ACFIP Newsletter 

Issue 37 - June 2013

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:

 

* Beyond Good and Bad - Michael Dawson

* Kirtana lyrics -  Already Home, Already Free

* Advice When in Distress - from A Course in Miracles

* A Soldiers Story - the power of acceptance

* A Conversation with Ken Wapnick: making it the most important thing.

* Accepting Cancer - Byron Katie

* 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

1. Healing the Cause -A Path of Forgiveness.

Inspired by A Course in Miracles.

This is the eBook version of the paper back.

 

2. A Course in Miracles - Explanations of Major Themes

New book in eBook format

 

3. Forgiveness - A Path to Inner Peace. 

Inspired by A Course in Miracles

This is the eBook version of the paper back.

 

The eBook versions can be read on Kindle, iPad, Microsoft eReader, Nook, PDF readers (Mac and PC) and most eBook readers.

¥ Downloadable MP3s of my Healing the Cause self-help CDs now available.

See below for details.

 

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

 

Regards 

 

Michael Dawson

 

___________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Beyond Good and Bad

by Michael Dawson

 

.... for there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. 

from Shakespeare's Hamlet.

 

To judge anyone is to forget they are the eternal, formless, perfect Spirit (Christ) that God created and to see them as a body, an ego.

To see another as an ego is to reinforce the ego in ourselves and thus lose our peace - an example of what you give (teach) you receive (learn).      

 

You have no idea of the tremendous release and deep peace that comes from meeting yourself and your brothers totally without judgement. 

A Course in Miracles T-3.VI.3.

 

We believe we are qualified to judge, we know what is right and wrong. Our culture, family, religion, society have educated us in this matter. 

The Course disagrees with us:                                                               

It is necessary for the teacher of God to realize, not that he should not judge, but that he cannot.... he puts himself in a position where judgement through him rather than by him can occur. And this judgement is neither "good" nor "bad." It is the only judgement there is, and it is only one: "God's Son is guiltless, and sin does not exist." 

M-10.2.

 

Only the Holy Spirit knows how to judge and He only sees people either asking for love or giving it. There is no sin, only error. If our actions could change what God created - the Christ - then it could be said there is sin. But what God created is outside time, (the ego's invention) and thus can't be changed.

 

 In order to judge anything rightly, one would have to be fully aware of an inconceivably wide range of things; past, present and to come. One would have to recognize in advance all the effects of his judgements on everyone and everything involved in them in any way. And one would have to be certain there is no distortion in his perception, so that his judgement would be wholly fair to everyone on whom it rests now and in the future. Who is in a position to do this? Who except in grandiose fantasies would claim this for himself?

M-10.3.

 

Thus ego judgement must always be wrong. This is not to say we must not make judgements in practical things e.g. what to eat and wear. The Course is referring to 'value judgements' - what is right and wrong, good or bad.

 

There is Someone with you Whose judgement is perfect. He does know all the facts; past, present and to come. He does know all the effects of His judgement on everyone and everything involved in any way. And He is wholly fair to everyone, for there is no distortion in His perception.

M-10.4.  

 

The Holy Spirit does not take sides. His judgement is always win-win. Taking sides is the hallmark of the ego. It is an interesting exercise to watch the news and see how often we label persecutors as wrong and bad, deserving of punishment as opposed to healing. An enlightened society would seek to heal and not punish criminals. Despite appearances everyone is try their best.

 

Therefore lay judgement down, not with regret but with a sigh of gratitude. Now are you free of a burden so great that you could merely stagger and fall down beneath it. And it was all illusion. Nothing more. Now can the teacher of God rise up unburdened, and walk lightly on. Yet it is not only this that is his benefit. His sense of care is gone, for he has none. He has given it away, along with judgement.

M-10.5.  

 

The following true story from Kenneth Wapnick, a teacher of A Course in Miracles, illustrates the blessing given and received when right and wrong are dropped. Our judgements keep our hearts closed and when we release them our heart wisdom and love can flow out to any situation in the world.

 

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

Plato

 

 

The Burglar

 from The Meaning of Forgiveness  by Kenneth Wapnick. 

 

 

Several years ago, I was awakened in the middle of the night by the sudden realization there was someone standing in my room.  After the momentary shock, I remembered Òthere is nothing to fearÓ (workbook lesson 48), and calmly asked my uninvited guest:  ÒWhat can I do for you?Ó  The situation was not obscure, however.  It was clear that the man was on drugs and desperately needed money for his next fix;  burglars rarely enter occupied apartments.  He threateningly held his hand in his jacket as if he had a gun, to punctuate his demand.  My defenselessness seemed to change the atmosphere in the room, however, and the man soon began apologizing for having broken in and disturbing my sleep.  I gave him whatever money I had in my wallet, and the man paused as he took it and then returned a couple of dollars, saying:  ÒThis is all your money, I canÕt leave you with nothing.Ó  And he went on apologizing.  I assured him it was all right, and urged him to do what he had to do.  As I ushered the man to the hall, waiting with him for the elevator, I said:  ÒGod bless you.Ó  HIs final words as he disappeared into the elevator were:  ÒPlease pray for me.Ó  I assured him I would, although I knew that this holy encounter had been the prayer.  No injustice had been done, for there had been no real loss.  The amount of money was small ÒpriceÓ indeed for the blessing of forgiveness that had been given and received as one.

 

Some of our most strongly held values of right and wrong are in our sexual attitudes. The ego identifies the body as its home and takes it very seriously - what the Course refers to as "the hero of the dream"(lesson 185). Certain parts of the body are given special and important significance and can only be touched by the "right" people. The joining of two bodies is seen by some as a 'holy' act and thus of great significance, whilst the Course points out that only minds can join. 

 

Yet if we study different cultures we soon find different and sometimes opposite views on what is considered important. Certain tribes find kissing repugnant. Some societies allow more than one wife or husband. In parts of Tibet a woman not only marries a man but all his brothers. Some Inuits share their wives with their friends. 

Who is 'right' and who is 'wrong'?

