David Hawkins: The scales of enlightenment

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David R. Hawkins believed he found a path to ultimate Truth. I think he is honest, but I do not feel his path will lead one to the stated goal. Using techniques derived from kinesiology, Doctor David Hawkins presented a method by which one gauges truth (or consciousness): on a scale of 1 to 1000, where 1 is simply being alive and 1000 is an advanced state of enlightenment.

I won’t go into the details of the actual test. Suffice it to say that it is simple. Read here for more on the origins of applied kinesiology.

The truth is that, as John Diamond discovered, there is one muscle in the left arm which corresponds with the entire biofield of a human being, and can be used to test the impact, on the entire system, of anything from a pair of shoes to finding the correct dosage of a particular supplement FOR THAT INDIVIDUAL. Dr. Diamond continually stressed that what might test healthy for one individual might significantly weaken another, and vice-versa.

Hawkins sidesteps Dr. Diamond’s emphasis on individual differences, and claims that anyone above the level of 200 (only 15% of humanity) will always give the same results if you follow his method. For those in the lucky minority, Hawkins offers a guaranteed way of determining the truth. Are you doubtful? Let me share with you some of my thoughts after reading Hawkins’ book Power Vs. Force, viewing a lecture video, and trying his method.

It did not take long to doubt Hawkins’ claim that “the truths reported in this book [Power Vs. Force] were scientifically derived and objectively organized.” David Hawkins cloaks Power Vs. Force in a veneer of mis-applied scientific jargon and presents highly speculative theories as facts. It is hard to imagine that a person, who once wrote journaled scientific papers, is now stating that subjects experienced “desynchronization of the cerebral hemispheres” as if this were a recognized medical condition. He references Karl Pribram as showing the brain acts “holographically,” while, in truth, Pribram’s is one of several theories. Hawkins makes vague references to nonlinear dynamics, chaos theory, and attractor patterns in support of his theory of consciousness. He displays a knack for obscuring the obvious by attempting to appear scientific: labeling an emotional upset as “turbulence that occurs in the attractor fields of consciousness.” Power Vs. Force is filled with attempts to be scientific that wind up worthy of ridicule rather than respect.

Dr. Hawkins refers to the “absolute replicability of test results,” yet makes no mention that kinesiology is not verified by double-blind studies, as evidenced by these reports from the National Institutes of Health website:
Double-blind Study on Materials Testing with Applied Kinesiology.

Test-retest-reliability and validity of the Kinesiology muscle test.

Applied kinesiology unreliable for assessing nutrient status.

A review of the research papers published by the International College of Applied Kinesiology from 1981 to 1987.

Unproven techniques in allergy diagnosis.

Applied kinesiology” in medicine and dentistry–a critical review

Unproved diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to food allergy and intolerance.

His book lists several variables that cause faulty test results: wearing synthetic clothing, metal jewelry, or simply the voice of the tester. If he is aware of the NIH studies, he probably dismisses them for these reasons. Considering he mentions his own tests sometimes occurring in informal settings such as lecture audiences of 1000 people, it becomes hard to imagine how he controlled these variables. I suspect he simply discarded any results that did not conform to his expectations.

Hawkins states that his diagnostic method cannot be used to make inquiries about the future, yet claims you can determine avenues of fruitful research and judge in advance the advisability of strategies. In fact, he says the method will revolutionize scientific inquiry, medical research, and product development by saving years of research and millions of dollars, yet does not list a single example where he or anyone else did so.

Occasionally, David Hawkins transcends his reliance on pseudo-scientific authority and seems to speak from a greater knowledge such as in this quote:

There is ultimately, neither duality nor nonduality; there’s only awareness. Only awareness itself can state that it’s beyond all concepts such as “is” or “is not.” That must be so, because “is” can be conceived only by consciousness itself…. Awareness itself is beyond even consciousness.

Typically though, Hawkins burdens such simple statements as “One’s range of choice is ordinarily limited only by one’s vision,” with unsupported references to his studies of “advanced theoretical physics, nonlinear dynamics, and the nature of nonlinear equations.” In Hawkins’ mind, “will” becomes “the chaos-theory principle of sensitive dependence on initial way of spiritual progress.”

