ACFIP
Newsletter
Issue 24 - March 2010
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:
* Requirements for Spiritual Awakening
* Poems
* Workshops
* Books and Audio Materials for Sale
* 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
NEW - An eBook containing all my web site articles plus a bonus chapter
from Healing the Cause and The Findhorn Book of Forgiveness is
available for download in PDF format from
http://www.acfip.org/ebook.html
Regards
Michael Dawson
___________________________________________________________________________
Requirements for Spiritual Awakening
1. Desire awakening above all
2. Don't get in its way
3. Do not prepare yourself
4. Our job
The following are some of the more important requirements for spiritual
awakening found in A Course in Miracles.
1. Desire awakening above all.
What The Ego Desires.
In this world, you believe you are sustained by everything but God.
Your faith is placed in the most trivial and insane symbols; pills,
money, "protective" clothing, influence, prestige, being liked, knowing
the "right" people, and an endless list of forms of nothingness that
you endow with magical powers.
A Course in Miracles. Lesson 50
In the above lesson, Jesus lists the things that most people in the
world desire and pursue. This is where salvation is thought to exist.
We think that if only we had our health, enough money and nice place to
live with friends to love us we would be happy. If we look at where we
place most of our time and energy, we will soon see where we believe
our salvation is. As that great teacher Nisargadatta Maharaj once said,
if you are content to accept the lesser you will never go for the
greater.
True Desire.
How much do you want salvation? It will give you the real world,
trembling with readiness to be given you. The eagerness of the
Holy Spirit to give you this is so intense He would not wait, although
He waits in patience. Meet His patience with your impatience at
delay in meeting Him. Go out in gladness to meet with your
Redeemer, and walk with Him in trust out of this world, and into the
real world of beauty and forgiveness. T-17.II.8 T354
The aim of A Course in Miracles is for us to attain an inner
peace and quiet joy that the world cannot give or take away. This
is what the Course calls the real world. We could have it now if
we truly wanted it. There is no need for us to suffer, sacrifice
or atone for our “sins”, we simply need to want it above
all else. If we do not experience the real world it is because we
prefer something else. We desire separation rather than union. But only
in the experience of union or oneness with all living things will we
experience that inner peace and joy. Our desire to be separate and
special individuals blocks our spiritual awakening. In the text
of A Course in Miracles there is a section on the Obstacles to Peace.
The first obstacle to peace is that we don’t want it! To experience
peace is to end the separation, and most of us deeply desire to be
individuals.
Fear of awakening.
We fear to awaken to our spiritual reality. We believe the
cost will be too high. What we fear is the loss of our identity, our
specialness and our individuality. The actual cost will be the
end of our illusions.
You are more afraid of God than of the ego, and love cannot enter where
it is not welcome. T-13.III.5:4
The unforgiving mind is torn with doubt, confused about itself and all
it sees; afraid and angry, weak and blustering, afraid to go ahead,
afraid to stay, afraid to waken or to go to sleep, afraid of every
sound, yet more afraid of stillness; terrified of darkness, yet more
terrified at the approach of light. Lesson 121
The only thing that will give us the peace we desire is to awaken from
the dream of separation from God. To wake up is a decision that we must
make. When we start to see that nothing in this world can give us the
peace we desire we are ready to work with forgiveness, confront our
fears and start the journey back home.
The holy instant (spiritual awakening) is the result of your
determination to be holy. It is the answer. The desire and the
willingness to let it come precede its coming. You prepare your mind
for it only to the extent of recognizing that you want it above all
else. T-18.IV.1:1-4
Love waits on welcome, not on time, and the real world is but your
welcome of what always was. T-13.VII.9:7
Release is given you the instant you desire it. T-18.VII.4:3
2. Don't get in its way
All that is asked of you is to make room for truth. You are not
asked to make or do what lies beyond your understanding. All you
are asked to do is let it in ; only to stop your interference with what
will happen of itself; simply to recognize again the presence of what
you thought you gave away. T-21.II.7
I had a friend once who was rather impatient. When we went out
for a drive together I first had to unlock the passenger door. He had a
habit of trying to open the door while I was trying to release the door
lock from inside the car. His action invariably led to the door
re-locking in itself. I had to ask him to please stand back and do
nothing while I let him in.
