ACFIP Newsletter
Issue 42 - September 2014
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
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
___________________________________________________________________________
CONTENTS:
* Healing Others Part 1 of 3 - Michael Dawson
* Story of Awakening - Untamable Fire by Amoda Maa Jeevan
* 6 Degrees of Consciousness - Jan Frazier
* Life after death & rebirth? - Nisargadatta Mahara
* Death and A Course in Miracles
* Workshops
* Books and Audio Materials for Sale
* Links
* Inspirational Quotations
___________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 7 - Healing Others
Part 1 of 3
(Reprinted from Healing the Cause -A Path of Forgiveness. by
Michael Dawson)
I am here only to be truly helpful.
I am here to represent Him Who sent me.
I do not have to worry about what to say or do,
because He Who sent me will direct me.
I am content to be wherever He wishes knowing He goes there with me.
I will be healed as I let Him teach me to heal.
from A Course in Miracles
(T24; T-2.V.18:2-6)
Introduction
What is it that needs healing, and how is it achieved? Is it the
techniques of healers which heal or are they only the forms through
which healing can come? What is it that heals and is it only a
certain gifted or chosen few who possess these abilities? What are
the differences between the healed and the unhealed healer? This
chapter will consider these questions and explore them in the light
of what the Course has to say about them.
The Aim of Healing
This book began by stating that all our physical and psychological
problems originate from only one problem, the belief that we are
separate from each other and from God. Through the power of denial
and the veil of forgetfulness which we have created about our true
home, we are forced to seek outside our mind for healing. The pain
in our body and psyche calls for instant relief. In this way we can
get trapped into seeking help only for the symptoms of our one
problem and forget to look more deeply at the cause in our mind. We
seek healers to repair our damaged physical and emotional bodies and
when this is done we become content for a little while until a new
symptom appears.
It is not wrong to seek relief for our pain, but symptom relief is
not true healing. If you have a severe headache, your attention will
probably be centred on the pain and not on its cause. Taking some
form of medication to ease the pain will provide an opportunity to
help find the unforgiveness in the mind. We need to use these
symptoms to remind us that the cause of our distress is not to be
found in the world but in our decision to remain separate. As all
our pain comes from separation, healing must come from joining. If
we cannot find what it is that needs forgiveness, we can always
begin where we are and join with those around us. By practising
forgiveness from moment to moment we will undo the separation that
has given rise to pain.
The true function of a healer is to remind the client, through the
example and presence of the healer, that he is still as God created
him. This is the way that Jesus performed his miracles. Like
everyone in this world, Jesus first looked within before looking
without. As he looked within he saw only the Son of God, the Christ,
in his own mind. When he looked without and saw a sick person asking
for healing, he could only see another Son of God, albeit a sleeping
one.
As the sick person came into the presence of Jesus, he saw someone
who accepted him as an equal, reminding him that he could make
another choice. Until this moment, the sick person was probably
surrounded by people who only focused on his bodily symptoms and
thus reinforced the concept of him as an ego living in a body. The
presence of Jesus reminded him that he was not an ego but still as
God had created him. The very power of JesusÕs light was all that
was needed to shine away the sick personÕs darkness once he had made
the decision to be whole. In that short moment, the sick person
realised his true nature as the Christ and therefore had no need to
defend himself with sickness. Although the personÕs ego had been
temporarily vanquished, Jesus knew it would counterattack at the
first possible opportunity, and thus he would often counsel people
to "go and sin no more".
To receive a miraculous cure does not guarantee it will last. It has
often been observed by researchers that miracle cures are rarely
permanent and the healed person often succumbs to the same or a
related illness after a period of months or years. The removal of
the symptoms of the sickness was not the healing, but only a
byproduct of the peace which had now entered the personÕs mind.
JesusÕs presence was a reminder of another way of being, a call to
come home to the FatherÕs love. We need to make the answering of
this call the purpose of our life here. To be fully healed is to
awaken from the dream of separation in which we are lost. As we
begin to awaken and allow the presence of the Holy Spirit into our
mind, we can act as a channel for His healing.
For this alone I need; that you will hear the words I speak, and
give them to the world. You are my voice, my eyes, my feet, my hands
through which I save the world.
(W322; W-pI.review V.9:2)
The above quotation makes it clear that it will not be we who heal
but the love and light of Jesus or the Holy Spirit which will extend
through us and into the world. Jesus has become the manifestation of
the Holy Spirit in our world as he is now entirely without an ego.
Sickness or Healing is Our Choice
As sickness is our choice, so is healing. No one can make us sick
and no one can heal us unless it is our decision. As the Course
states, "Healing does not come from anyone else. You must accept
guidance from within." (T134; T-8.IV.4:5-6) Even in the presence of
someone like Jesus, a sick person must still choose to see themself
as Jesus sees them. It is evident from the Bible that many people
still preferred to listen to their own ego than to his voice of love
and acceptance. Healing was seen as a threat to their egoÕs
existence and so they sought refuge in fear and sickness. The
illusory realm of form was preferred to the formless realm of spirit
which Jesus offered. His thought system was so alien to the ego that
most people were threatened and not healed by his presence. To
defend itself, the ego attacked what could destroy it.