As for the important question of how to become enlightened, Hawkins has only this to say:

The steps necessary to be taken to facilitate awareness of Self as consciousness have been well detailed historically. Numerous techniques and behaviors have been prescribed to facilitate the removal of obstacles to expanded awareness; these can be found in the practice of various spiritual disciplines. The one process common to all such teachings is the progressive elimination of the identification of self as finite.

In a book that contains 300 pages of reasoning, Hawkins makes an ironic, but true statement:

Human reason exhausts itself ceaselessly to explain the inexplicable. Explanation itself is high comedy, as preposterous as trying to see the back of one’s own head, but the vanity of the ego is boundless, and it becomes even more overblown by this very attempt to make sense of nonsense. The mind, in its identity with the ego, cannot by definition, comprehend reality; if it could, it would instantly dissolve itself upon recognizing its own illusory nature. It’s only beyond the paradox of mind transcending ego that what Is stands forth, self-evident and dazzling in its infinite Absoluteness. And then all of these words are useless.

Amen, brother! If Hawkins followed this statement, his book would be 30 pages instead of 300.  If you’re looking for a more direct and practical look at transcending ego, I humbly suggest you read my book, Subtraction: The simple math of enlightenment.  

As for the 2002 lecture video, it was a disappointment. Hawkins mentions that in 1965 he received a blast of thought from an archangel that calibrated at 50,000 (maybe it was 500,000…) and left him addled for years. Hmm…. He tells us he was a pirate in a past life and still knows where he buried the gold, then calibrates his story for the audience to show it is true. Funny how his calibrations don’t contradict his claims. He goes on and on, calibrating world leaders, dogs and cats, and making everyone in the audience feel very comfortable in their (or his) ability to understand life, the universe, and everything. He presents a muddled, yet comforting model. Exactly what we don’t need, in my opinion, if we are looking for the Truth.

After two or three hours of this, he finally mentions what one should do to get enlightened: let go of your personal story, he says. Witness your thoughts and surrender them to God. Once you do that, all “thinkingness” instantly disappears. I guess that’s it. Hawkins drifted off onto some other train of thought after making this simplistic statement. The only highlight of the lecture was his sense of humor. David Hawkins was quite funny, in a non-politically correct way, and didn’t hold back his opinions.

I tried his kinesiological method, but did not have consistent results. Perhaps I’m at some moronic level of consciousness…. Try it for yourself. That’s one good thing about David Hawkins: you can easily see for yourself if what he claims is true. Power Vs. Force is readily available, even in many local libraries, and testing his method will only take a few minutes.

David Hawkins passed away on September 19, 2012 at the age of 85. His was a long life of service.

A good interview of David Hawkins:

Sarlo’s Guru Ratings mentions some of the legal flourishes by the Hawkins organization that led to the Wiki entry and the NEIRR pages (both highly critical) disappearing:
More on David Hawkins

Update March 2022: And you’ll see in the comments below that the Hawkins organization is now targeting SpiritualTeachers.org by implying that copyright violations exist but without making any specific claim against this site.    

The official David Hawkins webpage is:
www.veritaspub.com/.

Another critical view comes from Scott Jeffrey in his book Power Vs. Truth.

Lastly, as a thank you for visiting, enjoy free shipping and get a signed copy of my book Subtraction: The Simple Math of Enlightenment for only $13.50.

55 thoughts on “David Hawkins: The scales of enlightenment”

  1. I have mixed feelings on kinesiology and the map (I call it a scale since it’s 1-dimensional not 2-dimensional) of consciousness.

    On the one hand, I thought the notion of emotions being distributed along a linear scale according to the amount of energy they supply (calibrated logarithmically like dB’s) was a truly brilliant notion, though like so many brilliant ideas, seems entirely logical after you think about it for awhile. After all, some thoughts & emotions make us joyous while others make us miserable. Even Tony Robbins says we don’t “have” depression, but rather, we “do” depression by virtue of the thoughts we choose to think.