You make it difficult, because you insist there must be more that you
need do. You find it difficult to accept the idea that you need give so
little, to receive so much. And it is very hard for you to realize it
is not personally insulting that your contribution and the Holy
Spirit's are so extremely disproportionate. You are still convinced
that your understanding is a powerful contribution to the truth, and
makes it what it is. Yet we have emphasized that you need understand
nothing. T-18.IV.7.
In our daily lives we believe that the harder we work, or the more that
we study, the greater the reward we will receive. Generally speaking,
this is true. If we carry this attitude onto our spiritual path
we soon run into trouble. Certainly effort is required. To
practise non-judgemental awareness, or forgiveness, and asking within
for help requires earnestness. However, if we decide to add more
to that our ego has taken over the direction of our spiritual
practice. In the Course Jesus states that if we believe our
reality is a body then that is a clear indication we are insane. How
can the insane possibly know the way back to heaven? Our job is to
realize that we know nothing, to become as little children, and allow
ourselves to be led home. And each one’s path is not the same as
another.
(There is, however, no set pattern, since) training is always highly
individualized. M-9.1:5
Is it not He Who knows the way to you? You need not know the way to
Him. Your part is simply to allow all obstacles that you have
interposed between the Son and God the Father to be quietly removed
forever. God will do His part in joyful and immediate response. Ask and
receive. Lesson 189
In this last quote we are told what our work is, and also what
our work is not. We are asked to become aware of the obstacles to
peace and agree to release them. This release or healing is not
done by us, but by the Holy Spirit. These are the three stages of
forgiveness. Firstly, we recognize the problem is in ourselves and not
in the world. Secondly, we decide we no longer want this problem even
though it may well have been our identity. With this decision, the
third and automatic stage of healing takes place.
But do not make demands, nor point the road to God by which He should
appear to you. Lesson 189 cont.
Our temptation here is to ask Jesus or the Holy Spirit to make us
happy in our ego's world. Our prayers can be mistakenly directed to the
welfare, comfort and security of our body. The Course tells us
that the highest prayer is to learn forgiveness. Or we may design our
own spiritual practice and insist God follows our path to us.
The way to reach Him is merely to let Him be. For in that way is your
reality proclaimed as well. And so today we do not choose the way in
which we go to Him. But we do choose to let Him come. And with this
choice we rest. And in our quiet hearts and open minds, His Love will
blaze its pathway of itself. What has not been denied is surely there,
if it be true and can be surely reached. God knows His Son, and knows
the way to him. He does not need His Son to show Him how to find His
way. Lesson 189 cont.
In the text of A Course in Miracles is a section on the Laws of
Chaos. They describe the insanity of the ego’s thought system. Here we
are told that the ego in its arrogance has decided what God is and what
it thinks of us, its wayward children. It describes an angry, and
vengeful God which will need to be appeased by suffering, penance and
sacrifice. This God often appears in the old Testament of the Bible.
The guilt of the seeming separation from God, that we all carry, is
easily triggered by these statements and can lead to us creating a
painful and suffering spiritual path to God. The Course insists
that God has never judged us for we have never truly sinned. The world
we appear to be living in is a dream or more accurately a nightmare.
Nothing real happens in dreams. The Spirit in us is eternal and cannot
be changed or damaged and thus sin is impossible. Heaven will be
returned to our awareness just as soon as we we want it.
