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A Course in Miracles Made Easy: Mastering the Journey from Fear to Love

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A Course in Miracles (ACIM)—the self-study spiritual-thought system that teaches the way to love and forgiveness—has captured the minds and hearts of millions of people, and delivered inner peace where fear and pain once prevailed.

Its universal message is unsurpassed in its power to heal. Yet many students report that they have difficulty grasping the principles, or encounter resistance to the lessons. So, even while they yearn for the spiritual freedom the Course offers, they put the book aside, hoping one day to get to it.

Alan Cohen, ACIM student and teacher for over 30 years, takes the Big Picture ideas of the Course and brings them down to earth in practical, easy-to-understand lessons with plenty of real-life examples and applications.

A Course in Miracles Made Easy is the Rosetta stone that will render the Course understandable and relatable; and, most importantly, generate practical, healing results in the lives of students. This unique reader-friendly guide will serve longtime students of the Course, as well as those seeking to acquaint themselves with the program.

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 27, 2015

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About the author

Alan Cohen

196 books213 followers
Alan Cohen is the author of several self help books.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 197 reviews
Profile Image for Heidi | Paper Safari Book Blog.
1,134 reviews20 followers
March 6, 2016
I tried to read a Course in Miracles several years ago and really had a tough time. Since I wasn't raised Christian the Father, son and Holy Ghost thing sort of gave me some problems and I really struggled with it. I was hoping that this book would give me a better grasp on it and I was pleasantly surprised. The beginning didn't grab me at first but it peaked my interest and kept me reading, by about halfway through I was highlighting passages and finding "aha" moments. The epilogue is supreme and titled: "Everything you always wanted to know about A Course in Miracles but didn't want to have to read the whole course to find out" and it truly is a 14 point breakdown of the whole course. Wonderful food for thought that I will probably be returning to again and again.
Profile Image for Maggie25.
36 reviews16 followers
February 6, 2017
This book and its teachings came into my life at the exact moment I needed it. My awakening process has begun. Life is Love. All else is an illusion made "real" by our ego which thrives on fear. Love yourself, love everyone, for we are all one ❤ The Holy Spirit lives within each of us for we are not separate but whole. One consciousness ❤ Love is the answer and the only thing that is truly real. Love yourself first and everything else will fall into place.
Profile Image for Maria Clara.
1,218 reviews705 followers
December 12, 2019
Maravilloso! Hacía tiempo que quería leerlo, es más, lo compré en una oferta de amazon y lo dejé olvidado en el kindle. Es verdad que, por lo menos para mí, no es un libro que pueda leerse de una sentada; yo he necesitado bebermelo a sorbos pequeños y saborearlo despacio, para poder apreciar cada uno de sus mensajes. Pero si eres alumno de UCDM, seguro que te gustará.
Profile Image for Amanda.
441 reviews9 followers
March 11, 2022
I could've probably highlighted this entire book because it was all good! I agree with everything that's in this book and the philosophy behind A Course in Miracles. I wanted to try to read the original "A Course in Miracles", but after I saw that it was over 1000 pages I was discouraged from reading it. When I saw this book, which does make it really easy, and is much shorter, and probably a lot easier to understand, I knew I had to read it. This book is eye-opening and confirms many of the things I've thought about the fact that we are all connected and one with God, we should choose love over fear, and that the end of the world is not something cataclysmic but in fact an awakening and an end to how we currently see ourselves and the world.

There were so many quotes in this book that I loved. Here's one of my favorites:

