ACFIP Newsletter 

Issue 47  December 2015

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:

 

 

A Course in Miracles Material

* Michael Dawson - Forgiveness and Sickness  

* Chart - The Metaphysics of A Course in Miracles

* Exercise in Self Forgiveness

 

Non Dual Teachings

* Nisargadatta Maharaj - Quotes on Guidance and ÒI Need Do Nothing"

* Jac OÕKeeffe - The awakening story goes like thisÉ

* Adyashanti - Magnetic Silence

* Jan Frazier - Suffering: That Extra Something

 

Other

* Workshops

* Books and Audio Materials for Sale

* Links

* Inspirational Quotations

 

 

 

A Course in Miracles Material

 

 

Forgiveness and Sickness 

from

Forgiveness - 

A Path to Inner Peace

 

Inspired by A Course in Miracles

by

Michael Dawson

 

          

         Sickness takes many forms, and so does unforgiveness. The forms of one but reproduce the forms of the other, for they are the same illusion. So closely is one translated into the other, that a careful study of the form a sickness takes will point quite clearly to the form of unforgiveness that it represents. Yet seeing this will not effect a cure. That is achieved by only one recognition; that only forgiveness heals an unforgiveness, and only an unforgiveness can possibly give rise to sickness of any kind. 

         from Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice P-2.VI.5, Supplement to A Course in Miracles 

 

         The above quotation makes a powerful statement: that the origin of sickness is in the mind and not the body. Grievances held in the mind can become mirrored in the body as particular ailments Ð as dis-ease. Even our language gives us pointers: ÒGet off my backÓ, ÒYou are a pain in the neckÓ, ÒYou make me sickÓ, and so on. Thankfully, just as a lack of forgiveness can result in physical disease, forgiveness can heal it. 

          

         Case Study Ð Sue

         (Names have been changed in all case histories.)

          

Sue was a client of mine. Her work as a massage therapist was becoming difficult because of a pain in her right arm and she was concerned whether she could continue with her work. During our session, Sue began to see a shadowy picture and experience feelings of fear. She had difficulty understanding what the picture was but felt it might be a face, as it appeared to have a nose. However, the nose was not really the right shape. I encouraged her to just let the picture be and to stay with the feeling of fear. Suddenly, the picture became clear: It was not a face at all; it was male genitals. The ÔnoseÕ was a penis. In the scene that unfolded, she was a young girl being forced to masturbate her uncle using her right hand. Despite pain in her arm, the uncle would not let her stop until he was satisfied. On seeing this, Sue experienced a strong sensation of anger. After venting her anger, the remainder of the session was concerned with whether she was ready to let this feeling go. She was partially successful and her feedback, a few days later, was that her arm was much improved.    

 

         A dramatic illustration of the mind-body link is provided in the case of people with Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder), in which the physiological state of their bodies can change when different personalities take control. This can result in particular ailments Ð even allergies Ð appearing or disappearing when a different personality/person comes to the front. And this can lead to all manner of problems for the medical profession, as well as the individual requiring treatment. 

          

         Differences in allergic reactions among members of the ÔfamilyÕ have resulted in cases of allergies completely fading away as another personality takes control of the body. By changing the personality some multiples who are drunk can instantly become sober. If a child personality takes over a sedated adult personality the adult dosage may be too much for the child and result in an overdose.

         from The Holographic Universe, M.Talbot, HarperCollins. 

          

         Some years after The Findhorn Book of Forgiveness was published a friend of mine who works as a clinical psychologist in Europe and specialises with patients who have Dissociative Identity Disorder informed me she had personally observed the following:

 

¥   Allergies appearing and disappearing as personalities switch in and out.

¥   Different personalities require different levels of sedation before operations. My friend stated she had to work for some weeks with a client before an operation to ensure the patient stayed in one personality during the operation. If an adult personality changed to a child personality during an operation the patient could overdose. If a child personality was sedated before an operation and then switched to an adult during the operation that patient could become conscious.

¥   The  voice pattern is different for each personality - accomplished actors can't alter their voice enough to disguise their voice patterns. 

¥   Female personalities are on different menstrual cycles.

¥   Some multiples carry two or three  different pairs of eyeglasses to accommodate their alternating personalities. 

¥   One personality can be  colour blind and another not.  

¥   Eye colour  can change.    

 

         HereÕs one definition of this very complex disorder: 

"Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder) is the presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states recurrently taking control of the person's behaviour. This leads to an inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness. It is commonly thought to be a survival tactic developed by highly traumatised children to protect themselves from the memory and effects of trauma and abuse. These children dissociate or block trauma from their conscious memories and place it in compartments or separate personalities within their self." Diagnostic Statistics Manual Ð version IV         

 

         Other people seem to have developed Ônatural multiplesÕ without being abused and/or traumatised. They often refer to themselves as ÔmultiplesÕ or ÔpluralsÕ in which many people share one mind, taking turns managing the body. 

