Insights

* We start the spiritual quest because we experience life as a terrifying mystery which we want to understand. This is Hell! We end by trusting in the goodness of Life, which we know is a Mystery beyond comprehension. This is Heaven !

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Birth

* Until the moment of birth, the foetus has little or no awareness of itself as a separate being. It does not desire, since its basic physiological needs are instantly met. In many respects, life in the womb reflects the state of paradise (or Heaven) and the principle of abundance. In a state without lack there can be no sense of separation or 'otherness'.

At birth all this is changed. The infant is suddenly expelled from its paradise into a world of separation. For the first time, it becomes painfully aware of having needs which are not instantly met, and sometimes not met at all. This traumatic experience, which guilt encompasses, leaves us feeling vulnerable and inadequate to meet our needs. This terror remains with us, on some level, throughout our life. The real source of the 'birth trauma', however, lies in its reminder of the original separation from God, which is the root of all guilt and fear. Our bodies, which come to symbolise this state of separation, thus symbolise the guilt of our sinfulness, and this results in the shame associated with our person and certain bodily functions. ('Forgiveness and Jesus' by Kenneth Wapnick)

* "Children are born into it (the world) through pain and in pain." T-13.intro.2:5 (ACIM) As we come into the world, our body is hurting our mother and is itself in pain. It could be said that birth is when the unholy trinity of 'sin, guilt and fear' quite literally gets stamped into the body.

* According to 'A Course in Miracles', the ego's purpose of being in a body is for us to hide and remain mindless of the original choice for separation. Being an innocent victim of a cruel world serves this purpose very well. What better way to affirm we are an innocent victim than to be born totally helpless and at the mercy of others.

* Newborn babies feel EVERYTHING - exquisitely, passionately, excruciatingly!

* Birth is probably the most impactful experience we will have this lifetime.

* The decisions we made during pregnancy and birth set the foundation for the beliefs and patterns activated this lifetime. These beliefs and patterns affect all our relationships.

* Birth is neither a medical event nor a disease. Medical intervention is usually unnecessary and should only be used in emergencies. Bright lights, drugs, caesarean, forceps, incubator, chord cut too early are just some of the extreme forms of medical intervention that can cause severe birth trauma.

* When a baby is born naturally, without intervention or separation, and allowed to rest in its mother's arms right after birth, it is able to release much of the trauma of birth. It is also where the bonding and positive imprinting with mother can occur. If this does not occur right after birth, it probably never will.

* Without this essential bonding, there could be depression for the mother and agony for the baby.

* When a baby screams at birth, it not just a sign of a healthy baby, it is more a sign of agony and desperation.

* It is imperative that we welcome the being-ness and the consciousness of our new-borns, and stop seeing them just as bodies. They need to feel included at birth!

* "The traces left by the tortures at birth are everywhere to be seen: on the skin, in the bones, in the stomach, in the back, in all our human folly, in our madness, in our torture, in our prisons, in legends, epics and myths!" (Frederik Leboyer)

* Research shows that most violent criminals had a complication at birth and they were separated from their mothers.

* Having said all this, let us remember the higher purpose and that on some level we choose all of it. We choose our parents and our life experience, and this includes how we come into the world.

We can, however, choose to see it another way and birth can be seen as one of our greatest forgiveness lessons - an opportunity to forgive ourselves and everyone involved !

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Forgiveness

Forgiveness to Destroy: (All quotes from 'A Course in Miracles')

* "No gift of Heaven has been more misunderstood than has forgiveness. It has, in fact, become a curse where it was meant to bless." (S-2.I.1:1-2) "Forgiveness to destroy will overlook no sin, no crime, no guilt that it can seek and find .... " (S-2.I.2:2) Essentially what happens is: "..... you see error clearly first, (thus making it real) and then overlook it. Yet how can you overlook what you have made real." (T-9.IV.4:4-5)

* Forgiveness to destroy has many forms. For example: We could see ourselves as better than another and then be big enough to forgive (W-126.3); we could see both ourselves and the other as sinful, as equal martyrs, and then forgive; or we may use a form of bargaining: "I will forgive you if you meet my needs, for in your slavery is my release." (S-2.II.6:2) None of these is true forgiveness!

