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ACFIP Newsletter 
Issue 7 - DECEMBER 2005

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:
•Article - Dialogue on "I Need Do Nothing"
•Healing Section - Sexual Abuse
•Story - and there was light
•Symptoms of Inner Peace
•Workshops
•Books and Audio Materials for Sale
•Links
•Inspirational Quotations

___________________________________________________________________________




Welcome to the SEVENTH issue of the Australian Centre for Inner Peace Newsletter.

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 warning 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 summary of help. You can find it at
http://www.acfip.org/sum.html

Regards

Michael Dawson
http://www.acfip.org

___________________________________________________________________________


ARTICLE


Dialogue on "I Need Do Nothing"

There is an important but oft misunderstood section in A Course in Miracles entitled "I Need Do Nothing" (T-18.VII). The following fictional dialogue between a student and teacher is designed to help make clear this section and deal with some of the misunderstandings that arise.


Q. I have been told there is a section in A Course in Miracles entitled "I Need Do Nothing" . Do you know the origin of this passage?

A. Originally that section was not in the Course. It was a message from Jesus to Helen regarding solving a non-existent problem. Helen was living with her husband on the 16th floor of an apartment block in New York. Lift operators were threatening to call a strike and Helen feared getting a heart attack climbing the stairs and being separated from her husband. She decided to stay at a nearby hotel for a week, not realising that the threatened strike was called off before it started. Jesus pointed out that she should have turned to him for the answer and not to her maladaptive solution to a non-existent problem. She needed to do nothing. (from "Absence from Felicity" by Kenneth Wapnick).

Q. Does doing nothing mean I can just sit back and relax from now on?

A. Your ego would love to see this passage as an excuse for idleness, passivity and spiritual inactivity. This is how the Course defines doing nothing:

To do nothing is to rest, and make a place within you where the activity of the body ceases to demand attention. Into this place the Holy Spirit comes, and there abides. T-18.VII.7:7-8

To make a place within you for the Holy Spirit is the Course's path of forgiveness. To be guided by the Holy Spirit requires the mind to be quiet so you can hear His voice. You cannot hear His voice if your mind is full of judgement, whether for yourself or others. Forgiveness is not easy. It requires vigilance, awareness and a recognition that the problem is in our mind and not in the world. This is not brought about by dozing in bed all day but in the 'classroom' of relationships.

Q. O.K, but maybe I need to do as little activity as possible during the day?

A. When the Course states you need do nothing it means that we allow Jesus or the Holy Spirit to do the doing and not us. We no longer do things on our own but allow spirit to work through us. I need do nothing does not mean you won't do anything. This could result in a very active life but as you are not the doer you no longer feel tired. Instead of working from ego energy your strength comes from a higher source. You will no longer do things from guilt and you will never be in a hurry. You will lose the sense of urgency in what you do.

Q. I am finding it hard to believe so little is being asked of me. Surely I need to pursue some worthy task in life like helping the poor or healing the sick?

A. This may be your forgiveness path in life but beware of being attached to results. If your peace is dependent on the outcome of your efforts you will know the ego is in charge and not the Holy Spirit

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. T-26.VI.1:1-2

Q. This all sounds a bit selfish to me. Surely the Holy Spirit needs my help to make this a better world?

A. The only purpose the Holy Spirit sees in this world is as a classroom for healing ourselves.

The sole responsibility of God's teacher is to accept the Atonement for himself. Atonement means correction, or the undoing of errors. When this has been accomplished, the teacher of God becomes a miracle worker by definition. M-18.4:5-7

Our job is first to heal ourselves which will allow the Holy Spirit to then guide our lives making us a beacon of light and love in the world. We will then no longer be driven to fix things in the world: our mere presence will bring healing where it is needed. This does not mean we have to be perfect before we can be of help. Our work may already be in the helping professions. However, we realise that it is in this work we can learn to heal ourselves by learning to lay our egos aside and invite the Holy Spirit to work through us.

Q. But surely I will need to continue my spiritual search, my meditation and contemplation. And then there are all my faults I need to fight against.