          

         It has all the benefits and drawbacks that you would find in any other group of people. It is not automatically a disorder ... Individuals in the group may be of any age, religion, orientation, race, or gender Ð just like any other random group of people.

         from 'What is Multiplicity'

          www.karitas.net/blackbirds/layman/brochure_pluralv1.1.pdf)

          

         As different people/personalities take control of the body, they bring with them different mindsets. The body acts like a puppet with the mind pulling the strings. A different mindset can bring about a physiological change. 

 

         There has been much research into multiple personalities. Psychologist, Dr. Nancy Perry, observed, ÒThe different personalities have different brain waves, different blood pressure, vital signs, different allergies, different blood reactions; some of them are left-handed and some of them are right-handed."

         (From an interview with Dr. Nancy Perry, a psychologist who works with multiples. Dave Baum Show. WBBM News Radio 78. June 27, 1990 www.astraeasweb.net/plural/newsline.html )

 

         Multiple personalities can prove problematic for criminal investigators and can be baffling for experts, as N Humphrey and D.C.Dennett found: ÒPreliminary evidence, for example, of changes in handedness, voice-patterns, evoked-response brain-activity, and cerebral blood flow. When samples of the different handwritings of a multiple are mixed with samples by different hands, police handwriting experts have been unable to identify them." 

         (From Speaking for Ourselves, N. Humphrey and D.C.Dennett. Raritan: A Quarterly Review, IX, 68-98, Summer 1989. Reprinted (with footnotes), www.astraeasweb.net/plural/speaking.html )

 

         All this evidence forces us to look more closely at the mind-body link. It also gives a further incentive to practise forgiveness. Holding onto our unforgiveness not only causes us to lose our sense of emotional and mental well being, but contributes to physical ill health as well. 

 

         A friend once recounted a story of her struggle to finish with a job that was exhausting her. Jean helped run a centre for refugees; the work involved long hours and was emotionally demanding. Initially Jean was fuelled by enthusiasm but had now reached a stage where she wanted to leave. The problem she faced was that the rest of her colleagues were already overworked and her leaving would only add to their problems. Every time Jean intended to tell someone she wanted to leave she would be overcome with guilt and continue working instead. 

 

         One day, whilst shopping in town, Jean was overcome with the feeling that she was in an impossible situation and she inwardly cried out: ÒI must stop working now!Ó On her way from one shop to another a car mounted the pavement and ran over her foot. Jean spent the next few weeks resting at home and put in her notice, as she was no longer able to work. This painful invocation demonstrates the power of our minds Ð even if we are not aware of it. Forgiving her guilt about leaving people in need would have allowed her to leave her work in peace. In retrospect, Jean knew there had been a more graceful option of forgiveness but she was unable to take it, at least this time. 

 

         If we are afraid of taking the next step in life, we may resort to sickness or an accident as a defence against the truth. Perhaps a long-term relationship is coming to an end and one of the partners fears the necessary separation. This partner may choose sickness in the hope that the other person will stay and look after him or her. Fear is often associated with change and sickness can be seen as a good defence, distracting us from what is really happening and moving the focus onto the body. In this way, we need no longer confront the real issue but let the body take centre stage instead. 

          

Sickness is a decision. It is not a thing that happens to you, quite unsought, which makes you weak and brings you suffering. It is a choice you make, a plan you lay, when for an instant truth arises in your own deluded mind, and all your world appears to totter and prepare to fall. Now you are sick, that truth may go away and threaten your establishments no more. A Course in Miracles W-pI.136.71-4         

 

         If instead we choose the path of forgiveness, we will become nonjudgementally aware of what is really happening in our lives, realising change is needed and how it would serve us. Then we can turn to our inner guide and ask for help to move forward and take the next step in our growth. Choosing sickness or an accident only painfully delays the day when forgiveness will finally be chosen. 

 

         Accepting that the source of our problems Ð both physical and psychological Ð is within our own mind and not in the world allows healing to occur. If the cause of our problems is seen in the ÔoutsideÕ world, healing must wait. We can still have success in treating the effects of our sickness and, of course, medicine may help us dampen down the symptoms. However, as long as the underlying grievance or fear remains unforgiven, the dis-ease will manifest in a similar or related form. 

 

         The realisation of the mind-body link reveals to us that healing is now possible and it is our responsibility to start this journey. 

          

 

_____________________________________________________

 

 

Forgiveness Exercise Ð Self-forgiveness

Reprinted from The Findhorn Book of Forgiveness by Michael Dawson.

