Exploring A Course in Miracles

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 Course teaching and how to apply it to our lives. The Circle of Atonement is a nonprofit sharing the wisdom of A Course in Miracles since 1993. Our mission is to help students achieve a deeper understanding of Course teachings and apply them in everyday life. Our work grows out of our commitment to be as faithful as possible to what A Course in Miracles says, our years of dedication to walking this path ourselves, and our desire to see the Course’s purpose realized in the lives of students and in the world. Learn more at https://circleofa.org/

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 joy. Not as a fleeting emotion, but as a constant state, so constant that it’s one of our character traits. Please join Robert and Emily as they discuss these two traits and how we can acquire them.

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 ultra-integrity. Likewise, it speaks of an extreme kind of tolerance, in which we are so tolerant that all things are equally acceptable and everyone is our brother. Please join Robert Perry and Emily Bennington as they discuss these two traits and how we can acquire them.

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 what this series will attempt to answer. In this episode, we introduce the series and dive into the first characteristic: trust. The section repeatedly emphasizes that all the other traits rest on the foundation of trust. It is essential, therefore, to understand what this trust is. What exactly are we trusting? What does this trust look like? How do we develop it? What kind of life does it produce? Circle founder Robert Perry and executive director Emily Bennington address these questions and more.

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 you consistently put in its direction.  And that is what goals are about: deciding you want to get somewhere and putting consistent energy in that direction.  If you are open to being more goal-directed in your pursuit of the ultimate goal, the goal of God, join Robert and Emily as they discuss four principles from A Course in Miracles for setting and pursuing spiritual goals, the only ones that truly matter in life.

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 evidence for life after death and for the spiritual nature of reality, and what this means for our lives and the future of humanity.

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, they will describe what they call the “three legs of the stool,” each of which is crucial to a relationship that is both holy and whole.

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 material needs can be effortlessly met?  Join Circle founder Robert Perry and executive director Emily Bennington for a discussion on “Manifesting and A Course in Miracles.”

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.