A. Searching implies that something is hidden.

Why wait for Heaven? Those who seek the light are merely covering their eyes. The light is in them now. Enlightenment is but a recognition, not a change at all. Workbook Lesson 188.

We were created perfect as Christ. The Christ is hidden by veils of judgement which can be removed by forgiveness.

The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is your natural inheritance. T-in.1:6-7

The workbook does contain some meditative exercises but this is not the main thrust of the Course. Forgiveness of our relationships is the main teaching of the Course with the Holy Spirit or Jesus as our guide.

Forgiveness ... is still, and quietly does nothing. .... It merely looks, and waits, and judges not. (W-pII.1.4:1,3)

Meditation, contemplation and fighting against sin are paths but Jesus warns us they are long and tedious.

Enormous effort is expended in the attempt to make holy what is hated and despised. Nor is a lifetime of contemplation and long periods of meditation aimed at detachment from the body necessary. All such attempts will ultimately succeed because of their purpose. Yet the means are tedious and very time consuming, for all of them look to the future for release from a state of present unworthiness and inadequacy.  T-18.VI.4:8-11

Q. What about finding the way back to God? I must be responsible for the search.

A. Jesus tells us that if we think we are bodies then we are insane. That makes most us insane and how can the insane know anything of importance let alone the path back to God?

Is it not He Who knows the way to you? You need not know the way to Him. Ask and receive. But do not make demands, nor point the road to God by which He should appear to you. Lesson 189

We are told that our paths are highly individualistic and as such require the guidance of the Holy Spirit. By practising our daily forgiveness lessons we open more to His guidance and He will lead us home.

Q. I still need to make plans. Surely that's all right isn't it?

A. That depends on who is making the plans.

A healed mind does not plan. It carries out the plans that it receives through listening to Wisdom that is not its own. It waits until it has been taught what should be done, and then proceeds to do it. It does not depend upon itself for anything except its adequacy to fulfil the plans assigned to it. It is secure in certainty that obstacles cannot impede its progress to accomplishment of any goal that serves the greater plan established for the good of everyone. Lesson 253

When plans are needed they will be given at the right time and place. We are being asked to get out of the driving seat, to reduce the function of the thinking mind from trying to sort everything out and simply follow plans from a higher source.

J. Krishnamurti said that only confused people make decisions for there is only one right action at any given moment. The ego cannot know this but the Holy Spirit does.

Q. You seem to imply I know nothing of value and should give up all my efforts to improve myself.

A. Who are you trying to improve? If the Christ within you is already perfect that can only leave your ego to improve. If your ego is particularly dysfunctional such that you cannot survive easily then some work to make your ego more confident would be necessary. However, if you are capable of surviving satisfactorily why try and improve your ego. Surely that will only delay the time of awakening to the grandeur of your spiritual reality?

We have mesmerised ourselves into thinking we are bodies and afford them great importance. Most of our time is spent in satisfying their desires, protecting them and making them feel comfortable. Jesus refers to our body as the hero of the dream.

To do anything involves the body. And if you recognize you need do nothing, you have withdrawn the body's value from your mind. Here is the quick and open door through which you slip past centuries of effort, and escape from time. T-18.VII.7:1-3

Q. There does not appear that there is much for me to do. I am told I know nothing and my efforts are delaying my awakening. I am beginning to find all this rather personally insulting!

A. If it's any comfort Jesus agrees with you!

You find it difficult to accept the idea that you need give so little, to receive so much. And it is very hard for you to realize it is not personally insulting that your contribution and the Holy Spirit's are so extremely disproportionate. You are still convinced that your understanding is a powerful contribution to the truth, and makes it what it is. Yet we have emphasized that you need understand nothing. Salvation is easy just because it asks nothing you cannot give right now. T-18.IV.7:3-7

The Course states that all that is required of us is a little willingness. Not a big willingness, as that could be seen as an invitation to the ego to start offering his solutions (which are designed never to work). A little willingness means that we recognise problems are in our mind and not the world, that we can see them differently and find peace and this will happen once we invite the help of Jesus. Simply put, a little willingness means we look at our minds without judgement.