 

 

The following exercise is available as a CD or downloadable MP3 (www.acfip.org), but you can also dictate it yourself onto an audio tape, or have it read to you by a friend.

The aim of this exercise is to accept more fully some aspect of yourself that you dislike, or perhaps even hate. As you accept these parts of yourself, they can heal.

Keynote: Whatever you resist persists, whatever you accept will heal.

In this exercise you will be asked at one point to welcome the help that is ever-present for all people all the time, but which we often forget is there: your inner guide, higher self, angels, spirit, soul, Holy Spirit, God, Jesus, the Goddess, whatever name you give it.

I will use the term Ôinner guideÕ but please feel free to use the name or term you feel most comfortable with. Whatever name you choose, it represents a presence that is all-wise, unconditionally loving, and non-judgemental. It simply seeks to correct your errors of thinking and return to your memory the beauty of who you really are. It is the self you will be when you totally forgive.

This presence sees what we call ÔsinsÕ as merely nightmares from which it seeks to awaken us.


Step 1: Relaxation  Make yourself comfortable, either lying or sitting (though the latter is preferable if you think you may snooze off).  

¥ Take some slow deep breaths.

¥ As you breathe in tense the muscles in both legs, then breathe out and release the tension.

¥ Breathe in and tense the buttocks, breathe out and release the tension.

¥ Breathe in and tense the stomach, breathe out and release the tension.

¥ Breathe in and tense the arms and fists, breathe out and release the tension.

¥ Breathe in and squeeze the shoulder blades together, breathe out and release the tension.

¥ Check that the neck is relaxed Ð rotate the head if necessary.

¥ Breathe in and tense the face, breathe out and release the tension

¥ Count backwards from 20 to 1 feeling yourself becoming more relaxed as you count.  


Step 2: Asking for Help  You cannot be healed unless you accept help from what I am calling your Ôinner guideÕ. Send out a prayer to your inner guide in which you welcome and invite its presence to be with you. (The help is always there but needs your invitation, as it will never act against your free will.) You may wish to imagine this help as a ray of light shining down upon you; as a presence you can feel surrounding you; or as a loving being whose hand you hold.  

Step 3: Guided Forgiveness  Recall a time when you experienced yourself acting or thinking in a way that you cannot accept, something you would be ashamed to admit to another. Perhaps it was hatred, a desire to hurt another or maybe it is something about yourself you dislike such as sadness, weakness, cowardice, lust, pride, etc.  

PAUSE  Bring it to mind and use one word to describe and label it. If nothing comes to mind, ask your inner guide to show you an aspect of yourself that needs healing. Feel where this is mirrored in your body in the form of tension or pain. If it helps, place a comforting and accepting hand over this area.  

PAUSE  We will now move into the exercise, which will be in three parts. For the first part, I will give you a sentence in which you will include your own word (such as hatred, vengeance, lust) and you will then repeat the sentence to yourself in the silence. The sentence is this:  ÒI accept this feeling or thought of ___________ (put your own word here, e.g. hatred), it does not have to change or go away. It is part of me. I accept it.Ó Repeat this sentence a few more times to yourself.  

PAUSE  As you start to repeat the sentence, you may feel a lot of resistance. Just watch this, accept it and notice if it becomes easier with further repetitions. Perhaps you will begin to smile a little at yourself after you repeat this sentence a few times.  

PAUSE for one to two minutes  Now see the feeling symbolised as a small, distressed child in front of you. This is not your inner child but a symbol or picture of this feeling. The child may want to talk to you. You have created this experience in your life for a reason. This child can tell you why you have done this. It is important to listen to its story.  

PAUSE  Try to comfort the child. It may be angry with you and not want to receive your comfort and reassurance, but just continue to accept it the way it is. You have created this child and in some way it serves you.  

PAUSE  See if you can pick the child up and hold it to your heartÉdry its eyes ... continue to listen to it.  

PAUSE  Are you willing to release what this child symbolises? Is it time for this pain to be released? If you are ready to let part or all of it go ask your inner guide for help. Perhaps some angels are there to lovingly take the child away with them. If you are not yet ready to release the child, see it grow small enough to put it inside your heart and place it there. Look upon it with acceptance.  

PAUSE  Accept how far you have come in this exercise knowing that you can repeat it again.  

 

 

_____________________________________________________

 

 

 

 

Non Dual Teachings

 

This part of the newsletter offers input from non-dual teachers. What is non-duality? The word Ônon-dualÕ means not two. On the first page of the ACIM text there is two line summary of a Course in Miracles. It begins with the line ÒNothing real can be threatened

This refers to what God created Ð eternal, formless, spirit. Eternal means never born and therefore cannot change or die. The Course uses the expression Ôthe ChristÕ to denote this. Behind all the seeming multiplicity of the universe there is actually only one essential reality. Just as all the images on the cinema screen seem different, the light that creates them is one.

