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ACFIP Newsletter 
Issue 11 - December 2006

Quarterly Newsletter of the Australian Centre for Inner Peace



Michael Dawson
PO Box 125, Point Lookout
North Stradbroke Island,
Queensland 4183,
Australia

Email: mdawson@acfip.org     
Web site: http://www.acfip.org


CONTENTS:
•The Way of A Course in Miracles
•Miracle or Magic?
•Story - The Angry Drunk
•Workshops
•Books and Audio Materials for Sale
•Links
•Inspirational Quotations


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Welcome to the ELEVENTH issue of the Australian Centre for Inner Peace Newsletter.

If you wish to read previous issues please go to http://www.acfip.org/newsletterarchive.html.

If your email address ends with .au I put your address on my Australian list for advance warning of workshops I am giving in Australia. If you do not want to be on this list please let me know. If you reside in Australia and want to be on this list, but you address does not end in .au, please email me and I will include it.

If you are new to the Course you might find my summaries of help. You can them at http://www.acfip.org/sum.html and http://www.acfip.org/art4.html

Regards

Michael Dawson
http://www.acfip.org

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THE WAY OF A COURSE IN MIRACLES

The way of the Course is to progressively deliver us into the hands of the Holy Spirit. His guiding Voice will become the only Voice we listen to. At the journeys end all decision will cease and we will know peace at last. His Voice is always with us but through fear we blot it out. With His help we will remove those barriers to His presence. This is the way of forgiveness. As we hold His hand we look together, without judgement, at the contents of our mind. As suffering arises in our mind through contact with the world he gently asks us to look within instead. Here is the only cause of suffering that can ever be found. He reminds us that the world is only a mirror to what is in our mind. What is unforgiven in our mind is seen as something fearful in the world - something to be attacked and destroyed. Come back to the source of pain He calls for only here can it be undone. Release your blame of others, release your blame of yourselves and surrender your pain to me He gently reminds us.

And slowly we come to learn that there is no better way than His. So little He asks of us, so much He has to give. His light slowly dawns upon our minds, our faith begins to deepen, and we grasp His hand more tightly. His way works, ours does not. Forgetting the past and letting go the future we begin to become content with the moment. We understand that He can safely lead us home and we no longer desire any other journey.

The dream of separation starts to fade until at last God lifts us back to the awareness of our perfect oneness with Him and we are home at last.


MIRACLE OR MAGIC?

When the ego tempts you to sickness do not ask the Holy Spirit to heal the body for this would merely be to accept the ego's belief that the body is the proper aim of healing. Ask rather that the Holy Spirit teach you the right perception of the body, for perception alone can be distorted. Only perception can be sick because only perception can be wrong. T-8.IX.1:5-7

When our body is in pain or is not functioning properly, it is very tempting to focus our attention on the symptoms and seek a change at that level. This is an example of what the Course calls magic. Magic is an attempt to heal something at the wrong level. We might try pills, rituals, charms, crystals, Bach flowers, visualisation, surgery etc. The Course is not against us using magic to relieve our pain but tells us this is not healing. We seek to fix up something "out there" which appears to be the cause of the distress. "Out there" includes our body, other bodies (relationships) and situations in the world. Our magical belief is that something other than our thoughts is the cause of our pain and if we can change that sufficiently, we will be at peace. This is at the root of all our anger. We believe that attack will get us what we want. For example, you might have a difficult relationship with someone and find that you often develop a headache when you are with them. You might even get into the habit of carrying a pill with you to relieve your headache. Both the anger you use to try and change the person's behaviour, by attempting to make them guilty, and the pill you swallow are magical attempts by your ego to change something outside of your mind. Thus magic is an attempt to change on the level of effect as opposed to cause.