 

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing
there is a field. I will meet you there. 
Rumi

Religion is another area where there are strongly held values of right and wrong such that much persecution has been perpetrated and wars fought to try to establish the 'right' belief. The Course points out that there is no difference between those who believe in God and those who don't as neither actually knows the truth. The aim of the Course is that through forgiveness our minds will quieten and we will remember God and know. Only those who don't know have beliefs and to make themselves feel secure want others to share them. Jesus challenged the beliefs of his time causing great insecurity and thus had to be killed.

 

Nor is belief in God a really meaningful concept, for God can be but known. Belief implies that unbelief is possible, but knowledge of God has no true opposite.

P-2.II.4.

 

The following true story from Byron Katie illustrates the power of dropping value judgements, being in the present moment, and allowing the heart-wisdom or Holy Spirit to guide her.

 

A man sticks a pistol into my stomach, pulls the trigger back, and says, "I'm going to kill you." I am shocked that he is taking his thoughts so seriously. To someone identified as an I, the thought of killing causes guilt that leads to a life of suffering, so I ask him, as kindly as I can, not to do it. I don't tell him that it's his suffering I'm thinking of. He says that he has to do it, and I understand; I remember believing that I had to do things in my old life. I thank him for doing the best he can, and I notice that I'm fascinated. Is this how she dies? Is this how the story ends? And as joy continues to fill me, I find it miraculous that the story is still going on. You can never know the ending, even as it ends. I am very moved at the sight of sky, clouds, and moonlit trees. I love that I don't miss one moment, one breath, of this amazing life. I wait and wait. And in the end, he doesn't pull the trigger. He doesn't do that to himself.

A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are 

By (author) Byron Katie, With Stephen Mitchell 

 

There is a temptation to believe that perhaps some 'good' and 'right' thoughts are really true and aligned with God's purpose for this world. Surely God would like us to start a healing centre or a Course in Miracles centre, publish books, give healings, help the poor? If we are called from within to do this we need to realise there is nothing 'holy' about this but our path of forgiveness. One persons path of forgiveness may be to sweep the streets another's to write books on healing. The Course gives a powerful warning on this;

 

Anything in this world that you believe is good and valuable and worth striving for can hurt you, and will do so. Not because it has the power to hurt, but just because you have denied it is but an illusion, and made it real. And it is real to you. It is not nothing.  ... Who can believe illusions are the same, and still maintain that even one is best?

T-26.VI.1.

 

The Course is written on many levels, there is something for everyone. This can lead to seeming contradictions in some of the statements unless this is held in mind. The following quote could be described as an "end of the line teaching" for those who are ready for it. It asks us to let go of what we consider right or wrong, good or bad and to go as far as releasing ALL concepts, even those in the Course. The Course does teach concepts but only to replace they painful ones we hold. In the end even these must be let go.

 

This will create a great emptiness in our minds such that finally the truth can enter and teach us Who we really are. With this our virtual life of believing our thoughts and judgements as truth will finally end, and peace and quiet joy will awaken in us.

 

Simply do this: Be still, and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about yourself. 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 187

 

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A track from Kirtana's latest album "Unseen Grace"

 

Already Home, Already Free

Nothing to seek.
Nothing to gain.
Nothing to know.

Nothing to lose.
Nothing to do,
but let go.

LetÕs rest here
where the future
and the past disappearÉ
HereÐ
in the sanctity of Now.

Nothing to prove.
Nothing to own.
No one to be.

Nowhere to move.
Already home.
Already Free.

LetÕs just stay
in the cave of the heart today
and bask
in this ever-present love.

Nothing to fix.
Nothing to change.
Nothing to fight.

Only what is.
What if what is
is just right.

Why not trust
this Mystery living us
and rest
in the refuge of the Self.

Nothing to judge.
No one to blame or fear.
Only my face
greeting me in the mirror.

Nowhere to turn.
Nowhere to hide.
Nobody else.

Nothing outside
that isnÕt inside
myself.

LetÕs just see,
Is anyone here but me? Ð
HereÐ
in the present moment now.

Nothing to know.
Nothing to do.
No one to be.

Nowhere to go.
Already home.
Already free.

Nowhere to go.
Already home.
Already free.

Nowhere to go.
Already home.
Already free.

_________________________________________________________________________

 

ADVICE WHEN IN DISTRESS 

from A Course in Miracles (ACIM)

 

The presence of fear is a sure sign that you are trusting in your own 

strength.   ACIM  Lesson 48

 

If you are willing to renounce the role of guardian of your thought system 

and open it to me, I will correct it very gently and lead you back to God.  ACIM T4.I.4:7

 

Remind yourself ÒI am never upset for the reason I thinkÓ.

ACIM Lesson 5 

 

The Holy Spirit's vision is merciful and His remedy is quick. Do not hide suffering from His sight, but bring it gladly to Him. Lay before His eternal sanity all your hurt, and let Him heal you. Do not leave any spot of pain hidden from His light, and search your mind carefully for any thoughts you may fear to uncover. For He will heal every little thought you have kept to hurt you and cleanse it of its littleness, restoring it to the magnitude of God.  ACIM T-13.III.7.

 

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     ACIM T-5.VII.6:7-11 

 

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. ACIM T-14.XI.6.

 

You do not know the meaning of anything you perceive.  Not one thought you 

hold is wholly true. The recognition of this is your Þrm beginning. You are not 

misguided; you have accepted no guide at all. Instruction in perception is your 

great need, for you understand nothing. ACIM T-11.VIII.3. 

 

These thoughts do not mean anything. The thoughts of which I am aware do 

not mean anything because I am trying to think without God. What I call "my" 

thoughts are not my real thoughts.  ACIM Lesson 51/rev4 

 

You retain thousands of little scraps of fear that prevent the Holy One from enteringÉ. Watch your mind for the scraps of fear, or you will be unable to ask me to do so. T-4.III.7.

 

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A Soldiers Story - the power of acceptance

 

William Samuel 

 

When we begin to experience the permanent Peace beyond comprehension, it is a sure sign that Reality is our Foundation and we are beginning to know what it is about. It is our intention during the following pages (as in our talks) to persist in this matter of Tranquillity until it becomes plain to the reader as his own experience. Let me begin by telling you an enlightening, door-opening experience of the Korean War. 

