History of the Spanish Translation
In 1977 Emilio Guzman was the first person to approach the Foundation asking permission to do a Spanish translation of A Course in Miracles. He was already teaching the Course in Mexico City. After writing to the Foundation he soon visited New York City and met Drs. Helen Schucman, Bill Thetford, Ken Wapnick, as well as Bob and Judy Skutch but the time was not yet right. Emilio did work with the official Spanish translators, Rosa Maria Wynn and Fernando Gomez, years later.
Spanish Translation Team Leader: Rosa Maria Wynn
Un Curso de Milagros (UCDM) was translated by Rosa María Wynn and Fernando Gómez, with the Team Leader being Rosa Maria Wynn.
Also collaborating were, Emilio Guzmán, Armando Molina, Juan Manual Ocasio, Irma Santiago, Emy LaBelle, Valeria Pequeño, Elise Colt, Rosa Briceño, Kenn Holsten, Miguel Géigel, Jorge Ramírez and Jane C. Rizo-Patrón.
The final review was done by Rosa María Wynn.
Spanish ACIM Translator;
Rosa Maria passed away on Feb. 8, 2017
I was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on April 16, 1945. By the age of 16, I was very much into philosophy. I was totally consumed with the purpose of life. I read books about reincarnation and ESP, but still had no clear idea of what God was or why I was in this world. By the time I was about 20, I was an agnostic. That’s when I received an opportunity to travel to the Netherlands, where I was forced to practice my limited English. Shortly after that I became an Eastern Airlines flight attendant which really helped my fluency with English.
By the time I was 30, I had moved to California. By then, I had already been involved in various enlightenment schools including Sufism, Hinduism, Krishnamurti, Arica and EST. I also read Carlos Castaneda’s books and spent time with Muktananda, but still nothing grabbed my heart.
During my EST training somebody told me that he had just received a set of three books called A Course in Miracles that was supposed to be the “next thing” in spirituality. I didn’t like that name at all. I thought it was probably for simple-minded Christians. I was more interested in Oriental mysticism. I closed my heart and my ears to the Course for a few weeks. Then I discovered that three people whom I greatly admired studied the Course every morning before they went to work. About two weeks later they invited me to a party at their home and showed me the Text. When I read one paragraph, the holiness and integrity I felt coming from it touched me so deeply that I knew, at last, I had found my way to God.
I read the Teacher’s Manual eight times while waiting for my own set of books. After they arrived, I became obsessed with the Course. During the next three years whenever I could find a spare moment, I studied the Course with the sure conviction that it was going to transform my life since it had already brought so many positive changes.
After three years of study, a friend asked, “Why don’t you start a study group?” So I began with a group of about 15 people. Before long, many people came to my house to study. Then one day, my inner voice told me that I must translate the Course into Spanish. I resisted because I was embarrassed by the idea of telling the Foundation for Inner Peace that I was listening to an inner voice. Nevertheless, in 1983, I finally overcame my resistance and met Judy Skutch. When she asked me, “Would you be doing this alone?” I said I had a friend, Fernando Gomez, with whom I was teaching Spanish.
Fernando was one of those people who had resisted the Course for years. He just could not stand the Christian terminology. As soon as he would read something about the Holy Spirit, he would close it. Anyway, he had been reading the Course for six months when I called him. I said, “Fernando, I spoke to Judy, and she asked me if I would do this with somebody. I realized that I cannot do with this alone, and I just want to know if you’re willing to embark on this with me.” After a half-minute of silence, Fernando said, “Yes I will.”
Fernando was born in Barcelona, Spain. While living in California, he had become a professional translator, reaching the highest level of translation skills with a tremendous mastery of the language. I could not have done the job without his thoughtful, complete commitment.
Nine months later we started the process of translation. The Foundation for Inner Peace asked “How long do you think it’s going to take?” Without checking with me, Fernando said, “Oh, about a year.” I had already read the Course five times and I had finished going through the workbook twice. So I felt I really had this material completely mastered. I told Fernando privately that it would take at least two years. I was wrong. We could not imagine the magnitude and the depth of what we were getting into. In fact, it took ten years to finish the translation.
In the process of those ten years, I read the material over eighty times. Many people through the years contributed to the quality of this translation actually. Emilio Guzman, a gentleman from Mexico, was one of them. A lot of the poetry in the translation, we owe to him. We took extreme care to make sure that anyone from any country could read it. In fact, after six months of translating, we were using mostly the way of speaking in Latin America. Then we were suddenly guided to use the way of speaking in Spain. We had to change everything. Later I was very glad because many people in Spain told me that otherwise they probably would not have understood the translation.
In December, 1992, Judy called and said, “We have the Spanish Course here.” I was so excited. When she placed the book in my hands, it was like giving me my baby, if you will, my child. I held it to my heart, exactly as I had seen in a vision eleven years earlier. A few weeks later, on New Year’s Eve, my inner voice said to me, “Now you need to go to the world and bring the message of Christ.”
Thus began a new phase in my life in May of 1993, when I gave my first workshop in Connecticut. Then I went to Spain to begin a series of conferences and seminars. Fernando arranged all the tours. Then he continued translating and interpreting for different national and international governmental organizations and corporations, and became a senior French and Spanish interpreter for the Judicial Council of the State of California. I continue to this day to tour and teach in South America and in Spain.
Spanish Translation Team Member: Fernando Gomez
Spanish Workbook Lessons
Overview • Table of Contents
If you find these lessons helpful, please consider donating to the Foundation.
