Helen Cohn Schucman | |
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Died | February 9, 1981 (aged 71) New York City |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Professor of medical psychology, Columbia University |
Known for | A Course In Miracles (ACIM) |
The seminal event which led to the scribing and eventual publication of A Course in Miracles took place on a June afternoon in 1965 when Dr. William Thetford made his now famous and impassioned statement to Dr. Helen Schucman: “ There must be another way! ” Bill was specifically addressing the ongoing conflicts that he and Helen experienced between themselves, as well as with other colleagues and professional associates, at the prestigious Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City where Bill was Director of the Psychology Department while at the same time holding a faculty appointment as Professor of Medical Psychology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Helen began her professional career at the Medical Center as Bill’s research associate, later also to become a tenured Professor of Psychology at Columbia University.
We begin by presenting the sequence in which A Course in Miracles evolved into its present form, originating with Dr. Helen Schucman’s shorthand notes begun in 1965. Helen took down her internal dictation in notebooks, and regularly dictated these to her colleague and collaborator, Dr. William Thetford, who typed out her words. This original typing of the three books came to be called the “urtext,” a word denoting an original manuscript. 6
Specifically, in 1975 when Helen Schucman turned A Course in Miracles over to the Foundation for Inner Peace, she also explicitly instructed the Foundation to have the Course copyrighted. When Judith Skutch at the time asked why A Course in Miracles —a spiritual document—had to be copyrighted, Helen replied: “Because he says so.”
After mastering the computer, Joe began a website dedicated to the Foundation’s work of teaching A Course in Miracles and fulfilled this important appointed task with his excellent literary skills, intelligence, and wit.
Helen’s second typing of the Text and retyping of the Workbook and Manual were edited, one final time, in preparation for the First Printing in 1976. This editing was carried out along the same lines noted above. After the editing was completed, the entire Text was again retyped; but this too was not adequately proofread. The relatively few changes made in the Workbook and Manual did not call for their retyping. Finally, the manuscript of the three books was given to the printer and again retyped before being typeset, and this was also not adequately proofread.
Thetford: Oh, there were questions like, “Is there anything that we should be doing that would increase our ability to meditate better?” There was also some commentary on psychological theories that got introduced as an intellectual digression at the beginning, which had nothing to do with the Course itself.
A profoundly important statement in the Manual for Teachers is directed to this point: “Words can be helpful, particularly for the beginner, in helping concentration and facilitating the exclusion, or at least the control, of extraneous thoughts. Let us not forget, however, that words are but symbols of symbols.
A Course In Miracles is an allegedly channeled work written by Jesus himself and first published in 1976. It was originally published in a set of three volumes, A Course In Miracles, the main text; a Workbook for Students consisting of 365 meditation exercises; and a Manual for Teachers. These three separate volumes were later combined and published as a single volume. The text is of course divided into chapters and verses so the reader knows this is a scripture and not just another New Age book. These verses are also used by numerous small and independent study groups which often meet on a weekly basis to debate its meaning, which students also seem to consider the book as their "scripture" for some strange reason. The original text of the book as first widely published was "channeled" and/ or edited by three career clinical psychologists.
↑ The actual authors were Helen Schucman and William Thetford, both professors of medical psychology at Columbia University in New York, who claimed it was written through dictation by an "Inner Voice" they identify as Jesus or the Holy Spirit. They also claimed to have been atheist or agnostic until that point when this "course" was miraculously dropped in their lap by Big J. A third psychologist, Ken Wapnick, later collaborated with Schucman and Thetford in the final editing of the pre-publication draft.
The stated aim of the Course is to bring about a complete "thought reversal" in the reader. Some, but not all of the themes laid out within the book are familiar ones as found in the New Thought movement. Notable themes within the book include:
A Course in Miracles was “scribed” by Dr. Helen Schucman through a process of inner dictation that she identified as coming from Jesus. A clinical and research psychologist and tenured Associate Professor of Medical Psychology, she was assisted by Dr. William Thetford, her department head, who was also a tenured Professor of Medical Psychology at the Medical Center where they both worked.
A Course in Miracles. A Course in Miracles – often abbreviated ACIM or simply called the Course – is a complete self-study spiritual thought system. As a three-volume curriculum consisting of a Text, Workbook for Students, and Manual for Teachers, it teaches that the way to universal love and peace—or remembering God—is by ...
The Workbook for Students consists of 365 lessons, an exercise for each day of the year. This one-year training program begins the process of changing the student’s mind and perception, though it is not intended to bring one’s learning to completion. As stated in the Preface to the Course, “At the end, the reader is left in the hands of his or her own Internal Teacher, Who will direct all subsequent learning as He sees fit.” (Pre: ix-x) You can study the Workbook’s daily lessons in both text and audio in English; also available as text in Dutch , French, German, Italian , Portuguese and Spanish.
The Manual for Teachers is written in question-and-answer form and provides answers to some of the more likely questions a student might ask. It also includes clarification of a number of terms the Course uses, explaining them within the theoretical framework of the Text and for their practical application through the Workbook.