In my own experience of working with clients, I have often noticed
their ambivalence towards healing. One part of them wants to be
healed, whilst another part is resisting the process. It is as if
they are saying, "Please heal me but donÕt change the way I think
about myself or the world. Please remove my symptoms but leave my
ego intact."
A madman will defend his own illusions because in them he sees his
own salvation. Thus, he will attack the one who tries to save him
from them, believing that he is attacking him. This curious circle
of attack-defence is one of the most difficult problems with which
the psychotherapist must deal. In fact, this is his central task;
the core of psychotherapy. The therapist is seen as one who is
attacking the patient's most cherished possession; his picture of
himself. And since this picture has become the patientÕs security as
he perceives it, the therapist cannot but be seen as a real source
of danger, to be attacked and even killed.
(P9; P-2.IV.9)
Progress is achieved in healing when the client begins to realise
that he is not a victim of the world but only of his own thoughts.
As he begins to understand this, his ego will counsel him to attack
the healer, for the egoÕs very existence is now being threatened. To
help a client return to the cause of his problem in his mind is also
to bring him closer to the Holy Spirit who resides there. The ego is
well aware that the sleeping Son of God, the decision maker, on
finding the presence of the Holy Spirit may well decide to choose
His guidance against the ego. If the healer can meet the attack of
the client without defence or counterattack, he will demonstrate
that defences are not necessary and in that moment, the healer does
not believe in the reality of the ego. This example will give an
opportunity to the client to change his mind, to choose forgiveness
instead of attack.
A sick person perceives himself as separate from God. Would you see
him as separate from you? It is your task to heal the sense of
separation that has made him sick. It is your function to recognise
for him that what he believes about himself is not the truth. It is
your forgiveness that must show him this. Healing is very simple.
(M54; M-22.6:5-10)
Part 2 of 3 in the next news letter in December 2014
___________________________________________________________________________
Untamable Fire
By Amoda Maa Jeevan
For every person that awakens, thereÕs a different picture. We
often look at spiritual teachers, enlightened masters, mystics and
saints, and try to model our enlightenment on what we see. We
say, ÒAh, this is what it looks like!Ó and the ego tries to make
sense of it according to its own predispositions. Inevitably,
the outer expression of enlightenment is colored by history,
geography and biography. The stillness of Ramana Maharshi
looks very different to the crazy wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa, and the
secular life of one of todayÕs non-duality teachers looks very
different from the mystical life of Jesus. And yet weÕre often
fooled into packaging what we call Òtruth,Ó and then believing that
this package is something we can claim for ourselves. ItÕs a
kind of spiritual reward system that keeps us on the wheel of
seeking. But truthÑlike loveÑis uncontainable. It is
untamable, unconditional, and universal. True awakeness cannot
be bought or copied or manufactured; it can only be discovered as
that which recognizes itself in everything.
Perhaps because of my life circumstances, my personality, or my
karmic predispositionsÑI cannot possibly know why and it doesnÕt
actually matter whyÑthat which discovered itself through me was
revealed in the midst of an extended Òdark night of the soul.Ó
It was totally unexpected and radically changed the landscape of my
inner life. In time, it also altered the landscape of my outer
life in ways I could not have imagined. At the core of all of
this was a death of ÒmeÓ as a story-maker.
My story has many twists and turns, as do most stories of
redemption. The circumstances surrounding my birth were
traumatic and shrouded in secrecy and shame, as were my early
years. I never knew my real father and my mother and her
family covered up the fact that he left when I was born. The
social and cultural disgrace was a heavy burden for my mother, as
was her history of abuse and abandonment, and she created a story
around it that was far from the truth. When I was born, she
was sent to a different country to be married to a man she did not
know. I believed he was my father and when, at the age of 13,
I found out that he wasnÕt, my whole world fell apart. Life
continued to bring me many unexpected changes that caused me to
question who I was and where I came from. Much later, as an
adult, this uncertainty about my ancestral roots would form the
bedrock of a path of self-inquiry; but as a young child and
adolescent, I experienced these unwelcome events as shocks to my
delicate nervous system. Some of these shocks were so dramatic
they rendered me mute for periods of time and included emotional and
physical violence, sexual abuse, abrupt changes in schooling, the
sudden onset of war in the Middle East where we lived for a while, a
dramatic evacuation by the military, the loss of all possessions,
parental divorce, family lies, and probably a few other
things! All of these events contributed to a deep sense of
shame and confusion but which would eventually become the catalysts
for my spiritual search.
Communication was always a problem in my home, as neither of my
parents spoke fluent English, nor did they speak each otherÕs
language. On the other hand, I could read and write only
English and I spoke it perfectly. I suppose I must have been
confused, but this strange set-up was my normality. What
wasnÕt so normal was the strictness of my upbringing: I never could
work out why the adults in my life were so strict; it just was that
way. Playing with other children outside of school hours was
forbidden, as was playing with dolls and stuffed toys.
