Teachers. With this gift she gave me three simple directives, which I promptly forgot.

Two years later, I had yet to crack open my friends gift. Quite frankly, I was not at first impressed by the unattractive blue cover with the dull gold inscription, but I was compelled to pick the book up the day my life fell apart. I was desperate, depressed, and dead broke, packing to move away from the city of my birth and out of a long-term relationship, and crying and begging God for something, anything, to ease my pain. I was afraid to move forward, unable to stay where I was, and totally confused about my current situation. In a miraculous moment, I was drawn into volume I, the Text. The book fell open to chapter 6, The Lessons of Love. It was in that moment that I remembered my friends first directive: It doesnt matter where you start reading, just start. So I did. Several hours later, when I attempted to put the book down, I had a pounding headache. It was then that I remembered her second directive: Do not try to understand what you read. Take it in and the Holy Spirit will do the rest. The next day, I went back to the beginning of the book. I read the story of how the Course came to be and the list of Principles of Miracles. In the process I remembered my friends third instruction: Be willing to give up everything you think you know and have it replaced with the truth. If you can do that, your life will never be the same. It hasnt been.

I have been a serious student of A Course in Miracles since 1988. Unlike you, I did not have a book like the one you are holding in your hands. There were no websites that explained or supported the teachings of the Course, and there were few writers like D. Patrick Miller who could explain how to understand or study it. My journey through the Course was sometimes arduous, often challenging, one of pure faith and desire. Each chapter and lesson took me deeper into places within myself that I never knew existed. Each revelation propelled me into a closer connection with the Holy Spirit. Along the way, my thinking shifted; my understanding of myself and Gods purpose for my life unfolded and deepened; my heart opened and the fear that once plagued me has dissipated. Today, twenty years later, I can say that my weird friend was absolutely correct: as a student and advocate of the Course, I have seen my life change miraculously and I have never been the same. Every student of the Course has a favorite chapter or lesson. My favorite lessons are 107, Truth will correct all errors in my mind, and 131, No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth. If you are holding this book, it is a safe bet that you are willing to seek and know the truth about yourself, about life, and about the love of God in your life. With the supportive insight of D. Patrick Miller, you will not fail. He will explain to you not only how to understand the Course, but also how to apply its teachings to every experience of your life. That is the goal of the Course; for each student to apply its teachings in a practical way and, in doing so, become a teacher of its message. If you are willing and open to knowing the true meaning and viability of the presence of love in your life, you will not fail. Patrick is a gentle and compassionate teacher, with the ability to explain the mystical and reveal the metaphysical in a clear and concise manner. He has lived and learned the viability of practicality. He shares his knowledge with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in loving service to the world. He gets the Course because he has been willing to exchange darkness for light and ignorance for knowledge. He understands that life is a curriculum, established to teach us the distinction between what is real and what is not. He is grateful for all that he has experienced and learned.Accepting this knowledge in gratitude will lead you into a deeper understanding by dissolving the errors present in your mind.