A Course in Miracles, therefore, is a universal spiritual teaching, not a religion. The Text presents the theory of the Course and has built into its study the development of the experience of forgiveness that is the Course’s goal for the student.
Consequently, even though the language of the Course is that of traditional Christianity, it expresses a non-sectarian, non-denominational spirituality.
A Course in Miracles – Preface. This Preface was written in 1977, in response to many requests for a brief introduction to A Course in Miracles. The first two parts— How It Came; What It Is —Helen Schucman wrote herself; the final part— What It Says —was written by the process of inner dictation described in the Preface.
This is how A Course in Miracles begins. It makes a fundamental distinction between the real and the unreal; between knowledge and perception. Knowledge is truth, under one law, the law of love or God. Truth is unalterable, eternal and unambiguous. It can be unrecognized, but it cannot be changed.
The Workbook includes 365 lessons, one for each day of the year. It is not necessary, however, to do the lessons at that tempo, and one might want to remain with a particularly appealing lesson for more than one day. The instructions urge only that not more than one lesson a day should be attempted.
The Text is largely theoretical, and sets forth the concepts on which the Course's thought system is based. Its ideas contain the foundation for the Workbook's lessons. Without the practical application the Workbook provides, the Text would remain largely a series of abstractions which would hardly suffice to bring about the thought reversal at which the Course aims.
Finally, the Manual for Teachers, which is written in question and answer form, provides answers to some of the more likely questions a student might ask. It also includes a clarification of a number of the terms the Course uses, explaining them within the theoretical framework of the Text.
The names of the collaborators in the recording of the Course do not appear on the cover because the Course can and should stand on its own. It is not intended to become the basis for another cult. Its only purpose is to provide a way in which some people will be able to find their own Internal Teacher.
A Course in Miracles began with the sudden decision of two people to join in a common goal. Their names were Helen Schucman and William Thetford, Professors of Medical Psychology at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City.
Course in Miracles Society (CIMS) publishes the text portion of the 1972 edition of the Course in Miracles, obtained from the internet, titled “Jesus’ Course in Miracles”, along with a side-by-side comparison (also obtained from the internet) between this early edition and the current 2 nd edition. April 2000.
Circle of Atonement files a legal complaint for declaratory relief against FACIM and the FIP, the current and original copyright holders for A Course in Miracles, and also Penguin Books , the publisher of A Course in Miracles. Perry’s motion did NOT call for the cancellation of the Course copyright and trademarks.
Judy is shown the newly revised “Course in Miracles”. Summer 1975. Judy Skutch receives permission from Helen and Bill to share copies of the Course with close friends. Judy gives copies to several close friends, among them are Jerry Jampolsky and Jim Bolen. Fall 1975.
The copyright was allegedly owned by the Foundation for Inner Peace, Inc. and licensed to Penguin Books USA. the Author of A Course in Miracles is Jesus (identified as such by the scribe, Helen Schucman, by the Foundation to the world, and by himself in the Course specifically to you), and since.
In Judy Skutch’s sworn deposition (pg 51), Judy disavows co-authorship of the December 1992 “ Lighthouse Pg1 ” Pg 2 and Pg 3 article, co-authored with Ken Wapnick, in which they claim the Copyright Office told them they couldn’t copyright a “divinely authored” document.
Robert Perry , Circle of Atonement (COA), submits a manuscript to FIP/FACIM. Robert intended this manuscript to be his “major statement to date about A Course in Miracles. I had a literary agent who felt there was a good possibility of having it published by a major New York publisher, although the agent made it clear that he couldn’t represent me without official permission to quote from the Course.”
As of September 1998 and, following New York State approval *effective February 1999*, the Foundation transfers its copyright and trademarks in A Course in Miracles to the Foundation for ‘A Course in Miracles’ (FACIM).
It is claimed that A Course in Miracles was “scribed” by Schucman between 1965 and 1972 through a process of inner dictation.
The fundamental teaching of A Course in Miracles is the “atonement principle,” which states that separation from God through sin did not happen . The course further teaches that sin is the absence of love and nothing more. It denies that sin is an act against God. The principal purpose of A Course in Miracles is to “restore to one’s awareness ...
The Making of 'A Course in Miracles'. A Catholic priest recounts the mysterious spiritual journey of 'A Course in Miracles' scribe Helen Schucman. Journalist Randall Sullivan met Father Benedict Groeschel, a Catholic priest and popular speaker, while Sullivan was investigating claims of miraculous occurences in America and abroad.
In this excerpt, Father Groeschel discusses Helen Schucman, who "scribed" the bestselling spiritual work "A Course in Miracles.". Reprinted from The Miracle Detective: An Investigation of Holy Visions with permission of Grove/Atlantic.
He had been a graduate student in psychology at Columbia University during the late 1960s when one of his professors, a woman named Helen Schucman, had written-"which is not to say authored"-A Course in Miracles.