Father, we do not know the way to You. But we have called, and You have
answered us. We will not interfere. Salvation's ways are not our own,
for they belong to You. L189
To come to the knowledge that you have not, you must go by a way that
you know not. (St. John of the Cross. Ascent of Mount Carmel )
Reading the lives of saints and mystics may have its place in our
lives, though it would be better if we had never read them. But a
million times more important is our awareness of every interior
movement and change, even the most subtle, because this is where it is
at, this is where the Spirit is continually moving us, transforming and
informing us in its own particular way. This is where we will learn
everything we ever need to know, and to do this, we must clear our
minds of everything else.
Bernadette Roberts - The Path to No-Self
3. Do not prepare yourself
Following on from what has been previously written, it now
becomes apparent that there is no need for purification and atoning for
sins before we can experience the peace and joy we desire. In
fact, our seeming help to the Holy Spirit only gets in the way of our
awakening.
We have repeated how little is asked of you to learn this course.
T-21.II.1
Trust not your good intentions. They are not enough.
But trust implicitly your willingness, whatever else may enter.
Concentrate only on this, and be not disturbed that shadows surround
it. That is why you came. If you could come without them you would not
need the holy instant. Come to it not in arrogance, assuming that you
must achieve the state its coming brings with it. T-18.IV
It is the Holy Spirit that removes "sins", not us. Our task is to
become aware of them and allow them to be healed.
The miracle of the holy instant lies in your willingness to let it be
what it is. And in your willingness for this lies also your acceptance
of yourself as you were meant to be. The holy instant does not come
from your little willingness alone. It is always the result of your
small willingness combined with the unlimited power of God's Will. You
have been wrong in thinking that it is needful to prepare yourself for
Him. It is impossible to make arrogant preparations for holiness, and
not believe that it is up to you to establish the conditions for peace.
God has established them. T-18.IV cont.
Thus the Course is not asking us to go out and do "good works" for God.
The only good works we need do is to practise forgiveness of ourselves.
The sole responsibility of God's teacher is to accept the Atonement for
himself. Atonement means correction, or the undoing of
errors. When this has been accomplished, the teacher of God
becomes a miracle worker by definition. Question 18. Manual for
Teachers.
If our path of forgiveness is to do what society would call good works,
we would need to remember learning forgiveness is the first aim of our
work.
In preparing for the holy instant, do not attempt to make yourself holy
to be ready to receive it. That is but to confuse your role with God's.
Atonement cannot come to those who think that they must first atone,
but only to those who offer it nothing more than simple willingness to
make way for it. Purification is of God alone, and therefore for you.
Rather than seek to prepare yourself for Him, try to think thus:
T-18.IV cont.
What follows next can be considered as an affirmation in getting
ourselves out of the way so that the Holy Spirit can do His work
through us. It can be hard for us to realize that our
contribution to our spiritual practice is so small compared to that of
the Holy Spirit. What is being asked of us here is humility.
I who am host to God am worthy of Him.
He Who established His dwelling place in me created it as He would have
it be.
It is not needful that I make it ready for Him, but only that I do not
interfere with His plan to restore to me my own awareness of my
readiness, which is eternal.
I need add nothing to His plan.
But to receive it, I must be willing not to substitute my own in
place of it. T-18.IV cont.
4. Our job
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. T-16.IV.6
A Course in Miracles can be looked upon as a negative path in the sense
that miracles do not do anything, they undo misperceptions. The Course
asks us to resign as our own teacher, because we have been badly
taught. We can use the analogy of the sun covered over by clouds. We
are not being asked to find or create a sun, but simply to notice
the clouds and allow them to be dissolved.
Your part is only to offer Him a little willingness to let Him remove
all fear and hatred, and to be forgiven. On your little faith, joined
with His understanding, He will build your part in the Atonement and
make sure that you fulfill it easily. And with Him, you will build a
ladder planted in the solid rock of faith, and rising even to Heaven.
T-18.V.2:5-7
It is our co-operation with the Holy Spirit, and allowing
Him to lead the way, that is now required.