Cure is a word that cannot be applied to any remedy the world accepts as beneficial. What the world perceives as therapeutic is but what will make the body 'better.' ... He is not healed. He merely had a dream that he was sick, and in the dream he found a magic formula to make him well. Yet he has not awakened from the dream, and so his mind remains exactly as it was before. Lesson 140

The quotation at the beginning of this article stresses that the cause of all our pain - physical or psychological - is due to the way we perceive the world. What we see in the world is what we see in our mind - "projection makes perception" as the Course states it. We first look within before we look without. If we only perceive our fearful and attacking ego in our mind, this is all we can see in the world.

Trapped within our ego thoughts, we can only come up with ego solutions which will treat the symptoms but not the cause. Perhaps we will succeed for a while in changing our bodily condition or the way another relates to us. However, our success in tinkering with effects will be short lived and our problems will return in a similar or related form. Our ego will then suggest another solution and we are forced to start all over again.

To see the world differently and be at peace we must heal our perception. To do this, we need help from outside the ego system. It is a mistake to think we can heal ourselves without the help of Jesus or the Holy Spirit.

So do we lay aside our amulets, our charms and medicines, our chants and bits of magic in whatever form they take. We will be still and listen for the Voice of healing, Which will cure all ills as one, restoring saneness to the Son of God. No voice but This can cure. Lesson 140

As we begin to realise that our own magical efforts cannot bring us lasting peace, our prayers turn away from effects ("Please heal my body Jesus") to the cause ("Teach me how to forgive"). Realising that the cause of all our pain is in our mind and not the world, we start the process of taking our projections back off the world and begin to look with the help of the Holy Spirit at all that we have denied in our mind. We do not simply "give everything to the Holy Spirit" for first we must recognise and acknowledge the ego's thought system of attack hidden in our mind. The Course is not about affirming truth and love but discovering and ...."removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence. (intro, text)

As we begin to discover the extent of the anger and hate in our mind, the ego will counsel us to feel guilty for in this way, we will continue our allegiance to it. We can only feel guilty if we still believe that what we discover in the darkness is really us. At these times, Jesus asks us to turn to him for help. Only his light can dissolve our darkness. He is ever waiting to stretch out his hand to us if we but call to him for help. As we start to allow his light to fill our mind, we too can help him heal others through us. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our mind reminds us that we are still children of God. In the same way, our example of peace will remind others who we meet that they can choose to see differently.

The only meaningful contribution the healer can make is to present an example of one whose direction has been changed for him, and who no longer believes in nightmares of any kind. The light in his mind will therefore answer the questioner, who must decide with God that there is light because he sees it.
L97

This is not to say we do not continue to use magic for ourselves and others, for few have reached the stage where they can immediately change from wrong perception to right perception on every occasion. It is not a sin to have a toothache and a visit to the dentist would be a wise decision. However, our goal needs to be the healing of our mind and to do this, we must acknowledge the darkness - albeit illusory - of our ego mind and sincerely ask for the light of the Holy Spirit to shine it away. As we learn to hold the hand of Jesus more and the hand of the ego less we will be encouraged by the joyful results to trust him more and more.



THE ANGRY DRUNK
A True Story - Author Unknown

Have you ever suddenly found yourself somewhere you would normally never have been? One exceptionally cold night, I left work late and, since I was already late for my third-Thursday-of -the-month meeting, I decided to take the tube instead of my usual stroll. Waiting for the train, I realised that Camden Town Station, on the Northern Line, was the last place I wanted to be.

A train rolled into the station, the doors opened and clumsily I climbed aboard. The doors closed, the train pulled forward and I struggled to balance myself, my briefcase and my shopping bag. At this point, the crowded train ride was the only normal thing about the evening. The Northern Line is always crowded, noisy and rocky. I secured myself and my bundles. After years of travelling on the Underground, I learned to avoid any eye contact with other passengers. Past experience has taught me that most of the people who want to talk to you are either crazy and/or they want something from you. Standing there, minding my own business, I noticed that the guy in front was staring at me.