"You thought you were here to get stuff, prove yourself, and find people to love you. Instead you are here to get peace, be yourself, and find people to love. You thought you were here to fix the world. Instead you are here to appreciate what is before you and see the world through new eyes. You thought you were here to teach, while you are here to learn. Ultimately teaching and learning
are one. You cannot teach without learning and you cannot learn without teaching. When you teach only love, you learn only love. Then you graduate from the school of illusion and accept the diploma of inner peace, the real degree we are all here to attain."
Profile Image for Teresa Kout.
21 reviews2 followers
January 3, 2018
I am so glad I made the choice to start with this book before wading into ACIM. By having an overview (and commentary) I feel better prepared for the commitment I am making to myself - even though I am 8 lessons into the workbook at this time.
Profile Image for Hawraki.
619 reviews89 followers
December 20, 2021
أحبُّ الكتب التي تُوصيني بها كُتبٌ أخرى، كهذا الكتاب مثلًا. لا أتذكر في أي كتاب مرّ علي، وتفاجأت بكونه كتابٌ مترجم للعربية، ولا أعرف أحدًا تحدث عنه مسبقًا، رغم كونه كتابٌ قويّ في الانتقال إلى مراحل وعيّ عليا. لعل السبب هو ما يذكره الكاتب باستمرار، لا يسقط الكتاب بين يديك إلا في الوقت المناسب. أو إنك قد تشتريه ويبقى على الرف لسنوات حتى تحين اللحظة المناسبة، أو تقرأ أجزاءً منه حسب حاجتك والرسالة التي تنشدها.

كانت قراءة هذا الكتاب مميزة، وثقيلة. لم يرض الكتاب بوجود كتاب آخر (وعادتي هي أن أفر من كتاب ثقيل إلى كتاب أخف، أو أتسلى بأكثر من كتاب في ذات الفترة الزمنية) لكن فعليًا، قام هذا الكتاب بطرد جميع الكتب (عادا المسموعة منها).

ككل كتب الروحانيات هذا الكتاب لا يخاطب عقلك وجسدك، كلماته تدخل قلبك، يتحدث عن التجاوز، التشافي، العودة للذات، المسامحة، التقبل، إدراك الحقيقة، التسليم، الأنا الكاذبة، الأفكار، العلاقات الحميمة، وغيرها الكثير. لن تخرج من رحلة قراءة الكتاب الشخص ذاته.
Profile Image for Dan Connors.
368 reviews41 followers
April 25, 2019
I've heard a lot about A Course In Miracles for many years and have always been curious. It is a formidable book requiring at least a year of study. This book hardly makes it easy, but easier for sure. There are plenty of spiritual principles, and I hope to dive more into them some day. Basically choose love over fear every time and you come out okay.

The guy who narrates the audiobook talks veeerrrry slowly, but is appropriate to the importance of the concepts here. A great intro to ACIM.
Profile Image for Chris Hyde.
176 reviews13 followers
February 28, 2018
Interested in A Course in Miracles but can't seem to get into it? This is a great explanation of the basic teachings of the Course in Miracles. This book is short, easy to read, and an inspiration. Take your spiritual life and emotional health to the next level by reading this book. I will continue to refer back to this book over and over for years to come.
Profile Image for Bella James.
Author 2 books219 followers
March 2, 2021
Excellent interpretations of ACIM

Read as part of my ACIM journey and study, recommend reading alongside the original text and workbook - a truly worthwhile and involving book.


Profile Image for Greg D.
867 reviews21 followers
June 24, 2016
I consider myself an open-minded Christian. Open to new thoughts, ideas, and even open to learning from other faith traditions. I believe some truth can be found in all things. Thus, I gave the controversial "A Course in Miracles" a try. I approached it with an open mind hoping to learn. To be fair, I did find some things that resonated with me. Some things that seemingly affirmed much of what the Christian tradition teaches. However, in most parts I found it to be so completely different from what Jesus taught that I couldn't, as a Christian, honestly agree with it. Here are just a few examples:

ACIM teaches that there is no sin. Sin is merely perceived and created in our own minds. That if and when we do sin against others, that we really actually didn't sin against them. And, no forgiveness is needed.

ACIM teaches that we are God, that when we hear the voice of God we are actually hearing from ourselves.

ACIM teaches that there is no "savior" outside of ourselves, thus making Jesus null and void.

ACIM teaches that the world around us is merely an illusion. That we have the power to create our own world each day. We are in control.

