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

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

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CONTENTS:
*  Finding the Peace of God
*  Poem - Confession
*  Workshops
*  Books and Audio Materials for Sale
*  New CDs - 2 Talks
*  Links
*  Inspirational Quotations


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 notice 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 find 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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Finding the Peace of God

Forget not that the motivation for this course is the attainment and the keeping of the state of peace. Given this state the mind is quiet, and the condition in which God is remembered is attained
A Course in Miracles.T-24.in.1.


Below you will find selections from A Course in Miracles which will help you to return to the peace of God. They are intended as reminders to what you have studied and practised in the Course.


1 - Purpose of your day

As you awake in the morning set the purpose of your day to find the peace of God in all situations you encounter. For example, if you need to talk to your boss about a pay rise you think you deserve the first priority is to try and be at peace with your boss and the outcome of the interview - whether you get a raise or not. Thus in all situations that require some practical steps to be taken you approach on two levels. Level one, the first priority, is to seek and find peace in the situation. Level two, the second priority, is achieving the goal - if possible.

The peace of God is everything I want. The peace of God is my one goal; the aim of all my living here, the end I seek, my purpose and my function and my life, while I abide where I am not at home.
Lesson 205

Another example could be sickness. You try different ways to get better (second priority) but seek, with the help of Jesus or the Holy Spirit, to remain at peace (first priority) no matter if you get better or not .

Attaining and the keeping of peace now becomes the PURPOSE of everything you do during the day. It does not matter what happens to you as you now view all happenings as classrooms where you can learn forgiveness, truth and therefore peace. You could even find yourself in disastrous circumstances (according to your ego) such as a car crash, but with the purpose of peace as your first priority you could turn that situation into a blessing. This is not easy to do as your ego will encourage you to view such a situation as a justified victim.

It takes great learning to understand that all things, events, encounters and circumstances are helpful. M -4.I.4:5

This is the message of the crucifixion (Text - 6.in). Jesus was not upset about what happened to him and would like us to use his example to encourage us to find peace in less demanding trials.


2 - Start the day with God

.... as soon as possible after waking take your quiet time, continuing a minute or two after you begin to find it difficult. You may find that the difficulty will diminish and drop away. If not, that is the time to stop. M -16.4.7:9

This section in the Manual asks you to join with God and foster quiet thoughts about Him. In four below Jesus stresses that remembering three things about ourselves is particularly important.

1 - That God has created us peaceful
2 - That God has created us joyful and
3 - A thought of limitless release

Thus in your quiet time with God you can remind yourself of who you really are - joyful, peaceful and without limit, and that you have an ever present source of help in Jesus or the Holy Spirit. It can be a time of joining with God in gratitude for what He created - an eternal, formless, loving Christ, and for the Help to return you to that realisation. After this period of quiet thinking it may feel natural for your mind to remain relatively quiet and receptive to God's love for you.


3 - End the day with God

.... just before going to sleep is a desirable time to devote to God. It sets your mind into a pattern of rest, and orients you away from fear. If it is expedient to spend this time earlier, at least be sure that you do not forget a brief period,--not more than a moment will do,--in which you close your eyes and think of God. M -16.5.6:8

Here you are being asked to repeat two above but now at the end of the day.


4 - Remember God throughout the day

There is one thought in particular that should be remembered throughout the day. It is a thought of pure joy; a thought of peace, a thought of limitless release, limitless because all things are freed within it. M-16.6.1:2

Jesus is encouraging you to maintain the current of remembering Who you are and joining with God that you started the day with. Remember you are fully protected by God's love in all situations today and that a Guide accompanies you in all situations you have dedicated to peace, truth and forgiveness.


5 - Guidance

The presence of fear is a sure sign that you are trusting in your own strength. W-pI.48.3.1

If the presence of fear is felt during the day it is showing you that you must be relying on the ego's guidance and not the Holy Spirit. Whenever you lose your peace Jesus asks you to consider the following:

I must have decided wrongly, because I am not at peace.
I made the decision myself, but I can also decide otherwise.
I want to decide otherwise, because I want to be at peace.
I do not feel guilty, because the Holy Spirit will undo all the consequences of my wrong decision if I will let Him.
I choose to let Him, by allowing Him to decide for God for me.
T-5.VII.6.7:11

It is not necessary for you to ask for guidance on every detail of your day. Instead ...