You do not have to seek reality. It will seek you and find you when you meet its conditions. (Peace through forgiveness
) ... You need do so little because your little part is so powerful that it will bring the whole to you. Accept, then, your little part, and let the whole be yours. T-8.IX.2:4,5,9,10

Q. I guess I am being asked to be more humble and confess how little I know of importance. I am beginning to sense the possibility of laying a large burden down. What a relief it will be to give up being in charge all the time! I am beginning to see my mind is a useful tool in the hands of the Holy Spirit but a weapon in the hands of my ego. Any last advice?

A. Let's finish from the section of the Course you first asked about;

Save time for me by only this one preparation, and practice doing nothing else. "I need do nothing" is a statement of allegiance, a truly undivided loyalty. Believe it for just one instant, and you will accomplish more than is given to a century of contemplation, or of struggle against temptation. T-18.VII.6:6-8

If you have sufficient humility, are happy to surrender to a power higher than your logical and reasoning mind and let the body lose its dominant importance in your life Jesus offers you a fast way to peace and joy.

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HEALING SECTION

Sexual abuse

David was a participant in a two-week workshop I was giving at the Findhorn Foundation. During the first week he became aware of a hatred he carried towards himself. He felt the hatred to be 'located' in his solar plexus and that its origin lay in the sexual abuse he had experienced from his uncle when he was ten years old. He only realised in the workshop setting that following the period of abuse, he had repressed feelings of guilt and blame for what had happened. This new awareness caused him much discomfort and he developed asthma and a chest infection by the end of the first week of the workshop. David felt ashamed of his memories, did not want to explore this issue with anyone and considered leaving the workshop. He visited the local doctor and was given a course of antibiotics.

During the start of the second week of the workshop, David asked me for a private healing session. After a period of relaxation and laying on of hands, I decided I would try to get him to explore and accept the hatred he was experiencing in his solar plexus. The Course states: "There is an advantage to bringing nightmares into awareness, but only to teach that they are not real, and that anything they contain is meaningless." (T159; T-9.V.3:1) If David could uncover his 'nightmares' of self-hatred and guilt without judging them, he would then have an opportunity to change his mind about his seeming 'sins' of the past. My own feeling of acceptance and non-judgement of him, which I experienced as I gently guided him on this journey, would also help this process.

To help him undo his state of repression - what the Course calls 'denial' - I asked him to explore the sensation in his solar plexus. Previous experience had taught me that important messages are locked up in our areas of pain. I asked him to describe how large the area of discomfort was, its shape and depth, its colour and texture, and whether it felt hotter or colder than the rest of his body. As it is impossible to resist and explore the pain simultaneously, I was encouraging David to undo his denial about himself. When clients follow this approach, they are describing the "clothes of the messenger" and this can lead them into deeper levels of their mind where the 'nightmares' are to be found.

David discovered a hard red ball in his solar plexus. I asked this 'messenger' how it was feeling and David replied that it was angry. He experienced a strong resistance to his discovery. He could not accept it in his body and hated it being there. He said it felt like a foreign object which needed to be attacked and thrown out. Feeling his strong resentment towards this part of his body, I went within and asked for help in what to say or do. What came to me was to ask him how this hard, red, angry ball had served him all these years. After all, it was his creation and he was holding on to it with great determination. Not surprisingly, he objected strongly to my question and reiterated he did not want this ball inside him. I felt guided to continue gently exploring this issue with him without any investment on my part in trying to bring about changes in him that I thought were necessary.

Slowly David began to receive insights on how this ball of hatred was serving him. He realised that he had created it as a protection against his fear of opening his heart to people and acting more spontaneously in life. He saw himself as a person dominated by his mind and rigid control patterns. To let go of his investment in his self-hatred and guilt was to free himself to relate more lovingly and openly to people. This opportunity was now before him. He could hear two parts of his mind counselling him: the ego and the Holy Spirit. His ego told him that it would be very dangerous to let go of his control patterns, as he would not be able to predict how people would behave to him if he related more from his heart than his head. The Holy Spirit part of his mind counselled him in the opposite direction.