 

I was commanding a rifle company in the mountains, in close contact with the enemy. Late one afternoon, a machine gun began to fire directly over my command post bunker where I, and several others, lived. Every few minutes it fired another burst of bullets a few scant feet over our heads. Those who have heard such sounds are likely to remember the sharp cracks, their resounding echoes from the mist-enshrouded peaks, accentuated by the crisp mountain air. It is a sound and a feeling quite unlike any other. 

 

The bullets weren't doing a bit of actual harm, sailing overhead as they were and falling into an empty green-brown valley below; but the shooting of that single gun went on interminably, day after day, night after night, burst after burst, in exactly the same place, over the command post. We paid little attention for a day or so, but as might be expected, it fast became a source of annoyance, especially after several attempts to silence the gun had failed. 

 

By the end of the week it had become sport to gamble a dollar or two on the exact time and number of rounds (bullets) in the next burst, but, despite the diversionary tactics to make light of it, our annoyance was growing into monumental proportions. Soon we could tell when the enemy gunners changed, having learned the rhythm of, their shooting; and when a fire fight developed, I could easily distinguish that one gun cracking away, no matter where I happened to be along the line. It stood out above all the rest, Those of us who lived in the bunker, over which that gun fired without ceasing, gave way (to say the very least) to unrestrained irritability and frustration. 

 

During this time, my affairs as a commander did not prosper. I spent every available minute attempting to eliminate the source of that disturbing sound, but the Chinese had dug the gun into the rocks of the mountain in such a way that it seemed no power on earth could dislodge and silence it. My anger and frustration went from blue to black. 

 

One morning after a particularly anguishing night that had seen every attempt to rest shattered, I decided the machine gun would have to go or I would surely come apart at the seams. I called for the artillery liaison officer attached to my command; from him, I summarily demanded and received the fires of an entire battalion of artillery poured onto the offending gun emplacement. Oh, it was an awesome, thunderous event! As tons of shells crashed into the mountain top, I gleefully imagined my nemesis hanging on for dear life, choking amidst the dust and debris of my revenge. 

 

The thunder of our exploding salvos was followed by a tingling silence-a beautiful, golden silence that lasted for about ten seconds; then, another strident, excruciating and particularly long, nose-thumbing burst of bullets cracked over our heads from that damnable gun! It was still in action and my spirit was crushed! Surely, I thought, the gunner on that hilltop must be a nine-lived cat, laughing, no doubt, and, though his bullets touched no one, they were more effective than if they had. 

 

There was no question about it; agony, despair, frustration and pure misery had taken me over completely and grown out of all proportion. I remember trying and failing to write a letter to my family that morning. Then, in quiet agony, my world came to an end and I gave up-simply gave up. In utter dejection, thinking I could not bare the grind in my stomach another instant, I surrendered within, not caring what happened. I was helpless. I wanted an end to the death and destruction and the end to my agony, but more than anything, I wanted inner peace; or, if not that, at least the "sleep that knits the revell'd sleeve of care." 

 

This is when it happened, Reader; this is when the illuminative "lesson" came, when I had given up, completely, utterly, in hopelessness and helplessness. In an instant, the Light came with healing on its wings! As is always the case, it seems, help appears when the intellect surrenders, when the intellect gives up the ghost, when our concern for the Real is greater than our love for the old man (ego). While no words were involved in this "Light," and though it seemed to arrive as an instantaneous "block of knowing" already finished, I can now only try to put it into the words which, in effect, it communicated. 

 

It was as if an inner and outer Presence absorbed me suddenly and violently to force my attention. It seemed to ask, 

"What is bothering you so much?" 

"The bullets from that ungodly gun," I answered. 

"But, those bullets didn't hit you or anyone else," the Voice within spoke. "Thousands of them have passed overhead, and not a one has touched you. They are falling harmlessly into the valley below." 

"It's the sound!" I almost shouted. "The incessant sound is cutting through me like a knife!" 

"Listen to me carefully," said the Light. "A sound is just a sound. What is the' difference between the sound of thunder and the soft sound of rain? What is the difference between the sound of the gun and the sound of music? Aren't all of them simply sounds within the Consciousness you are?" 

"One is good and one is bad!" I answered vehemently. 

"The sound that has you at your wit's end is a bad sound?" the Light asked me. 

"Yes! My God, yes'" 

"Has the sound a power of its own?" 

For an instant I seemed supra-conscious of sounds of every tone and intensity. Then the Light asked again, "Has the sound a power of its own to make you call it good or bad? Tell me, has the sound the ability to make you detest it?-or love it?" . 

"No," I nearly whispered. 

"Has someone twisted your arm and forced you to call that particular sound bad?" 

"No." 

"Then tell me," the Voice asked, "if the sound has no power of its own and nothing external has forced you to make a judgment, who determines that what you hear within yourself-within consciousness-is good or bad to you, tranquilizing or upsetting to you? Who is the sole judge who has decided the sound of the gun is bad?

"I am," I answered. 

"Yes, but Awareness is your Identity; the Awareness-you-are simply 'hears' the sound, and Awareness is not a judge! Judgments are made by judges, and judges suffer from their likes and dislikes, from their 'good' and their 'bad.' That is the one who suffers, at his own hands from his own foolishness, but Awareness does not suffer. Dear Bill, you are Awareness voluntarily playing the role of judge, reaping all he has sown." 

 

After a time-I don't know how long-I admitted that this was so. "Why, this is true," I said. "Yes, this is a fact! Who says the sound has power to make me call it good or bad? Who says so if it is not me alone? A sound is only a sound! Who is causing me to feel so miserable if it isn't me myself?" 

 

Suddenly I knew! I alone make the decisions I like or dislike; I alone am the master of such notions of the sights and the sounds. The bond making me so miserable was my own judgment that powerless sounds were bad and I didn't like them!

 

Here was a pearl of great price, revealed such that I heard, I saw, I knew! The Heart had spoken! For an instant I had entered my own Holy of Holies wherein "nothing maketh a lie"; I had entered the Secret Place, the Shekinah! The truth I discovered there was enough to solve the immediate problem and infinitely more beside. Vividly, I remember feeling as though a physical water of warm comfort poured over my head, washing away every vestige of tension. I remember the smiles of release, the laughter of peace. I recall telling myself that the pesky sound was certainly serving to show all of us how well we could hear. 