Never approach the holy instant after you have tried to remove all fear
and hatred from your mind. That is its function. Never attempt to
overlook your guilt before you ask the Holy Spirit's help. That is His
function. Your part is only to offer Him a little willingness to let
Him remove all fear and hatred, and to be forgiven. T-18.V.2
The Bible tells you to become as little children. Little children
recognize that they do not understand what they perceive, and so they
ask what it means. Do not make the mistake of believing that you
understand what you perceive, for its meaning is lost to you.... You do
not know the meaning of anything you perceive. Not one thought
you hold is wholly true. The recognition of this is your firm
beginning.... T-11.VIII.2.
The implication of this last quotation is that we are all
completely confused. We have completely misunderstood. We believe what
our eyes see and what our ears hear and what our brain thinks. Just as
our dreams last night seemed so real to us until we woke up, so this
‘waking dream’ also appears real. Jesus tells us we dream 24 hours a
day. The only way we can keep our seeming separation going and hold
onto our individuality is to live it out in a dream. He even states at
one point in the course that there is no life outside of heaven
(T-23.II.19.1). Without a sane guide, the Holy Spirit, we would never
escape this rather convincing dream.
The presence of fear is a sure sign that you are trusting in your own
strength. The awareness that there is nothing to fear shows that
somewhere in your mind, though not necessarily in a place you recognize
as yet, you have remembered God, and let His strength take the place of
your weakness. The instant you are willing to do this there is indeed
nothing to fear. Lesson 48
Undoing Denial
The approach to life’s problems by our ego is always the same and is in
fact quite simple. First it tells us we are not the problem it’s the
world (denial) and then tells us to accuse the world for our loss of
peace (projection). The Course's solution to our problems is the exact
opposite to that of the ego.
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.VII.6
While we insist our problems are in the world we cannot be healed
by the miracle. Anger at others may cause them to change their
behaviour to suit us, but our problems will simply continue.
Conflict must be resolved. It cannot be evaded, set aside, denied,
disguised, seen somewhere else, called by another name, or hidden by
deceit of any kind, if it would be escaped. It must be seen exactly as
it is, where it is thought to be, in the reality which has been given
it, and with the purpose that the mind accorded it. For only then are
its defenses lifted, and the truth can shine upon it as it
disappears Lesson 333
It is much more comfortable for us to see problems in the world
and not in ourselves. To look within our minds and see the negativity
that needs to be healed is uncomfortable and often a painful process.
Previously, we have seen ourselves as innocent and to discover instead
all the negativity that lies in our minds is not an easy process. This
is why we denied and projected in the first place. Now we’re being
asked to take our projections back, undo our denial and allow them to
be healed. This can be particularly difficult for people who consider
themselves 'spiritual'. They may believe they have gone far beyond
anger whilst they have just buried it deeper in their unconscious.
The greatest Guru is helpless as long as the disciple is not eager to
learn. Eagerness and earnestness are all-important. Confidence will
come with experience. Be devoted to your goal - and devotion to him who
can guide you will follow. If your desire and confidence are strong,
they will operate and take you to your goal, for you will not cause
delay by hesitation and compromise.
Nisargadatta Maharaj
___________________________________________________________________________
Poems by Minette Quick
FORGIVENESS IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK
Forgiveness is not what you think
It's not separate "thinking" at all.
It's not searching for something that's wrong "to forgive"
That's not forgiveness at all.
Forgiveness, the key to happiness
Is knowing that nothing is wrong.
It's knowing that only in dreams "things go wrong"
It's changing the words and changing the tune
Of that dreary old dirge of a song.
For there's:
No-one to blame
No-one to shame
No-one to suffer a wrong
Forgiveness is not what you think
It's not separate "thinking" at all.
Its not searching for something that's wrong "to forgive"
That's not forgiveness at all.
SINGING A SONG OF SORROW
In this mood all I want is to go to my room
Close the door and sink down, further down, into gloom,
Creep right under the covers, protected, alone,
With no-one to bug me, I'm here on my own.
Isolated and brimming with self-righteous rage,
I reflect on my grievances over again.