He had nothing to lose but an illusion of sacrifice. The new way of relating would bring him renewed energy and joy. David could also sense a suppressed part of himself he called the 'joker' and felt it would be fun to let this joker out. As he struggled with these two voices, I asked him if he would try and see if he could give away his angry red ball. I reassured him it would be okay if he could not, but he could lose nothing by the experiment. I suggested he visualise a pair of loving, gentle, golden hands outstretched before him awaiting the gift of his angry red ball. I told him that these hands wanted his pain, not his love, as a gift. The hands were only interested in "removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence" (Intro, Text) in him. David decided to give his pain away to these hands. As he did this, he started to laugh and cry at the same time. A lightness of being came over him and a strong energy entered his body, so much so that after the session he went off to run and literally jump in the nearby woods. Although he had been on the point of leaving the workshop, he now felt happy to stay and complete it.

[reprinted from
“Healing the Cause - A Path of Forgiveness” Michael Dawson - Findhorn Press. ]

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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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STORY

and there was light


Without the guidance of a higher part of us we are spiritually blind, trying to live on the advice of our ego. Being blind we continually 'bump' into situations that cause us pain.

The following book extract describes how Jacques Lusseyran, who was accidentally blinded in both eyes when he was eight years old, came to rely on inner help to navigate his world. Jacques discovered to his surprise that an inner light was available to help him. When walking down a tree-lined road he could sense where the trees were. If he was sufficiently at peace within himself he could even sense where the branches were positioned. When his childhood playmate ran away from him he could still follow her as she left a 'red trail' behind her. The book also illustrates how he could lose touch with this guidance. His story mirrors our own lives and our spiritual blindness when we try to do everything by ourselves.

Still, there were times when the light faded, almost to the point of disappearing. It happened every time I was afraid.

If, instead of letting myself be carried along by confidence and throwing myself into things,
I hesitated, calculated, thought about the wall, the half-open door, the key in the lock; if I said to myself that all these things were hostile and about to strike or scratch, then without exception I hit or wounded myself. The only easy way to move around the house, the garden or the beach was by not thinking about it at all, or thinking as little as possible. Then I moved between obstacles the way they say bats do. What the loss of my eyes had not accomplished was brought about by fear. It made me blind.

Anger and impatience had the same effect, throwing everything into confusion. The minute before I knew just where everything in the room was, but if I got angry, things got angrier than I. They went and hid in the most unlikely corners, mixed themselves up, turned turtle, muttered like crazy men and looked wild. As for me, I no longer knew where to put hand or foot. Everything hurt me. This mechanism worked so well that I became cautious.

When I was playing with my small companions, if I suddenly grew anxious to win, to be first at all costs, then all at once I could see nothing. Literally, I went into fog or smoke.

I could no longer afford to be jealous or unfriendly, because, as soon as I was, a bandage came down over my eyes, and I was bound hand and foot and cast aside. All at once a black hole opened, and I was helpless inside it. But when I was happy and serene, approached people with confidence and thought well of them, I was rewarded with light. So is it surprising that I loved friendship and harmony when I was very young?

Armed with such a tool, why should I need a moral code? For me this tool took the place of red and green lights. I always knew where the road was open and where it was closed. I had only to look at the bright signal which taught me how to live.

[From And There Was Light

The inner light that guided Jaques also helped him discern whom he could trust and whom he could not. This talent helped him become the leader of a large group of French resistance fighters in the Second World War. The one time he went against this inner knowing resulted in him being arrested and imprisoned in a concentration camp. His reliance on his inner guide allowed him to survive the harsh conditions of the camp and to go on to become a university professor after the war.

Reprinted from Healing the Cause. Findhorn Press by Michael Dawson
See
http://www.acfip.org/books_tapes.html

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Symptoms of Inner peace



SYMPTOMS OF INNER PEACE

Be on the lookout for symptoms of inner peace. The hearts of a great many have already been expose to inner peace and it is possible that people everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions. This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world.

Some signs and symptoms of inner peace:

A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.

An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.

A loss of interest in judging other people.

A loss of interest in judging self.

A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.

A loss of interest in conflict.

A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symptom.)

Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.

Frequent attacks of smiling.

An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.

An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.