Birthdays and ChristmasÕ were solemn affairs in which the most
exciting gifts, other than pajamas, socks, and school uniforms, were
a set of colored pencils and a drawing pad.
The denial of these basic childhood rights cut right to my core, and
I came to the conclusion that I was flawed and I deserved to be
punished by never getting what I wanted. I felt impure and
unworthy, so I prayed to Jesus most nights to cleanse me of my sins,
and I prayed to the Holy Mother to take care of me.
Unsurprisingly, as an only child with no friends, I became isolated,
introverted, and I retreated into a fantasy world that was my only
solace. I spent endless hours creating a secret fantasy life
in which every detail was mapped out in incredible intricacy, where
not only did I have parents who totally adored and understood me,
but I also had every single toy and dress I ever wanted, a list of
friends who celebrated me, a fascinating life of adventure, and a
sense of magic that took me to faraway lands and even into outer
space. But this imagined perfect world in which I was
perfectly safe, perfectly loved, and perfectly happy was never now,
it was always in the future . . . and the future
never came.
Eventually, my escape into utopia became a prison. By the time
I was a teenager, I had effectively shut myself off from feeling the
full vibrancy of life. In fact, I had shut myself off from
feeling, period. When I left home at 17 to go to University,
instead of feeling happy and free as IÕd expected, I became
depressed and felt socially inadequate, and my frequent attempts at
suicide led me to believe IÕd end up in a mental asylum. I was
sent to various psychotherapists and psychiatrists, but none of them
could help me. I just sat looking at the floor unable to utter
a word. My boyfriend at the time called it Òthe bell jar,Ó as
in the title of Sylvia PlathÕs famous autobiographical novel of the
late 60s. Sylvia Plath committed suicide shortly after its
publication. I understood intellectually what Òthe bell jarÓ
referred to, but I denied that it had anything to do with what was
going on for me.
Surprisingly, in spite of this internal landscape of darkness, I
threw myself with great vigor into my academic studies. I
stopped believing in Jesus or the Holy Mother as my saviors, and I
invested my hope of salvation in the achievement of a Doctorate of
Psychology. The seeking mechanism that had fueled my earlier
fantasy world of perfection was still the driving force of my life,
only this time it drove me to work incredibly long hours almost to
the exclusion of anything else. I struggled for 12 years
against many odds, and then over a period of just a few months,
unexpectedly and dramaticallyÑas was the theme of my storyÑthe whole
edifice of my life collapsed. At the age of 28, I found myself
homeless and penniless. Not only did my academic career come
to an abrupt end, but my long-term boyfriend left me, my home was
repossessed, I became financially bankrupt and without any income,
and almost all my material possessions were taken from me. As
a result of all these losses in quick succession, I also lost my
pride, my confidence, and my dream of a personal utopia. Every
single vestige of identity invested in being an academic high-flyer,
an urban super-woman, an ideal girlfriend, or any other picture of
perfection, came tumbling down. It was both devastating and a
great relief. Without the usual attachments of modern-day
life, and without the burden of trying to Òbe somebody,Ó I found
myself fully open to living in the present. I also found
myself naturally drawn to asking the question that had been sown in
my early childhood: ÒWho am I?Ó
The next seven years were spent in deep inner exploration. A
series of mystical and visionary experiences came without warning
and were the catalysts for my subsequent immersion in meditation,
primal therapy, rebirthing, metaphysics, psychedelics, and a myriad
of psycho-spiritual methods. I was particularly drawn to
Buddhist and Zen meditation practices and devoted my attention to
these. The sanctuary of inner silence seemed very familiar to
me and, unlike my brief encounter with TM during my university days,
which had left me horrified at the intensity of voices in my head, I
fell into this space effortlessly. I also loved reading, so I
devoured as many traditional and contemporary spiritual books as I
could, and along the way I visited various spiritual teachers.
But I quickly discovered that truth is a fresh discovery not a
learnt wisdom, so I didnÕt stick with anything or anyone for too
long. In any case, I wasnÕt looking for enlightenment; I was
looking for happiness.
My search for happiness eventually led me to India and to the ashram
of the revolutionary mystic, Osho. Although Osho had left his
body just a few years earlier, something deep within me stirred, and
I opened to the unconditional love in his invisible presence.
I fell in love with his rebellious spirit, absorbed his words, gave
my totality to his unorthodox meditative techniques, and bathed in
the silence of solitude for several months. I was consumed by
an inner fire that blasted my heart wide open, and I willingly
surrendered to the tantric mystery of existence. By leaving
behind the relative safety of my home and my relationship, I faced
my fear of aloneness and discovered that love is at the core of
everything. Somehow this realization allowed me to see through
the identification with form, and I stopped searching for a teacher
or a teaching; instead, life itself became the guru. For the
first time in my life, I felt a certain freedom and joy.
