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    Forgiveness: A Path to Inner Peace - Inspired by A Course in Miracles
    Forgiveness: A Path to Inner Peace - Inspired by A Course in Miracles
    Forgiveness: A Path to Inner Peace - Inspired by A Course in Miracles
    Ebook179 pages3 hours

    Forgiveness: A Path to Inner Peace - Inspired by A Course in Miracles

    By Michael Dawson

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    About this ebook

    True forgiveness asks us to stop pointing our finger at the people and events in the world as the cause of our pain, and turn instead to the unforgiven thoughts in our own minds. Here we can create change, which will lead to an ever-increasing sense of inner peace.

    The book outlines simple, practical steps and techniques we can use to help us in our efforts to learn and practise forgiveness with ourselves and others in our daily lives. Illustrative case histories and stories of forgiveness and healing are also included, as well as methods and approaches for helping others to forgive.

    This book gives a clear framework for understanding the true nature of forgiveness, as well as discussing the implications for us when we do aspire to that path.

    In every situation in which we lose our peace we have found a reflection of what is unhealed within us, what we have not forgiven ourselves for. Our world is a reflection of our consciousness - life constantly reflecting back what is in our minds. So rather than getting upset when things aren't going the way we would like, we can pause and use the techniques in this book to draw our attention to what is going on inside.

    Though the underlying philosophy is inspired by 'A Course in Miracles', this book is applicable to us all, and is readily understandable by those not familiar with the Course.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublishereBookIt.com
    Release dateMay 5, 2017
    ISBN9781456603380
    Forgiveness: A Path to Inner Peace - Inspired by A Course in Miracles
    Author

    Michael Dawson

    Michael Dawson is Professor of History at St. Thomas University, where he teaches courses on Canadian History, the global history of sport and tourism, and the comparative history of national identity and popular culture in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. In 2014 he was elected to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists.

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      Book preview

      Forgiveness - Michael Dawson

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      Reviews of 'Forgiveness: A Path to Inner Peace'

      "Michael Dawson's new book is full of forgiveness exercises of all kinds, both from A Course in Miracles and from Dawson's own repertoire.

      The exercises follow an excellent, comprehensive and clear overview of the theory of forgiveness, including the reasons we might be reluctant to forgive, false and true forgiveness, the healing benefits of forgiveness, on forgiving our 'enemies' and dealing with world events. Exercises include self-forgiveness, the 'AAA' approach (awareness, acceptance and asking for help), helping others to forgive themselves, forgiving others, changing our perception and uniting with another.

      'Peace of mind,' Michael Dawson says, 'is a rare quality to find in this world. The strife we observe all around us mirrors the discord in our own minds. The path of forgiveness takes us back into ourselves, where the source of all conflict begins. Forgiveness asks us to stop pointing our finger at the people and events in the world as the cause of our pain and turn, instead, to the unforgiven thoughts in our own minds. Here we can create change, which will lead to an ever-increasing sense of inner peace.' "

      Ian Patrick

      Miracle Network

      Review from the Miracle Network

      "Michael Dawson came in contact with A Course in Miracles whilst visiting the Findhorn community, which soon gave direction for his own work. Following the teachings he recognized the illusory nature of guilt and the path of forgiveness as a source of love and peace. With its easy to understand language, the author gives important insights into the 'Course'.

      A practical and skilled introduction to unification, healing and peace."

      Franchita Cattani

      French & German Translation Team Leader of A Course in Miracles

      In his book on forgiveness, Michael Dawson invites us to stop seeing the world as the source of our pain and encourages us to bring a non-judgemental awareness to the contents of our own mind - the only place where healing can occur. As we surrender our pain to the healing power of spirit, we gradually remove the veils we have created between our physical selves and our spiritual reality: a state of inner peace and joy that is not dependent on anything in the world. To help you take the journey of forgiveness, Michael Dawson offers lots of really useful exercises and techniques, and illustrates the process with inspirational stories and case histories of forgiveness and healing.

      Cygnus Book Review

      "This little book is filled with wisdom for healing ourselves and the world.

      Based on the teachings of the Course in Miracles, it brings these concepts to light in a very readable manner. The true stories Dawson shares to highlight the teachings are inspirational and invaluable. I have read them aloud to friends, and I will definitely recommend the book to others. It inspired me to order several other books from the 'Findhorn Book of...' series. ACIM students and others will find simple and profound truths in this book. Please read it!"

      Cathy Zimmerman

      Amazon Review

      Acknowledgments

      I would like to acknowledge my indebtedness to Dr. Kenneth Wapnick whose books and tapes on A Course in Miracles have been rich sources of teaching and inspiration. In particular his book Forgiveness and Jesus – The Meeting Place of A Course in Miracles and Christianity has been of particular value, especially in regard to the AAA Approach to Forgiveness in Chapter Four. He also kindly took time from his busy schedule to read and comment on my manuscript. Responsibility for the book’s contents remains my own, however.

      Throughout the writing of the book my wife, Elinor Drake, has been a constant source of encouragement and made many helpful observations. She has proofread the whole manuscript and maintained a critical eye on all aspects of the work.

      I am grateful to Elaine Harrison in her role as Editor at Findhorn Press in providing many insightful observations, which has led to a clearer presentation of my material.

      The inspiration for this book has come from A Course in Miracles. After 30 years of study I never fail to understand a little more each time I read it or try to put it into practice. So my last thanks go to Dr. Helen Schucman and Dr. William Thetford for bringing this book into our troubled world so that we can learn peace through forgiveness.

