Living a Course in Miracles

1. The Course is a Required Mind Training to Undo Blocks to Love.

It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is your natural inheritance.

A different way. A Course in Miracles is presented as a unique, self-instructional spiritual document calling for a total reversal in thinking. It asserts that our perception is upside down and backwards, asking us to stop looking for the inside on the outside. The Course is simple and direct, but our convoluted minds make it seem difficult to understand or accept.

Required curriculum. This is a required course in the curriculum of life, which is seen as a classroom for learning. While the time we take it is voluntary, the lessons are basic and unavoidable. We are here to learn how to remove the barriers we have built against love, which is our natural state.

Goal: Peace and happiness. The Course aims at healing all distorted frames of reference and regaining control of our right mind. It helps develop qualities like trust, honesty, tolerance, and patience. The ultimate goal is inner peace, happiness, and returning to Heaven by remembering our true identity as a child of God.

2. The World We See is an Illusion, a Dream Made by the Ego.

What if you recognized this world is an hallucination?

Not home. The Course teaches that the world we seem to live in is not our true home; it is an illusion, a dream, a "consensus reality" made up by collective egos over millions of years. This dream world is characterized by insanity, conflict, and suffering, reflecting the mind's withdrawal into isolation.

Dreamer within the dream. We are the dreamers of this world, constantly making it up through our thoughts and interpretations. Everything we see is a projection, an assertion from our own mind, not an external fact. We are trapped in this dream because we think the world is dreaming for us, rather than recognizing ourselves as the image maker.

No world! The central thought the Course attempts to teach is that there is no world in reality. It is a thought, a fantasy, something happening within time, which is itself an illusion. Recognizing that we are dreaming allows us to change our perception of the dream and choose peace instead of the ego's fearful projections.

3. The Ego is the Belief in Separation, the Source of Guilt and Fear.

The ego is the mind’s belief that it is completely on its own.

Tiny, mad idea. The ego began with a "tiny, mad idea" that the Son of God could think a thought apart from God, leading to the belief in separation. This thought is an error, a misperception, a fantasy that has nothing to do with truth. The ego is nothing, an idea that never occurred in reality, but seems everything within the dream.

Self at the center. The ego places the self at the center of the universe, making our comfort, needs, and status our first concern. This self-absorption gives rise to the entire ego thought system, characterized by selfishness, aloneness, and insanity. The ego is a "will" in opposition to God's Will, liking the idea of being a separated individual.

Guilt and fear. The belief in separation from God brings shame and guilt into the mind. Guilt is the psychological experience of believing we have sinned, leading to fear of punishment. The ego's purpose is to keep us guilty, as guilt is the most "holy" concept in its system, providing testimony to its reality.

4. Projection Makes Perception and Maintains the Illusion.

Projection makes perception.

Mirror, not fact. Perception is the process of giving meaning and value to what we see, hear, or think, and it is a reflection of our own thinking, not a fact. We superimpose our interpretations on the world, believing that what we see is reality. This process is driven by projection.

Getting rid of guilt. The ultimate purpose of projection is always to get rid of guilt. Believing that some emptiness or lack exists in us, we project our guilt outward onto others. This reinforces the belief in separation, making us feel different from and more important than those onto whom we project.

Attack and defense. Anger and attack are primary forms of projection, means by which we refuse to acknowledge our own guilt and responsibility. We blame others, saying "The problem is not in me—it's in you," which justifies our anger and attack. Defenses, like denial and projection, are mechanisms used to protect ourselves from perceived threats, but they are foolish guardians of mad illusions.

5. We Are Not Bodies; the Body is the Ego's Tool for Separation.

I am not a body.

Ego's home. The body is the central figure in the dreaming of the world and the ego's chosen home. It is a thought of separation projected by the mind into form, representing a tiny segment of Heaven splintered off from the whole. We are almost 100% identified with the body, believing it is who we are, despite its destructible and temporary nature.

Proof of physicality. The body provides overwhelming evidence that we are physical beings doomed to suffer, grow old, and die. Preoccupation with the body's needs, appetites, pains, and pleasures makes the world seem real and makes it easy to forget God. Pain and pleasure are seen as proof of the body's veracity and the ego's existence.

Learning device. The body itself is neutral, neither good nor bad. Its sole purpose is the one given to it by the mind: to serve as a teaching device for learning how to awaken from the dream. Placed in Spirit's hands, it can be a helpful tool on the journey Home, used to enlarge our perception and achieve real vision, of which the physical eye is incapable.

6. The Holy Spirit is the Inner Teacher Guiding Us Back to Reality.

His Voice will direct you very specifically.

Voice for God. The Holy Spirit is the Voice for God, the Christ Mind, the Light, and the communication link between us and God. It is a thought in our mind that helps us understand our right-mindedness, a memory of God's Son that has never been lost, only clouded by our dreaming. The Holy Spirit is God's answer to the separation, the decision to heal it.