 

From that day, nothing about the war-sight, sound or feeling-bothered me again. No one was more amazed than I at the unshakeable equanimity I carried with me up and down those mountains. Here, in an instant, the Heart taught me a lesson in tranquillity that has stood me in good stead countless times since. 

 

Reader, now listen closely, listen carefully, for I tell you a fact: Just as a "sound" has no power of its own to make you worry, neither has a "sight" any ability to cause you grief, lest you give it that ability! I tell you, no image, no picture, no "thing" within Awareness-be it sight, sound or feeling-has any power of its own! Has it? Who says so if it isn't "you" yourself acting as a judge of the images within yourself? Even according to the allegory, there was no grief in the garden until the forbidden fruit yielding "good" and "evil" judgment had been eaten. Reader, your Identity is Beholding-Awareness itself, not the judge of it who says this is good and that is bad. That is the one to "let go." 

 

from "Awareness and Tranquillity" by William Samuel 

http://www.williamsamuel.com

 

Forgiveness  ... is still, and quietly does nothing. .... It merely looks, and waits, and judges not. 

A Course in Miracles W-pII.1.4:1,3

 

_________________________________________________________________________

 

 

A Conversation with Ken Wapnick: making it the most important thing!

 

by Susan Dugan

www.foraysinforgiveness.com

 

 

 

I recently sat down again to interview Ken Wapnick while attending a weeklong Academy class at the Foundation for a Course in Miracles (FACIM) in Temecula, California, in which Ken emphasized more clearly than ever the importance of looking at the egoÕs guilty story of separation realized through the eyes of the part of our mind that knows nothing really happened. He also urged us to make asking that inner teacher of forgiveness to show us how he looks on everyone and everything our top priority, if we truly want to experience sustainable peace, not of this world.

While there, I also had the pleasure of interviewing KenÕs wife and Foundation Co-founder Gloria Wapnick, the first in what I hope will prove a series of interviews with her. Unfortunately, I had a new recorder and must have pressed the wrong button because the conversation did not record. Although Gloria kindly invited me to call her to flesh out the details missing from my notes (which I plan to), the incident offered me a fresh opportunity to look at the self-judgment that arises for us on this seeming journey home as we begin to withdraw our external projections andÑin our unconscious fearÐturn them on ourselves. 

Well, this isnÕt where I planned to start this interview, but itÕs where I am, so here goes. IÕm having a bout of resistance flu. The last time I came here for an Academy class in August, everything you said seemed so easy to absorb and I felt totally supported and in sync with that quiet center within. But this has been quite an opposite experience. IÕve been really up and down emotionally, really flip-flopping between the right and wrong mind. When I failed to get the recording of my interview with Gloria, I heard this voice scolding that itÕs not acceptable, IÕm not acceptable. ItÕs not OK to do something so stupid, so unprofessional. It was the ego berating me, which is not uncommon, but it really had my full attention. In general, thatÕs been coming up lately. Since I was here last summer, I experienced some real healing in a long-term, difficult special relationship, but thereÕs also been a lot more of this self-hatred.

Well, actually thatÕs good. The unforgiveness hides that so when you can be more forgiving and healing in your special relationship, the (remaining) unforgiveness just rises to the surface.

Yes. Well, I know you say that looking at the ego without self-judgment is looking with Jesus or the Holy Spirit, but there seems to be a real time lag for me between doing that and experiencing the comfort of that healed perception. Sometimes I feel like IÕm missing a step. I canÕt seem to get to the dropping self-judgment part.

OK. But, you will. I think that this is all coming up is actually wonderful. Just to repeat, the unforgiveness you were experiencing for a long time in this special relationship really masked the guilt. And so, as you have begun to let go of your attacks, forgive more, and allow the healing of your relationship, then what it was protecting now surfaces, which, in the long run, is actually very, very positive. It doesnÕt feel very good. But then you have to realize that youÕre not only addicted to being angry at this person, youÕre also addicted to being angry at yourself, and the idea that you are the home of evil, darkness, and sin.

And that preserves the idea of me, however miserable?

Yes, absolutely. So, there is nothing you should do, dear, except just be patient. And you want to trust in the process, have faith that what took you this far will continue.

And thatÕs like in that description of forgiveness in the workbook where it says forgiveness Òmerely looks, and waits, and judges not.Ó ItÕs that waiting part?

Yes.

I guess a similar question that came up for me while here listening to you was that what weÕre really doing when we withhold forgiveness is pushing GodÕs love away, JesusÕ love away. I have a lot of internal dialogue going on throughout my day with Jesus, even though I understand and believe that heÕs not really a body, at least more than I understand and believe that IÕm not a body. But I find that image of him helpful to bring everything to, even though he doesnÕt really have anything to say back. But since IÕve been here, I canÕt even remember to check in with him as I usually do throughout the day, to ask him to help me look at everyone and everything from his perspective.

And then, I woke up in the middle of the night after that happened with Gloria and instead of checking in again with him as I usually do which often helps me go back to sleep and even experience some really healing dreams, this time I had a sense of him sitting in a corner of the room. And I thought, what are you doing here? I didnÕt invite you. I was really upset. And then I must have gone to sleep again and I had this dream where I saw JesusÕ face everywhere I looked. Around every corner and inside every door, on the bodies of every person I passed on the street. I even opened the refrigerator and there was a miniature Jesus, looking up at me from among cartons of food. And I was terrified, and started running and screaming. And I realized I donÕt want to see him in everything, maybe I donÕt want to see him at all.

Well, part of you loves him very much. But the part of you that wants to exclude him is the part that says; donÕt take my life away from me. DonÕt take Susan away from me. I may be miserable as Susan, but at least IÕm Susan, and I like it. So what you want to do is donÕt mess with it. DonÕt fight against yourself, donÕt feel guilty about wanting to push him away, just see thatÕs what youÕre doing and recognize youÕre just not there yet. ThatÕs all you have to do. Just be easy.

Just sit with it? ThatÕs what IÕve been trying to do. Just be with it, let it be.

