Circle of Christhood

 Joel teaches that IW teachers should not compare and contrast religions with The Infinite Way. We are not even to teach Christian history (see books of Barbara Muhl). The student should do this themselves.

However, in recent months, it has come to our attention that some students seem to feel that The Infinite Way is similar to, or the same teaching as, A Course in Miracles. (Perhaps because new editions of Joel's books have quotes from major celebrity metaphysicians like Marianne Williamson, Wayne Dwyer, etc.) We find we must help to clarify this misperception. 

The Infinite Way never condemns or criticizes other religions or spiritual teachings, for we each must find our home and many of us are very happy in other religions.  Further, some, not all, of the truths found in The Infinite Way may be found in other spiritual teachings. We fully respect everyone's path and their freedom to follow it with or without IW writings and teachings.

The issue for us is the confusion caused by those following ACIM and also saying they are IW teachers and/or students. Over and over, Joel stresses that we must understand the difference between a mental teaching and The Infinite Way, we will waste time if we continue to mix, and that we cannot COMBINE the mental and spiritual realms.

Please read the following quotes from the third volume of A Course in Miracles, Manual for Teachers and determine the truth for yourself:

• "An ACIM teacher is anyone who chooses to be one. pp.3 "The teachers of God have trust in the world, ..."pp.3
•  "The peace of mind of advanced teachers is largely due to their perfect honesty.[The term actually means consistency.]"pp.10
• "Tolerance: Judgement implies a lack of trust, and trust remains the bedrock of the teacher of God's whole thought  system.....No teacher of God can judge and hope to learn."pp.11
•  "Generosity: ...To the teachers of God, it means giving away in order to keep."pp.13  "Faithfulness..It implies acceptance of the Word of God and His definition of His Son."pp.14
• "Open-Mindedness ...Open-mindedness comes with lack of judgement. As judgment shuts the mind against God's Teacher, so open-minded-ness invites Him to come in." pp.14
•  "Healing is accomplished the instant the suffer no longer sees any value in pain. Healing must occur in exact proportion to which the valuelessness of sickness is recognized."pp.16
• "...The existence of the world as you perceive it depends on the body being the decision-maker...The acceptance of sickness as a decision of the mind, for a purpose for which it would use the body, is the basis of healing."
• "Healing is the change of mind that the Holy Spirit in the patient's mind is seeking for him." pp.19
• "How to deal with magic thus becomes a major lesson for the teacher of God to master."
• "Strictly speaking, words play no part at all in healing. The motivating factor is prayer, or asking. What you ask for you receive."
• "The truth in their minds reaches out to the truth in the minds of their brothers..." pp.18
• "In the ultimate sense, reincarnation is impossible. There is no past or future, and the idea of birth into a body has no meaning either once or many times. Reincarnation cannot, then, be true in any real sense."pp. 57 
• " It cannot be too strongly emphasized that this course aims at complete reversal of thought."pp.58
•  "Clearly, there are many 'psychic' powers that are clearly in line with this course."pp.59 
•  "To follow the Holy Spirit's guidance is to let yourself be absolved of guilt. It is the essence of Atonement. It is the core of the curriculum."
• "God's teachers have the goal of wakening the minds of those asleep, and seeing there the vision of Christ's face to take the place of what they dream...THE FACE OF CHRIST has to be seen before the memory of God can return."pp.79
• "God's gifts can rarely be received directly." pp. 55
• "...in remembering Jesus, you are remembering God." pp. 55
• Terms used throughout the book:

God's Curriculum

God's Thought

Holy Spirit's lessons

God's Teacher

Face of Christ

 

Let us bless and end with Joel's words:

"Remember: You are the keeper of your brother, but you not the keeper of your brother's religious convictions." - Joel, Hawaiian Hotel Talk Sept. 21, 1963