I can go on. But, I found much of ACIM to be a smorgasbord of spiritual soup. A mixture of Christian ideas, New Age thoughts, and with a tablespoon of psychology thrown in. While I don't have a problem with these things, it just isn't for me.
Profile Image for Maritza Arreola ✨.
78 reviews
July 1, 2020
I like the content of this book, is really easy the way it
Explains the book ... it has a lot of good quotes on it
Profile Image for Emerson.
151 reviews
November 3, 2022
'When you remember who you are, there is nothing left to achieve.'🎯✌️💝🦉
Profile Image for Dean Paradiso.
329 reviews64 followers
April 6, 2016
Overall, this book seems to be a good, easy read as an introduction and basic overview of A Course in Miracles. It presents some of the more radical ideas in ACIM in an easy to understand format, with personal stories from the author.
I quite enjoyed some of the shorter, end chapters of the book, related to ego distractions, health, 'the end of the world', etc. I also liked the author's use of quick one-page notes on some of the FAQs that ACIM students have.
On the other hand, for some reason, possibly the writing style, or perhaps the 'motivationa'/self-help spin on things, I found the book laborious to get through, despite its short length. There's a good amount of clique situations and stories thrown in, and I somehow get the feeling that the author's motivational coaching/self-help background comes through in places. No big deal, but just not my style of reading. I felt that some of the more profound ideas in ACIM, such as forgiveness, the holy instant, the dynamics of the ego & guilt, and working with the HS, were probably glossed over. The author really does motivate people to actually study ACIM (and do the workbook), but on the other hand, there will probably be the temptation for some readers to walk away from this book thinking 'OK, I got it all now.. no need to actually complete ACIM.. especially since this is all that it says'.
This would be a huge mistake, and taking the ego's bait (and switch).
Read this summary by all means, but do complete the Course as well.. there's a lot more to it than inside this 'Made Simple' introduction.
Still, kudos to the author (who seems committed) for writing this book that seems to have helped a good amount of ACIM students understand a little more, a little better.
Profile Image for Romeo Ballayan.
Author 1 book3 followers
February 23, 2018
I absolutely loved this book so much that I purchased the actual book that it stemmed from. I loved how modern he made the teachings from the book and how relative they were to modern day life. I have started the original and it is just so rich in content! I am loving the daily workbook as well. This is the right path for me! Exactly where I am at and what I was craving. The concepts are life of shall I say, soul changing! If you are ready, and you feel this is the journey for you, it will not disappoint. I took so many notes, I feel fulfilled, balanced, and clear. Definitely recommend!
Profile Image for Amber.
192 reviews1 follower
January 5, 2018
Nunca he leído ni he ido a UCDM, por lo tanto este libro me sirvió para ver de qué trata. Esto es lo que hoy en día es considerado como New Age motivacional pero con su toque espiritual. Me gusta que hablen tanto de distintas religiones y que los ejemplos sean más por experiencias vividas por el autor. :)
Profile Image for Lupita Figueroa BookLoverRomantic.
436 reviews37 followers
June 25, 2020
Esto fue TRANSFORMADOR. Me sacudió el alma y me devolvió la paz justo en el momento en que vivía un gran dolor emocional. Aclaró mi mente. Cambió mi percepción. Es un audiolibro para repetir y repetir... Gracias, Dios, por los maravillosos y transformadores libros que entran en mi vida.
Profile Image for Kimberly.
132 reviews58 followers
January 13, 2024
A great summary of A Course in Miracles ideas
Profile Image for KJ Sutton.
78 reviews
February 13, 2025
I have rewrote this review like 5 times but I don’t think I have the words. ♥️
Profile Image for Cara.
Author 21 books101 followers
June 20, 2019
I've heard so many people quote A Course In Miracles like the Bible, I got curious about it. But when I got it from the library, it weight about 10 pounds and said it was a project for a year. I had checked it out for two weeks. Seemed hopeless, so I returned it.

When I saw this book, it sounded perfect. And it was. It's a book that you can read one tiny section at a time if you want to. (Not all books work for that.) I read a section or two before bed each night, and each little tidbit gave me such a feeling of love and peace. Now I'm considering reading the actual book—but it feels good to know I don't have to. (And if I do, definitely on Kindle. No way I'm hauling the heavy paper one around!)

I feel like this the kind of book that you can read over and over, and every time, it will have the perfect timely perspective that was exactly what you needed at that moment. Love it.


Highlights:
ellow highlight | Page: 12
When the world does not understand, accept, or support you, you do not walk alone. And if you should lose faith in yourself, God still has faith in you.