Inner guide. This Inner Teacher is a loving, wise, gentle guide who knows the way Home. It is an indwelling spirit, a spark, a counselor, comforter, healer, and mediator. The Holy Spirit's voice does not command or demand; it merely reminds us of what we are.

God's Plan for Salvation. The Holy Spirit is our guidance system, God's Plan for Salvation (G.P.S.), designed to bring us Home. It lays out a path leading directly back to Oneness. While we have free will and often choose to follow the ego's detours, the Holy Spirit is always there, recalculating and providing guidance, waiting for our willingness to listen.

7. Forgiveness is the Undoing of Guilt and the Key to Awakening.

By offering complete forgiveness to everyone, including ourselves, we undo guilt.

Reversing projection. Forgiveness is the process of undoing the ego's belief in separation and releasing our projections. Seeing that projection makes perception, we can choose to see things differently, from a position of mindfulness rather than insanity. When we forgive, we stop projecting our guilt outward onto others.

Letting go of the past. Guilt is always about the past, a painful feeling arising when we believe we have hurt the whole or oneness. Forgiveness means leaving the past in the past, recognizing that we could not have had a different past, and releasing it for correction. Holding a grievance is painful and keeps us from remembering who we are.

Seeing innocence. Forgiveness is not making the other wrong and then pardoning them; it is recognizing that there was nothing to forgive because sin is not real. It is seeing past the ego's illusions to the innocence within ourselves and others. As we exempt our brother from the projection of guilt, we are set free ourselves.

8. True Reality is Timeless Oneness, Free from Judgment and Specialness.

Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.

Beyond physics. The metaphysics of the Course points to a reality beyond the physical world of space and time. God (Love, Truth, Heaven) is wholly real, formless, abstract, and eternal. The ego's world is wholly illusory, a dream happening within time, which is itself an illusion.

Oneness is all-encompassing. Only perfect Oneness exists, and what is all-encompassing can have no opposite. God is Oneness, encompassing all things. There is no division, no separation, and therefore no conflict or judgment in reality. Oneness is endless, timeless, and within our grasp.

No specialness. Specialness is the thought of sin made real, a false concept of self that sees us as exclusive, better, or worse than others. It is a form of separation and the loss of peace. True reality is Oneness, where everyone is equal, and there is no need for comparison or judgment. Dropping specialness is awakening into eternal life.

9. The Power of Decision is Our Last Remaining Freedom.

The power of decision is our last remaining freedom.

Choice point. In this world, we are constantly making decisions. While we cannot establish the curriculum of life, we can elect what we want to take at a given time. The Course emphasizes the importance of the decision-maker, the part of the mind that chooses between the ego and the Holy Spirit.

Aligning the mind. Mind is fundamental and never loses its creative force. We are free to believe whatever we want and choose to align our minds with the Holy Spirit (right-mindedness) or the ego (wrong-mindedness). Right-mindedness is the willingness to turn things over to the Holy Spirit.

Choosing peace. Every choice we make establishes our identity as we see it. We are always at a point of decision between truth and illusion, between love and fear. Choosing peace is always possible in any moment. When we learn to decide with God, all decisions become easy and right, like breathing.

10. Practice, Vigilance, and Willingness are Essential for Changing the Mind.

This is a course in mind training.

Undisciplined mind. Our minds are totally undisciplined, easily wandering into misthoughts, fantasies, and projections. We have overlearned the ego's lessons and become addicted to wrong-minded thinking and habits. To return to mindfulness and reason, we need mind training.

Vigilance and correction. Spiritual development requires discipline, perseverance, and alertness. We must be vigilant against the ego's demands and watch our minds carefully for beliefs that hinder our progress. Recognizing and correcting destructive patterns of thinking is essential.

Willingness to let go. Changing our minds is a matter of willingness. We must be willing to let all littleness go, to set aside old habits and thoughts that no longer serve us. Consistent effort and practice, like the daily lessons in the Workbook, help retrain the mind and make miracle-mindedness a natural habit.

11. Suffering Comes from Believing in the Ego's Plan; Peace Comes from Accepting God's.

You want to be happy. You want peace.

Ego's plan. The ego has a plan for salvation based on separation, guilt, and fear, which leads to suffering. We believe in this plan and often resist God's plan, which is based on love and forgiveness. Suffering is an emphasis upon what the world has done to injure us, a consequence of seeing ourselves as victims.

Accepting responsibility. The secret of salvation lies in recognizing that regardless of what is happening, we are doing it unto ourselves through our decision-making mind. Accepting responsibility for what we see, the feelings we experience, and the goals we pursue is the answer to victimhood. Acknowledging our mistakes allows their effects to disappear.

Choosing happiness. We do not have happiness and peace now because our minds are undisciplined and we cannot distinguish between joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, love and fear. Learning to tell them apart and choosing for God's plan, which brings peace, is the path to happiness. There is no need to learn through pain; gentle lessons are acquired joyously.

Last updated: May 10, 2025