True Forgiveness:

* "To forgive is to overlook." (T-9.IV.1:2) "Forgiveness recognises what you thought your brother did to you has not occurred." (W-II.1.1:1) "Forgiveness does not pardon sins and make them real. It sees that there was no sin. And in that view are all your sins forgiven." (W-II.1.1:2-4)

* 3 Steps of Forgiveness: (1) The cause of a problem must be identified (Your mind is the cause) and then (2) let go (given up to Holy Spirit), so that (3) it can be replaced. The first two steps in this process require your cooperation. The final one does not. Your images have already been replaced. By taking the first two steps, you will see that this is so. W-23.5:2-6

* "Forgiveness is still, and quietly does nothing. It merely looks, waits & judges not." (W-II.1.4:1,3) Your part is merely to return your thinking to the point at which the error was made, and give it over to the Atonement in peace. T-5.VII.6:5

* When we judge a thing as good or bad; sick or well; holy or unholy; pleasurable or painful; better or worse; etc., we make it real and are saying there is a hierarchy of illusions. Its all illusion! (Laws of Chaos T-23.II.2) Nothing outside my mind can make me feel or think anything - good or bad!

* If you have a problem, you have something to forgive. Anyone who experiences sickness or pain has a need to forgive. Anyone who finds himself in unpleasant circumstances has a need to forgive. Anyone who finds himself in debt has a need to forgive. Where there is suffering, unhappiness, lack, confusion or misery of any sort, there is a need to forgive.

* "Without forgiveness is the mind in chains, believing in its own futility. Yet with forgiveness does the light shine through the dream of darkness, offering it hope, and giving it the means to realise the freedom that is its inheritance." W-332

* "Forgiveness is acquired. It is not inherent. Forgiveness must be learned." (W-121.6:1-3)

* "Forgiveness is the key to happiness." (W-121)

* The illusion is that there is something to forgive. Those who forgive are thus releasing themselves from illusions. Forgiveness is itself illusion, yet it is answer to the rest: "Forgiveness sweeps all other dreams away, and though it is itself a dream, it breeds no other." (W-198.3:1)

* One of the goals of 'A Course in Miracles' is to train the mind so that the time will come when instead of judging automatically, we will forgive automatically! Instead of seeing the other as doing something to us, we simply see them as asking for love in some way!

* Forgiveness isn't about being happy in the dream. It is about waking up from the dream. The fringe benefit is that the dream does get a lot better along the way

All references are to 'A Course in Miracles'.

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Relationshps

* The way to be happy in relationships is to change their purpose and use them as opportunities to re-member who we really are.

Relationships according to 'A Course in Miracles':

* "You cannot enter God's Presence... alone. All your brothers must enter with you, for until you have accepted them you cannot enter." (T-11.III.7:8,9)

* "There are no accidents in salvation. Those who are to meet will meet, because together they have the potential for a holy relationship. They are ready for each other." (M-3.1:6-8)

* "Relationships are always purposeful." (P-3.III.6:3)

* "The ark of peace is entered two by two." (T-20.IV.6:5)

* "All relationships in this world begin as special relationships, since they begin with the perception of separation and differences, which must then be corrected by the Holy Spirit through forgiveness, making the relationships holy. Specialness has two forms: special hate justifies the projection of guilt by attack; special love conceals the attack within the illusion of love, where we believe our special needs are met by special people with special attributes, for which we love them." (Glossary)

Special (Unholy) Relationships:

* "The special love relationship is the ego's chief weapon for keeping you from Heaven." (T-16.V.2:3)

* "The ego establishes relationships only to get something." (T-15.VII.2:1)

* "For an unholy relationship is based on differences, where each one thinks the other has what he has not. They come together, each to complete himself and rob the other. They stay until they think that there is nothing left to steal, and then move on." (T-22.int.2:5-7)

* "To believe that special relationships, with special love, can offer salvation is to believe that separation is salvation." (T-15.V.3:3)

* "How then, could guilt not enter? For separation is the source of guilt." (T-15.V.2:4-5)

* "Because of guilt, all special relationships have elements of fear in them. This is why they shift and change so frequently. They are not based on changeless love alone." (T-15.V.4:1-3)

* "Be not afraid to look upon the special hate relationship, for freedom lies in looking at it." (T-16.IV.1:1)

* "Holy Spirit uses special relationships, ... as learning experiences ... Under His teaching, every relationship becomes a lesson in love." (T-15.V.4:5-6)

* "Holy Spirit would not deprive you of your special relationships" (T-17.IV.2:3) "but would transform them - bring a touch of Heaven to them here." (T-15.V.8:1)

* "Forgiveness is the end of specialness!" (T-24.III.1.1)