At first I did what I normally do: I ignored him. I casually looked to my right and to my left, but as my glance passed his stare, our eyes locked. His eyes were watery. I suspected that he had been drinking. Wondering if I had mistaken a blank look for a deliberate stare, I decided to have another casual look around. But, sure enough, our eyes met again. He asked me if this was the way to Green Park. My suspicion was confirmed. He was definitely drunk. His speech was slurred and his eyes were hazy. He was having difficulty keeping his balance, as the motion of the train rocked us back and forth.

I instructed him to change trains at Leicester Square. While I was directing him, I noticed a change was coming over his face. In an angry voice he told me how he was “stinking drunk.” My nervousness turned to anxiety. My blood pressure will usually rise whenever anyone speaks to me, but especially when ‘trapped’ in an underground carriage with anyone who has been drinking. I immediately invited the Holy Spirit to guide me and to comfort me. I slowly inhaled and exhaled deeply to help my body relax. Surprisingly, I felt peaceful.

He proceeded to tell me how much he wanted to punch someone’s face in. I silently called out, “Oh God, what now?” I remained calm and quiet. All this time, I maintained eye contact. Not once did I look away. However, his anger increased. He became enraged. He held his hand up to my face and repeated how he wanted to hurt someone.

Was I going to be the one?

The train stopped, the doors opened, and I stepped off. The ‘old’ me would have pretended this was my stop or at least walked to a different carriage or waited for the next train, but none of these choices crossed my mind. I stepped back up onto the train, back in front of the angry drunk.

Again, he held his hand up to my face. This time his angry voice declared how he wanted to see blood. With his hand still in my face, he asked me if I understood his need for blood. I was still not afraid. Normally, I would have been a nervous wreck. I spoke, but my voice had an unfamiliar tone. Without sounding condescending or patronising this new voice asked: “Why are you angry?” He immediately lowered his hand. His angry face became sad. In the voice of a child in pain, he said: “My mother died today.” A powerful sensation swept through my body.

The memory of how I felt when my cousin Paul died flooded my mind. Putting my fist through a door was the way my anger, which I had initially felt, expressed itself. I shared this memory with him. His anger was overcome by grief.

The train stopped at Leicester Square. Together we walked to the escalator leading to where he could catch the train to Green Park. As we walked, I said: "You are experiencing something I have not and I am not looking forward to." I empathised with how painful it must have been for him to lose his mother. He looked at me with sorrowful, empty eyes. He held up his hand for me to hold. Earlier, this same hand wanted to strike someone; to hurt someone as much as he was hurting. Instead, his pain was shared. As I was unfamiliar with this form of handshake, our hands clasped awkwardly; confirming that this 'holy encounter' was real.

As he turned to walk to his train, I touched his shoulder and said: “Take care of yourself.” I do not know how else to express what happened next, but I felt my love for him pass through my hand. He turned back to me, as if he felt it too. With a look in his eyes that I will always remember, he lifted his hand and said: “God bless you.” A feeling came over me which I usually only experience with close friends and family. Rarely have I felt God’s blessing this strongly. I felt truly blessed and filled with joy.

Today I know the difference between joy and happiness. You can experience joy even when you are filled with sorrow.

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PLEASE NOTE: The Australian Centre for Inner Peace is not a counselling or psychotherapy centre; therefore, we do not offer telephone or email service or counselling, therapy, or crisis intervention for personal problems related to the Course. Please see the Contacts section at the end of this newsletter.

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A Course in Miracles Workshops 2006 Workshops

AUSTRALIA

BRISBANE

Sunday 25 February 2007 - 1 day workshop
9.30am to 5pm

A Full Heart and an Empty Mind
- A Course in Miracles workshop

Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false, or good or bad, of every thought it judges worthy, and all the ideas of which it is ashamed. Hold onto nothing. Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught, nor one belief you ever learned before from anything. Forget this world, forget this course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God. LESSON 189

The deepest but forgotten truth about ourselves is that we are one with the love and mind of God.

To let this memory return to our awareness we need to question everything we think is true and extend kindness to others.

This workshop will explore how we can awaken to our spiritual reality through the healing power of kindness, gentleness, simplicity, awareness and forgiveness.