    But the idea of intuiting the unknowable e.g., the actual numerical values of the emotions, or the truth or falsity of certain statements, or supplement dosages – based on kinesiology – is something I’m not so sure of. This is because in 2008, I had some supplements given to me based on muscle testing, and they made me extremely sick. And I could feel my muscle go weak and strong as different supplements were placed on my chest. My conclusion based on that experience was while it is certainly true that some chemicals placed on our chest will definitely make us go strong or weak, extrapolating from that to conclude that these chemicals should actually go INTO our bodies is simply too big of a leap to make with any degree of accuracy.

    1. Thanks for the comment. I never thought about the issue of supplements muscle tested on the surface of the body, but then ingested into the body.

    2. Having had some experience of being in the company of realized beings, as well as reading up on the subject in various accounts, I have come to the conclusion that things they say about what my teacher refers to as “The Play,” (that is, samsara, maya, or the 4-dimensional universe, whatever you want to call it), well, I have come to the conclusion that anything they say about “the play” is suspect. They don’t care.

      My own teacher said frequently, “Anything can happen in Mother’s Play,” Mother being the Divine Mother. So something obviously outlandish is as possible as something rational. The election of Donald Trump comes immediately to mind. When I listened to Hawkins talk about his consciousness scale, I thought it was ridiculous. And yet if you sort through the b.s., he says things that only a person who has “gone beyond” would say. And of course there is no “he” there. He says the character David Hawkins is only a puppet, there is nothing there.

      Hawkins’ advice to contemplate the emotions that underlie thoughts has been very helpful to me personally. His description of entering nirvikalpa samadhi with his teacher standing by is also helpful. I often think to myself, “You just have to walk through the door,” which is a paraphrase of what he said. (and I haven’t done it yet.)

    3. There is a misunderstanding you have in Hawkins Kinesiology… He does it very different than the rest of the Applied Kinesiologists So any critique is not relevant. Hawkins would agree with the limitations you point out with AK. He also recognizes the limitations of attempting to put nonlinear processes into a linear format.
      And he did start to lose it in the last several years of his life, I can attest to that.
      Anyway he was enlightened but as Ken Wilber points out you can attain non duality but it doesn’t mean when you discuss worldly issues you have any better understanding than anyone else. That’s why you have to do the growing up part also. PS I absolutely love the work you are doing. Keep it up!

    4. “Even Tony Robbins says we don’t “have” depression, but rather, we “do” depression by virtue of the thoughts we choose to think.”

      Wow, I’m sure that the folks out there that are struggling with crippling depression would be so relieved to know that according to Tony Robins, “we don’t “have” depression, but rather, we “do” depression by virtue of the thoughts we choose to think”. I’m pretty sure they would be overjoyed to discover that their mental and often accompanying physical pain is completely their own fault, and if only they would “choose” to think differently, they would be just dandy!

      Let’s not considered the body chemistry that can cause deep depression, much less the hormonal or chemical imbalances, drug reactions, etc. that have NOTHING to do with “what you are thinking”. Let’s just blame those folks who have it.