* "The special love relationship is an attempt to limit the destructive effects of hate by finding a haven in the storm of guilt. It makes no attempt to rise above the storm, into the sunlight. On the contrary, it emphasizes the guilt outside the haven by attempting to build barricades against it, and keep within them. The special love relationship is not perceived as a value in itself, but as a place of safety from which hatred is split off and kept apart. The special love partner is acceptable only as long as he serves this purpose." (T-16.IV.3)

* "Most curious of all is the concept of the self which the ego fosters in the special relationship. This 'self' seeks the relationship to make itself complete. Yet when it finds the special relationship in which it thinks it can accomplish this it gives itself away, and tries to 'trade' itself for the self of another. This is not union, for there is no increase and no extension. Each partner tries to sacrifice the self he does not want for one he thinks he would prefer. And he feels guilty for the "sin" of taking, and of giving nothing of value in return. How much value can he place upon a self that he would give away to get a 'better' one?

The 'better' self the ego seeks is always one that is more special. And whoever seems to possess a special self is "loved" for what can be taken from him. Where both partners see this special self in each other, the ego sees "a union made in Heaven." (T-16.V.7)

* "It is impossible to let the past go without relinquishing the special relationship. For the special relationship is an attempt to re-enact the past and change it. Imagined slights, remembered pain, past disappointments, perceived injustices and deprivations all enter into the special relationship, which becomes a way in which you seek to restore your wounded self-esteem. What basis would you have for choosing a special partner without the past? Every such choice is made because of something 'evil' in the past to which you cling, and for which must someone else atone (pay for)." (T-16.VII.1)

Holy Relationships:

* "A holy relationship starts from a different premise. Each one has looked within and seen no lack. Accepting his completion, he would extend it by joining with another, whole as himself." (T-22.int.3:1-3)

* "Never can there be peace among the different. Each one must share one goal with someone else, and in so doing, lose all sense of separate interests." (P-2.II.8:4)

* "It is no dream to love your brother as yourself. Nor is your holy relationship a dream." (T-18.V.5:1,2)

* "All that remains of dreams within it is that it is still a special relationship - through which [Holy Spirit] can spread joy to thousands on thousands ..." (T-18.V.5:3,5)

* "Relationships are still the temple of the Holy Spirit, and they will be made perfect in time and restored to eternity." (P-2.II.1:5)

* "[The holy relationship] is the old, unholy relationship, transformed and seen anew - the only difficult phase is the beginning. Many relationships have broken off at this point." (T-17.V)

* "Think what a holy relationship can teach! Here is belief in differences undone." (T-22.int.4:1,2)

* "This holy relationship has the power to heal all pain, regardless of its form." (T-22.VI.4:4)

* "The holiest of all the spots on earth is where an ancient hatred has become a present love." (T-26.IX.6:1)

All references are to 'A Course in Miracles'.

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The Body, Sex and Money

Why do the body, sex and money give us so much trouble?

To understand this, we must first go back to the ontological reason as described in 'A Course in Miracles' (ACIM).

* ACIM tells us that in the 'tiny mad idea' where we chose to experience ourselves as separate, unique individuals, we imagined pushing God away and experienced ourselves as 'self created' rather than God created. Thus arose the powerful belief in 'me or you' and 'separate interests'. A part of the split mind, the ego, created a myth that this choice for separation was a sin. This is then followed by the guilt for the crime we think we have committed, and then comes the fear of punishment from God. The ego, then becomes our God and the real God our enemy.

* To avoid the terrible experience of this sin, guilt and fear, the ego makes us forget what we have done and then makes up a world of bodies where we could hide. The final step is to suppress it all and project it outside of ourselves. Now, everyone out there becomes the bad guy and the cause of all our pain and misery, and we become the innocent victims. 'I see sin in you and not in me.'

* This whole script is made up to keep us mindless and never get back to that part of the mind that chose separation in the first place and choose again. Our existence here is defined by the body and our personality (our self) and the underlying content of sin, guilt and fear is buried. 'I'm not aware I am a child of sin, guilt and fear. I think I am a child of my parents - the union of a sperm and an egg.'

* The body, sex and money have great value as a defence against this truth and are three of our greatest distractions. They are very inter-personal, and are a set up to give us endless problems. However, in truth, there is only the one problem - our original choice for separation.

Sex and the Body:

* Sex is the way we think we create life. Making another body is a way of extending ourselves and thus confirming we are 'self' created. This, the ego equates with sin! The body is a synonym for sin. Unconsciously we are re-experiencing the original split where we go off and create on our own.

* Just being in a body, breathing, etc. is a symbol, deep down, of the guilt of pushing God away.