No previous knowledge of A Course in Miracles is required.



VENUE:
Relaxation Centre,
cnr Brookes and Wickham Streets,
Fortitude Valley
Brisbane 4006

BOOKINGS:
Relaxation Centre
07 3854 1986
(Please do not book through me)

Times: 9.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.
Cost: $55
Bring lunch to share

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Clare - Sat 24 and Sun 25, March 2007
(2hrs drive north of Adelaide)

Applying A Course in Miracles in Our Daily Lives

with Michael Dawson


The Course asks us to use our daily life as a classroom of forgiveness. We will explore how we can find peace when challenged by money, anger, hate, sex, relationships and sickness. Exercises will be used to help us identify and heal the issues that confront us.

No previous knowledge of A Course in Miracles is required.


VENUE:
Clare
SA 5453
(2hrs drive north of Adelaide)

DATE:
Sat 24 and Sun 25, March 2007


TIME:
Sat 28 - 9.30 TO 5.30
Sun 29 - 9.30 TO 4.30


BOOKINGS:
Tel: 08 8842 3114
PO Box 614
Clare, SA 5453


Cost
Deposit: $60
plus a donation

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Hillier SA - Sat 31 MARCH and Sun 1 APRIL 2007
(40 minutes drive from the centre of Adelaide)

RELATIONSHIPS AS PATH OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH
- from the perspective of A Course in Miracles

with Michael Dawson

9.30 to 5.30

Learning to understand ourselves
by seeing how we relate to others.

"When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter.
As you see him you will see yourself. As you treat him you will treat yourself.
As you think of him you will think of yourself. Never forget this, for in him
you will find yourself or lose yourself." from "A Course in Miracles"



A relationship based on truth and awareness is one of the most powerful tools for healing and growth. How we relate in the instant we pass someone in the street, how we relate to our friends, an employer, family members or our partners all provides us with mirrors reflecting our own beliefs about ourselves and the world.

In our lives we create barriers to the presence of peace and love within us. We pursue substitutes of power, money, sex, possessions, status and so on, which can never satisfy the yearning within for deeper fulfilment - our relationship with God.

In this workshop, using the mirror of relationships, we will look at what needs to be healed in ourselves and how, by changing our relationships based on dependency to ones based on honesty and forgiveness, we can discover a path that will return us to the awareness of love's presence within us. A gentle and safe space is created enabling participants to trust and go deep.

This workshop is not specifically for partners. It is designed for anyone who wishes to improve how they relate to others in any type of relationship.

An introduction to the Course’s metaphysical, psychological and spiritual teachings especially regarding relationships will be covered.



VENUE
"Riverdell"
Clifford Road
Hillier
South Australia
(40 minutes drive from the centre of Adelaide)

COST
Booking Fee - $30 (non refundable)
Workshop - By Donation
Some accommodation on site - $40
Bring food to share for lunch both days

For Details Contact:
Pamela St Claire
(08) 8322 0444
email: pstclaire@chariot.net.au

People should send their Booking Fee to:

Pamela St Claire
36 The Causeway
O'Halloran Hill SA 5158
and include a cheque made payable to P. St Claire

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GERMANY 2007 WORKSHOPS

RAVENSBURG - 1 day w/s Sun 24th June 2007

RELATIONSHIPS AS PATH OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH
- from the perspective of A Course in Miracles

with Michael Dawson

9.30 to 5.30

Learning to understand ourselves
by seeing how we relate to others.

"When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter.
As you see him you will see yourself. As you treat him you will treat yourself.
As you think of him you will think of yourself. Never forget this, for in him
you will find yourself or lose yourself." from "A Course in Miracles"



A relationship based on truth and awareness is one of the most powerful tools for healing and growth. How we relate in the instant we pass someone in the street, how we relate to our friends, an employer, family members or our partners all provides us with mirrors reflecting our own beliefs about ourselves and the world.

