Well, it’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it! I recently read Marianne Williamson's Return to Love for the first time, which is (allegedly) based on A Course in Miracles. Here's my review for it:
3 out of 5 Stars
Just Doesn't Go Deep Enough
Before I get started, I should state that I don't write this review to
be judgey of the author or the lovers of this book. I believe this
philanthropic woman is very sincere in trying to be truly helpful, and
has been by presenting ideas that meet many people where they are at
with their spirituality.
With that said, however, I don't find
this to be the ideal book to learn about
A Course in Miracles. And as
Jesus (or as I like call him, J-Dog) says in the
Course, "Contrast and
differences are necessary teaching aids, for by them you learn what to
avoid and what to seek." And, "The Holy Spirit must teach through
comparisons, and uses opposites to point to truth."
Now, I am
certainly not saying that the author has nothing of value to say here,
and that you should avoid this book. It's obviously been very helpful
to many people in its own right over the years. And it could very well
be exactly what you need for yourself right now. The author certainly
has some good things to share. The problem with this book is that it
doesn't really represent the true message of
A Course in Miracles, which
is referred to in the sub-title of this book.
What you really
have here is a New Age/Self-Help, semi-dualistic interpretation of the
Course, while the Course itself is a purely non-dualistic teaching by
nature, meaning that God is and nothing else is. The
Return to Love
book speaks on the same level as the popular New Age authors whose books
I studied in the mid 1990s through early 2000s, most notably Wayne Dyer
and Neale Walsch. For me personally, I got to the point on my
spiritual path where I outgrew that level of teaching just as everyone
else will (or has) at some point. This level of teaching simply just
doesn't go deep enough, even if it appears to be very enlightening.
Thus
that leads to the other big problem with this book, from
A Course in
Miracles perspective, is that what the author has to say is geared
towards changing the conscious mind and not addressing the unconscious
mind, which is what REALLY runs us. Changing the conscious mind will
only have a temporary, helpful impact at best. Like most of the iceberg
is underneath the surface of the ocean, you can't see it; most of the
mind is out of our awareness. But there is a way to get in touch with
it, but you won't find that way in this book. And I know for me
personally, I didn't make serious progress on my spiritual path until I
started addressing the unconscious part of my mind.
On a level
that we are not consciously aware of, we have this guilt buried in the
mind over the seeming separation from God, what the Course refers to as
the "blocks to the awareness of love's presence," and "the secret sins
and hidden hates" which we must undo via the true forgiveness process
outlined in the Course in order to really be free. As the Course
states, "Of one thing you were sure: of all the many causes you
perceived as bringing pain and suffering to you, your guilt was not
among them." This unconscious guilt shows up to us symbolically in the
form of all our negative emotions.
The author does talk about the
importance of forgiveness, however, there is no real explanation as to
what true forgiveness entails, and HOW to apply it in whatever comes up
in front of your face on any given day. And leaving out the fact that
all our problems are symbolic of the seeming separation from God, "A
sense of separation from God is the only lack you really need correct."
So the Course teaches that, "Forgiveness is the only function
meaningful in time." And, "The way to God is through forgiveness here.
There is no other way."
Another thing going on here with this
book is that the author uses terms such as "energy"; "consciousness";
"vibration"; and such, making them out to be important and real.
However, the Course says of such ideas that they are "...the domain of
the ego." The Course also teaches that there is no hierarchy of
illusions, "All that a hierarchy of illusions can show is preference,
not reality."
Also, the author talks about God in a way that
implies that God acknowledges our individual lives here on earth, and
that God and the "power of the universe" are one and the same. The
author even has prayers in the book that begin with "Dear God." Yet the
Course teaches, "The secret of true prayer is to forget the things you
think you need."
And according to the Course, there is no world,
so how could God acknowledge anything happening in the world, when there
isn't one. A pretty far out idea for many, I grant you that, but that
is what the Course is teaching and NOT what the author is writing about
in this book. And the Course doesn't just say that there is no world.
It says, "There is no world! This is the central thought the Course
attempts to teach." And, "Whatever is true is eternal and cannot change
or be changed." The universe, therefore, is obviously not true, not of
God, and has no power. The Course also says, "The world you see is an
illusion of a world. God did not create it, for what He creates must be
eternal as Himself. Yet there is nothing in the world you see that
will endure forever."