* The problems around sex have nothing to do with sexual behaviour. It's the underlying thought that we are sinners. It's the 'content' in the mind and not the 'form' with the body.

* We have also made sex very pleasurable and desirable - partly to propagate the species and partly as a wonderful distraction. Sex is also a symbol of 'specialness' and the 'love/hate' in relationships.

* We are so identified as a body that if we are rejected sexually we can feel that we personally are rejected, worthless and not loved. We have to keep having sex to prove we exist.

* We confuse levels (mixing cause & effect) when we spiritualise sex and make it holy or unholy. Sex makes the body feel very real and that is the ego's purpose - the ultimate distraction from going home.

* Sex is almost at the peak of the ego's arsenal. We make sex very special and we generally only have sex with one other ! This re-enforces separation and specialness. "Minds are joined, bodies are not." T-18.VI.3.1

* Sex is no more of a joining than anything else. Sex is nothing and neutral !

* Sex and the body are a solution to the ego's problem (by making it all real and keeping us mindless). However, it creates a host of other problems - and the ego loves that. That is it's plan !

* Rules about sex are set up at different times and in different places - always looking for the bad guy.

* The thoughts, feelings and actions we have around sex are the same as around anything else.

* Sex is a great symbol for us to hook all our blame and judgement etc. onto. We think we raped God and so we rape each other, metaphorically and literally. We always do to each other what we think, deep down, we did to God. Hence the guilt!

Money:

* The same principles apply to money. Unconsciously we are saying to God that you have something I want, my individuality. You won't give it to me, so I must take it from you. This is the beginning of the ego dream of 'separate interests' and the 'me or you' principle! It is the basis of the money issue.

* Furthermore, the 'scarcity principle' says there is something lacking in me or I lack something. The ego says if I don't have something, then you took it from me, and vice versa. The body was made as an instrument of scarcity with it's constant needs - air, food, touch, etc., etc. (Laws of Chaos - T-23.II.9-13)

* We made a world of scarcity so we could feel deprived and then find someone else to blame. We actually want people to have more money than us ! This allows us to clearly say: 'I've been unfairly treated.' This confirms that my separate identity exists.

* There is a huge difference in how much money people have. Its like the 'haves' and the 'have nots'. Very few have a lot of money and millions are almost starving in the world.

* One of the greatest symbols of 'inequality' is money. We had to find something like money to make the ego script true.

* In nearly every business deal we are trying to get what we can at the expense of the other. Money is nearly always for me or mine. We bargain and give as little as we can for as much as we can get from the other. This is the same for money, sex, relationships, religion, politics and God. We originally got what we wanted at God's expense, we think.

* We think money is the root of all evil. It is infused with guilt, sin, fear and therefore POWER !

* We have a special love/hate relationship with money, where we use money as a symbol of scarcity. We chose to have a little or a lot to show our parents, who didn't give us what we needed, how powerful we are. In truth money is not evil. In itself, it is nothing and neutral.

* The ego always wants more (of anything). This, again, is a way to prove we exist and are self created.

* Poverty is a kind of bargain with God. I will pay for my sin of pushing God away with my crucifixion and suffering.

* It is very hard not to feel guilty if we have a lot of money. Rich and poor are two sides of the same coin. The rich feel guilty because they think they stole it, and the poor feel victimised by those they think stole it from them.

There is another way:

* Purpose is everything! What are the body, sex and money for? Because of their inherent problems, they can also be used as excellent classrooms. We can change their purpose. We can change their purpose from separate interests to shared interests. We can rise above the battlefield and see they are no different to anything else in this dream. Everything here has two possible purposes:

1) The ego's purpose: To establish that separation, the body, victimisation, pain and pleasure are real and to find something out there to keep us distracted and mindless.

2) The right minded purpose: To use everything as a classroom - to get back to the mind and choose again. Its not about whether we have sex or don't have sex / have money or don't have money. Its about which teacher we do it with - the voice of the ego or the voice in our right minds.

* The body, sex and money are wonderful vehicles for helping us get in touch with the unconscious guilt in our minds. As we rise up the ladder, we may still want sex and money, but they won't be an issue and the intensity we might feel about them will eventually diminish. ACIM is neither for nor against money and sex. The only thing that matters is their purpose.

* All we need is the willingness to look gently at the our thoughts and behaviour around sex and money without guilt and judgement, and then they will cease to be an issue.

All references are from 'A Course in Miracles'.

