Exploring A Course in Miracles

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 that our fear is entirely caused from within, by how we choose to think. Listen to Circle of Atonement founder Robert Perry and executive director Emily Bennington in this podcast recording, and learn why the Course says complete freedom from fear is within our reach.

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 whole teaching about the Golden Rule. Listen now to this conversation between Robert and Emily, to find out what it is and how to apply it to your life.

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 these two journeys, as well as which is the real one of our lives.

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.  The Course contains extensive instruction on prayer, roughly 200 references to prayer, and over 150 actual prayers. Out of all this arises a groundbreaking and truly beautiful approach to prayer.  It is this approach that Robert and Emily discuss in this episode.

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 purpose in the world. And since my guidance and thoughts were also about the Circle’s role, I felt this guidance indirectly supported my sense about the Circle’s part in the Course’s destiny." We hope you enjoy this episode!

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 that was confusing, divisive, and hurtful. Join Circle founder Robert Perry and executive director Emily Bennington as they open a dialogue on this very important topic.

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 you want to learn more about the Course's teaching on oneness (including how it does and doesn't connect with nonduality), you will not want to miss this episode of Exploring A Course in Miracles with Circle founder Robert Perry and executive director Emily Bennington.

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 sand and waves on the ocean, it offers us a surprisingly different perspective. In this fascinating conversation, Robert Perry and Emily Bennington ask us to consider the concept of all living things being an honored part of the Sonship, and how this can help us heal a world that is in desperate need of healing.

Roger Walsh, professor of psychiatry and religious studies at University of California at Irvine, has been with the Course from nearly the beginning and has practiced the Course on a daily basis for decades. He brings a breadth of learning into how the Course relates to the world’s great spiritual traditions as well as the unique contributions it offers. His interests focus on topics such as exceptional psychological health and wellbeing, practices to cultivate them such as meditation, yoga and lifestyle, virtues such as wisdom and altruism, transpersonal and integral studies. During this episode with Roger we discuss guidance, Bill Thetford stories, relationships, forgiveness, the Christian dimension of the Course, and much more.