1 - Michael Prabhu

"A COURSE IN MIRACLES" CATHOLIC PAPERS A Course in Brainwashing
http://www.ewtn.com/library/newage/brainwas.txt
By Tracy Moran, June 2, 1996 issue of Our Sunday Visitor Catholics across the country are alarmed at the increasing popularity of a
New Age phenomenon known as "A Course in
Miracles," a system of spirituality that proponents claim is the "Third
Testament" of God to His people.
Even more alarming, critics say, is that the movement is gaining a foothold
among some Catholics.
"A Course in Miracles," a 1,249-page study manual, was authored by the
"inner voice" of research psychologist Helen Schucman between 1965 and
1972. Schucman, a professor at Columbia University and a self-described
atheist at the time, claims the "voice" was that of Jesus Christ.
In 1977, New Age guru and best-selling author Marianne Williamson
discovered "A Course in Miracles" and helped spread its message
internationally, reeling in stars such as Oprah Winfrey and Shirley
MacLaine along the way.
Today, the course has sold more than 1 million copies, and more than 2,000
groups in the United States meet to study the course, which Williamson
calls "a self-study program of spiritual psychotherapy." But a former disciple of "A Course in Miracles" who returned to the
Catholic Church calls it a course in brainwashing. Moira Noonan, once a New
Age minister and psychic, was introduced to the course 20 years ago. Upon
returning to the Church, she was shocked to find that "A Course in
Miracles" is sold in some Catholic bookstores and that many fellow
believers are studying it. "They say in the course that the Holy Spirit
wants us to have these new thoughts, a new reality," Noonan explained. "It
says right in the beginning of the course to question everything ... The
course is Satan's mock bible," she said, adding that its disciples "want
people to think it's a religion, but it's not." The Foundation for "A Course in Miracles," based in Roscoe, N.Y., is not
affiliated with any church or denomination. Dr.
Kenneth Wapnick, the foundation's director, was a Catholic seminarian about
to enter the monastery when he met Schucman and read the manuscript for the
course. A clinical psychologist, Wapnick claims the course teaches that the
way to recover one's buried knowledge and memories of God is by "undoing"
guilt through forgiving others. It aims to remove "the blocks to one's
awareness of love's presence," which is every person's natural state of
mind.
Jesuit Father Mitch Pacwa, who has written on New Age religions, sees how
such language can resonate with Catholics, luring them to study the course.
"The key problem is the [course's] pseudo - Christian vocabulary and
ideas," said Father Pacwa. "People don't know the Catechism; they don't
know their faith ... The course strongly rejects the use of reason and
thinking ... This is precisely what makes the course feasible. Once you get
rid of reason, you get rid of discussion."
Noonan explained the course's attraction to Catholics by noting that "in
our culture, we want a quick fix. [The course] teaches that you can claim a
miracle. It's part of the individualistic attitude we have in this
society."
Noonan said some Catholics pick up the course thinking: "I never really
liked or understood the Bible anyway, so why don't I read this? The
language is easier for me to understand." Led astray
Critics of "A Course in Miracles" warn that Catholics who try to
incorporate its principles into their faith will severely compromise their
beliefs because the two theologies are completely incompatible.
Father Pacwa said the course repeatedly misquotes the Bible and "presents a
false Jesus." Even though Jesus supposedly dictated the course to Schucman,
the course's Jesus "does not like the Crucifixion," Father Pacwa said. "One
of the things said repeatedly and forcefully in the course is that
sacrifice has nothing to do with love-they are incompatible."
The "Jesus" of "A Course in Miracles" is not really the Son of God, never
really had a physical body, and hence never really suffered on the cross.
He even rephrases the Lord's Prayer, replacing "hallowed be thy name" with
"Our holiness is Yours," Father Pacwa pointed out.
With such glaring differences between Christianity and the course, it is no
wonder Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., another critic, said the movement
"has become something of a sophisticated cult."
And he should know, having studied at Columbia University under Schucman.
In his book, "A Still, Small Voice," Father Groeschel recounts his "utter
astonishment" when he was told in 1969 about Schucman's alleged encounter
with "the Son of God." According to Father Groeschel, the course that
resulted from this encounter is "centered on a Son of God who at times
seems to be the Christ of orthodox Christianity and sometimes an avatar of
an Eastern religion."