 
WARNING:

If you have some or all of the above symptoms, please be advised that your condition of inner peace may be so far advanced as to not be curable. If you are exposed to anyone exhibiting any of these symptoms, remain exposed only at your own risk.

by Saskia Davis

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2006 Workshops

AUSTRALIA




BRISBANE - 1 day - Saturday March 11, 2006


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

with Michael Dawson



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.


VENUE:
Relaxation Centre,
cnr Brookes and Wickham Streets,
Fortitude Valley
Brisbane 4006

BOOKINGS:
Relaxation Centre
07 3854 1986
(Please do not book through me)

Times: 9.30 a.m. to 5.15 p.m.
Cost: $55
Bring lunch to share


___________________________________________________________________________


Adelaide - Thursday evening, 23rd March 2006

Healing Ourselves
- from the perspective of A Course in Miracles
- an evening mini workshop -

“Health is inner peace....
Healing involves an understanding
of what the illusion of sickness is for.
Healing is impossible without this.“
from A Course in Miracles



Using the spiritual path of A Course in Miracles we will explore what true healing is - the return to our awareness of our spiritual identity. Identification with our body as our home is the origin of all our physical and psychological suffering.

This workshop will focus on undoing the blocks we have built to the presence of God’s love and joy within us through the understanding and practising of forgiveness.

An overview of the Course's metaphysical, psychological and spiritual teachings especially in regard to healing will be covered. No previous knowledge of the book A Course in Miracles is required


VENUE:
Adelaide, Australia

DATE:
Thursday, Thursday, 23rd March 2006

BOOKINGS:
Cancer Care Centre
08 8373 1470
Tickets can be purchased by phone.

Time: To be announced
Cost: To be announced

Note: A one day intensive workshop on this theme will be given on Tuesday 28 March. See below for more details.


___________________________________________________________________________


Clare -  Sat 25 and Sun 26, March 2006
(2hrs drive north of Adelaide)


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

with Michael Dawson


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. No previous knowledge of the book A Course in Miracles is required.



VENUE:
Clare
SA 5453
(2hrs drive north of Adelaide)

DATE:
Sat 25 and Sun 26, March 2006

TIME:
Sat 25 - 9.30 TO 5.30
Sun 26 - 9.30 TO 4.30


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


Cost
Deposit: $60
plus a donation



___________________________________________________________________________


Adelaide - Tuesday, 28th March 2006


Healing Ourselves
- from the perspective of A Course in Miracles


“Health is inner peace....
Healing involves an understanding
of what the illusion of sickness is for.
Healing is impossible without this.“
from A Course in Miracles



Using the spiritual path of A Course in Miracles we will explore what true healing is - the return to our awareness of our spiritual identity. Identification with our body as our home is the origin of all our physical and psychological suffering.

The cause of all disease lies in the mind and not the body. Disease is a shadow on the body, of the guilt in our mind.

This workshop will focus on undoing the blocks we have built to the presence of God’s love and joy within us through the understanding and practising of forgiveness.

We will investigate what the Course means by healing ourselves.

We will use exercises to help understand the ego and to practice forgiveness and turning within for guidance.

An overview of the Course's metaphysical, psychological and spiritual teachings especially in regard to healing will be covered. No previous knowledge of the book A Course in Miracles is required

VENUE:
Adelaide, Australia

DATE:
Tuesday, 28th March 2006

BOOKINGS:
Cancer Care Centre
08 8373 1470
Tickets can be purchased by phone.

Time 10am to 5.00pm
Cost: To be announced

_________________________________________________________________________


North Stradbroke Island, Queensland -  6 May 2006


Overview of A Course in Miracles
1-Day Workshop with Michael Dawson

at Point Lookout, North Stradbroke Island, QLD
Date: 6 May 2006
Times: 9.45 for 10.00am to 4.45pm


OUTLINE
In this workshop we will investigate the metaphysical, spiritual, psychological and practical teachings of A Course in Miracles.

Introductions will be given on the following topics:
•Heaven and our separation
•The Holy Spirit and guidance
•The nature of the ego
•Forgiveness
•Sickness
•Healing ourselves and others
•Relationships - special and holy

Experiential exercises will be used and handouts will also be provided.