      1. You are to some extent right. First, there should never be an atmosphere of what could be ‘blame’ or ‘judgement’ or any idea of ‘fault’. We are all here in a fallen world and it isn’t our fault. It is much more complicated than has been stated. In my experience, working with a friend who is a gifted medium in the higher sense, we have discovered root causes of problems in lives way back and sometimes repeated many times over. I recently spoke with the great Dr Angel Escudero who has operated for 45 years using no chemical anesthetics. He also managed to get a woman over 15 years of depression with his methods. It is a matter of changing how you express thoughts and words to yourself:Go to the positive.Not,”I’m hungry” but “I could do with some food right now”. Fill your mouth with saliva(tells vagus nerve all is well) and say to yourself,”I am filled with a sense of wellbeing.” It does work, but requires mental discipline to develop the habit. I experienced horrendous post natal depression many years ago- my circumstances were extremely challenging, I was very young, alone and there seemed no way out, but eventually got myself out of it with radical action and sheer inner strength which has got me through every trauma and a deep philosophy of life which I’ve had since a very young age, but not everyone might have that.My view? Tony Robbins is far too much into money.Humility is a great thing. Self-awareness(in thought, word and deed, vital) Spiritual power doesn’t have to advertise on the internet and lead you into spending large amounts of cash. Compassion is vital.Trusting intuition, which is our stored ancient soul knowledge, will guide us if we listen, but if you are lying in bed with the curtains drawn all day trapped in dark depression, it is torture and compassionate help, friendship and understanding are what you need. I never took a single drug. Chemicals -both drugs and polluting ones – affect us and remove us from our true selves. The best drug is Love and it is hard to find when you are in that deeply unhappy pit, but the unconditional love of others(and companion creatures) is a great help. My rescue dog was my very best friend and was a guardian spirit after she passed appearing just before any crisis in my life. Knowing (and experiencing) , what I do now of the complex web, the many many factors affecting us – too many to mention- especially if you are a highly sensitive person as I am, it is necessary to see the individual, not to generalise and to work on keeping that open heart. No sentimentality. It is always there, waiting…Love sends fear away.

        1. I fully concur with your points. Our animal companions are far more spiritually evolved than ourselves. We ignorantly presume they don‘t understand because they can‘t talk . They get to go home early because they have far less to learn, if anything. We are all lonely and desperate for the love that we will only know when we get home. We search and read and seek for that lepton of truth that resonates with our spirit that will give us a clue as to what comes next and try to wrap our heads around the idea of an infinite, never ending eternity that we cannot now understand. We that read such teachers are seekers, searchers, so wishing to know what we cannot yet really know now. Love as much as you can in this brief place of learning that feels so long and dim. Love your self most of all and things will mostly fall into place. All of you here have the deepest love and compassion from me, a seeker like you who hopes to learn what i‘m meant to learn so i can get home.

      2. So true, CK! I had/”did” depression for decades while actively studying, exploring, and practicing various spiritual and holistic healing paths. In January 2017, I removed gluten from my diet and felt the chronic, low-grade depression disappear. I had gone gluten free for a few months in 1987 and not noticed any difference, so this change in 2017 was a total surprise and not at all expected. I went gluten free after reading and hearing about how modern-day, conventionally-grown wheat affects our microbiome and also about a chemical in the wheat molecule that is a depressant. Every person’s body is different, and much human health care ignores nutritional considerations. (Veterinarians, on the other hand, always ask what a creature has been consuming to help them with diagnosis and treatment.)

      3. I believe that comment was about personal ‘responsibility’ and notwithstanding the chemical issues you mention, the Tony Robbins comment makes sense to me. We need to give up this current victimology that the left want us all to wallow in. There is no power or strength in that. But then that is the idea, isn’t it? ‘Victims’ are way easier to control. If you believe that ‘thoughts become things’, that we are capable of manifestation, then why is this so hard to grasp?

    5. You say Sri Ramana Maharshi is a 5-star teacher which Hawkins calibrated at 720. 700+ denotes enlightenment on the Hawkins scale. So you are contradicting yourself by saying Hawkins is 1 star but the teachers Hawkins recommends are 5 stars. Read more than just power vs force and have a little faith. Everyone has faith in something the question is faith in what? Maybe there is more to life than what you can see or prove via the scientific method?

  2. yes david hawkins was an obvious charlatan with his books filled with new age mumbo jumbo
    Alternative medical diagnoses and treatments are not included in the science-based curriculum taught in medical schools, and are not used in medical practice where treatments are based on scientific knowledge. Alternative therapies are often based on religion, tradition, superstition, belief in supernatural energies, pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, or fraud. within

    1. trevinsky waldorf
      Your attacks against alternate treatments is based on ignorance.
      The scientific knowledge used in medical schools and training is very limited.
      Anything outside of scientific knowledge is not mumbo jumbo BS, it is just not known by the medical establishment, which usual does not provide any cures, but just treats the symptoms, which usual just leaves the health problem to get worse and any drugs prescribed often results in side effects, which ends up in more drugs prescribed and often an endless loop into declining health.