 

There is nothing outside you. That is what you must ultimately learn, for it is the realization that the Kingdom of Heaven is restored to you. For God created only this, and He did not depart from it nor leave it separate from Himself. The Kingdom of Heaven is the dwelling place of the Son of God, who left not his Father and dwells not apart from Him. Heaven is not a place nor a condition. It is merely an awareness of perfect Oneness, and the knowledge that there is nothing else; nothing outside this Oneness, and nothing else within.

T-18.VI.1.  

 

The second line of the summary states ÓNothing unreal exists.Ó This refers to everything that is born and therefore dies - the egoÕs world. Thus everything in the universe including ourselves is not real according to the Course. It is like a great dream. Only perfect oneness is real. 

 

There are two forms of non-duality Ð pure and impure. In the impure form God is aware that the universe is a dream and experiences itself through it - God's Leela or play as they say in the East. In the pure form of non-duality God is unaware of the universe. The Course is an example of pure non-dual teachings. A metaphor for this is a cinema projector where the lamp in the projector represents God. When the ego's film of separation is run past the light it is projected onto the screen of time and space. The light of God makes this possible, but the lamp is unaware of what is on the screen and would continue to shine when the film is taken away. To continue with this metaphor the light extending from the lamp is who we are, the Christ. ( See chart http://acfip.org/lightbulb.html)

 

You dwell not here, but in eternity.

You travel but in dreams, while safe at home. 

T-13.VII.17:6-7.

 

You are at home in God, dreaming of exile but perfectly capable of awaking to reality. 

T-10.I.2:1.

 

 

_________________________________________________

 

 

Nisargadatta Maharaj Quotes on 

Guidance and ÒI Need Do NothingÓ

From ÒI Am ThatÓ

 

GUIDANCE

¥The greatest Guru is your inner self. Truly, he is the supreme teacher. He alone can take you to your goal and he alone meets you at the end of the road. Confide in him and you need no outer Guru. But again you must have the strong desire to find him and do nothing that will create obstacles and delays. p.149

¥Once you realise that the person is merely a shadow of the reality, but not the reality itself, you cease to fret and worry. You agree to be guided from within and life becomes a journey into the unknown.

¥Meet your own self. Be with your own self, listen to it, obey it, cherish it, keep it in mind ceaselessly. You need no other guide. As long as the urge for truth affects your daily life, all is well with you. p.173

¥To rise in consciousness from one dimension to another, you need help. The help may not always be in the shape of a human person, it may be a subtle presence, or a spark of intuition, but help must come. The inner Self is watching and waiting for the son to return to his father. At the right time he arranges everything affectionately and effectively. Where a messenger is needed, or a guide, he sends the Guru to do the needful. p.274

¥Self-awareness tells you at every step what needs be done. When all is done, the mind remains quiet. p.427

 

I NEED DO NOTHING

¥Just realise the One Mover behind all that moves and leave all to Him. If you do not hesitate, or cheat, this is the shortest way to reality. Stand without desire and fear, relinquishing all control and all responsibility.... What is wrong in letting go the illusion of personal control and personal responsibility? Both are in the mind only. p.151

¥It is your idea that you have to do things that entangle you in results of your efforts-the motive, the desire, the failure to achieve, the sense of frustration-all this holds you back. Simply look at whatever happens and know that you are beyond it. p.148

¥You give reality to concepts, while concepts are distortions of reality. Abandon all conceptualisation and stay silent and attentive. Be earnest about it and all will be well with you. p.154

¥Nothing is done by me, everything just happens. I do not expect, I do not plan, I just watch events happening, knowing them to be unreal. p.191

¥All will happen by itself. You need not do anything, only donÕt prevent it. p.242

¥If you just try to keep quiet, all will come - the work, the strength for work, the right motive. Must you know everything beforehand? DonÕt be anxious about your future - be quiet now and all will fall into place. p.248

¥Be empty of all mental content, of all imagination and effort, and the very absence of obstacles will cause reality to rush in. p.260

¥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. p.261

¥The very notion of doership, of being a cause, is bondage. p.298

¥In the light of calm and steady self-awareness inner energies wake up and work miracles without any effort on your part. p.311

¥Just turn away from all that occupies the mind; do whatever work you have to complete, but avoid new obligations; keep empty, keep available, resist not what comes uninvited. p.375

_____________________________________________________

 

 

Jac OÕKeeffe - The awakening story goes like thisÉ 

https://www.jac-okeeffe.com/about

 

 

There once was a hard working, independent, Guinness drinking Irish woman. She went by the name Jac O'Keeffe and fully believed she had a personal life directed by her own free will. In her twenties she was running in the fast lane; working and playing hard, driven by ideals and ambition. For many years she attended therapy, usually psychotherapeutic in method, where she unraveled the stories of her childhood.

