Nowadays it might be confusing for newbie Coursies to figure out which edition of “A Course in Miracles” to buy and why.
How to decide? The best one to ask is your Inner Teacher, the Holy Spirit.
I grew up on the Foundation for Inner Peace’s edition, and it got me to where I needed to be. But when I learned that there was MORE material that wasn’t in that edition, I had to get my hands on what I was missing. And it has been to my benefit. My understanding of the Course has deepened, and the Voice of the Course has really come alive to me.
There are 4 main editions out on the market:
- The Foundation for Inner Peace edition, published by the FIP. (Read online HERE)
- The Original edition, published by the Course in Miracles Society (Read online HERE)
- The Sparkle edition, published by the Thetford Foundation (Read online HERE)
- The Urtext Manuscripts, published by Miracles in Action Press (Read online HERE)
All of these can be read for free online. The Thetford Foundation even gives out hard copies of the Sparkle edition for FREE, and you can send a donation if you feel so moved.
My experience has been that the Original edition and the Sparkle edition (both variations of what is known as the “Hugh Lynn Cayce edition”) are easier to read (fellow students in our study group have said the same thing). The Original Edition and Sparkle Edition have about 10,000 more words included, which never made it into the FIP edition. The text of the Foundation for Inner Peace edition reads more like a textbook. The Urtext manuscripts are earlier transcriptions of the Course and the manuscripts contain a lot of material which was omitted in subsequent versions.
There are 2 articles which go into detail about the various editions, which helped my understanding of the differences. Check out these articles by the Community Miracles Center and the Course in Miracles Society.
Why was there ever a need to edit or amend the original? Isn’t this the basis for ego perception and judgement? Why choose between interpretations of the original when you can read the original. The judgements we make about the way the original is written are surely just an indication of resistance as explained in one of your earlier posts! https://fromanxietytolove.com/the-language-of-acim-is-freaking-me-out/
This is a great question Xavier! On thing I know about the need to edit the original material has to do with the very personal references about Helen and Bill that were sought to be edited out (You can actually read some of these personal references in the UrText and I’ve found them to be very helpful).
In my interview with Ken Bok, I briefly mentioned that I opened up to the less-edited versions of the Course, simply because my own resistance to the wording in the FIP ediiton “seemed” to be a block, but it was just that – my own resistance! All of the editions “work.” Some of the language in the less-edited editions went straight to my heart, and really clarified things for me, and so the less-edited versions really resonate with me. I agree, that we can get really caught up in which edition is the “right” edition, and this is just another ego ploy to keep itself going. You made such an astute observation – thank you so much!
Thank you Corinne.
I compared various text from the FIP and the Sparkle edition and found that the FIP edition was very concise and focused on the essential. It told me exactly what I needed to know without extras. that hinder rather than enhance study and contemplation. I guess that once one has been grounded through the FIP one may then read other editions out of interest to compliment ones understandin but it is not essential. Either way all lead to enlightenment ❤️
What about the combined addition? If I wanted a hard copy would this be the one to get?
wapnick….come back, the non existent world is changing the course….their are non existent editions available that are different than the next edition we don’t want these non existent changes in the non existent world….come back wapnick…make us laugh at what doesn’t exist again