If you have made it a habit to ask for help when and where you can, you can be confident that wisdom will be given you when you need it. Prepare for this each morning, remember God when you can throughout the day, ask the Holy Spirit's help when it is feasible to do so, and thank Him for His guidance at night. And your confidence will be well founded indeed. M-29.5.8:10


6 - Understanding Anger

Throughout your day irritations and anger will often arise to take your peace away. When this takes place, unhealed and unforgiven aspects of yourself are being mirrored back to you from your environment. For example, if you get upset about someone's seemingly unfair treatment of yourself, then the situation is showing you that you are capable of treating others unfairly, albeit perhaps in different forms.

Learn this, and learn it well, for it is here delay of happiness is shortened by a span of time you cannot realize. You never hate your brother for his sins, but only for your own. Whatever form his sins appear to take, it but obscures the fact that you believe them to be yours, and therefore meriting a "just" attack. T-31.III.1.4:6

When a difficult situation arises in your life the ego is quick to draw on your past experience and immediately label the situation as negative. This provides the justification for anger and attack. However, Jesus reminds us:

Perhaps it will be helpful to remember that no one can be angry at a fact. It is always an interpretation that gives rise to negative emotions, regardless of their seeming justification by what appears as facts. Regardless, too, of the intensity of the anger that is aroused. M-17.4.1:3

Whenever you lose your peace, a hidden and denied aspect of yourself is asking to be healed. If you can take back your projections of anger from the world and not judge yourself for finding the cause in your own mind, you open yourself to healing from the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit asks of you but this; bring to Him every secret you have locked away from Him. Open every door to Him, and bid Him enter the darkness and lighten it away. At your request He enters gladly. He brings the light to darkness if you make the darkness open to Him. But what you hide He cannot look upon. T-14.6.1:5

Prayer is a way of asking for something. It is the medium of miracles. But the only meaningful prayer is for forgiveness, because those who have been forgiven have everything. T-3.V.6.1:3


7 - Humility

Little progress can be made along the path to peace unless humility is developed. Your ego mind is arrogant, believing it knows the best course of action in all events. It bases its judgement on memory, thinking that the more experience it has gathered the better it can judge present circumstances. In contrast, the Course reminds you that if you think you are a body, operating in time and space, you are insane! And how can the insane know what is best for them? Instead, Jesus counsels us to resign as our own teacher and seek guidance from the Holy Spirit:

You Understand Nothing

When your peace is threatened or disturbed in any way,
say to yourself,

"I do not know what anything, including this, means.
And so I do not know how to respond to it.
And I will not use my own past learning as the light
to guide me now."

By this refusal to attempt to teach yourself what you do not know, the Guide Whom God has given you will speak to you. He will take His rightful place in your awareness the instant you abandon it, and offer it to Him. T-14.XI.6.6:11


8 - Rules for Decision

At the start of Chapter 30 in the Text will be found a set of very practical rules on how to achieve a peaceful day. Actually, only the first rule is needed and reminds you, once again, that you only have a choice of listening to two counsellors in your mind - the ego or the Holy Spirit. And only the Holy Spirit's counsel will give you peace.

Rules for Decision
Rule 1 - Today I will make no decisions by myself.
Rule 2 - If I make no decisions by myself, this is the day that will be given me.(peaceful)
To help reinforce your learning Jesus uses rule 2 as a reminder, to be used throughout the day.
Rule 3 - I have no question. I forgot what to decide.
A major problem to be avoided is setting up your own answers to a problem which you then ask the Holy Spirit to choose between. See the previous notes on humility.
Rule 4 - At least I can decide I do not like what I feel now.
Rules 4 to 7 are ways to return to your goal of a peaceful day if you have started listening to the voice of the ego again.
Rule 5 - And so I hope I have been wrong.
Rule 6 - I want another way to look at this.
Rule 7 - Perhaps there is another way to look at this.
What can I lose by asking?