Perhaps the many hours spent screaming, shouting, and shaking my way
through different forms of psychotherapy had helped me let go of
some of my emotional baggage. Perhaps I had tasted the truth
of emptiness. Whatever the reason, I left India feeling reborn
and with a new name, Amoda Maa Jeevan, which means Òliving a joyous
life.Ó
Back in England, I started teaching transformational workshops and
developed my own unique method of Òecstatic meditation,Ó which
included breathwork, movement, and music. I was growing beyond
my limitations and life was good. I was no longer looking for
a spiritual high, but there was a subtle seeking still going on that
had to do with relationship. I still held a deep belief that I
needed relationship to give me something I hadnÕt yet found in
myself. I needed another to make me feel complete, to confirm
my worthiness by giving me love in the form of a perfect
relationship. I clung to the idea that a soul mate would
fulfill all my inner and outer dreams. Unfortunately, the man
IÕd decided was my soul mate didnÕt conform to my ideas of a perfect
life, and so we raged, battled, and hurt each other, whilst
passionately loving each other, for 10 years. One day,
seemingly out of the blue, our relationship exploded and there was
no mending it. I harnessed enough courage within myself to
walk away. Over a period of three years, I grieved intensely,
healed my broken heart with all manner of therapies and bodywork,
and eventually learnt to enjoy my own company and the freedom of
living alone.
However, in the silent space of solitude, a deeper wound revealed
itself: a profound existential fear that IÕd been abandoned by
God. I felt empty and incredibly alone. As I had done
many years before, I began sinking into a black hole, except this
time I had enough insight to recognize the call to true
freedom. I saw that I wanted to be free of the story of ÒmeÓ
and I was willing to give up my need for love, relationship,
happiness, enlightenmentÑand even the need for any certaintyÑfor
this that I could not name. I had no idea how to do
this. There was no teacher, no road map, no instruction
manual, and no imagination of what I was falling in to. But I
trusted the gentle yet insistent impulse to be still and to stop
running away, to not followÑas I had done a million times beforeÑthe
familiar contortions of my mind, and to meet directly in naked
awareness the most primal of fears: annihilation. I opened to
not-knowingness and allowed myself to die into this. And in
this dying, all notions of self dissolved into emptiness. I
suppose I expected a kind of cold no-thingness, but instead an
incredible joy arose. Without labeling it or packaging it or
re-investing any identity in it, the emptiness revealed a luminosity
of being. It had always been here, and, contrary to
appearances, I had never been separate from this.
From that moment on, I became a lover of what is, unafraid to get
right up close and intimate with whatever appears in my
experience. My suffering became my doorway to freedom.
This freedom now looks nothing like I had imagined it to be.
IÕm often asked: ÒHow is your life different after awakening?Ó I can
only say that life goes on as it always has. It is utterly
unchanged, and yet, in meeting everything as it is, everything has
changed.
Today, 10 years later, the waves of phenomenal existence called Òmy
storyÓ continue. Sometimes the sea is stormy; sometimes it is
as calm as a millpond. Sometimes there is pain, hardship, and
unpleasant emotions. There is an exquisite sensitivity to
every nuance of movement, and yet nothing touches the pristine
silence at the core of it all. The radiant jewel that is this
silence continues to illuminate those places in my body-mind vehicle
that are still holding ancient patterns that do not serve the bigger
picture of love. ItÕs an on-going demolition project in which
everything that is not true is destroyed. It happens
effortlessly and thereÕs nothing I have to do to make it
happen. It is ordinary and it is graceful.
I do not know what awakening will look like in you. All I know
is that this awakening hinges on your genuine desire for
awakening. If it is to flower in you, you must truly want
liberation from everything that is false in you, you must want to
give yourself totally to the inquiry into what is true beyond all
inherited concepts, ideas, and beliefs. When the flame of this
desire becomes an untamable fire, it flips a switch inside of you
and the direction of your destiny is irrevocably altered. ItÕs
like turning on the light only to discover that you are this
light. This in itself is extra-ordinary. Even though you
may have heard the words a thousand times, nothing can prepare you
for the naked reality that is revealed. And yet the living
experience of this revelation is very ordinary: you have simply
re-discovered the innocent wholeness of your essential nature.
ItÕs the you that never was and never will be separate from anything
at all. This discovery is the end of suffering and the
beginning of freedom.
© Amoda Maa Jeevan, 2013
Amoda Maa Jeevan is a spiritual teacher, author, and the founder of
the Foundation for Conscious Change. The above article is an
extract from her 3rd book, Radical Awakening. To find out more about
Amoda, to contact her, or for a schedule of events, visit her
website at http://www.AmodaMaaJeevan.com.
The above story was extracted with permission from The Journey Home:
Awakening in the Dream, published by In the Garden Publishing in
partnership with OneTheMagazine.com.