      I have the wisdom to use the limited knowledge of doctors when helpful and go to alternative treatments when the doctors limited knowledge makes them blind to curing the actual health problem.

      Doctors are actually responsible for the decline in health in many of their patients.

      My wife had cancer and 100% ignored the doctors and hospital recommended treatment of radiation, chemotherapy and surgery and just got inexpensive alternative treatments and was cured in 9 months and stayed that way in great health for the last 10 years. Someone we knew with the same cancer followed the doctor and hospital recommended treatments and died in 6 months due to the medical establishment limited knowledge and fixation on the scientific method to health cures and optimum health. God and healing don’t care about doctors and the scientific method and egocentric doctors and scientists.

      1. With much respect to your perception of doctors they are NOT responsible for the decline of patients health. Only the patient carries the responsibility for their own health. I am very happy for you and your wifes’ experience for eliminating the cancer within her. Every patient has the same opportunity to choose the way of accepting the free gift of healing. Doctors do not claim to heal patients. They just assist patients in the manner they are trained to serve in this world. I have experience hundreds of healings through ” LIGHT HEALING” as I watched cancers disappear over night. I am not responsible for the restoration of health or the decline of health in another person. I just assist in eradicating sickness {separation } and disease { DIS EASE } for a willing vessel.

        1. You must be a doctor not familiar with the monetary kickbacks to oncologists who order chemotherapy or the numerous medical practitioners and microbiologists who have been murdered. Big Pharm runs the medical schools and programs doctors. Samples and lunches sound familiar?

      2. I agree wholeheartedly Richard, thank you for taking the time out to clarify that for those who do not know.

      3. Hi Richard,
        Thanks for your passionate insights, yes bravo. Are you willing to share what kind of cancer your wife was diagnosed with and what she did to get over it?
        Thanks again,
        Richard

      4. For each alternative treatment that succeeds, there are many that do not. The generalization of your case is insinuative.

    2. Oh dear, you are obviously rather trapped in that which you have chosen to give you confidence – the medical establishment. The science-based curriculum taught in medical schools is extremely limited and while a lot of things have been extremely useful in modern medicine (trauma surgery the most successful), a lot of it has been very damaging and quite honestly leaves many in a mess – or in the case of pharmaceuticals and vaccines very damaged or sometimes dead. I have had tremendous results in my adult life in following the wholistic way. Can you define science?Judge ‘pseudo science?’All in the mind? I’ve had wonderful healings and seen them in others. I haven’t had a GP for about 40 years and only once resorted to a modern medical procedure – one which is the most successful for people. Yes, grateful indeed. BUT so glad I went to alternatives for all other things- cured beautifully. Never taken any drugs. And the medics prepared to go beyond their training and step out of the constrictions of it are the best. Wishing you more freedom of consciousness to be able to step out of that box. Take care.

    3. Medical, Science? Hawkins talks often about the 12 Steps, documented by Bill Wilson and articulated very clearly “what man could not cure”.. “God ‘or your High Power’ could”. I am a witness to this everyday. Bill Wilson, in my life time, may have been one of the most enlightened individuals and is responsible for millions of people on the path to enlightenment. Bill Wilson was never mentioned on this website. Not only did Wilson together with Bob Smith work out the 12 Step that stop so many people from killing themselves, they came up with the 12 Traditions which keep people from killing one another. In other words, we park our ego and engage with one other for the purpose of being a service to each other. This is how we notice enlightenment. It’s not in books, the gym, yoga, etc.. It’s heart to heart. I look at Hawkin’s background, education, profession and listen to him speak. There was something special. I was skeptic about the muscle testing but am trying it. Very intriguing! Hey and thanks for this website.

  3. Sahaja Yoga does explain to it’s followers how to discern truth from falsehood.
    Just google that for a detailed explanation or go to one of classes worldwide they are always free.