Yellow highlight | Page: 15
We are each an expression of God, a holy idea breathed into existence. We are the divine falling in love with itself.


Yellow highlight | Page: 16
Your purpose on Earth goes far beyond satisfying critics or proving yourself according to standards others set for you. Your purpose is to recognize the greatness within you and deliver it.


Yellow highlight | Page: 16
The Chinese philosopher Chuang Tzu said, “The sage dwells among those things that can never be lost, and so he lives forever.”


Yellow highlight | Page: 16
Love waits on welcome, not on time, and the real world is but your welcome of what always was. Therefore the call of joy is in it, and your glad response is your awakening to what you have not lost.


Yellow highlight | Page: 35
ACIM tells us that the only correct expectation of the future is one of limitless good.


Yellow highlight | Page: 40
Inner peace is your strongest platform to create global transformation. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mother Teresa never made evil their enemy. They didn’t fight people. Instead, they made a stand for kindness and equality, and subsequently advanced society in ways that angry people could never achieve.


Yellow highlight | Page: 44
The Course tells us that any illness and any pain, physical or emotional, is our way of holding someone else guilty for hurting us.


Yellow highlight | Page: 48
First, recognize that no person, group, situation, or condition has the power to take away your happiness. No one. No thing. Never.


Yellow highlight | Page: 48
For you was peace created, given you by its Creator, and established as His Own eternal gift. How can you fail, when you but ask for what He wills for you?


Yellow highlight | Page: 49
Your new statement is “Behold me, brother, at your hand I live.” Instead of blaming people you believe have hurt you, give them credit for helping you.


Yellow highlight | Page: 50
First, acknowledge things about them that you genuinely appreciate.


Yellow highlight | Page: 50
Now here’s the second devil-transformer. Consider: How has this person helped you to grow?


Yellow highlight | Page: 51
You have a soul contract with your adversary to help you advance spiritually. He is your dear friend who has agreed to wear the costume of enemy to motivate you to reclaim your power.


Yellow highlight | Page: 61
Your partner is not the screen onto which you project your unmet needs and upsets, but instead a cherished companion whom you enfold with ever-deeper appreciation.


Yellow highlight | Page: 61
You are not simply two people coming together to offset each other’s emptiness. You are God discovering yourself through your beloved.


Yellow highlight | Page: 62
The demand that a partner stick with a certain form is a sure sign of a special relationship.


Yellow highlight | Page: 65
Distress in a relationship is a sign that specialness has intruded on love. Such a moment offers you a golden opportunity to heal your mind and heart by making a new choice.


Yellow highlight | Page: 65
Here are some specific tips on how to transform special relationships into holy ones: 1. Recognize how much the special love or special hate relationship is costing you.


Yellow highlight | Page: 66
2. Shift your vision.


Yellow highlight | Page: 66
To heal your relationship, seek, find, and focus on aspects that support a version of the partner you prefer.


Yellow highlight | Page: 67
The Spiritual Eye, by contrast, sees money as a vehicle to express love. Money blesses you when you receive it, and it blesses you and the recipient when you give it. It is life-giving. Fear, not money, is the root of all evil.


Yellow highlight | Page: 67
3. Establish your awareness in the now.


Yellow highlight | Page: 67
4. Seek to join rather than separate.


Yellow highlight | Page: 68
5. Invite Higher Power into your relationship.


Yellow highlight | Page: 70
Special relationships, challenging as they can be, provide the most fertile ground for transformation. When you turn a special relationship into a holy relationship, you have done the work of a lifetime.


Yellow highlight | Page: 70
relationship into a holy relationship, you have done the work of a lifetime.


Yellow highlight | Page: 75
The only question worth asking about any act is, “Does this bring more joy into the world, or does it diminish joy in the world?” Here you have the simplest yet the most effective guide to all life choices.


Yellow highlight | Page: 84
your primary responsibility as a miracle worker is to allow your mind to be healed


Yellow highlight | Page: 84
When you refuse to be a pawn of fear, you reduce the ability of insane illusions to run your life and contaminate the lives of others.


Yellow highlight | Page: 91
Here is a formula for relief from pain that sounds simplistic, but is utterly profound: Stop doing what hurts you and start doing what heals you. It is only because you accept—even revere—suffering that it persists.