Available from GroundingHeavenAsEarth.com
___________________________________________________________________________
6 Degrees of Consciousness
- Jan Frazier -
http://www.janfrazierteachings.com
1. Unconsciousness
Nothing can be seen that will free you
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sense of what self is
Self = ego/mind * Self = stable entity over time * Complete
separation from outer life and other ÒselvesÓ * Self = body, traits,
roles, history, beliefs * All of this completely unobserved
Awareness of ego
Identification with ego is absolute and unobserved
Relationship to time
Past and future feel real, are where attention often is * Impression
of life as a flow over time * Present is seldom experienced
Orientation to thought & knowledge
Ceaseless mental activity, unobserved * Complete identification with
thought (which appears ÒtrueÓ) * Deep in unrecognized belief systems
* Discomfort with not- knowing * Thought is used to manage or avoid
feelings, which distort into emotions (suffering)
Nature of emotional life
Emotions completely subject to mental activity/patterns * Impression
of being at the mercy of life * Spontaneous feeling confused with
thought-driven emotional reactivity * Constant roller coaster of
intense emotions (fear, desire, anger, shame, envy, etc.)
Relationship between inner & outer life
Life happens ÒtoÓ you * Constant attempt to gain control over life *
Assumption that the way to improve inner state is to fix outer
circumstances * At the mercy of conditioning (unobserved) * Blame or
credit events and circumstances for how you are inside * Resistance,
reactivity, and judgment are rampant, unnoticed, not seen as
optional
Perception of choice
Seen to operate in realm of action/behavior, but not in thought or
emotion * No sense of choice in whether to believe a thought * No
sense of choice in how outer life affects or changes you
Primary focus/motivator
Fulfillment of desire, escape from pain * Fear and grasping * Wish
for security * Constant vigilance * Self-maintenance and enhancement
* Concern with personal features and outer circumstances
What appears real
Egoic self * Other selves * Experience * Mental and emotional
activity * Belief * Time and things ÒinÓ time
Characteristic statement
ÒLife sucksÓ alternating with ÒLife rocksÓ
2. A Little Consciousness
Seeing becomes possible. Occasional flickers of consciousness
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sense of what self is
Continuing solid sense of self and separation from all, with
occasional observation of this
Awareness of ego
Glimmers of awareness that there is an ego * Occasional witnessing
of ego in action
Relationship to time
Recognition of power of past and future * Present seldom experienced
Orientation to thought & knowledge
Dawning awareness of how busy the mind is, and of its role in
suffering * Continued ceaseless mental activity and identification
with thoughts * Thoughts are ÒtrueÓ * Thoughts still used to manage
or avoid feelings * Ongoing search for better (ÒtruerÓ) beliefs
Nature of emotional life
Some awareness that emotional burden is outcome of thought patterns
and conditioning
Relationship between inner & outer life
Beginning of awareness of how at the mercy you are of outer life
developments * Conditioning expresses itself, largely unobserved *
New conditioning occurs, largely unobserved
Perception of choice
Realization of some choice re: where attention is directed (e.g., on
activity of ego-mind, on inner state versus outer life)
Primary focus/motivator
Same as with total unconsciousness (fulfillment of desire, escape
from pain, enhancement of self) * Growing desire for equanimity and
release from suffering, but with familiar wish to achieve that via
control of life and self
What appears real
Same as with total unconsciousness (egoic self, other selves,
experience, mental and emotional activity, belief, time and things
ÒinÓ time)
Characteristic statement
ÒMy ego is a creepy little bastard, and I canÕt seem to get the
upper hand.Ó
3. Increasing Episodes of Consciousness
More is seen
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sense of what self is
Growing observation of self as doer, thinker, feeler, reactor *
Growing sense that thereÕs something else here, watching
Awareness of ego
Growing awareness of predominance of ego and how it functions *
Recognition of attachment, reactivity, identification, resistance,
conditioning, as it manifests * Discomfort with whatÕs seen
(self-judgment, cringing, tendency to denial, attempts to ÒfixÓ or
justify ego)
Relationship to time
Growing attunement to mechanics of fear, hope, regret, and the pull
of unresolved issues from the past * Sense of being on a journey
toward awakening
Orientation to thought & knowledge
Occasional awareness of thoughts-as-thoughts, and of their power
over the
emotional life * Growing desire for spiritual ÒknowledgeÓ *
Observation of the power of belief and its role in sustaining the
ego * Beginning of the awareness of the option to believe (or not to
believe) a thought * Beginning of the awareness that a thought is a
made thing
Nature of emotional life
Early awareness of spontaneous feeling, and how thought reacts to
that, and how thought causes emotion
Relationship between inner & outer life
Occasional experience of gap between outer and inner >>>
peace, immersion in presence, sense of option in response,
relaxation of appearance of causality * Conditioning sometimes
observed in action (both old and new)
Perception of choice
Occasional observation, in the moment, of gap between thought and
emotion, and the causal relationship between the two
Primary focus/motivator
Same as before (fulfillment of desire, escape from pain, enhancement
of self), with additional focus on present moment and on inner life
* Growing wish for inner peace (but reluctance to let go of other Ð
fears, satisfactions, etc.)