Father Groeschel said that among clergy and Religious, "There's a lot of
suspicion about the course right now." And suspicion seems warranted,
considering that the course denies the existence of suffering and sin,
claims the Holy Spirit's main purpose is to heal people's unconscious
thoughts, and reinterprets the word "miracle" into psychological terms. According to a recent book promoting the course, the "purpose of this
system . . . is to draw our minds into a completely different way of
thinking.... Education on this level is clearly re-education, which
demands, first of all, unlearning."
Moreover, "A Course in Miracles" purports to be a "purifier of
Christianity," as explained in the book: "Echoing the Bible, [the course]
thus presents the image of a contemporary revealed scripture, a modern-day
message from God to mankind."
Yet, ironically, perhaps the strongest argument against wedding
Christianity with the course comes from Wapnick himself. In the book "A
Course in Miracles and Christianity: A Dialogue," published by his
foundation, Wapnick and Jesuit Father W. Norris Clarke map out the sharp
differences of the two theologies, defining them as "mutually exclusive."
Wapnick writes that "to attempt reconciliation between [the two] must
inevitably lead to frustration at best and severe distortion at worst....
'A Course in Miracles' directly refutes the very basis of the Christian
faith, leaving nothing on which Christians can base their beliefs."
Whatever the course's true intention, however, Father Pacwa warns that the
course "presents a false Jesus, false Spirit and false Gospel, and
therefore it deserves simple rejection."
And even if the course does attempt to "purify" the Gospel, its effort is
fruitless, as Father Clarke points out in the
"Dialogue": "Traditional Christianity maintains that human beings have
really sinned and turned away from God, hence [they] have the burden of a
genuine (not merely neurotic) guilt.... Then Jesus took on the burden of
our own sins and truly suffered and died on the cross to make reparation
for them. He then truly rose from the dead, with a real, though transformed
or glorified body, and is forever united with His Father now in glory." Moran writes from San Diego, Calif. For more information on "A Course in
Miracles," contact Moira Noonan at: P.O. Box 232716, Encinitas, CA 92023 A Course In Miracles
http://ephesians-511.net/docs/CATHOLIC%20ASHRAMS.doc EXTRACT
By Michael Prabhu, October 2005 During my investigation of the seditious -- and New Age -- Catholic Ashrams
movement in December 2004, I had stayed for a week at the Camaldoli
Benedictine Saccidananda Ashram, Shantivanam at Thannirpalli.
I noted that "A Course in Miracles" -- one of many New Age titles in the
Ashram library -- was one of the more popular reads among the visitors
according to library records. An excerpt from my Report: A COURSE IN MIRACLES
A New Age classic, in 3 volumes, Foundation for Inner Peace, 1975
This thoroughly New Age classic is one of the most frequently drawn books
from the library. I give selected extracts from its 'Idea for today' [with
the lesson no. in brackets]. They are to be continuously repeated as
affirmations or mantras so as to spiritually benefit the user. [They are
not much different from the New Age teachings of Bro. John Martin
Sahajananda, the de facto guru of Shantivanam, as we shall see shortly when
examining his satsanghs and his books.]
[10] My thoughts do not mean anything...This idea will help to release me
from all that I now believe.
[25] I do not know what anything [this chair, this hand] is for.
[29] God is in everything I see. God is in this waste basket.
[35] My mind is part of God's. I am very holy.
[36] My holiness envelops everything I see... You are holy because your
mind is part of God's... If your mind is part of God's you must be sinless,
or part of His Mind would be sinful. [38] There is nothing my holiness cannot do... Your holiness is totally
unlimited in its power because it establishes you as a Son of God.
[39] My holiness is my salvation... Your holiness means the end of guilt
and therefore the end of hell.
[61] I am the light of the world... How holy am I who have been given the
function of lighting up the world! Let me be still before my holiness.
[70] My salvation comes from me... All temptation is nothing more than some
form of the basic temptation not to believe the idea for today... When you
realize that all guilt is solely an invention of your mind, you also
realize that guilt and salvation must be in the same place. In
understanding this you are saved. Today I will recognize where my salvation
is. It is in me... It is not found outside.
[77] I am entitled to miracles. You will offer miracles because you are one
with God... You state a fact that cannot be denied. The Holy Spirit cannot
but assure you that your request is granted.
[93] Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. Over and over this must be
repeated until it is accept