9 - Don't fight yourself

I want the peace of God.
To say these words is nothing. But to mean these words is everything. If you could but mean them for just an instant, there would be no further sorrow possible for you in any form; in any place or time. Heaven would be completely given back to full awareness, memory of God entirely restored, the resurrection of all creation fully recognized.
W-pI.185.1.1:4


Although one part of yourself is looking for another way to find peace and joy there is still a powerful identification with the mind of the ego - the desire to keep your specialness. By specialness is meant the attraction to being a separate, unique individual that is different from others and wishes to be self-sufficient and in sole control of its life. This is how the seeming separation from God began - the desire for specialness instead of the oneness of Christ.

As you attempt to follow these steps to finding the peace of God the desire to remain special will always act in opposition and attempt, often successfully, to draw you back to the advice of the ego which is terrified of the new direction you are undertaking. For as you move along on this journey eventually God's love will shine the ego, and therefore your specialness, away. Thus Jesus kindly states:

And if you find resistance strong and dedication weak, you are not ready. Do not fight yourself .
T-30.I.6:7

Instead, forgive yourself for not forgiving. Forgive yourself for not wanting peace and preferring specialness. You are not as far along the spiritual path as you perhaps once thought. From this the path of humility can open up and you can learn to smile at your ego and its desire to separate from God. This is wonderful progress as this approach will diminish the guilt that keeps you from finding God's peace.

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CONFESSION

I oft confess that I'm weak and sin,
When I could confess that I'm strong,
That my performance wasn't good at all,
When there was nothing wrong.
I try to hide my strength inside
And bargain with some fear
That what my Father made of me
May somehow not appear.

The time has come to brush aside
Our "weakness" and our "sin"
There is no feeble trace or dream at all
That God can find within.

Our Godself lives within intact
In patience, mighty, strong.
It waits for us to waken now.
It's waited oh so long!

And yet a single blink of an eye
A turn of thought away
From visions bleak
Of passions deep,
Can change - without a sigh!

We are not lost within this dream,
We are at home in God,
We never slept at all, He knows
His Son ne'er weeps nor sleeps.

So what is going on, you say?
That I awake each livelong day
And creep from blind activity in dream
To passing pageant's play?

I, (sure as hell), know this is true...
And yet it's not, I say
For hell's own words describe it yet
And that is why it fades.

For nothing truth describes can fade
For symbol it is not.
It is itself, the love of God
Exactly as He made.

Confess again "I am His Child
Creation perfect, pure,
And joined as one with everyone,
My mind is certain, sure
That all my brothers feel my need
To go back home as well.
Each in his own way
Judge him not,
Is bound for heaven not hell."

" Be traitor to no-one
Or you will be treacherous to yourself"
from the Song of Prayer (Supplement to A Course in Miracles)

By Minette Quick
http://www.brighidsfire.com/well/well6.html
 
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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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For up to date information on my workshops go to http://www.acfip.org/fws.html

Australia 2009 Dates


Brisbane

Relaxation Centre
Sunday 24 May 2009
9.30a.m. to 5.00p.m.

Forgiveness is the Key to Happiness.
- A Course in Miracles workshop

Forgiveness dissolves the obstacles of judgement we have created between ourselves and the peace and joy of our eternal spiritual reality.
What we find disturbing in the world are but symbols of what is unhealed in our minds.

This workshop will look at what A Course in Miracles says about forgiveness and use exercises to help clear the obstacles we have created.



VENUE:
Relaxation Centre,
15 South Pine Road
Alderley
Brisbane 4051

BOOKINGS:
Relaxation Centre
07 3856 3733
(Please do not book through me)

TIMES: 9.30am to 5pm
COST: $55

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Clare, South Australia
April 25/26    2009
(2hrs drive north of Adelaide)



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


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.  

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.



TIME:
Sat 9.30am TO 5.30pm
Sun 9.30am TO 4.30pm

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

Cost
Deposit: $60 to cover basic costs ($30 non-refundable)
plus a donation for the workshop.
Food provided.