Yes, just sit with it. It wonÕt last, dear.

Yeah, but are you talking about the Holy SpiritÕs version of time, or our version?

Our version.

OK. I was listening to your CD set on intimacy where you talk again about how listening to BeethovenÕs final quartets was your entre into beginning to really experience what we really are. But, it was a process for you, as well, over a decade or so. And you said you were conscious of the interference, the blocks within yourself to completely joining with that music. ThatÕs what you had to grow into, and growing into it is what allowed you to have the kind of relationship you later had with the Course and Helen and Gloria.

Well, I never analyzed the block. When I started listening to the late quartets I was still in college and I said, IÕm not ready for these yet. But I continued to come back to it and I wouldnÕt have said that then, but, in retrospect, it was a way of charting my own spiritual progress. But I never analyzed it. IÕm not like that. I donÕt think itÕs very helpful to do that. I just always knew the day would come when I would feel totally one with that music. And, I knew when that happened, that would be it, there was nothing else beyond that. And then, it happened.

So you had the desire for it, but not the striving?

Yeah, I wasnÕt striving. I was working at a mental health clinic near the water on the south shore of Long Island and it was a ten-minute drive to the beach. At lunch time I would go and walk the beach with the score of the quartets, hearing the music in my head. It was always with me. It was more important to me than anything else, my marriage (which may be why my marriage fell apart) and my career. It was something not of this world that I knew was most important and I just knew it would happen. In a sense my interest in the world receded and this just grew and grew and grew.

It was as if I somehow knew there was a time table I was just following. It was almost like I was biding time, but I knew it would all come together one day. I didnÕt know what form it would end up in, but I knew where it would end up. It wasnÕt work, but I was aware of it as a process.

You know, IÕm not a big Jungian, but IÕve read all of Jung and I remember reading his autobiography, Memories, Dreams, Reflections,  which, it ends up, is not so honest, but he talked aboutÑI forget the exact words he usedÑbut essentially that we live our lives on two levels. And I could identify with that. I was aware of living my life on the external track where I was in undergraduate school and then graduate school, my professional life, my personal life. And then there was the internal, Beethoven track, that process of joining with BeethovenÕs music. And they were (then) totally independent of each other. And I knew that wasnÕt right, but thatÕs how it was. Over time, the external track became less and less important and the internal track became everything. I was always good at functioning in the world, but hearing that music and eventually becoming one with it was always the most important thing.

And thatÕs what weÕre trying to do in our relationships with each other, trying to hear that call to join with that love?

Yes. Trying to hear the call and respond to it and trust it. And, you know, the kind of thing IÕm really saying, and emphasizing more and more these days as I teach, is that this has to be the most important thing in your life. And itÕs not for people. But it has to dominate everything, even as youÕre living your normal life with work and family and taking care of your bodyÑwhatever youÕre doingÑthis has to be the most important thing. When I look back on my life, focusing on BeethovenÕs music was the most important thing.

You know IÕd studied and read so many things, so much psychology, and really, nothing was true. A great novel was true, or a great work of art, but really nothing I studied was true because it didnÕt touch this. So, at the same time that I became very good at psychology, learning what I had to learn, learning to become one with that music was always the most important thing because it is everything. And so, I ask of Course students, donÕt you want to go home? Because if you do, then everything in your day should be geared towards wanting to look at everything differently. Really wanting to recognize my ego, to take this love of Jesus or the Holy Spirit and bring it with me, no matter what IÕm doing.

Well, and I feel like the Course is the most important thing to me and yet I still have this pain that comes up; this judgment, this self-judgment, this resistance.

But what you do which is wonderful, Susan, and you donÕt give yourself enough credit for, is you know what youÕre doing. You know when youÕre resisting, you know when youÕre running away from that love, and thatÕs everything. See, thatÕs what I was talking about this morning, you just need to know what youÕre doing and trust that at some point, resisting will be too painful.

Well, and, one of the questions I was going to ask you is about that part of the Course that talks about how Òtrials are but lessons that you failed to learn presented once again, so where you made a faulty choice before you now can make a better one.Ó Lately, when the same lessons have come up again within my hierarchy of illusions from micro to macro, IÕve had this experience of knowing that I canÕt do this again, I canÕt respond by feeling victimized and then justifying it like I did before, itÕs just too painful. I donÕt have it in me. And as soon as I saw that, I was able to do what I had to do in form but none of the reactivity was there. I could take the steps normal people take to deal with things but there was no malice, no sense of anyone being guilty, and no pain. So, thatÕs what the day-to-day practice of forgiveness does over time. It just sort of disables that muscle of condemnation?

Yes. And itÕs a question of trusting that a happy outcome is ensured and really knowing that, not just in some kind of abstract sense that weÕre all really home. And then trusting that doing this religiously, with real commitment, especially when itÕs rocky, when the ego gets viscous, to just know that itÕs all part of the process, and not be afraid of it.

And each time, you canÕt take it quite as seriously as the last time because you know this cannot really be. YouÕve gotten to the peace on the other side before and even if the pain and the fear is there right now, you know youÕre going to shift out of this and into all you really want.

Right.

I have a question around the idea of being normal that you talk about all the time and have talked about a lot this week. I totally understand what you mean by that in terms of still doing things in the world and taking care of your body, meeting people where they are, and not confusing levels. But, on the other hand, in living this, normal people donÕt usually spend a couple thousand dollars to fly across the country and sit in a room five hours a day for a week to be told they donÕt really exist. And in my life, except for the Course friends IÕve made since I found the Course nine years ago, my husband, my daughter, my friends, my very devout Catholic parents and relatives, this is not normal to anyone around me. ItÕs like the elephant in the room; that IÕve gone off the deep end. ThereÕs an unspoken donÕt ask, donÕt tell policy.

This has completely become my major priority and, over time, the work of my life. IÕm studying and writing and teaching all the time and no one ever asks me what IÕm working on, including the people I live with. So thereÕs a sense of having a foot in both worlds, trying to be kind, and yet feeling sort of, well, not at all normal by the worldÕs standards, certainly.