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Abundance, Success and True Prayer

* True abundance and success is an inner experience and True Prayer is the means. It is about having inner peace no matter what seems to be happening on the outside. The paradox is that once we have removed the blocks that prevented us from having inner peace, we are much more likely to manifest what we want on the outside.

* Our sense of lack (the scarcity principle) came the moment we chose to separate from our Source.

* Lack of abundance, financial problems, ill health etc., usually show up as a result of unconscious guilt. They are merely symbols of the thought of separation. Birth can be seen as a re-living of the original separation.

* Thought is creative. All our thought are successful. However, it is more our unconscious thoughts that run our life than our conscious ones. We need to make our unconscious thoughts of separation conscious, so we can look at them and choose again.

* All thoughts are prayer, but which teacher are we praying with - the ego or the Holy Spirit?

* 'A Course in Miracles' says the function of the ego is to seek and never find !

* "Prayer is a way of asking for something. But the only meaningful prayer is for forgiveness, because those who have been forgiven have everything. The prayer for forgiveness is nothing more than a request that you may recognise what you already have." T-3.V.6

* Which do we rely on for our source of supply? Something in the world that is constantly changing, like our career, job or abilities, or our true Source, which is changeless and eternal?

* Asking the Holy Spirit or Jesus for specifics in the world gets us on the right ladder with the right Teacher, but it will not get us up the ladder.

* "The secret of true prayer .... is to forget the things you think you need. You overlook your specific needs as you see them, and let them go into God's hands. What could His answer be but your remembrance of Him? Can this be traded for a bit of trifling advice about a problem of an instant's duration? God answers for all eternity. But still all little answers are contained in this." S-1.I.4

* This is not a level of prayer that everyone can attain as yet. At the lower levels of prayer we usually ask for specifics and is always out of a sense of lack. Asking for specifics makes our needs real. Nevertheless, we will receive an answer that best suits our needs at the time.

* These answers always come as some form of inspiration, and we will simply know what to do in any situation. The word 'inspiration' means 'in spirit'. By joining with spirit, the answer is given us. The Holy Spirit itself does not act in the world. We simply translate the non-specific presence of the Holy Spirit in our right minds into specifics here and at a level we can understand.

* True prayer, like forgiveness, is an illusion. However, it is an illusion that leads out of the illusion and gives an experience of true abundance!

References are from 'A course in Miracles' and the 'Song of Prayer' pamphlet.

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Anger and Conflict

* Anger is passion (life energy) with a negative thought attached to it. When we suppress anger, we suppress the life energy and it turns to rage. We need to welcome the life energy and seek to change the negative thought.

* Assertiveness is passion (life energy) with a positive thought.

* Anger is a cover for real hurt and disappointment - a defence against feeling one's real needs and feelings.

* The more we accept our own anger, the faster we will get to the feelings beneath.

* Acting out the anger only releases tension - feeling the real feelings beneath the anger, makes the anger disappear.

* When the real feelings behind anger are not felt, they remain waiting to be felt.....

* When our needs and feelings as children are continually ignored, we shut down in the following sequence: Unmet needs >> hurt/disappointment >> ANGER >> rage/hate >> emotional shutdown >> physical symptoms/neurosis.

* When our anger gets triggered, what we feel is always from the past. We decided who we thought we were in the first few years of life and it won't have changed much since then. We cannot be hurt as adults - only triggered!

* The thing that makes you angry is what you perceived was happening when you shut your heart down.

* We are never angry for the reason we think.

* We are angry because we see something that is not there.

* Irritation is simply a lesser degree of anger.

* Anger must come from judgement. Judgement is the weapon we use against ourselves.

* What we resent the most in our parents, we become. Resentment is old anger, re-sent.

* Helpless, hopeless and powerless is the bottom line on anger.

* Boredom is anger with no expression.

* Forgiveness ends the dream of conflict.

We can help to resolve conflict by:

* Letting go of all judgement and asking for what we want in every circumstance.

* Not having to be right. We can imply: My way is not a better way, simply another way!

* Bringing it home and speaking only about oneself and what one feels and needs rather than making projections about the other.

* The greatest conflict between our parents is one of the greatest conflict within ourselves.

* The decisions we made when we took our first breath are at the core of all human conflict.

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Suffering

* Suffering can dissolve the ego. However, if we resist the suffering, by suppressing it, making it wrong, becoming a victim of it etc., we can then strengthen the ego. By surrendering, making it right, accepting what is right now and even being grateful for the suffering, then the ego dissolves.