Yellow highlight | Page: 91
Pain is a result of denial or resistance to your natural self. When you live from your divine nature, suffering will fall away.


Yellow highlight | Page: 95
The message of the crucifixion is perfectly clear: Teach only love, for that is what you are.


Yellow highlight | Page: 98
“Sickness is a defense against the truth”


Yellow highlight | Page: 108
All the


Yellow highlight | Page: 108
authority you will ever need is seeded within your soul. Look there and nowhere else.


Yellow highlight | Page: 109
Yet all methods are believable because people believe in them. Every method works for someone. The method does not bestow the healing. The belief does.


Yellow highlight | Page: 111
Jesus was more interested in bringing the man relief than in waiting for him to have perfect faith. Acting on partial faith leads to perfect faith. Partial faith is perfect in the sense that your belief is whole in the moment you mobilize it.


Yellow highlight | Page: 111
If you cannot claim perfect faith, claim perfect love. Belief in love is the most effective faith, because God is love. When you love sincerely, the power of the entire universe is behind you.


Yellow highlight | Page: 112
Faith in outer sources yields temporary success, but faith in our inner Source yields permanent success.


Yellow highlight | Page: 112
The fear-based mind seeks power from the world, while the love-based mind brings power to the world. When you accept your inherent majesty rather than attributing unmerited power to external agents, you will perform miracles that cannot be explained in any terms the world understands.


Yellow highlight | Page: 115
“Am I now closer to peace?” If so, your seeking has been worthwhile. If not, you must reevaluate where and how you are looking. The ego’s motto is “Seek and do not find” (T-12.IV.1:4). It denies the reality of love and regards healing as a threat. Any answer is acceptable to the ego as long as it does not work. Is there another place to look that will end searching rather than reinforce it?


Yellow highlight | Page: 116
If you are hellbent on letting the ego run the show, you will attempt a multitude of solutions that don’t work, resort to brute force, and find endless reasons to justify your limits. But if you value peace more than arrogance and success more


Yellow highlight | Page: 116
than struggle, you will turn to Higher Power for help and be open to receive it. And it will come.


Yellow highlight | Page: 117
“Please show me” is one of the most powerful prayers you can speak. But you must be open to Spirit’s guidance rather than telling God how to run the show.


Yellow highlight | Page: 118
Better yet, turn to the Holy Spirit before you fall off the ship. You can avoid painful trials and errors by inviting Spirit to guide you at the outset of your decision-making process. Your impeccable guide will make decisions for you in ways far more rewarding than you can make for yourself.


Yellow highlight | Page: 119
When faced with any decision, imagine that you know already. Your task is not to roam the earth seeking someone smarter than you to tell you what to do. Your task is to dive into your heart and remember what you know.


Yellow highlight | Page: 119
You can discern between the advice of the Holy Spirit and that of the ego by noticing the feeling or energy the voice or advice generates. Spirit is founded in love. The ego operates from fear. Love feels good, light, and peaceful and brings relief. Fear feels bad, heavy, and limiting and deepens distress.


Yellow highlight | Page: 123
When you have learned how to decide with God, all decisions become as easy and as right as breathing. There is no effort, and you will be led as gently as if you were being carried down a quiet path in summer.


Yellow highlight | Page: 128
If you burn with the fire of purpose, you will recognize yourself to be greater than any challenge that confronts you and you will be specifically


Yellow highlight | Page: 128
directed to the path most in harmony with your calling.


Yellow highlight | Page: 128
Higher Power will provide the ways and means to achieve your goal without any stress on your part. Work may be required. Fear never is.
Profile Image for Vilma Ul.
99 reviews3 followers
July 3, 2023
Ši knyga paaiškina tikėjimą, kaip aš jį suprantu, kaip jaučiu, suvokiu, kur kas tiksliau nei bet kuri kita iki šiol skaityta. Lengvai ir paprastai, su meile.
Profile Image for Lucia.
4 reviews12 followers
September 4, 2025
Nada real puede ser amenazado. Nada irreal existe. Aquí yace la Paz de Dios.
La respuesta es el amor.
Gran libro!
Profile Image for Amanda.
441 reviews9 followers
May 4, 2017
I could've probably highlighted this entire book because it was all good! I agree with everything that's in this book and the philosophy behind A Course in Miracles. I wanted to try to read the original "A Course in Miracles", but after I saw that it was over 1000 pages I was discouraged from reading it. When I saw this book, which does make it really easy, and is much shorter, and probably a lot easier to understand, I knew I had to read it. This book is eye-opening and confirms many of the things I've thought about the fact that we are all connected and one with God, we should choose love over fear, and that the end of the world is not something cataclysmic but in fact an awakening and an end to how we currently see ourselves and the world.