Well, thatÕs true. I mean, taking you as an example, youÕre a normal person, a wife, mother, daughter, friend, youÕre very good at what you do, but you have a secret life. So youÕre not normal in that sense, but you donÕt act in a way that separates you from other people. ThatÕs what I mean when I tell people to be normal. You know, IÕm always making fun of Course students because so many of them; you canÕt have a normal conversation with them. You canÕt use the word special in front of them, for example. And, you know all the funny things Course students do and say and they donÕt realize theyÕre separating themselves from other people. And so, when I say be normal, I mean look like everybody else. But that doesnÕt mean you donÕt have a secret life and that your involvement with the Course in the eyes of the world would be very strange.

I was very normal in many ways when I was in graduate school. We had small classes and we were all very close. People would ask me about my secret life and I shared as much as I could, but it was obvious there was something different. I wasnÕt walking around with psychology books, but reading great novels instead. I would cut classes to go to concerts and operas, but otherwise I was normal. So you have a secret life, but you donÕt use it as a way of separating from other people. YouÕre being faithful to your secret life, the true love of your life, but at the same time youÕre being faithful to all your various roles and responsibilities.

And then you should just watch when you try to make a feeling of them separating from you because of it real?

Of course. Look at any desire to use the Course as a way to justify separating from other people.

Along those same lines, I have friends who formally teach the Course who, from my perspective, appear to be deviating. Making real detours from the CourseÕs underlying non-dualistic metaphysics. When that happens and I go within to look at it, it seems the only response is to just be kind?

Yes, unless they specifically ask you. And, if they do, donÕt hit them over the head with it.

But itÕs OK to say, thatÕs just not my understanding. Can we just agree to disagree?

Yes, and thatÕs a perfect way to do it, just the way you said it.

I have a tendency at times to think that teaching the Course and writing about the Course is more important than, say, being a Congressman or gangster or plumber when, in fact, it doesnÕt matter what you do in the world as long as youÕre using it to learn to express love instead of fear. But then I am more and more aware of the pain any choice for specialness brings. And so I go back and forth, wanting to make sure I honor my desire to share my passion for practicing forgiveness and then judging myself as arrogant for believing I have anything worth sharing. So, itÕs like the ego seems to get me hooked on specialness from both directions. Do you have any advice about the right-minded way to approach teaching and writing about the Course?

What keeps you honest is realizing that, in one sense, itÕs true that teaching the Course and becoming part of whatever its role is in the world is important, but that doesnÕt make the people who do it more important than people doing anything else in the world. So itÕs not identifying with what you do, but with whom you do it, with that quiet center within. So that it doesnÕt matter whether you teach the Course or not, the thing is not to get caught in the trap of judging that this is more important than that, which is just another way of trying to fill up the hole inside. I canÕt feel important unless I teach the Course. What changes all that is just staying focused on that love inside. Then youÕre identified only with that love.

Which, honestly, when IÕm teaching, thatÕs where I am only focused.

Yeah, but then the ego jumps in and says, this is special.

And that feels yucky.

So when that happens, just say, enough already!

OK. HereÕs another question about teaching that IÕve gone back and forth with and have friends who teach and go back and forth with and have talked to me about. I feel that your teaching has been the most helpful thing to me in terms of being able to really understand the Course and practice it, because if you donÕt understand it, you canÕt possibly practice it. And you have both. You embody it, and you wonÕt let us get away with all the worldly things we want to do with it. But itÕs hard sometimes because my weekly class is open to anybody and I have a lot of beginners and sometimes spiritual dabblers show up and I try my best in terms of whatever weÕre working on to review the metaphysics in as kind of way as I can, explaining that God didnÕt make the world and this is all happening in our mind. But I sometimes wonder if thereÕs something I should be doing to make this easier for them. And when I take that question within, the answer I get is no. ItÕs not my responsibility to make it more palatable for anybody. They will find it when theyÕre ready. All I need to do is tell the truth in as loving a way as I can. Is that right?

Yes.

And IÕm really teaching so that I can learn to follow our inner teacher and learn true forgiveness and the only way I know to teach is from my experience, from the inside out.

Yes. And thatÕs always the best teaching.

Thank you. I had something come up with my husband recently where I once again seemed to be very triggered by something that seemed to be going on with him and I was very upset, even though on some level, thereÕs always this sense that IÕm making this up. And I watched myself trying to make it real and embellish it even. And I was conscious that I was doing this even as I felt victimized. Anyway, there was a time lag between this all going on in my mind and the time when I actually confronted him about it. When I finally did, he was really kind. He listened, which I didnÕt feel like he used to do. I didnÕt used to feel like I could express anger with him because he would get so reactive, and so I didnÕt. But this time he sounded really right-minded and it just kind of stopped me. And I realized I was being insane and he was being the sane one. That had never happened to me before. He was even using language I would use, language you would use when trying to meet someone where they are. So, is that like the Holy Spirit, our right mind, talking back to me?

Yes. I think that what happened is your defenselessness and your being aware of what you were doing connected up with him. And, since minds are joined, he didnÕt feel attacked; he didnÕt feel the need to be defensive.

Even though I was angry?

Yeah, but you kind of knew what you were doing, you said. There wasnÕt the venom that might have been there in the past and so, minds are joined. Remember, you donÕt have to be ego-free; you just have to be aware of it. That cuts right through all of it.

I have a question about my daughter again. SheÕs in her second year at Colorado College only an hour away and they have a block program where they have a couple days off after each block. Last year she and her friends who are all from out of state would come to our house a lot so I didnÕt really feel the brunt of her leaving so much. This year they all have cars and they go away on their block breaks and IÕm feeling that sense of loss again. And I just kind of watch myself going into it. She was always one of those old soul-type kids, whatever that means. I always felt this really deep connection with her, even beyond the usual mother-daughter connection, and she has been a big comfort to me. IÕm very aware sheÕs doing exactly what she needs to be doing right now to separate from me and IÕm very supportive of it, but I still feel the loss. And I still fantasize that, in her presence, I will feel more love than I do when sheÕs gone.