One Sunday afternoon, at the age of thirty, she was having lunch with friends. In an instant there was the appearance of ghosts all around the dining room. Her first response was that someone had slipped her a recreational tab Ð but that was not the case. This ability to see the non physical didn't go away and developed intensively over the following week. While it was totally unnerving and stimulated a fear-filled response, something within wanted to rise to the challenge to see what this was all about. Imagine standing at the service counter in your bank and when speaking with the teller an older lady appears behind her and directly asks jac to tell her daughter (the bank clerk) to split with her boyfriend! Highly amusing and a total distraction from what was, up until then, the "real world". What was unfolding - the workings of the non physical reality - was more interesting than anything else life was offering at that time.

Exactly one week from the first sighted spook, a man appeared at the end of her bed in the dead of night and said he would tell all that she wanted to know about what was happening. A long conversation followed and in the end jac believed she made a decision to let "spirit" guide her way on. Within six months jac had wrapped up her contracts as a free lance arts consultant and began to work as a ghost buster. According to divine economy, her ego was given a great bashing through this career move. For jac, it was the flakiest of all occupations, cutting through her self image and destroying any attachment to a career path. One year later ability to see chakras, auras and past lives kicked in and her client base shifted to living people. Her perspective of the world was changing quickly. The database of what can appear as real and seems to exist with authenticity was ever expanding and somehow unending, limitless. It was clear that beliefs were subjective mental limitations and entirely dependent on the conditioning active in any moment.

The concept of surrendering personal will to divine will made sense and her work became service.

Chanting and meditation as a daily practice was as essential as breathing. An intensity prevailed and it was sensed that something was pushing her on and on and on. But to what ? That was never clear to jac; there never seemed to be the rising of that question - just the appearance of much work to be done in raising consciousness in herself and others. The approach was to practice and show people how to observe their thoughts and emotions and no longer be a slave of the mind.

At a Santo Dime Ceremony a great inner black vacuum stripped all from jac. It seemed to annihilate her totally. During this spiritual ceremony it became clear that existence itself was a thought. All she thought existed was simply all she thought. Existence itself was no more than thought and so she too was not real in any authentic way. All thoughts that jac existed were stripped. Fighting for her life, for any reality that was intellectually sound proved pointless. It was a violent and traumatic experience that lasted many hours. Over the following days, it was clear that all that manifests is no more than a thought, that the perceived reality attached to creation is also a thought. But she had no more than this visceral understanding. No books, no teachers came to her and it was some five or six years later when in India that jac came upon books discussing and explaining non duality. Yet life seemed to continue, seeming unperturbed by the fact that all was just a dream rolling itself out, playing just for the sake of it. It was clear that all that could happen was without purpose and meaning, yet it appeared to be happening... in some dimension that was not after all at the core of all that is.

Somehow plant medicine seemed to help and ayahuasca was pursued. It became clear that the healing process of the spiritual path was unending; mind would forever present new scenarios as issues to be dealt with. All it was offering in fact was more opportunities to engage in an "all about me" thought process. The path of emotional and spiritual healing was cyclical and it spat jac out.

In a vision she had understood that at some point she would have to choose between her "normal" life of marriage and service, and the total surrender to whatever was urging on the remnants of a personal jac. There was a belief running that she would get sick if she remained as a householder. What to do but follow light Ð and at that point the physical sun seemed to offer more light than any other source, physical or non physical. She moved alone to a campsite in the south of Spain for three months. After a brief wrapping up visit to Ireland she moved to El Hierro, the silence and writing, nature and meditation dictated her lifestyle. A Spanish friend asked her to come to India and in Amma's ashram "Amritapuri" in Kerala jac has no recollection of a six day period during her stay there. She was physically taken care of by her friend and as that period of time ended and some capacity to engage consciously with the world returned it also was directly known that there are no individuals. Both personal and divine will both have no basis in Reality. There is simply the appearance of energy moving through form and part of that energy is thought. All that is in creation moves as one mass constantly in flux, never adding or losing from the sum total of all that is. Energy is simply changing from one form to another. Somehow all of this gets named and labeled as if it comprises separate parts and then somehow, thought is believed to be the truth. Yet, there is prior to all that changes and attention can remain there. For jac there was one remaining desire, still running, that gave the idea that she existed. It was intermittent and not ultimately believed, but when it was running there certainly seemed to be a woman owning a desire. The desire was an insatiable craving for sex. The true nature of desire was yet to reveal itself. From Kerala to Tamil Nadu and the mountain of Arunachala. Attending satsang and finding words that would point to That which is beyond allowed the jigsaw of a visceral understanding to draw itself together so that it could be expressed, embodied and integrated. It was clear how Born to be Free would now become a book... there was, after all, a way to point towards Truth. Speaking from truth produced silence and with great relief words again had some role to play in all of this.