* To free yourself from the ego, all you must do is become aware of your thoughts and emotions. Become the witness as they happen. As you give them your full and gentle attention you are bringing the darkness into the light. Full attention and full acceptance is surrender!

* When we become the witness, an intelligence far greater than the ego's begins to operate in your life. This intelligence is Grace.

* To be at peace now, we have to make peace with the present moment and not some time in the future.

* Suffering is caused in the present by the resistance to accepting and surrendering to what is so right now.

* The decisions we made around birth and early childhood are at the core of all human suffering.

* If you cannot accept what is so on the outside right now, then accept the pain that is on the inside. Let it be there. Witness it. Embrace it.

* Let your crucifixion be your resurrection.

* Surrender means to accept the present moment unconditionally. This means there is no judgement or inner resistance to what is.

* Surrender is not resignation. It doesn't mean you don't have to do something to change a situation if it's appropriate. When you do make changes, they will be performed with a positive energy rather than a negative one. This could be called surrendered action.

* The ego believes that your resistance is your strength, whereas it actually cuts you off from true Being. Resistance is weakness and fear masquerading as strength.

* The purpose of suffering is to make you aware of your resistance to what is, to bring you into consciousness and into the Now.

* As you let go of resistance and move into surrender, all judgement and negativity starts to dissolve. The realm of Being, which has been obscured by the mind, opens up. Suddenly, a great stillness and a deep sense of peace arises within you. Within that peace is great joy, and within that joy is love.

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Sickness and Healing

* "Sickness is a decision of the mind, not of the body. The acceptance of sickness as a decision of the mind, for a purpose it would use the body, is the basis for healing in all forms. A patient decides that this is so and he recovers... The resistance to recognising this is enormous, because the existence of the world as you perceive it depends on the body being the decision maker." M-5.II.2.1-3 & M-5.II.1.7

* The placebo effect is clear evidence that sickness is of the mind.

* The purpose of sickness is to keep us focused on the body and away from the decision making mind.

* It serves to prove we are innocent victims, and that something (people, viruses etc.) did it to us.

* It is a way of pushing love and God away and confirming our sense of separation and individuality.

* Healing must occur in exact proportion to which the valuelessness of sickness is recognised...

* "Healing is accomplished the instant the sufferer no longer sees any value in pain." M-5.II.1 & I.1

* "Who is the physician? Only the mind of the patient himself. Special agents seem to be ministering to him, yet they but give form to his own choice. He chooses them to bring tangible form to his desires. It is this they do, and nothing else. They are not actually needed at all." M-5.II.2.5-11

* "All therapy is psychotherapy, so all illness is mental illness." P-2.IV.1.1

* "Relieve the mind of the burden of guilt it carries so wearily, and healing is accomplished." P-2.IV.11.2

* "The process of psychotherapy can be defined simply as forgiveness, for no healing can be anything else. The unforgiving are sick, believing they are unforgiven." P-2.VI.1.1-2

* Healing (forgiveness) is simply the process of being the witness, gently looking at our choice for the ego and choosing again.

* "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." P-2.VI.5.1-2

* The Course teaches that it is sometimes appropriate to take medication, or use some other form of magic (changing an effect), so as not to experience too much fear.

* "Healing is holy. Nothing in this world is holier than helping one who asks for help... Where two have joined together for healing, God is there." P-2.V.4.1-4

* "The psychotherapist is a leader in the sense that he walks slightly ahead of the patient, and helps him to avoid a few of the pitfalls along the road by seeing them first." P-2.III.1.1

* "Spiritual healing is not about the patient. Who is being healed - the patient or the healer, the forgiver or the forgivee? The answer is both, for they are one." (Disappearance of the Universe by Gary Renard)

* Our work with clients, and ourselves, is not to focus on the body's symptoms, but rather to get back to the mind and the letting go of guilt. We must simply use the body as a classroom onto which we have projected our guilt.

* "Sickness is not chosen at this level. Sickness is made by your mind at a larger level, and is being acted out here in a predetermined way. You can get in touch with your power to choose and thus have a big influence on whether or not you feel pain, and sometimes lessen or eliminate your physical symptoms. It is only sometimes, because unless you are a master you won't always be successful." (Disappearance of the Universe by Gary Renard Page 301)

* "If you're sick and your symptoms change through forgiveness, consider that a fringe benefit. This is not the goal of the Course, however. The real goal is Heaven, but the short term goal is peace and the end of all pain and suffering regardless of what your symptoms may be." (Immortal Reality by Gary Renard Page 85)

All references are to 'A Course in Miracles'.

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