      Author’s website:

      www.acfip.org

      Forgiveness is the key to happiness.

      Here is the answer to your search for peace. Here is the key to meaning in a world that seems to make no sense. Here is the way to safety in apparent dangers that appear to threaten you at every turn, and bring uncertainty to all your hopes of ever finding quietness and peace. Here are all questions answered; here the end of all uncertainty ensured at last.

      from A Course in Miracles – Lesson 121

      Introduction

      Peace of mind is a rare quality to find in this world. The strife we observe all around us mirrors the discord in our own minds. The path of forgiveness takes us back into ourselves where the source of all conflict begins. Forgiveness asks us to stop pointing our finger at the people and events in the world as the cause of our pain and turn instead to the unforgiven thoughts in our own minds. Here we can create change, which will lead to an ever-increasing sense of inner peace.

      My inspiration for writing this book comes from A Course in Miracles (see appendix). In 1982, I visited the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland to take part in their Experience Week programme, where I discovered the book A Course in Miracles displayed in the window of the Phoenix store at their Park site. I took it from the window, opened it at random and read a paragraph. I cannot remember what I read, but I do remember the almost electric effect of the words upon me.

      Each day, after lunch, I would remove the book from the window and read another paragraph. I did this for two weeks before I had to return home to London. Missing my midday read, I decided to purchase the book and study its teachings on forgiveness.

      My studies coincided with a time when my interest in healing was developing, after discovering – by accident – that I could sometimes help people by the laying on of hands. In my healing work and research, I discovered that the mind exerts a very powerful effect on the body. Although people were helped by the laying on of hands, I found their problems would often return unless they forgave the thoughts in their mind which led to the dis-ease. In time, I developed a healing approach (see chapter Five) to help clients look at the unforgiveness in their minds and let it be healed by spirit.

      In 1980, I felt guided to resign from my work as an electronics lecturer and explore a different path in life. Visiting the Findhorn Foundation and doing some healing work in London was part of this new adventure. Whilst visiting the Foundation in 1984 to take part in a workshop, my partner and I felt a strong spontaneous impulse to become members. We returned to London, sold our house, and moved to Findhorn. For three years I directed the healing department at the Foundation’s Cluny Hill site. I went on to develop a two-week workshop entitled ‘Healing the Cause’, which I ran at the Foundation for some years. My background in teaching electronics in London was helpful, but I had to learn to be guided intuitively in my approach to teaching these workshops. This was a whole different arena, requiring a flexibility and openness never really required previously in my more technical role.

      My study and practice of A Course in Miracles continued and deepened my knowledge of healing and the need to open myself to inner guidance. In my younger years, I had believed I could happily plan what I wanted from life and did not need anyone's help thank you! However, as my life progressed, it became clear that without a willing surrender to an inner guidance there was no chance I would discover the inner peace I sought.

      My deepening interest in the Course and my experiences from the workshops led me to write a book (Healing the Cause: A Path of Forgiveness) and also resulted in my running even more workshops – both at the Findhorn Foundation and elsewhere. And of course, it has also now led to the writing of this book.

      The path of forgiveness can be practised every day, for life presents us all with endless opportunities; it invites us to stop seeing the world as the source of our pain and encourages us to bring a non-judgemental awareness to the contents of our own mind – the only place where healing can occur. As we surrender our pain to the healing power of spirit, we gradually remove the veils we have created between our physical selves and our spiritual reality: a state of inner peace and joy that is not dependent on anything in the world.

      In this book, I set out the steps required to take on this journey of forgiveness. I invite you to join me on this path to peace.

      ∞

      Chapter 1 - Who Do We Forgive?

      Perhaps it will be helpful to remember that no one can be angry at a fact. It is always an interpretation that gives rise to negative emotions, regardless of their seeming justification by what appears as facts.

      A Course in Miracles M-17.4

      (See Appendix One for an explanation of page and line references to A Course in Miracles.)

      Forgiveness of Ourselves or Others?

      Who needs to be forgiven? This is a fundamental question. Many of us believe we need to strive to forgive the wrongs that seem to have been done to us. We feel victimised by the seemingly unfair actions of others and believe our anger towards them is justified. But is it always the others who need to be forgiven, or could it maybe be ourselves? Do we have to remain victims or is there another way?

      The personal tension created by holding grievances against another is unpleasant. We may feel we are in the right, but at great personal cost to our own peace of mind. To alleviate such tension we might choose to 'forgive’ the other person; although in our opinion they have committed a wrong, we decide to overlook it. We would, however, love to hear them apologise, proving their guilt and our innocence. But an apology may not be forthcoming; indeed the person with whom we hold our grievance may now have died.

      We tell our friends we have forgiven our enemy; we are prepared to forget and get on with life. But have we really returned our mind to a state of peace, or is there lurking an ongoing disquiet about this episode? Do we carry on and forget the incident only to find that past pain is still there just waiting to be triggered by events similar to the one we have just ‘forgiven’? Has our forgiveness worked? Has the willingness to put all this behind us and to overlook the sins of the other actually resolved anything?

      Our cultural and religious upbringing generally decrees what is right and what is wrong behaviour. If someone acts towards us with 'wrong' behaviour, we are usually taught that our anger is justified; the other person should apologise and change his or her behaviour. If they conform to our expectations, we are then open to ‘forgiving’ them, but not otherwise.

      The quotation at the start of this chapter reminds us that we never get angry over a fact: it’s our interpretation of the fact that can give rise to anger. Forgiveness tells us we can always choose our reaction to any situation.

      Consider the following story:

      Imagine you are at a party

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