Staying in Tiruvannamalai, there were periods of intense spiritual practice, and extended periods of a natural silence. One day, it physically felt as though mind was breaking; splintering into fragments. Memory was revealed to be no more than a thought. There was no way to connect any past story with this physical body without a believed thought together with the quality of memory attached. Memories are simply believed to be true and there is no way of knowing if they ever actually happened. Maybe they never did, time itself is the great fooler... connecting dots that are not connected at all except through concepts believed to be true. The sense of needing psychiatric care passed through mind and yet somehow, suddenly there were no more personal thoughts.

Thoughts are no longer believed to be true. That capacity, that neurological wiring appears to not function any more. Is that permanent or not ? Who knows, but one thing is sure, there is no one here who is bothered if the movie is believed or not. All is just passing through consciousness, benignly and gently moving through. All is manifesting as it is, it can not be any other way than how it is, but a personal "I" will believe otherwise. That is the nature of the personal "I". One year later, jac was asked to give satsang and well... somehow the show goes on without ownership of any thought, any action. No ownership does not mean no responsibility, for it is clear that there is only God, all is God or all is Nothing - as you like. Without the personal "I" there can be no ownership of anything, not even one thought is "yours". All is passing through and even the seeing of all - the labeling of what is passing through fades also.

What's to be said Ð except that clichŽ Ð that at the end of it all, nothing ever happened!

 

_____________________________________________________

 

 

Magnetic Silence - Adyashanti

 

If you have the willingness to listen inside you will find a stillness and silence. And the true silence is not the silence of controlling your mind. ItÕs not the silence of concentration. The true silence is the silence that is already there. This silence, that is already there, has a thread to it, a magnetic quality, has a pull, itÕs very subtle but it pulls attention into itself. So, if we are not trying to manufacture silence, if we are not trying to control anything, then you start to feel this natural quietness which has a subtle pull. ItÕs like a magnet, itÕs like a thread of darkness in the darkness. It just pulls yourself into itself. This is something that is not practised. ItÕs not something that you or I create. ItÕs an uncreated silence, itÕs an uncreated threaditÕs just there. And this is the easiest thing to lose track of in our modern spirituality. So many explanations, and so easy access to explanations, descriptions and words, and it is so easy to lose sight that the way to truth is the same way itÕs always been, and it is the same way as it will always be no matter how beautiful the descriptions, no matter how enticing the images or concepts, the way to the truth will be as it always has been. 

It is ultimately, through whatever means, giving way to the silent thread within the silence that pulls you into itself, into your own recognition. Only then do we really discover, does the descriptions come alive, that the true silence has an overwhelming satisfaction, great fullness, serenity an uncaused joy. True awareness has a sense of well being, sufficiency, happiness. So by whatever means, what ever really resonates in your heart, different things resonate in your heart at different times, whether itÕs the enquiry that gets you to the silence, whether itÕs simply the listening that opens you to it, whether itÕs turning your attention back onto attention itself, whether it is gazing into your own emptiness, by what ever means they are all ways of following this thread this pull of silence. This pull into your own self, and this is why I often emphasise listening because the true spiritual yearning isnÕt so much coming from us, we may have a very deep and profound spiritual yearning, we may at times feel a desperate yearning but the deepest yearning when you are really listening is coming from the silence, the silence really reaching out for you, thatÕs its magnetic pull, thatÕs the true yearning. Not your yearning as an ego. When you are really listening you feel this thread, the thread of the dark in the dark pulling you. In truth it yearns for you and it pulls you, and only when we really start to feel this does this spirituality light up, because we realise that we are the one thats being yearned for. And our only job ultimately is to give in, to let it have its way. Even when you awaken still you have to let it have its way because itÕs the only thing that will keep you awake if you let it have its way. If you start to try to do it then you go back to sleep. This is what humility really means, real spiritual humility, not the phoney humility, not the fake humility but the humility to listen inside yourself. The humility to be drawn beyond our own personal ideas, our stuff, our hangups. It takes a lot of humility to listen, to listen to the silence, to listen to the nothingness, and to feel its pull and just let it have you without understanding it, without knowing why. That s real humility. 

Transcribed from an Adyashanti talk. 

 

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Suffering: That Extra Something

While difficult life developments are inevitable, suffering is not.

