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

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

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CONTENTS:
*  What Can I Do With My Anger?
*  Poem - Refusal
*  Workshops
*  Books and Audio Materials for Sale
*  New CD - 3 Exercises with German translation
*  Links
*  Inspirational Quotations


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

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

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

Regards
Michael Dawson
http://www.acfip.org

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WHAT CAN I DO WITH MY ANGER?

The Cause of Anger.
When anger arises within us we normally respond in one of two ways, either we repress it or express it. If we choose to repress our anger we internalise its energy and project it onto our bodies causing sickness. If, on the other hand, we express our anger we project it out onto other bodies in the attempt to make them feel guilty for their actions toward us. In this way we hope to make them plead guilty for their behaviour and thus take responsibility and blame for our pain. This is summed up in the following way:
 
All anger is nothing more than an attempt to make someone feel guilty.
A Course in Miracles T-15.VII.10

But if we look deeper at anger we see that underneath it is fear, and this is the real issue that must be understood. Fear is present in our minds when we expect punishment, and it is guilt that demands punishment.

Where does this guilt come from? Most of our guilt is buried deeply in our unconscious and we are not aware of it. Our guilt is like an iceberg, only a little shows in our awareness. Guilt is the total of all the negative beliefs we have about ourselves - our lack self worth, our self hatred, etc. We feel this guilt not only when we judge ourselves or others but also when we receive spontaneous appreciations and gifts. We believe we do not deserve to be treated this well. To feel guilt implies that we have judged ourselves as sinners.

You are not really capable of being tired, but you are very capable of wearying yourself. 6 The strain of constant judgment is virtually intolerable. It is curious that an ability so debilitating would be so deeply cherished.
A Course in Miracles T-3.VI.5.

So, now we have discovered that what Dr. Kenneth Wapnick ( www.facim.org) calls the 'unholy trinity' of sin, guilt and fear must lie buried in our unconscious. This trinity is the foundation of a thought system in our mind which can be called the ego. We created the ego when we first thought of trying to separate from God. The ego is literally the thought of separation and our belief that we have achieved this. Although this is impossible, we can dream that we have achieved this and that now we are in charge of everything! However, to believe that we have achieved this separation is also to believe we have greatly sinned against God - and this is the source of all our deep-rooted sense of sin. From this sense of sin comes great guilt at the thought that we are responsible for breaking up Heaven into pieces and walking out. This belief is mirrored in the bible story of Adam and Eve. When God discovers Adam and Eve have broken his command to not eat the apple Adam immediately projects the fault onto Eve and then Eve blames the snake. And it seems the world has never stopped blaming from that moment!
 
God now becomes our enemy to Whom we can no longer turn for help and from Whom we expect a justified revenge for our actions. We cannot tolerate this guilt and in listening to the counsel of the ego we deny it and project it out of our minds. In this way we magically hope to get rid of the guilt in our minds by putting it elsewhere, either onto our own body or onto others. The problem of our guilt is now seen outside our minds and thus we have protected ourselves from consciously experiencing it. The problem of guilt is safely out there in the world and not in our minds. All this happens without our conscious awareness for it seems to us that we have been attacked and our anger is justified. We do not realise that our hidden guilt has been triggered by someone else and we react immediately by looking in the other direction for the cause - the world out there. Thus the ego's thought system is fully protected and our desire to remain separate from God is kept safe from inspection. Of course, the guilt is still there and will be increased when we project our guilt as anger onto another person, for at some level we know that our attack is unjustified and is designed to make another responsible for our sense of sin. Ultimately we want them to be responsible for the separation from God, not us. The ego is always looking for scapegoats.
 
Anger cannot occur unless you believe you have been attacked, that your attack is justified in return, and you are in no way responsible for it.
A Course in Miracles T-6.in.1

The increase in guilt which we feel after we have attacked someone may be felt as a state of depression. The counsel of our ego is to get rid of this guilt by further projection and thus the ego's vicious circle of guilt and attack is maintained. Our ego wants us to believe that the separation has really happened. If we ever find out that, You are at home in God dreaming of exile but perfectly capable of awakening to reality.T-10.I.2, it would be the end of our belief in the ego. As long as we believe projection will save us we will focus on the problems out there in the world, either our sick bodies or on the perceived attacks from others. Either diversionary tactic suits the ego for it prevents us looking into our minds where the source of the problem is - our guilt that is based on a false sense of sin. This explains our great investment in holding onto our anger. We think it saves us from looking at the horror of our sin and guilt that the ego has convinced us we have committed against God. While our problems are perceived outside our minds we can never be healed. Instead we demand the world changes to please us. If the world does not, we feel justified in getting angry at the person or situation 'responsible'. Our hope is that our anger will make them feel guilty and let us off the hook.

Perhaps it will be helpful to remember that no one can be angry at a fact. It is always an interpretation that gives rise to negative emotions, regardless of their seeming justification by what appears as facts. Regardless, too, of the intensity of the anger that is aroused.
A Course in Miracles M-17.4.   

Healing Our Anger.
The guilt we all carry is huge. We need to chip away at this iceberg bit by bit. Whenever we get angry, no matter what the reason, our guilt has surfaced.  We now get another chance to either reduce it through forgiveness or increase it by projection, (See my article "How Can I Forgive?"). To condemn our anger plays into the hands of the ego for it will only increase our level of guilt.

