A Course in Miracles redefines and gives a new meaning to most Christian /Spiritual terms …

Basic Course Dictionary:

ego… the belief in our mind that we are separated from God  (not the traditional Freudian view of ego).

Holy Spirit… the ‘Voice for God’ , the voice of forgiveness, not in the world, but internally in our mind. (see ‘mind’ defined below)

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forgiveness…. Not : “I forgive you because you hurt me…” 

But :

• Step One:  I “let go of believing” (by asking for Jesus’ help) that another person or thing is the source of my pain or discomfort.
• Step Two:  Realize my pain is really coming from my inner choice to push God away, and  I let go of believing I could even do that, ie. push God away.
• Step Three:  I then experience the miracle of peace of mind.

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form… physical structure, shape, composition of things in the world, like you and me as bodies.

content… the only two ideas or sources in our mind (the ego or The Holy Spirit), and only one of those ideas is then reflected onto all worldly forms… based upon our internal choice of one of those sources.

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knowledge…. Not : “I know about something” … But : knowledge or knowing is the experience of oneness and of our true being in Heaven.

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make (up)… to make up something and then believe it’s true (specifically, separation)…. ie. make-believe: We made up the ego, and then made up the world and bodies in it, and believe all that is actually real.

create… what goes on or ‘happens’ in Heaven (the experience of Oneness), but not in the world.. We create in Heaven; we make in the world.

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The mind… Not : the brain, not the thoughts we think in our brains, 

    But : mind is an inner experience inside us where we make the choice between only two thoughts: the voice of our ego (wrong mind) or the voice of the Holy Spirit (right mind).

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miracle…. Not : “Turning bread into wine”… 

     But : The miracle (the 3rd step of forgiveness) happens when I forgive, and I realize my innocence and your innocence as God’s children are who we really are, in spite of what we’ve done (or not done) in the made-up world… by made-up selves.

magic… Not like: “ watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat”… But : anything in the world that seems to work in the world, eg. I take an aspirin and my headache goes away, or I take another breath and I seem to live in a body.

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the world… entire physical universe of time and space that the Course consistently says is a made-up illusion, that we choose to believe is not only real, but also  the source of my lack of peace.

real world… the experience of realizing the world isn’t real… by recognizing I’m not (ever) upset for the reason I think (WB Lesson #5)… and I could choose to see peace…  instead of this chaos or drama or conflict (WB Lesson #34).

For a more comprehensive coverage of definitions of terms used in the Course, see…

Ken Wapnick’s “Glossary-Index.”

Study of the Course is facilitated by understanding its vocabulary. Therefore, this Glossary-Index was prepared as a study guide for students.

It includes a summary of the theory of A Course in Miracles, with a listing of all major terms in the Course, and the two scribed supplements Psychotherapy and The Song of Prayer.

The  glossary describes 139 terms, each followed by important references to where they are mentioned in the Course.

Also check out…

“Concordance for A Course in Miracles”

… which we affectionately call “BIG RED” (it’s big!)

It has every word in the Course listed, how many times the word is used, and where in the Course you can find it!

It has been invaluable for us in our own personal growth, and has helped us tremendously when we are researching and teaching on any Course topic.

Regretfully it is no longer published and you have to go to Ebay to find a previously owned copy (usually about $20 and up). But it is worth its weight in gold!

Be careful you are not getting the blue-covered concordance … but only the RED one!