  4. Our Healthcare systems are the worst Healthcare Systems in history almost, the great advances in medical science have been lost to the middleman the insurance company and the drug companies, we sit and watch television with commercial after commercial selling young people prescription drugs. Once you go to the doctor you’ll get a prescription and you’ll be on them the rest of your life. If that is my choice I will take the Alternative Care and I will judge by results. I suggest you be so wise.

  5. A force/displacement analysis of muscle testing

    The model is accurate 98% of the time compared to judgments of clinicians with more than 5 years of experience but is considerably lower for clinicians with less than five years of experience (64%). this accuracy rate indicates that the model is reliable in predicting the clinician’s perception of muscle strength, and it also indicates that the testing procedure for muscle strength used by experienced clinicians in applied kinesiology are reliable.

    Link:
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11065332

  6. RESULTS:
    In Experiment 1, MRT accuracy, 0.659 (95% CI 0.623 – 0.695), was found to be significantly different (p < 0.01) from intuition accuracy, 0.474 (95% CI 0.449 – 0.500), and also from the likelihood of chance (0.500; p < 0.01). Experiment 2 replicated the findings of Experiment 1. Testing for various factors that may have influenced MRT accuracy failed to detect any correlations.

    CONCLUSIONS:
    MRT has repeatedly demonstrated significant accuracy for distinguishing lies from truths, compared to both intuition and chance.

    Link:
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27903263

  7. The theory of consciousness levels is only a part of his main idea, or more accurately, a vehicle to express his main idea which is to tell us that we are not our physical bodies or endless thoughts, but something beyond those. The theory of consciousness levels itself was not meant to achieve that state, but used to make us aware that there is “something up there” of which we had little experience before. For achieving that state, he suggested various other methods, like letting go of resistances, being honest about oneself, being kind to all beings, and so on, which are similar to teachings of most spiritual teachers. His unique contribution compared to other spiritual teachers is that he provides a visualized ladder of spiritual growth.

    So, the effectiveness of the consciousness level theory and that of his teachings are two different things.

    1. It turns out the visualized ladder of spiritual growth isn’t a Hawkins original. Scientology has this idea too.

      I think the first known occurence was far before either Hawkins or Scientology. It would seem that nothing actually useful from Hawkin’s work came from him originally.

  8. a very simple test to see that it is true, is to use EFT and pick a big moment of loss and process it and you will see this scale backwards. And it is easy seen on a child under the age of four before they learn to manipulate adults.
    A cruel test: take a child and promise it to give it all candies it want and go to the candy store and there you say: no I regret the whole thing. Then you will see the whole scale from enthusiasm down to the bottom and apathy. I have not done myself but I have seen it.

  9. Hawkins books “The Eye of the Eye’ and ‘I’ are spot on. A way to look at realization like other such beings have shared.
    Communication suggests a you and a me. But that is not so. The paradox which allows only pointing to what is real.

  10. In my view David R. Hawkins is a spiritual genius. I too cannot vouch for the kinesiology stuff but I can still recognize the truth of so much of what he teachers, and for me, the clarity with which he writes, and the integrity I see in this man is enough to inspire me for the rest of my life…He writes with insight and in incredible depth and complexity. His books, like his teachings on Youtube are amazing. I think anyone who comes across his work is very privileged.

    1. I have been learing it for about 6 months now and it is helping me more than anything elese I have ever heard or read, the likes of Tony Robins and people like that to me I feel are not spirtiual teachers but in it for more about the money and the ego i sense in them.. hakings is so down to earth im from Belfast and i totaly get his humor..

  11. I too recognize the truth for the first time in 53 years of searching for answers. I am very grateful to all that Dr. David Hawkins was able to share and teach.