ItÕs normal. YouÕre very close with her and sheÕs been a big part of your life, obviously, but at the same time you know she needs to leave the nest. So you want to be honest about your specialness need that she fill up the emptiness in you, but you donÕt want to use that to hurt her. So just be aware of that and trust that the love within you will fill up that hole. And so while itÕs normal to miss her, it wonÕt hurt. ItÕs the same thing I was saying earlier, just trust in the love inside you, stay open to the part of you that wants to feel abandoned or alone, know that that is not loving for you or your daughter, and trust the love will be there.

And thatÕs where that inner relationship becomes everything. The one thing IÕm certain the Course has given me, at least when IÕm right-minded, is the sense that IÕm never alone, and that when IÕm feeling alone, I can go to that relationship within.

Yes. So whether you personify it in terms of Jesus or you use any other symbol; that love, that stately calm within, becomes the center of your life. There youÕre never alone and you feel your love and you feel his love and that helps you deal with all the external things.

Right. And thatÕs where that inner conversation comes in. In which we need to bring Jesus/Holy Spirit everything we believe would hurt us, has hurt us?

ThatÕs right.

Thank you so much, Ken.

Renowned Psychologist, Teacher, and Author Kenneth Wapnick, PhD, has been studying, teaching, and writing about A Course in Miracles since 1973, and worked closely with Course Scribe Helen Schucman and Collaborator Bill Thetford in preparing its final manuscript. With his beloved wife, Gloria, he is president and co-founder of The Foundation for a Course in Miracles in Temecula, California.

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Accepting Cancer

 

I have questioned my thoughts, and I've seen that it's crazy to argue with what is. I don't ever want anything to happen except what's happening. For example, my ninety-year-old mother is dying of pancreatic cancer. I'm taking care of her, cooking and cleaning for her, sleeping beside her, living in her apartment twenty-three hours a day (my husband takes me out for a walk every morning). It has been a month now. It's as if her breath is the pulse of my life. I bathe her, I wash her in the most personal places, I medicate her, and I feel such a sense of gratitude. That's me over there, dying of cancer, spending my last few days sleeping and watching TV and talking, medicated with the most marvelous painkilling drugs. I am amazed at the beauty and intricacies of her body, my body. 

 

And the last day of her life, as I sit by her bedside, a shift takes place in her breathing, and I know: it's only a matter of minutes now. And then another shift takes place, and I know. Our eyes lock, and a few moments later she's gone. I look more deeply into the eyes that the mind has vacated, the mindless eyes, the eyes of the no-mind. I wait for a change to take place. I wait for the eyes to show me death, and nothing changes. She's as present she ever was. I love my story about her. How else could she ever exist? 

 

from

A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are 

By (author) Byron Katie, With Stephen Mitchell 

 

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Forthcoming Workshops on A Course in Miracles

in Australia and Germany

 

 

For up to date information on my workshops go to http://www.acfip.org/fws.html 

 

 

 

 

 

Brisbane

 

Relaxation Centre

BRISBANE - 1 day - Sunday 14 July, 2013

 

 

Letting in the Light

 

A Course in Miracles workshop

 

The Course teaches "Love waits on welcome, not on time".

Awaiting us is a love, peace and quiet joy that the world can't give or take away.

What blocks this spiritual awareness? Using awareness and forgiveness exercises we can start to find and undo the blocks to this realisation, allowing us to awaken.

 

 

9.30a.m. to 4.30p.m.

 

Cost: $55

 

VENUE:

Relaxation Centre,

15 South Pine Road

Alderley

Brisbane 4051

 

 

BOOKINGS:

Relaxation Centre

07 3856 3733

(Please do not book through me)

 

The Brisbane Relaxation Centre has informed me that many people are increasingly booking at the last moment. 

I check the number of participants on Friday morning before the workshop. 

If numbers are small I cancel the workshop so those the are booked can be informed and make other plans for their weekend.

If you wish to attend the workshop please book by the Thursday before.

 

 

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Germany 2013 Dates

 

Bonn 

 

June 15 and 16, 2013

10.00am to 6.000pm

 

 

Relationships: A Fast Path to Spiritual Awakening.

A Course in Miracles workshop

 

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 T-8.III.4.

 

Our relationships can become our daily classroom of forgiveness. "Relationships" does not just refer to our partners but everyone we meet. How we react to our family, colleagues, strangers, animals, people in the media mirrors what is contained in our minds. Daily we walk around in a hall of mirrors and when we lose our peace we are being shown something unhealed, unforgiven in our minds. 

 

The Course seeks to take our difficult relationships and change their direction towards the goal of holy relationships in which we practice honesty and forgiveness.

 

As we learn to look at ourselves and others without judgement (forgiveness) we gradually remove the obstacles to the love and peace within us. Judgement is gradually replaced by compassion, and instead of separation, true acceptance, friendship and genuine intimacy become possible.

 

The workshop will contain exercises to help understand and heal painful dynamics found in ego-based relationships, allowing our natural state of peace and joy to be uncovered. 

 

 

An Evening Introductory Talk - Fri 14th June 2013

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 22 and 23, 2013

10.00am to 6.000pm

 

 

Relationships: A Fast Path to Spiritual Awakening.

A Course in Miracles workshop

 

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 T-8.III.4.

 

Our relationships can become our daily classroom of forgiveness. "Relationships" does not just refer to our partners but everyone we meet. How we react to our family, colleagues, strangers, animals, people in the media mirrors what is contained in our minds. Daily we walk around in a hall of mirrors and when we lose our peace we are being shown something unhealed, unforgiven in our minds. 

 

The Course seeks to take our difficult relationships and change their direction towards the goal of holy relationships in which we practice honesty and forgiveness.

 

As we learn to look at ourselves and others without judgement (forgiveness) we gradually remove the obstacles to the love and peace within us. Judgement is gradually replaced by compassion, and instead of separation, true acceptance, friendship and genuine intimacy become possible.

 

The workshop will contain exercises to help understand and heal painful dynamics found in ego-based relationships, allowing our natural state of peace and joy to be uncovered. 