What appears real
Much of the same continues feeling real (egoic self, other selves,
mental and emotional activity, experience, belief, time and things
in time), but now attention from within the ÒstateÓ outside ego also
feels real, in a way thatÕs both more substantial and fleeting
Characteristic statement
ÒHow can I get ecstatic experiences to occur, and how can I get them
to last?Ó
4. Conscious Moments Occur Regularly
(but unconsciousness still predominates) * Still more becomes
apparent
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sense of what self is
Softening sense of solid self * Growing awareness of our in-common
humanity (more alike than different)
Awareness of ego
Increasing awareness of ego-in-action, with observation of how ego
maintains itself and how ÒselfÓ appears to benefit from ego
maintenance * Better able to observe ego neutrally, without angst,
avoidance, wish to change it
Relationship to time
Past and future increasingly seen as thoughts (i.e., not real) *
Growing present- moment awareness
Orientation to thought & knowledge
Attunement to difference between thinking and attention *
Recognition of the mindÕs limited ability to access truth * Beliefs
beginning to lose power * More able to observe thought without
getting caught up in it, equating it with reality
Nature of emotional life
More able to stay with spontaneous feeling, without resistance or
mental management of it * Emotions less volatile, seeming less to
have a life of their own
Relationship between inner & outer life
Increasingly resistance gives way to acceptance * Reactivity is less
automatic * Growing awareness that inner orientation plays a
significant role in how life feels
Perception of choice
To believe a thought (or not) * To think or to attend * To be in the
now or to be in the head * To resist or to accept * To allow
circumstance to shape inner condition or to decline to * To stay
with spontaneous feeling (or escape into the head)
Primary focus/motivator
Wanting to awaken, to be freed of torment
What appears real
Much of the same (egoic self, other selves, thought, experience,
time), but the ÒhigherÓ self is increasingly sensed, felt to be
outside egoic impressions of reality
Characteristic statement
ÒIÕm going to wake up if it kills me.Ó
5. Consciousness Predominates
(with lapses into unconsciousness) * Little is missed
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sense of what self is
Self and the now sometimes experienced as the same ÒthingÓ *
Occasional loss of moorings, disorientation, fear (of ÒdeathÓ)
Awareness of ego
Ego acts up occasionally and is nearly always observed, when it does
*
Ego is taken less seriously (because less and less it seems to be
what you are)
Relationship to time
Past and future lose their grip, as they are seen to be thoughts
only, not ÒrealÓ * More contentment with the present, just as it is
Orientation to thought & knowledge
Thought occurs less on its own, and less compulsively * Thought
tends to be more practical than egoic * Diminishing inclination to
use the mind to ÒknowÓ the truth * Thought used less to manage or
avoid feeling * Thought recognized more consistently as thought *
Optional to believe a thought * Increasingly in not-knowing
(sometimes comfortably, sometimes unnerved)
Nature of emotional life
Unresisted momentary feeling is the norm * Feeling is not managed by
thought, causing emotion, so emotional life is very quiet * Feeling
is brief (but may be strong), lasting about as long as what stirred
it into being
Relationship between inner & outer life
Acceptance is the norm * Less inclination to blame life, to look to
it for fulfillment * Reactivity only very occasional * Conditioning
recognized; little new conditioning occurs
Perception of choice
Primary choice is seen: to identify with ego or with consciousness
Primary focus/motivator
Being in the now * Knowing reality
What appears real
What is happening now, whatÕs perceivable via senses, present-moment
feeling
Characteristic statement
ÒMaybe it doesnÕt matter so much if I ever wake upÓ (since
increasingly, the present, as it is, is what seems real . . . and
since the desire to awaken is recognized as a thought).
6. Pure, Stable Consciousness
All is seeing
-------------------------------------------------------------
Sense of what self is
No separate ÒIÓ * End of subject-object awareness * Self = all that
is, the space in which everything occurs * Self = consciousness *
Personality is readily assumed when needed but is not identified
with and is not confused with reality * Dual awareness of being
personality and space, form and formlessness
Awareness of ego
Ego seen as entirely artificial, unable to convince you of its
reality, since consciousness does not waver, and identification with
consciousness is complete
Relationship to time
Only now feels real * ÒLifeÓ = now (only) * Past and future seen as
thoughts only, never entered into as though reality * Ongoing
stillness, rather than apparent movement (ÒthroughÓ time)
Orientation to thought & knowledge
Mind is quiet except when needed for something practical * Mind
serves at the pleasure of consciousness * Thought never mistaken for
reality * Comfort with not-knowing * Understanding (which comes via
consciousness, not thought) continues to deepen
Nature of emotional life
Suffering has ended * Thought-generated emotion is a thing of the
past * Feelings are fully allowed (so there is occasional pain, like
grief) * Pain (because not resisted) does not persist and leaves no
residue, no conditioning
Relationship between inner & outer life
No sense of being separate from present-moment life * Inner and
outer are all one (ÒwhatÕs happening nowÓ) * No impulse to judge or
resist (because not separate from what is) * You are what is * Inner
state seldom affected by outer things
Perception of choice
Primary choice exercised is how wide or narrow to direct awareness
(along the scale from a defined person to all-that-is, space itself)
Primary focus/motivator
What is (the now) * Concern for others
What appears real
Consciousness * The space in which all occurs
Characteristic statement
ÒThis is whatÕs happening.Ó
Degrees of Consciousness: Overview
Consciousness is Being sensing itself in the encounter with
momentary reality.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Unconsciousness is the norm for humankind. Life is lived entirely
within the enclosed container of the narrowly-defined self. Nothing
can be seen that will bring freedom.