In our lives we create barriers to the presence of peace and love within us. We pursue substitutes of power, money, sex, possessions, status and so on, which can never satisfy the yearning within for deeper fulfilment - our relationship with God.

In this workshop, using the mirror of relationships, we will look at what needs to be healed in ourselves and how, by changing our relationships based on dependency to ones based on honesty and forgiveness, we can discover a path that will return us to the awareness of love's presence within us. A gentle and safe space is created enabling participants to trust and go deep.

This workshop is not specifically for partners. It is designed for anyone who wishes to improve how they relate to others in any type of relationship.

An introduction to the Course’s metaphysical, psychological and spiritual teachings especially regarding relationships will be covered.


Location of workshop:

ULEN Centre
Felz - 88212
Ravensburg
Germany

CONTACT

ULEN Centre
Felz - 88212
Ravensburg
Germany
Tel: 49 [0]751-26985 (Sybil)
Tel: 49 [0]751-24896 (Christiane)

Fax: 49 [0]751-3527933
Email: uelen@t-online.de


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FREIBURG - weekend w/s Sat 30 June and Sun 1 July 2007

The Healing Power of Forgiveness
- from the perspective of A Course in Miracles


Sat 30 June/Sun 1 July 2007

Cost: 160 EUR


10 to 6pm

Forget not that the healing of God's Son is all the world is for.
That is the only purpose the Holy Spirit sees in it, and thus the only one it has.
Until you see the healing of the Son as all you wish to be accomplished by the world,
by time and all appearances, you will not know the Father nor yourself.
A Course in Miracles T-24.VI.4:1-3


How can we heal ourselves and help others to heal? The Course asks us not to try to change ourselves or others but to look past our perceptual errors, our distorted self-concepts, which is to forgive.

Forgiveness, like the miracle, does not 'do' anything but undoes the judgement we hold against ourselves and others. What we find disturbing are but symbols of what is unhealed in our minds.

The cause of all disease lies in the mind and not the body.
This workshop will explore what is meant by 'healing' and how forgiveness can restore our minds to peace - the condition in which God is remembered. We will also investigate how we can help others to heal themselves and the differences between the true and false healing.

Exercises will be used to help contact the source of healing in our minds so it can be extended to ourselves and others.

No previous knowledge of A Course in Miracles is required.


Introductory talk on A Course in Miracles
- evening Fri 29 June at 8pm. Cost 10 EUR


Location of workshop:
Center Margarete Sennekamp
Schauinslandstr. 39
79100 Freiburg-Günterstal
Tram 4, Klosterplatz

Contact:
Sophia-Institut
Margarete Sennekamp
Adalbert-Stifter-Str. 16
79102 Freiburg
Tel/Fax : 0761-73930
www.Sophia-Institut.de



_______________________________________


Biography
Michael discovered A Course in Miracles whilst visiting the Findhorn Foundation in 1982. He subsequently became a member of the Foundation for about six years and involved himself with healing and teaching. In 1994 he published Healing the Cause - A Path of Forgiveness which serves as an introduction to the Course. His second book, The Findhorn Book of Forgiveness (Findhorn Press) uses exercises, stories and case histories to guide the reader to inner peace through forgiveness. Michael now lives in Australia and gives workshops on the Course world-wide.

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BOOKS AND AUDIO MATERIALS FOR SALE - by Michael Dawson

Books:
Healing the Cause - A Path of Forgiveness. Findhorn Press. 1994
The Findhorn Book of Forgiveness. Findhorn Press. 2003

For more details and how to purchase please visit: http://www.acfip.org/books_tapes.html

Audio Tapes and CDs
Since 1986 I have been conducting healing workshops in the UK and abroad, and have continually experimented to find healing and forgiveness exercises that are effective. I have found that a particular exercise can be effective for one person but not another. Accordingly, I was led to develop a series of exercises. Over the years workshop participants asked if these exercises could be put onto audio cassettes and CDs so they could repeat them. This has resulted in the
Healing the Cause - Exercise series - Tapes 1 to 4 (2 exercises on each tape) and CD1 and 2 (4 exercises on each CD)