Chorus:
I'm singing a song of sorrow, the pillow is over my head,
I'm singing of "Nobody loves me, or cares if I'm living or dead".
It's a song of perverted justice,
"Did you hear what that bastard just said...?"
"I certainly didn't deserve it, I'll never forgive what he said."
My stomach is heavy and churning,
There's a pounding of blood in my head,
My body is really reacting,
I think that I'll stay here in bed.
But it's strange how describing in detail my plight,
Seems to bring it all into a different light.
I suddenly realise what's going on
The sound of this "sorrow' is simply a song
Of unmerited suffering, uncalled for pain,
The "daemon' has got me going again!
This vision of living a-wallow in crime
Isn't giving much space for renewal of mind!!
Perversely enjoying this season of sorrow
The way it pervades every bone to the marrow,
I hug it and savour its bitter-sweet flavour.
It's strange how much pleasure I take in behaviour
I find so repugnant in someone quite other - than I am...
___________________________________________________________________________
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. Please see the Contacts section at the end of this
newsletter.
___________________________________________________________________________
Forthcoming Workshops on A Course in Miracles
in Australia and Germany
2010
For up to date information on my workshops go to
http://www.acfip.org/fws.html
Australia 2010 Dates
Brisbane
Relaxation Centre
Sunday March 28th 2010
9.30a.m. to 5.00p.m.
THE PATH HOME
- from the perspective of A Course in Miracles
Why wait for Heaven? Those who seek the light are merely covering their
eyes.
The light is in them now. Enlightenment is but a recognition, not a
change at all.
A Course in Miracles Lesson 188
Our spiritual home awaits us but we seem to be lost. What is the path
home and what do we need to do? The Course explains our blocks and
illusions to receiving God's love. Exercises will be used to help
identify and forgive these blocks so we can go beyond them.kindness,
awareness and forgiveness.
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
___________________________________________________________________________
Please note that there will be no further workshops held at Hillier,
Gawler, South Australia
___________________________________________________________________________
Clare, SA - Sat 17 and Sun 18, April 2010
(2hrs drive north of Adelaide)
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 Miracless T-16.IV.6:1-2
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 Miracless is required.
VENUE:
Clare
SA 5453
(2hrs drive north of Adelaide)
TIME:
Sat - 9.30 TO 5.30
Su - 9.30 TO 4.30
BOOKINGS:
Edeltraud Ennich
PO Box 614
Clare, SA 5453
Tel: 08 8842 3114
Email: tayen@activ8.net.au
COST
Deposit: $60 to cover basic costs ($30 non-refundable)
plus a donation for the workshop.
Lunches provided.
Cheques or postal monies made out to Edeltraud Ennich.
___________________________________________________________________________
Adelaide, SA - Tuesday 20 April, 2010
A PATH TO INNER PEACE
From the perspective of A Course in Miracles
With Michael Dawson
Tuesday 20 April, 2010
“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. A Course in Miracles
Using material from A Course in Miracles and experiential exercises we
will explore how we can, with the help of spirit, remove the obstacles
to our peace and joy within.
At our creation we were given peace. We have not lost it but simply
covered it over with something we thought was better. Our desire to be
separate, special and individual blinds us to our inner spiritual
reality. Identification with our body and personality prevents the
remembering of who we really are - eternal spirit.
Using the practice of forgiveness we can start to undo the blocks we
have erected to the joy and peace within. Forgiveness is the path of
awareness, acceptance and asking for help.
No previous knowledge of A Course in Miracles is required.
Entry: $30.00 Please Note Earlier Starting Time
TIME: 6:15 PM doors open for 6:30 PM start. - 9.30 PM finish
Light refreshments provided at 8:00 Break
Venue: Rosefield Uniting Church Hall
2-6 Carlton Street, Highgate. Ample Parking.
Off Fullarton Rd near the Ferguson St. Shops near Cross Road.
