Just another institution

Byron Echo--Byron Bay, Australia, April 11, 2000
By Campbell McKellar

I am one of the owners of the Epicentre in Belongil where the Miracle Centre is located and a former participant in the Miracle Sessions both here and in Wisconsin, USA. A Course In Miracles is an incredible text that has enriched my understanding of myself. However nowhere in the Course or in the other teachings of Jesus are the following condoned or even hinted at:

1. The establishment of an institution.

2. The use of confrontation or humiliation.

3. The idolization of a teacher.

Unfortunately, all of the above abound in the form adopted by Endeavor Academy's Miracle Centres worldwide.

The main teacher at the Belongil facility, Hector (Ted Poppe), can give an experience which is mistaken by many students to be a state of wholeness. Unfortunately, because of his own lack of integration such an experience will ultimately, at best, amount to nothing; at worst, lead to a heightened sense of self-righteousness, separation, and/or confusion. Any teacher that refers to individuals as "humans who are never going to hear this," or "dead," is teaching separation. Unfortunately, the use of A Course In Miracles in the Centre's format has degenerated into a mental assertion that has often been at variance with feeling.

My interacting with students of the Centre both as a participant and owner of the Epicentre has been largely characterized by their great personal integrity and dedication. However, as a "graduate," I now know that each individual must exhibit personal certainty or maturity of mind--totally independent of an institution, teacher or teaching. This will not happen however while any of the above mentioned behavior is tolerated. ("If you want peace you must abandon the teacher of attack"--A Course In Miracles, Chapter 14.) The end never justifies the means.

I am personally grateful to the Master Teacher of Wisconsin, USA, for all that he has given me. A man of great power, enthusiasm and insight into the human condition [sic], he has to accept ultimate responsibility for creating an institution that relies, once again, like all well-meaning religious organizations, upon compliance and fear.