    Much Love and Gratitude

  12. I want to add here my somewhat critical/skeptical view of Dr. Dawkins but before I do that I want to declare that I am not skeptical in general of such things as mind-matter interaction, muscle testing, and telepathy. (I am a member of IONS, the Institute for Noetic Sciences.) So, my critical/skeptical view of Dr. Dawkins is not due to my thinking that this general field is mumbo jumbo. (Just as an aside, here is a set of two good articles related to this overall field that some people consider mumbo jumbo: http://www.muscletesting.com/part-1-bioelectric-fields/ )

    Instead of stating my unease with his Power vs. Force framework etc., I want to quote (in support of my skepticism) an excerpt I found at https://veritaspub.com/dr-hawkins/, written (it seems) by his wife. The article has the following title and date
    Sir David Ramon Hawkins
    Doc’s Memorial Service,
    October 8, 2012

    Here is the excerpt:

    “He loved everyone unconditionally. That got him into trouble sometimes because
    he trusted the wrong people; he saw only the good side of everyone, including those who really just wanted to use him. That happened over and over again; it was not easy for me, as his wife, to stand back and watch him go through a betrayal.”

    Now my question is:

    For someone who claims that an enlightened person (or perhaps anyone at a certain high level?) can tell the difference between truth and falsehood, how could it be possible to trust the wrong people and be betrayed? I can understand that a loving and enlightened person will knowingly allow some low level, base person to take advantage of him/her but would always have at least an inkling that the other person is not a really true person.

    So, it seems this “testimonial” from his wife shows that his system did not quite work for him.

    OK, that’s all I had to say.

    1. Have you heard of saints? They are fully aware of motives of misguided opportunists. They allow knowingly. They have gone beyond silly tests working or not. Do they care? When they see everyone as part of existence, they have transcended “good-bad” paradigm, imo.

    2. On the contrary…his wife said he loved everyone unconditionally.Surely that is the point? We believe the Creator is a God of unconditional love? otherwise who of us would be left standing.

  13. I personally have never had any success trying the techniques for myself and certainly am certainly a bit apprehensive when he says something like only 15% of the people in the US can reliably be used for the testing, – hat being said, his “Map of Consciousness” seems to be about as accurate as you are going to get with this type of stuff and I have often referred to it when seeking discernment on particular issues.

  14. Hey Everyone,
    I love Dr. David Hawkins teaching and his message. I have being studying many different teachings from many teachers. Growing up in Asia, I have lots of Eastern Believes. These are deep deep believe systems that sometime i don’t even know I had them. Being in US for more than 40 years, i also adopted a lot of Believe systems. i.e. thinking positive, fight for your rights, etc. These are also Believe Systems that I have.

    I went thru Deepak Chopra training and Robert Monroe institute training. Every teaching all encourage us to go to higher consciousness level or field. It really does not matter how you call it. The main goal is to “REMOVE FEAR” and “LOVE OURSELVES”. If we could do these two things for ourselves every day in our life and help others to do the same, we have helped the Expansion of Universe.

    Dr. David Hawkin’s teaching taught us how to REMOVE FEAR by surrender to God / Universe Power and give love to ourselves. His teaching has filled in a big piece of puzzle for me in the total picture of becoming more higher consciousness human being. I used his consciousness map to uncover my layers of low vibration emotion. This map has helped me to understand myself more and caused me to study the past life regression training with Ms. Dolores Cannon, thus I was healed from my past life trauma.

    From my experience, in order to have an accurate Kinesiology result, i need to be in a very stable, pure and neutral emotion state before I start asking questions. Each person needs to fine tune his/her own technique.

    Like food dish in life, if you don’t like Dr. David Hawkins’ dish, you need to move on and try other people’s cooking. Not until you unplugged all the Believe Systems from your mind and learn how to test the food from a different perspective, we are in no position to judge. You are just judging yourself.

    I appreciate Dr. Hawkins’ teaching and message to the world. JJ

  15. Thank you for this thoughtful and critical (yet respectful) essay. I read Power vs. Force many years ago, and was shocked that a supposed scientist would claim that using kinesiology, he had proven that his entire book was true. It might have been a bit more believable if he had asked others to do the kinesiological testing and share their findings in the book.