Third street on the right after the Fisher St Lights coming from the
City
Contact: Julie Way
Please register by filling in this form and returning to Julie Way
with payment by cheque or $ Postal order to Julie Way
PO Box 408 Torrensville SA 5031
Enquiries: Phone 84439162
julieway@ozemail.com.au
Bookings and Full Payment is essential before the evening.
#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name……………………………Address……………………………….……….
Home(……………………………….. B or M………………….……………….
Email: Please include so as to receive confirmation: ……………………………
I enclose: full payment
$30
___________________________________________________________________________
Brisbane
Relaxation Centre
Sunday 23 May 2010
9.30a.m. to 5.00p.m.
RELATIONSHIPS AS A 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
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.
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.
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:
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
___________________________________________________________________________
Germany 2010 Dates
For up to date information on my workshops go to
http://www.acfip.org/fws.html
Bonn
June 5/6 2010
9.30am to 5.30pm
HEALING OURSELVES and OTHERS
from the perspective of A Course in Miracles
Health Is Inner Peace....Health is the result of relinquishing all
attempts to use the body lovelessly.
A Course in Miracles
Using the spiritual path of A Course in Miracles we will explore what
true healing is - the return to our awareness of our spiritual
identity. Identification with our body as our home is the origin of all
our physical and psychological suffering.
The basis of this workshop is that the cause of all disease lies in the
mind and not the body. Disease is a shadow on the body, of the guilt in
our minds.
During the workshop we will focus on undoing the blocks we have built
to the presence of God's love and joy within us through the
understanding and practising of forgiveness.Only this love heals.
We will investigate what the Course means by healing ourselves and
others and contrast the differences between the healed and the unhealed
healer. Practical exercises will be used to help understand the ego and
to practice forgiveness and turning within for guidance.
An overview of the Course's metaphysical, psychological and spiritual
teachings especially in regard to healing will be covered.
No previous knowledge of the book A Course in Miracles is required.
An Evening Introductory Talk - Fri June 4
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
___________________________________________________________________________
Freiburg
June 12/13 2010
HEALING OURSELVES and OTHERS
from the perspective of A Course in Miracles
Health Is Inner Peace....Health is the result of relinquishing all
attempts to use the body lovelessly.
A Course in Miracles
Using the spiritual path of A Course in Miracles we will explore what
true healing is - the return to our awareness of our spiritual
identity. Identification with our body as our home is the origin of all
our physical and psychological suffering.
The basis of this workshop is that the cause of all disease lies in the
mind and not the body. Disease is a shadow on the body, of the guilt in
our minds.
During the workshop we will focus on undoing the blocks we have built
to the presence of God's love and joy within us through the
understanding and practising of forgiveness.Only this love heals.
We will investigate what the Course means by healing ourselves and
others and contrast the differences between the healed and the unhealed
healer. Practical exercises will be used to help understand the ego and
to practice forgiveness and turning within for guidance.
An overview of the Course's metaphysical, psychological and spiritual
teachings especially in regard to healing will be covered.
No previous knowledge of the book A Course in Miracles is required.
An Evening Introductory Talk - Fri June 11
Contact:
Margarete Sennekamp
Winterhaldenweg 4,
79856 Hinterzarten,
Tel./Fax: 07652-917530
email: M.Sennekamp@t-online.de
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.
___________________________________________________________________________
BOOKS AND AUDIO MATERIALS FOR SALE - by Michael Dawson
New
An eBook containing all my web site articles plus a bonus chapter from
Healing the Cause and The Findhorn Book of Forgiveness is available for
download in PDF format from http://www.acfip.org/ebook.html
Books:
Healing the Cause - A Path of Forgiveness. Findhorn Press 1994
Also available in German, Romanian, French, Dutch, Spanish and
Portuguese.
The Findhorn Book of Forgiveness. Findhorn Press. 2003
Also available in German, Polish and Romanian.
Will be available in French in the next few months.
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.
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 talk 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
___________________________________________________________________________
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
___________________________________________________________________________
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 mean spirited 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