 

Jan Frazier

http://janfrazierteachings.com/teachings/

 

Someone observed that suffering is what happens when a person adds something on. Suffering is generated when thoughts are piled on to a challenging life development, or a loss, or physical discomfort. Each of which, in its essence, may be inherently painful, absorbing of a certain kind of attention. But there neednÕt be suffering.

 

Suffering is what occurs when the next step is taken. When a rainy day isnÕt allowed to be simply a rainy day, but grousing is piled on to it. ItÕs the uncomfortable pressure that occurs when resistance starts up. When the loss of a job isnÕt allowed to be its plain self Ð the end of a job Ð but is weighted down by the story of looming disaster, or the idea of being a failure as a person.

 

Life stuff neednÕt lead to the secondary step of suffering. While difficult life developments are inevitable, suffering is not. (Now thereÕs a radical idea for you.)

 

Such a waste of pain. The layered-on misery of pointlessly wishing things were other than they are, or going back over how a thing could have been prevented. What is it to just be with the difficulty, unburdened of the story you might have drummed up? ItÕs to accept the truth of the situation. ItÕs to feel what the circumstances stir in your body, without going into your head to try to avoid the hurt, or to generate a consoling narrative, or one full of blame and regret.

Life is not going to be pain-free. Loss visits at intervals. Things donÕt always go the way weÕd like. We get sick. People die. Is it not supposed to hurt to live a rich human life?

 

But arenÕt these things suffering? No, not when theyÕre allowed to be as they are, without that extra step that occurs when thought moves in to handle whatÕs happened. To allow grief in its fullness, without mental handling, can be an experience of vast tenderness. A breaking heart feels exquisitely alive, even while the pain might be breathtaking.

So itÕs a matter of seeing the difference between the ÒcleanÓ pain of being alive, and the layered-on agony (pointless, unnecessary) of wishing life were otherwise, or trying to escape the truth, or making it into a story with justifications and assurances about a better future.

 

When nothing is added on to life, but it is fully allowed to be as it is, then you donÕt suffer. You feel alive, even during the times of pain. As you continue on, you travel lightly, not carrying the burden of whatÕs happened. Life is ever fresh. Even when it hurts.

 

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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. Please see the Contacts section at the end of this newsletter.

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Other

 

 

 

Forthcoming Workshops on A Course in Miracles

 

 

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

 

 

Germany 2016 Dates

 

 

 

Bonn - Sat 11 and Sun 12 June - 10am to 6pm

 

 

 

Stages of Spiritual Awakening

from the perspective of A Course in Miracles

 

Forget not once this journey is begun the end is certain. Doubt along the way will come and go and go to come again. Yet is the ending sure. No one can fail to do what God appointed him to do. When you forget, remember that you walk with Him and with His Word upon your heart. Who could despair when hope like this is his?

A Course in Miracles-Clarification of Terms-Epilogue

 

Everyone's path is unique. Some take the steps in different order and sometimes simultaneously, and some appear to miss out some steps all together. Some experience visions, ecstasy, physical phenomena, and other mystical and psychic experiences, whilst others travel a less dramatic path but still reach the same destination - an inner peace, quiet joy and a oneness with all things, and even beyond that oneness.

 

Many of the challenges on the path return again and again in cyclic fashion until the journey is completed. What is required of us is to start out on an unknown journey with a faith that increases with experience, moving from an initial awakening to a full embodiment in daily life.

 

The Course has much to help us on our path of awakening and also warns us of the traps on the way. However, some important aspects of the awakening process are not covered in the Course. To help with these I have drawn on the observations and experience of some awakened teachers.

 

Topics also included:

Requirements for awakening

Progressive versus direct paths

The spectrum of spiritual awakening

Practice or no practice?

Effort or grace?

Gradual and sudden awakenings.

Kundalini

The seekers trap

Forgiveness

 

Exercises will be used to help undo the blocks to awakening.

No knowledge of A Course in Miracles is required.

 

 

 

An Evening Introductory Talk - Fri 10th June 2016

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  2016

 

Fri 16,[6pm to 9pm] Sat 17 [10am to 6pm] and Sun 18 [10am to 5pm]

 

Stages of Spiritual Awakening

from the perspective of A Course in Miracles

 

Forget not once this journey is begun the end is certain. Doubt along the way will come and go and go to come again. Yet is the ending sure. No one can fail to do what God appointed him to do. When you forget, remember that you walk with Him and with His Word upon your heart. Who could despair when hope like this is his?

A Course in Miracles-Clarification of Terms-Epilogue

 

Everyone's path is unique. Some take the steps in different order and sometimes simultaneously, and some appear to miss out some steps all together. Some experience visions, ecstasy, physical phenomena, and other mystical and psychic experiences, whilst others travel a less dramatic path but still reach the same destination - an inner peace, quiet joy and a oneness with all things, and even beyond that oneness.