There were so many quotes in this book that I loved. Here's one of my favorites:

"You thought you were here to get stuff, prove yourself, and find people to love you. Instead you are here to get peace, be yourself, and find people to love. You thought you were here to fix the world. Instead you are here to appreciate what is before you and see the world through new eyes. You thought you were here to teach, while you are here to learn. Ultimately teaching and learning
are one. You cannot teach without learning and you cannot learn without teaching. When you teach only love, you learn only love. Then you graduate from the school of illusion and accept the diploma of inner peace, the real degree we are all here to attain."
Profile Image for Alan.
57 reviews1 follower
September 20, 2024
Four years ago I bought this book. After a quick scan, I concluded it just wasn't for me, and shelved it in my bookcase. It had a nice home (really), but it went unread.

Thanks to Kimber, who wrote an unrelated review that mentioned ACIM, something attracted me. I recognized ACIM, but had to do a quick search to find it was "A Course in Miracles." I checked my GoodReads inventory (several hundred books) and found this Alan Cohen book. Right where it's been all this time ... unread.

Metaphysically speaking, I must have grown a bit in the last few years, because my quick glance changed into a page-turning recognition of its great value. So in the two weeks it took me to read the book (for the first time), I've purchased "A Course in Miracles, Complete Edition," and started the ACIM Workbook Lessons.

Alan Cohen's book does a great job of pulling together the many topics in ACIM, distilling essentials, and presenting an easy read with a pleasant down-to-earth style.

I can't recommend this book highly enough.
3 reviews15 followers
December 9, 2021
It’s a decent book, but it’s a book about a book and, you know how source material can feel truly inspired, that little spark is not here. But the original text of ACIM on which it is based is not that accessible when you’re not ready for it (it took me a long time) and so this can help you understand what’s in store for you when you are ready. But at the same time not really, because ACIM literally tunes you to the frequency of Christ consciousness. It’s more than a book with words, it’s a transmission and an attunement. Hard to explain, but simply put, it’s an experience more than a book to be read. This book is a great introduction, however, and a great place to start if you want to prepare for ACIM. Just comparatively, it’s a fraction of the original, of course.
Profile Image for Kate Hyde.
149 reviews3 followers
November 29, 2022
DNF at 28%. I really dislike the idea that we create our reality. I realize the author is just condensing and explaining what A Course In Miracles is all about, so I can’t fault him for that. But if this is what ACIM says, it’s not OK.

Here is what made me quit reading:

“People can try to remove your happiness. They can threaten you; criticize you; insult you; tell lies about you; try to frighten, intimidate, or punish you; and do bad things to your body. But they cannot remove your peace unless you give them that power…If anyone seems to have stolen your peace, it is because you have allowed them into your sacred sanctuary and let them plunder your treasure.”

That’s just toxic positivity and victim blaming.
24 reviews1 follower
August 12, 2018
I didn't actually read this book. I listened to it while walking on a nature trail. At first, I thought it might be a cheesy self-help book, even though it is based on the most incredibly profound work of writing I've ever known in my life. However, I gave it a chance and was glad I did. This book, like the Course it is based on, is radically healing and life-changing. I recommend listening to it over reading it, because the author has a beautifully calming voice. I intend to listen again and again.
4 reviews1 follower
March 11, 2016
Good explanation

When I first tried reading ACIM years ago, I found it difficult to understand. This book translates the information into a level I can absorb.
Profile Image for Jorge Crescente.
12 reviews
September 10, 2020
Exelente resumen en donde se extraen temas de base que se apoyan en esta gran obra de grandes dimensiones. Considero a este libro como una grata introducción al Curso de Milagros
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