Then, for some . . .
A catalyst occurs: a severe loss . . . a deep longing to know the
truth . . . weariness of suffering . . . a vivid experience of
beingness. The spiritual life begins. It has become possible to see,
even with a small amount of consciousness.
With the growing willingness to see, without resistance or judgment
or mental filters, the light of consciousness increases (gradually
or abruptly), ebbs and flows, perhaps eventually becoming the
predominant awareness.
It may be that at some point . . .
The walls of the the narrowly-defined self collapse. The shift to
full wakefulness represents a qualitative shift (not just ÒmoreÓ
consciousness), leaving pure, stable consciousness.
Keep in mind . . .
Each moment is simply itself, as it is, not necessarily indicative
of a stable condition. Consciousness doesn't necessarily develop in
a strictly linear way, in the stages depicted.
Growing degrees of consciousness may occur gradually or abruptly,
and may or may not endure.
___________________________________________________________________________
Life after death & rebirth?
Nisargadatta Maharaj - from "I AmThat"
Q. Rebirth?
The memory of the past unfulfilled desires traps energy, which
manifests itself as a person. When its charge gets exhausted, the
person dies. Unfulfilled desires are carried over into the next
birth. Self-identification with the body creates ever fresh desires
and there is no end to them, unless this mechanism of bondage is
clearly seen. It is clarity that is liberating, for you cannot
abandon desire, unless its causes and effects are clearly seen. I do
not say that the same person is reborn. It dies and dies for good.
But its memories remain and their desires and fears. They supply the
energy for a new person. The real takes no part in it, but makes it
possible by giving it, the light.
Q. Life after death?
Questioner: When an ordinary man dies, what happens to him?
Maharaj: According to his belief it happens, As life before death is
but imagination, so is life after. The dream continues.
Q: And what about the jnani?(a liberated person)
M: The jnani does not die because he was never born.
Q: He appears so to others.
M: But not to himself. In himself he is free of things -- physical
and mental.
Q: Still you must know the state of the man who died. At least from
your own past lives.
M: Until I met my Guru I knew so many things. Now I know nothing,
for all knowledge is in dream only and not valid. I know myself and
I find no life nor death in me, only pure being -- not being this or
that, but just being. But the moment the mind, drawing on its stock
of memories, begins to imagine, it fills the space with objects and
time with events. As I do not know even this birth, how can I know
past births? It is the mind that, itself in movement, sees
everything moving, and having created time, worries about the past
and future. All the universe is cradled in consciousness (maha
tattva), which arises where there is perfect order and harmony (maha
sattva). As all waves are in the ocean, so are all things physical
and mental in awareness. Hence awareness itself is all important,
not the content of it. Deepen and broaden your awareness of yourself
and all the blessings will flow. You need not seek anything, all
will come to you most naturally and effortlessly. The five senses
and the four functions of the mind -- memory, thought, understanding
and selfhood; the five elements -- earth, water, fire, air and
ether; the two aspects of creation -- matter and spirit, all are
contained in awareness.
Q: Yet, you must believe in having lived before.
M: The scriptures say so, but I know nothing about it. I know myself
as I am; as I appeared or will appear is not within my experience.
It is not that I do not remember. In fact there is nothing to
remember. Reincarnation implies a reincarnating self. There is no
such thing. The bundle of memories and hopes, called the 'I',
imagines itself existing everlastingly and creates time to
accommodate its false eternity: To be, I need no past or future. All
experience is born of imagination; I do not imagine, so no birth or
death happens to me. Only those who think themselves born can think
themselves re-born. You are accusing me of having been born -- I
plead not guilty! All exists in awareness and awareness neither dies
nor is re-born. It is the changeless reality itself. All the
universe of experience is born with the body and dies with the body;
it has its beginning and end in awareness, but awareness knows no
beginning, nor end. If you think it out carefully and brood over it
for a long time, you will come to see the light of awareness in all
its clarity and the world will fade out of your vision. It is like
looking at a burning incense stick, you see the stick and the smoke
first; when you notice the fiery point, you realise that it has the
power to consume mountains of sticks and fill the universe with
smoke. Timelessly the self actualises itself, without exhausting its
infinite possibilities. In the incense stick simile the stick is the
body and the smoke is the mind. As long as the mind is busy with its
contortions, it does not perceive its own source. The Guru comes and
turns your attention to the spark within. By its very nature the
mind is outward turned; it always tends to seek for the source of
things among the things themselves; to be told to look for the
source within, is, in a way, the beginning of a new life. Awareness
takes the place of consciousness; in consciousness there is the 'I',
who is conscious while awareness is undivided; awareness is aware of
itself. The 'I am' is a thought, while awareness is not a thought,
there is no 'I am aware' in awareness. Consciousness is an attribute
while awareness is not; one can be aware of being conscious, but not
conscious of awareness. God is the totality of consciousness, but
awareness is beyond all -- being as well as not-being.