When you next get angry try to accept the emotion and remind yourself that attack is never justified. And that would be great progress! I remember a time when I was registering participants in a workshop at the Findhorn Foundation. During a quiet time a colleague of mine came up to me and discharged the anger she was feeling about me and then left. I was left feeling fearful and angry and concerned about meeting the next participant in my workshop. Thinking that this was an ideal time to practise what I teach I grabbed a newspaper and held it in front of my face, pretending to read it. I then tried to accept fully the feelings I was experiencing without judging myself or my colleague. I became aware of physical sensations in my chest area and watched them with acceptance. After a while they began to move in my body and I simply watched them travel around until after a few minutes, all fear and anger had gone and I felt joyous. I even felt grateful to my colleague for a chance to practise acceptance!

Forgiveness  ... is still, and quietly does nothing. .... It merely looks, and waits, and judges not.
A Course in Miracles W-pII.1.4

If you find yourself venting your anger at someone, try to tell them it's your problem, not theirs, and that for the moment you can't help yourself getting angry at them. In this way you are not giving so much importance to anger which means that you are taking your ego less seriously. After a burst of anger say to yourself "So what's new? I had another ego attack, that's all. It's no big deal."

As you continue to use these approaches you will steadily weaken the hold your ego has on you until you can start to laugh gently at it. When finally we reduce our investment in anger and allow our guilt to be dissolved with the aid of God's help, the love and peace of God will automatically fill our minds again. We will wake from our self-imposed dream of separation and the ego will vanish into the nothingness from which it came. And then we will realise that our anger was but a protection from the love of God.

You have no idea of the tremendous release and deep peace that comes from meeting yourself and your brothers totally without judgement. When you recognise what you are and what your brothers are, you will realise that judging them in any way is without meaning. In fact their meaning is lost to you precisely because you are judging them.
A Course in Miracles T-3.VI.3

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REFUSAL

I have not been accepting myself today.
I have dug in my heels and refused today.
I have said I wont trade, I wont budge today,
And I’m guilty as hell all the way today.

What brought all this on it’s hard to say,
A feeling of turning my mind away,
Of finding some prejudice rearing its head.
When it came to the crunch, it was “No” that I said.

Saying “No” feels quite bad, I’m defending again,
Feeling the doors being shut again.
But somehow attraction is strong to be sad
To jerk about crossly and interact.

It’s hard not to judge when you feel this way.
Hard to accept that you want it this way,
For you must, or you wouldn!’t be feeling this way
All this pain is a choice, strange to say.

Its removal is something I can’t do alone.
I can honestly say that I’d rather go Home
Than gnaw like a dog at a meatless bone
And growl at all comers to “LEAVE ME ALONE”

On quiet reflection I’m tired of the pain,
It isn’t such hot stuff apportioning blame...
To myself or to others — it’s really the same.
Then the help that I asked for JUST CAME!

Minette Quick

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PLEASE NOTE: The Australian Centre for Inner Peace is not a counselling or psychotherapy centre; therefore we do not offer telephone or email service or counselling, therapy, or crisis intervention for personal problems related to the Course. Please see the Contacts section at the end of this newsletter.
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Forthcoming Workshops on A Course in Miracles
in Australia and Germany
Australia 2009 Dates




Brisbane, Queensland
Relaxation Centre
Sun ,1 March 2009 - 1 day workshop
9.30am to 5pm

FINDING INNER PEACE
from the perspective of A Course in Miracles

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


Using material from the Course and experiential exercises we will explore how we can, with the help of spirit, remove the obstacles to our peace and joy within.

At our creation we were given peace. We have not lost it but simply covered it over with something we thought was better. Our desire to be separate, special and individual blinds us to our inner spiritual reality. Identification with our body and personality prevents the remembering of who we really are - eternal spirit.

Using the practice of forgiveness we can start to undo the blocks we have erected to the joy and peace within. Forgiveness is the path of awareness, acceptance and asking for help.

We will practise watching our minds without judgement, or as the Course puts it ... (forgiveness) "merely looks, and waits and judges not."


FEE $55

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

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

TIMES: 9.30am to 5pm
COST: $55

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



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


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

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


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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

Applying A Course in Miracles in Our Daily Lives

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


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

No previous knowledge of A Course in Miracles is required.


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

TIME:
Sat and Sun - 9.30 TO 5.00

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

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

People should send their Booking Fee to:

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

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Germany 2009 Dates



Bonn 
June 20/21 2009
9.30am to 5.30pm


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

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

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

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

To let this memory return to our awareness we need to question everything we think is true, to realise we know nothing about how to awaken to peace and joy so that we may be guided, and learn to extend kindness and goodwill to others. Insight of the mind must be balanced with compassion of the heart.

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

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

No previous knowledge of A Course in Miracles is required.


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


Contact:

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

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Freiburg
June 27/28 2009
10am to 6pm



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

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

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

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

To let this memory return to our awareness we need to question everything we think is true, to realise we know nothing about how to awaken to peace and joy so that we may be guided, and learn to extend kindness and goodwill to others. Insight of the mind must be balanced with compassion of the heart.

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

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

No previous knowledge of A Course in Miracles is required.


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

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

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


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

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BOOKS AND AUDIO MATERIALS FOR SALE - by Michael Dawson

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

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

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

*New 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.

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

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CONTACTS

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

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

Question and Answer Service:
Their electronic outreach section has a question and answer service http://www.facimoutreach.org/ on the theory and practice of the Course. Their database of 1,400 questions and answers is searchable. They no longer take new questions as they feel all possible questions have now been put.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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INSPIRATIONAL QUOTATIONS

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


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

A Course in Miracles  Lesson 250


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

Nisargadatta Maharaj

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


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

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

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

Rumi


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

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

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

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

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

A Course in Miracles Lesson 131

__________________________________

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

EMAIL:       mdawson@acfip.org
WEBSITE:   http://www.acfip.org





 




__________________________________

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

EMAIL:       mdawson@acfip.org
WEBSITE:   http://www.acfip.org