There's barely any mention about going Home
in this book, which is what the Course is ultimately all about. Even
in the section called Heaven's Gate, the author goes on a political
spiel instead, making the world out to be something that needs to be
fixed. Yet the Course teaches that the world cannot be fixed, "There is
no point in trying to change the world. It is incapable of change
because it is merely an effect. But there is indeed a point in changing
your thoughts about the world. Here you are changing the cause. The
effect will change automatically." And the Course teaches, "This is a
course in cause and not effect."
So there is no explanation on
what it means to go Home, and how to go about doing that. And as the
Course says, "This world you seem to live in is not home to you. And
somewhere in your mind you know that this is true." And, "This world is
not where you belong. You are a stranger here. But it is given you to
find the means whereby the world no longer seems to be a prison house
or jail for anyone." So you won't be finding the way to return to where
you really belong through this book, at least not by taking it at face
value. You're likely to be left with the idea it's about making your
life better rather than awakening from what you think of as your life.
And there's no mention of our lives being self-predetermined. Like the
Course teaches, "The secret of salvation is but this: that you are doing
this unto yourself."
Furthermore, there's no mention of how time
and space is adjusted by the Holy Spirit and disappears for us as we
perform a miracle, a miracle meaning that we apply forgiveness on
whatever comes up in front of our faces on any given day. "When you
perform a miracle, I will arrange both time and space to adjust to it."
And, "The miracle shortens time by collapsing it, thus eliminating
certain intervals within it."
The author also implies that our
uniqueness, individual identity is something to be valued. Yet with the
final destination of the Course being the return to Oneness, you can't
have both Oneness and individual identities; it's impossible. And the
Course teaches, "Forgiveness is the end of specialness." And, "You can
defend your specialness, but never will you hear the Voice for God
beside it."
I understand, and this is perfectly ok, that very few
are ready for the real message of A Course in Miracles which is why
there are so many mis-interpretations of the Course out there such as
this one. The real message is just too threatening for one's ego for
most people at this point in time, including many who consider
themselves to be spiritually progressive when they are actually rather
conservative. So, it's just a matter of what you're ready to accept,
nothing wrong with that, but people shouldn't confuse this book as being
the same as the Course.
Don't get me wrong, I do feel that this
is a good book for people wanting to investigate new ideas and break
free from the thinking of the world and the confines of organized
religion, or perhaps for people who struggle with low self-esteem; this
would certainly be a step in the right direction. But this book is more
about "don't die with an unmet potential" or "live life to the fullest"
or "become a better human" kind of a book; certainly nothing wrong with
that. However, Return to Love leaves much to be desired if you're
looking for a clear explanation on what A Course is Miracles is really
all about; you'll just end up confused and conflicted because it's not
consistent with the Course, even if you're not consciously aware of it.
Just
from the Introduction piece alone the author states, "Love is what we
were born with. Fear is what we have learned here." And, "We came here
to co-create with God by extending love." Well, if we didn't have fear,
we would not have been born into this world to begin with. In fact,
the Course says, "The world was made as an attack on God. It symbolizes
fear." So we're not here to co-create with God, we're not really here,
we need to awaken from the belief that we are here and return to where
we are a co-creator with God and the same as God, by removing the
"blocks to the awareness of love's (God's) presence" via the true
forgiveness process.
So if you are indeed looking for a book that puts A Course in Miracles into the everyday vernacular, without compromising on the integrity of its message, I would highly recommend
The Disappearance of the Universe: Straight Talk About Illusions, Past Lives, Religion, Sex, Politics, and the Miracles of Forgiveness by Gary Renard. It explains
A Course in Miracles like nothing else does, and is the only book (along with his follow up book,
Your Immortal Reality: How to Break the Cycle of Birth and Death, I've ever read on spirituality that made total sense to me from cover to cover, and left me with no unanswered questions.
Gary's
books are the real deal when it comes to the Course, you many not like
everything said, and it may downright piss you off, but you will get the
straight up truth, no sugarcoating, and no being told what you
necessarily want to hear. Like it states, "As with Jesus' teachings of
2,000 years ago, the world is attempting to do its usual job of
obliterating the truth by incorporating parts of it into its illusions
and covering over the real message of the Holy Spirit. We won't leave
out the ideas you don't like. If you resist them or don't want to
accept them after you hear them then that's your decision, but at least
it won't be because you weren't told."
Giddy up!
Review of Return to Love on Amazon
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