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Hillier (Gawler), SA
(40 minutes drive from the centre of Adelaide)
  May 2/3 2009

Applying A Course in Miracles in Our Daily Lives

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all of the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. 
It is not necessary to seek for what is true, but it is necessary to seek for what is false. 
A Course in Miracles Text 338


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

TIME:
Sat and Sun - 9.30 TO 5.00

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

For details Contact:
Pamela St Claire
(08) 8322 0444
email: pstclaire@adam.com.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 2009 Dates



Bonn 
June 20/21 2009
9.30am to 5.30pm


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

Let me not think that I can find the way to God, if I have hatred in my heart.
Let me not try to hurt God's Son, and think that I can know his Father or my Self.
A Course in Miracles Lesson 246

There is no path to truth, it must come to you. Truth can come to you only when your mind and heart are simple,
clear, and there is love in your heart; not if your heart is filled with the things of the mind.
J Krishnamurti

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, to realise we know nothing about how to awaken to peace and joy so that we may be guided, and learn to extend kindness and goodwill to others. Insight of the mind must be balanced with compassion of the heart.

This workshop will explore how we can awaken through the healing power of insight, kindness, awareness and forgiveness.

Exercises will be used to help us open our hearts and connect to our inner guidance.

No previous knowledge of A Course in Miracles is required.


An Evening Introductory Talk - Fri June 19
7.30pm to 9.30pm


Contact:

Albert-Schweitzer-Haus
Beethovenallee 16
Bonn 53173
tel: 0228 - 36 47 37
http://www.albert-schweitzer-haus-bonn.de

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Freiburg
June 27/28 2009
10am to 6pm



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

Let me not think that I can find the way to God, if I have hatred in my heart.
Let me not try to hurt God's Son, and think that I can know his Father or my Self.
A Course in Miracles Lesson 246

There is no path to truth, it must come to you. Truth can come to you only when your mind and heart are simple,
clear, and there is love in your heart; not if your heart is filled with the things of the mind.
J Krishnamurti

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, to realise we know nothing about how to awaken to peace and joy so that we may be guided, and learn to extend kindness and goodwill to others. Insight of the mind must be balanced with compassion of the heart.

This workshop will explore how we can awaken through the healing power of insight, kindness, awareness and forgiveness.

Exercises will be used to help us open our hearts and connect to our inner guidance.

No previous knowledge of A Course in Miracles is required.


Evening Introductory Talk - Fri June 26
8pm to 9.30pm


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 - Healing the Cause:
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)

*CD - 3 Healing Exercises in English with German translation. 10 Euro
Content:
Ex1. Forgiving Ourselves.
Ex2. Changing Perception and Finding peace.
Ex3. Changing Perception of another - exercise for two people.

These exercises are similar to existing exercises already available on CDs but are translated into German.

* Two New CDs
1. Three Steps of Forgiveness. This workshop concentrates on the process of forgiveness from the perspective of A Course in Miracles. Includes 3 healing exercises. Recorded at the Annual Miracle Network Conference in London, November 2001. 1 hour 12 mins. One CD
2. Finding and Eliminating the Blocks to Receiving Guidance. This talks investigates what stops us hearing the guidance that is ever present in our lives. Recorded at the Annual Miracle Network Conference in London, October 20001 hour. One CD

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

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CONTACTS

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 1,400 questions and answers is searchable. They no longer take new questions as they feel all possible questions have now been put.

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

Belief.net ACIM discussion:
This Belief.net web-based discussion is hosted by Joe Jesseph.
http://community.beliefnet.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=151

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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.


How long, O Son of God, will you maintain the game of sin? Shall we not put away these sharp-edged children's toys? How soon will you be ready to come home? Perhaps today? There is no sin. Creation is unchanged. Would you still hold return to Heaven back? How long, O holy Son of God, how long?

A Course in Miracles  Lesson 250


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

 
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


Gamble everything for love,
if you're a true human being.

If not, leave
this gathering.

Half-heartedness doesn't reach
into majesty. You set out
to find God, but then you keep

stopping for long periods
at meanspirited roadhouses.


Rumi


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

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