ACIM Talk 29: Forgiveness Heals Sickness

The talk focuses on exploring the connections between unforgiveness and physical and psychological sickness. Various case examples are discussed to illustrate how unresolved emotional issues can manifest physically, including examples of multiple personality disorder and the mind-body connection. The source of all healing is in the mind, brought about by forgiveness.

Transcript

A Course in Miracles Talk Number 29 Forgiveness Heals Sickness The following quote is from the Course in Miracles supplement Psychotherapy Purpose Process and Practice Sickness takes many forms and so does unforgiveness.

The forms of one will 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 affect a cure.

That is achieved by only one recognition,

That only forgiveness heals unforgiveness and only an unforgiveness can possibly give rise to sickness of any kind.

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,

As disease.

Even our language gives us pointers.

Get off my back.

You are a pain in the neck.

You make me sick.

And so on.

Thankfully,

Just as a lack of forgiveness can result in physical disease,

Forgiveness can heal it.

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,

Even allergies,

Appearing or disappearing when a different personality stroke 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.

In the book The Holographic Universe,

M Talbot states,

Differences in allergic reactions among members of the family 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.

Some years after my The Findhorn Book of Forgiveness was published,

A friend of mine who works as a clinical psychologist in Europe and specializes with patients who have dissociative identity disorder wrote to me as she had personally observed the following.

1.

Allergies appearing and disappearing as personalities switch in and out.

2.

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.

3.

The voice pattern is different for each personality.

Accomplished actors can't alter their voice enough to disguise their voice patterns.

4.

Female personalities are on different menstrual cycles.

5.

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

6.

One personality can be colourblind and the other not.

7.

Eye colour can change.

Other people seem to have developed natural multiples without being abused and or traumatized.

They often refer to themselves as multiples or plurals in which many people share one mind,

Taking turns managing the bodies.

As different 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.

All this evidence forces us to look more closely at the mind-body link.

It also gives further incentive to practice 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 the 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,

While shopping in town,

Jean was overcome with the feeling that she was in an impossible situation,

And she immediately cried out,

I must stop working now.

On her way from one shop to another,

Her car mounted the pavement and ran over her foot.

Jean spent the next few weeks resting at home and putting in her notice,

As she was no longer able to work.

This painful invocation demonstrates the power of our minds.

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 that 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 has come to an end,

And one of the partners fears the necessary separation.

This partner may choose sickness in the hope that the 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.

The A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 136 states,

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.

The truth may go away and threaten your establishments no more.

If instead we choose the path of forgiveness,

We will become non-judgmentally 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,

Both physical and psychological,

Is within our own mind,

And not in the world,

Allows healing to occur.

If the cause of our problems is seen in the quote outside 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 disease 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.