For more details and how to purchase please visit: http://www.acfip.org/audio.html

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CONTACTS

Resources
Foundation for A Course In Miracles
41397 Buecking Drive, Temecula, CA 92590
Tel: 909 296 6261 Fax: 909296 9117

Books, videos, CDs and audio tapes by Kenneth and Gloria Wapnick are available from their web site http://www.facim.org

Question and Answer Service:
Their electronic outreach section has a question and answer service http://www.facimoutreach.org/ on the theory and practice of the Course. Their database of hundreds of questions and answers is searchable and you can ask your own questions.

Their publications can also be ordered in Australia at:
Adyar Bookshop
230 Clarence Street
Sydney, NSW 2000

Foundation for Inner Peace - the publishers of A Course in Miracles
http://www.acim.org/

ACIM study groups.
Go to
The Miracle Distribution Center http://www.miraclecenter.org/ for the largest and most frequently updated list of A Course in Miracles study groups available anywhere.

Miracles Studies Australia  http://www.miracle-studies.net.au lists study groups for Australia and new Zealand

A Course In Miracles Pen Pals
The
Miracle Network http://www.miracles.org.uk hosts a A Course in Miracles pen pals group:
To join this e-mail discussion group, send your e-mail address to e.pals@miracles.org.uk. They will send you updated lists of other e.pals and inform them of your e-mail address.

A Course In Miracles Chat Groups
The aim of this board is to provide a place for people to chat about ACIM.
Any related discussions are more than welcome and I believe helpful! - moderated by Glyn Milhench
http://glynbo.proboards84.com/index.cgi?board=acim

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INSPIRATIONAL QUOTATIONS

About three or four times a week I send a short quotation from some spiritual teacher or poet to people who have requested some uplifting thoughts. I have included some below. If you wish I can add your name to the email list.


Do understand that you are destined for enlightenment.
Co-operate with your destiny, don't go against it, don't thwart it.
Allow it to fulfil itself.
All you have to do is to give attention to the obstacles created by the foolish mind.

Nisargadatta Maharaj

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      When you listen to the voice in your head, that
is to say, do not judge. You'll soon realize: there
is the voice, and here I am listening to it, watching
it. This I am realization, this sense of your own
presence, is not a thought. It arises from beyond
the mind.
     
- Eckhart Tolle
The Power of Now


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In your light I learn how to love.
In your beauty, how to make poems.

You dance inside my chest,
where no one sees you,

but sometimes I do, and that
sign becomes this art.

- Rumi

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One is more likely to awaken through surrender than through seeking to waken. The effort to awaken is the effort of ego, whereas to surrender is to give up all efforts and to place oneself in the hands of a vast force that is more powerful than any realization of non duality.

When one finally gives up one's futile attempts to make reality conform to one's own wishes, and allows it to unfold on its own terms, all the energy that was tied up in foolish attempts to manipulate the universe is freed up.

Mariana Caplan
Halfway Up the Mountain - The Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment

---------------------------------------------------------------

Yet searching is inevitable here. For this you came, and you will surely do the thing you came for. But the world can not dictate the goal for which you search, unless you give it power to do so. Otherwise, you still are free to choose a goal that lies beyond the world and every worldly thought, and one that comes to you from an idea relinquished yet remembered, old yet new; an echo of a heritage forgot, yet holding everything you really want.

A Course in Miracles Lesson 131

---------------------------------------------------------------

There's one great delusion that lies at the core
of all of our suffering: the false belief in the reality
of the separation of life and in the subsequent
true existence of an individual ego.

All fervent attempts to control or to mortify this
illusory ego through penance, rituals and sacrifice,
however, will only serve to intensify the delusion
that this ego is actually very real and that it only
needs to be, somehow, subdued, conquered or
destroyed.
      
- Chuck Hillig


Seeds for the Soul
Chuck Hillig
Black Dot Publications, 2003