 

 

An Evening Introductory Talk - Fri 21 June 2013

8pm - 9.45pm

 

 

Contact:

Margarete Sennekamp

Winterhaldenweg 4,

79856 Hinterzarten,

Tel./Fax: 07652-917530

email: M.Sennekamp@t-online.de

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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Germany 2014 Dates

 

Bonn 

 

28th-29th June, 2014

10.00am to 6.000pm

 

Inner Peace - Our Natural State

A Course in Miracles workshop -

 

 

It (inner peace) is given you the instant you would have it. ACIM T-15.IV.9.    

 

The purpose of this world is not to find a permanent peace and happiness.

 It cannot be found here. 

 

You do not really want the world you see, for it has disappointed you since time began. T-13.VII.3.    

 

Instead, if we see the world as a classroom of forgiveness we will discover the uncaused happiness that lies within - our natural state. To forgive is to look at everything in our minds and in the world without judgement.  

 

Forgiveness offers everything I want. Lesson 122

 

While we search to fulfill our desires in the expectation of happiness we block the awareness of the constant, uncaused happiness within.

 

You will first dream of peace, and then awaken to it.  .....  Love waits on welcome, not on time, and the real world (inner peace) is but your welcome of what always was. T-13.VII.9.    

 

Peace is the absence of desire; forgiveness reveals our natural state.  

 

This workshop explores, with the aid of exercises, how we block this happiness and peace and how it can be revealed. 

 

No knowledge of A Course in Miracles is required.

 

 

An Evening Introductory Talk - Fri 27th June 2014

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

 

 

July 5 and 6, 2014

10.00am to 6.000pm

Inner Peace - Our Natural State

- A Course in Miracles workshop -

 

 

It (inner peace) is given you the instant you would have it. ACIM T-15.IV.9.    

 

The purpose of this world is not to find a permanent peace and happiness.

 It cannot be found here. 

 

You do not really want the world you see, for it has disappointed you since time began. T-13.VII.3.    

 

Instead, if we see the world as a classroom of forgiveness we will discover the uncaused happiness that lies within - our natural state. To forgive is to look at everything in our minds and in the world without judgement.  

 

Forgiveness offers everything I want. Lesson 122

 

While we search to fulfil our desires in the expectation of happiness we block the awareness of the constant, uncaused happiness within.

 

You will first dream of peace, and then awaken to it.  .....  Love waits on welcome, not on time, and the real world (inner peace) is but your welcome of what always was. T-13.VII.9.    

 

Peace is the absence of desire; forgiveness reveals our natural state.  

 

This workshop explores, with the aid of exercises, how we block this happiness and peace and how it can be revealed. 

 

No knowledge of A Course in Miracles is required.

 

An Evening Introductory Talk - Fri 4 July 2014

8pm - 9.45pm

 

Contact:

Margarete Sennekamp

Winterhaldenweg 4,

79856 Hinterzarten,

Tel./Fax: 07652-917530

email: M.Sennekamp@t-online.de

www.Sophia-Institut.de

 

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.

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BOOKS AND AUDIO MATERIALS FOR SALE - by Michael Dawson

 

 

New teaching and healing materials - eBooks and downloadable MP3s:

 

Ebooks:

 

1. Healing the Cause -A Path of Forgiveness.

Inspired by A Course in Miracles.

This is the eBook version of the paper back.

 

2. A Course in Miracles - Explanations of Major Themes

New book in eBook format

 

3. Forgiveness - A Path to Inner Peace. 

Inspired by A Course in Miracles

This is the eBook version of the paper back.

 

The eBook versions can be read on Kindle, iPad, Microsoft eReader, Nook, PDF readers (Mac and PC) and most eBook readers.

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

 

 

Downloadable Mp3s:

 

1. Healing the Cause: Self-Help Exercises 1

This MP3 contains the identical four exercises as the CD

 

2. Healing the Cause: Self-Help Exercises 2

This MP3 contains the identical four exercises as the CD

 

3. Healing the Cause: 3 Self-Help Exercises in English with German translation

This MP3 contains the identical three exercises as the CD

 

For more details and how to purchase please visit: http://www.acfip.org/books_tapes.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, French, Polish and Romanian.

 

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

 

MP3s (see above) 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.

 

Workshops:

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

 

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CONTACTS and COURSE INFORMATION 

Search Engine for ACIM Sites, Definitions and Articles by Joe Jesseph.
A Web search engine dedicated to finding discussion and definitions of terms and concepts found in 
A Course in Miracles as well as Web sites, articles and other writings related to the Course.

Question and Answer Service from the Foundation for A Course in Miracles. 
Their electronic outreach section has a question and answer service 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.

Foundation for Inner Peace..........................Publishers of A Course in Miracles and responsible for the translation programme. On-line mail order.

Foundation For A Course In Miracles................FACIM is the official teaching organisation of the Foundation for Inner Peace and the copyright-holder of_A Course in Miracles and all related materials. Publishes the quarterly Lighthouse newsletter. They have extensive on-line mail order for their books, CDs and DVDs.
The Foundation was started by Kenneth and Gloria Wapnick and has moved to Temecula in California. Kenneth is my teacher of A Course in Miracles.

Their publications can also be ordered in Australia at:

Adyar Bookshop

230 Clarence Street

Sydney, NSW 2000

Kenneth Wapnick ......ÉÉÉ Biographical information and excerpts from his writings

Kenneth Wapnick on YouTube

Glossary of ACIM terms from FACIM

"The Most Commonly asked Questions about A Course in Miracles"
by Kenneth and Gloria Wapnick

Index of Links to Miracle Studies Resources ...ÉÉ....... A rich resource of materials on A Course in Miracles by an ex-staff member of the Foundation For A Course In Miracle. Joe also has a blog and has recently published  A Primer of Psychology According to A Course in Miracles.

miraclestudies.net  ÉÉÉÉ A Course in Miracles Resource Web Site for ACIM Students

A Course in Miracles Study groups

Search for A Course in Miracles Study Groups Around the World. 

The Foundation for Inner peace also has a study group search engine.

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

 

Purchase ACIM on line

ACIM Historical Recordings & Video

 

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.

 

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 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

I Am That

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

__________________________________

 

Michael Dawson

PO Box 125

Point Lookout

North Stradbroke Island

Queensland 4183

Australia

 

EMAIL:       mdawson@acfip.org

WEBSITE:   http://www.acfip.org