VENUE
"Carolina"
25, Midjimberry Road
Point Lookout
North Stradbroke Island
Queensland 4183
Australia

For directions and ferry details please go to:
http://www.acfip.org/directions.html

If you require accommodation and tourist information please go to:
http://www.acfip.org/straddieinfo.html


Morning and afternoon refreshments will be provided.
For lunch - a number of cafes are within 5 minutes walk of the venue, and overlook the ocean.

COST
By donation

BOOKINGS
The workshop will be limited to 12 participants.

Places on the workshop must be reserved beforehand. To reserve your place please send half your donation as a non-refundable deposit, making cheques payable to 'Michael Dawson' to:

Michael Dawson
PO Box 125
Point Lookout
QLD 4183

mdawson@acfip.org
www.acfip.org


___________________________________________________________________________

GERMANY 2006 WORKSHOPS



RAVENSBURG - Saturday 24 June 2006


Opening to the Light
-from the perspective of A Course in Miracles

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

A one day workshop - 23 June 2006


The light, love and joy of God are ever present and wait only our acceptance. We need not earn them as they were freely given at our creation. Nor is sacrifice or suffering required. So why do we rarely experience the light? This workshop will look, firstly, at why we are afraid of the light and the illusions we fear to let go. Our illusions and unforgiveness stand as barriers between us and the light and the guidance that would lead us home.

The second part of the workshop will focus on overcoming our fear through forgiveness - the path of awareness, acceptance and asking for help.

Exercises will be used to help identify our illusions and fear of sacrifice so they can be healed through forgiveness. We will practise watching our minds without judgement or as the Course puts it ... " (forgiveness) merely looks, and waits and judges not."

Location of workshop:

ULEN Centre
Felz - 88212
Ravensburg
Germany


CONTACT

ULEN Centre
Felz - 88212
Ravensburg
Germany
Tel: 49 [0]751-26985 (Sybil)
Fax: 49 [0]751-3527933
Email: uelen@t-online.de

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


FREIBURG - 1/2 July 2006

The Path Home

from the perspective of A Course in Miracles

Save time for me by only this one preparation, and practice doing nothing else. "I need do nothing" is a statement of allegiance, a truly undivided loyalty. Believe it for just one instant, and you will accomplish more than is given to a century of contemplation, or of struggle against temptation.
from A Course in Miracles T-18.VII.6:6-8

There is a common belief that the path home to God must involve strenuous effort and sacrifice. Just as we strive for material goals we believe we must strive for our spiritual goals too. We decide the best path home and do not realise our very striving may be blocking our awakening.

Jesus tells us in A Course in Miracles that we need do nothing.
This workshop will explore what it means to "do nothing". What stops us standing aside and allowing the help in? What is the part we must play so that our lives can be directed gracefully? How can we use our relationships to take us home?

We will use material from the Course from the chapters on 'I Need Do Nothing', holy relationships, receiving guidance and the 'Development of Trust'. Exercises will be used to help identify our individual obstacles to guidance so they can be healed through forgiveness. This allows the Holy Spirit to enter our mind and guide our path home to joy, peace and love

No previous knowledge of A Course in Miracles is required but attendance at the Friday night (date) introductory talk would be helpful for people new to the Course.


Introductory talk on A Course in Miracles - evening Fri 30 June

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)

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

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CONTACTS

Resources
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 hundreds of questions and answers is searchable and you can ask your own questions.

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.miraclestudies.webcentral.com.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
http://miraclesalliance.no-ip.org/acim_chat_groups.htm

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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 list.

Please email at

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Do understand that you are destined for enlightenment.
Co-operate with your destiny, dont go against it, dont 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

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      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


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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

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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 Moutain - The Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment

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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

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      There’s one great delusion that lies at the core
of all of our suffering: the false belief in the reality
of the separation of life and in the subsequent
true existence of an individual ego.

All fervent attempts to control or to mortify this
illusory ego through penance, rituals and sacrifice,
however, will only serve to intensify the delusion
that this ego is actually very real and that it only
needs to be, somehow, subdued, conquered or
destroyed.
      
- Chuck Hillig


Seeds for the Soul
Chuck Hillig
Black Dot Publications, 2003