Q: I had started with the question about the condition of a man
after death. When his body is destroyed, what happens to his
consciousness? Does he carry his senses of seeing, hearing etc.
along with him or does he leave them behind? And, if he loses his
senses, what becomes to his consciousness?
M: Senses are mere modes of perception. As the grosser modes
disappear, finer states of consciousness emerge.
___________________________________________________________________________
Death and A Course in Miracles
Yet there is a kind of seeming death that has a different source. 9
It does not come because of hurtful thoughts and raging anger at the
universe. 10 It merely signifies the end has come for usefulness of
body functioning. 11 And so it is discarded as a choice, as one lays
by a garment now outworn.
S-3.II.2. This is what death should be; a quiet
choice, made joyfully and with a sense of peace, because the body
has been kindly used to help the Son of God along the way he goes to
God. 2 We thank the body, then, for all the service it has given us.
3 But we are thankful, too, the need is done to walk the world of
limits, and to reach the Christ in hidden forms and clearly seen at
most in lovely flashes. 4 Now we can behold Him without blinders, in
the light that we have learned to look upon again.
S-3.II.3. We call it death, but it is liberty. 2
It does not come in forms that seem to be thrust down in pain upon
unwilling flesh, but as a gentle welcome to release. 3 If there has
been true healing, this can be the form in which death comes when it
is time to rest a while from labor gladly done and gladly ended. 4
Now we go in peace to freer air and gentler climate, where it is not
hard to see the gifts we gave were saved for us. 5 For Christ is
clearer now; His vision more sustained in us; His Voice, the Word of
God, more certainly our own.
From ÒThe Song of PrayerÓ Supplement to A Course in Miracles
________________________________________________________________________
Forthcoming Workshops on A Course in Miracles
For up to date information on my workshops go to
http://www.acfip.org/fws.html
Germany 2015 Dates
Bonn 2015
6-7 June, 2015
10.00am to 6.000pm
Living the Guided Life
A Course in Miracles workshop.
This day my mind is quiet, to receive the Thoughts You offer me. And
I accept what comes from You, instead of from myself. I do not know
the way to You. But You are wholly certain. Father, guide Your Son
along the quiet path that leads to You. Let my forgiveness be
complete, and let the memory of You return to me.
A Course in Miracles. Lesson 291
The Course states that if we do not have inner peace and joy 24
hours a day we know nothing. Although we may be competent in using
the mind to live adequately in daily practical life, we need to
realise its limitations and open ourselves to hearing a wisdom
beyond the mind - what the Course calls the Holy Spirit, the Voice
for God. This Voice can be heard in many ways - an inner knowing,
words, a felt sense, etc.
We play our part by realising we do not know the way to peace and
are willing to be guided and allow our mind to become quieter
through forgiveness.
The workshop will explore what the Holy Spirit is, how to hear Its
voice, how to tell the difference between the ego's voice and the
Holy Spirit's, resistance to guidance, true prayer, the ladder of
prayer and attaining a quiet mind.
Exercises will be given to help quiet the mind and open it to
spirit's guidance.
No previous knowledge of A Course in Miracles required.
An Evening Introductory Talk - Fri 5th June 2015
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 2015
June 12 6pm to 9pm
June 13 10.00am to 6.00pm
June 14 10.00am to 5.00pm
Living the Guided Life
A Course in Miracles workshop.
This day my mind is quiet, to receive the Thoughts You offer me. And
I accept what comes from You, instead of from myself. I do not know
the way to You. But You are wholly certain. Father, guide Your Son
along the quiet path that leads to You. Let my forgiveness be
complete, and let the memory of You return to me.
A Course in Miracles. Lesson 291
The Course states that if we do not have inner peace and joy 24
hours a day we know nothing. Although we may be competent in using
the mind to live adequately in daily practical life, we need to
realise its limitations and open ourselves to hearing a wisdom
beyond the mind - what the Course calls the Holy Spirit, the Voice
for God. This Voice can be heard in many ways - an inner knowing,
words, a felt sense, etc.
We play our part by realising we do not know the way to peace and
are willing to be guided and allow our mind to become quieter
through forgiveness.
The workshop will explore what the Holy Spirit is, how to hear Its
voice, how to tell the difference between the ego's voice and the
Holy Spirit's, resistance to guidance, true prayer, the ladder of
prayer and attaining a quiet mind.
Exercises will be given to help quiet the mind and open it to
spirit's guidance.
No previous knowledge of A Course in Miracles required.
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.
__________________________________________________________________________
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
___________________________________________________________________________
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. His body died in December 2013.
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
______________________________________________
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