 

Many of the challenges on the path return again and again in cyclic fashion until the journey is completed. What is required of us is to start out on an unknown journey with a faith that increases with experience, moving from an initial awakening to a full embodiment in daily life.

 

The Course has much to help us on our path of awakening and also warns us of the traps on the way. However, some important aspects of the awakening process are not covered in the Course. To help with these I have drawn on the observations and experience of some awakened teachers.

 

Topics also included:

Requirements for awakening

Progressive versus direct paths

The spectrum of spiritual awakening

Practice or no practice?

Effort or grace?

Gradual and sudden awakenings.

Kundalini

The seekers trap

Forgiveness

 

Exercises will be used to help undo the blocks to awakening.

No knowledge of A Course in Miracles is required.

 

Contact:

Margarete Sennekamp

Winterhaldenweg 4,

79856 Hinterzarten,

Tel./Fax: 07652-917530

email: M.Sennekamp@t-online.de

www.Sophia-Institut.de

 

 

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BOOKS AND AUDIO MATERIALS FOR SALE - by Michael Dawson

 

 

New teaching and healing materials - eBooks and downloadable MP3s:

 

Ebooks:

 

1. Healing the Cause -A Path of Forgiveness.

Inspired by A Course in Miracles.

This is the eBook version of the paper back.

 

2. A Course in Miracles - Explanations of Major Themes

New book in eBook format

 

3. Forgiveness - A Path to Inner Peace. 

Inspired by A Course in Miracles

This is the eBook version of the paper back.

 

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

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

 

 

Downloadable Mp3s:

 

1. Healing the Cause: Self-Help Exercises 1

This MP3 contains the identical four exercises as the CD

 

2. Healing the Cause: Self-Help Exercises 2

This MP3 contains the identical four exercises as the CD

 

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

This MP3 contains the identical three exercises as the CD

 

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

 

 

Books:

 

Healing the Cause - A Path of Forgiveness.  Findhorn Press 1994

Also available in German, Romanian, French, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese.

 

The Findhorn Book of Forgiveness.  Findhorn Press. 2003

Also available in German, French, Polish and Romanian.

 

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

 

MP3s (see above) and CDs:

 

Healing the Cause:

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

 

CD - 3 Healing Exercises in English with German translation. 10 Euro

Content: 

Ex1. Forgiving Ourselves. 

Ex2. Changing Perception and Finding peace. 

Ex3. Changing Perception of another - exercise for two people.

 

These exercises are similar to existing exercises already available on CDs but are translated into German.

 

Workshops:

 

1. Three Steps of Forgiveness. 

This workshop concentrates on the process of forgiveness from the perspective of A Course in Miracles. Includes 3 healing exercises.

 Recorded at the Annual Miracle Network Conference in London, November 2001. 1 hour 12 mins. One CD

 

2. Finding and Eliminating the Blocks to Receiving Guidance. 

This talk investigates what stops us hearing the guidance that is ever present in our lives. Recorded at the Annual Miracle Network Conference in London, October 20001 hour. One CD

 

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

 

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CONTACTS and COURSE INFORMATION 

Search Engine for ACIM Sites, Definitions and Articles by Joe Jesseph.

A Web search engine dedicated to finding discussion and definitions of terms and concepts found in 

A Course in Miracles as well as Web sites, articles and other writings related to the Course.

 

Question and Answer Service from the Foundation for A Course in Miracles. 

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

 

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

 

Foundation For A Course In Miracles................FACIM is the official teaching organisation of the Foundation for Inner Peace and the copyright-holder of_A Course in Miracles and all related materials. Publishes the quarterly Lighthouse newsletter. They have extensive on-line mail order for their books, CDs and DVDs.

The Foundation was started by Kenneth and Gloria Wapnick and has moved to Temecula in California. Kenneth is my teacher of A Course in Miracles. 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

 

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INSPIRATIONAL QUOTATIONS

 

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

 

 

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

 

A Course in Miracles  Lesson 250

 

 

Do understand that you are destined for enlightenment.

Co-operate with your destiny, don't go against it, don't thwart it.

Allow it to fulfil itself.

All you have to do is to give attention to the obstacles created by the foolish mind.

 

Nisargadatta Maharaj

I Am That

 

 When you listen to the voice in your head, that

is to say, do not judge.  You'll soon realize: there

is the voice, and here I am listening to it, watching

it.  This I am realization, this sense of your own

presence, is not a thought.  It arises from beyond

the mind.

 

Eckhart Tolle

The Power of Now

 

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

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

 

Mariana Caplan

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