    What struck me more was that no other readers seemed to question this, but rather accepted blandly his assertion. That makes me worry about peoples’ b.s. meters — when it comes to spirituality they seem to turn them off. You’re the first person I’ve read who has given an intelligent discussion of the problems with his approach.

  16. U cant judge Dr David
    hawkins work !
    he is the legendary psychiatrist who has even worked in monasteries
    millions of peoples have benefited from his greatest Research and psychiatric practices

  17. Mr Bevins, I think you’ve badly misinterpreted Hawkins body of work. By your own admission you have only read Power V’s Force. There are 9 books available on his website, I’ve read 4 and declare his teachings to be profound, clear and comprehensive.
    I also think you’ve misunderstood the work of Krishnamurti who was many things but his great body of work is valid and insightful to the state of non-duality.
    I’ve looked at the teachers you rate with 5 stars and find them to be ambiguous and lacking any substance.
    Which leads me to think you are limited in your knowledge of these eminent teachers.

    1. If you apply David Hawkins’ work (and note I say “apply” rather than “read” or “think” about it) and get results that work for you, then that is wonderful.

  18. My partner and I lived in Sedona, AZ where Dr. Hawkins also resided. We went to a church service to hear him speak in about 2001. We were so unimpressed and bored. Most of the lecture was spent talking about how enlightened he was and how he tested above Jesus. It was embarrassing.

    After the lecture he stayed to chat with people. We both wanted to get a closer feel for a guy who claimed to be enlightened above Jesus and Buddha so we waited in line and met him. He was very obviously inebriated and that explained why his lecture seemed rambling and so boring. Neither of us came away impressed or interested at all in learning more from him.

  19. I did some muscle testing during the recent Trump Senate event, which seemed to suggest the Republican view was more true (what can that possibly mean!!?). I also dealt 4 card solitaire throughout every time i was listening to the arguments. At first it appeared that the win to loss ratio was indicating a preference for the Democratic position. As soon as I said so out loud the weight of wins and losses shifted. Isn’t it quantum mechanics that teaches us that the smallest elements we can observe respond differently when noticing our observation of them? What is really taking place here?

    In my view the real challenge of being and consciousness is the matter of whether and to what extent we can pull ourselves out of being run by fear. That seems to be the main human struggle.

  20. I have read Power vs. Force and Letting Go in addition to numerous works by other philosophers. I find these books to be profound and helpful works. I do not agree with everything Hawkins says (nor anyone else for that matter), but there is something very important about being able to recognize and move between the various states of being into higher levels of consciousness.
    I find it interesting that there is a website which purports to “rate” intellectuals/philosophers and argue whether their theories are “correct” and to prove/disprove their “science” as if spirituality needed to be supported by science in the first place. It seems that in the face of so much science, all mankind has done with it is create more suffering.
    Enlightenment is a mountain with many paths to the top. Each path is valid, even if only one person uses it successfully; as long as we all agree that every ONE matters equally. To assert that any one path is better than another is tantamount to righteousness, which has been the basis for suffering and war. There are numerous intellectuals/philosophers that do not speak to me, but if they can help my brother in profound ways, who am I to judge?

  21. I think the Letting Go Technique or the Mechanism of Surrender as David Hawkins calls it is a powerful practice. A lot of teachers have claimed to have simple easy techniques that facilitates progress, but the LGT is one of the few that does. For better or worse, he doesn’t explain how to actually do it in his book “Letting Go”. The upside is it isn’t limited by means – basically you figure out the best way for you. The downside is you have to figure it out until it works.

    The scale of consciousness is also a useful tool, but it isn’t useful to see it or the “calibration levels” as anything close to absolute truth. I think the usefulness is getting a sense of the relative emotional states. Certainly at the below 200 level, I think the comparison of states is somewhat accurate: pride > anger > desire > fear and so on. It’s useful to observe emotional and feeling states using the scale and use this in conjunction with letting go.

    I think kinesiology is nonsense. It’s hard to reconcile someone who espoused such a useful technique (LGT) also promoted something so infantile. It’s wierd to me that Hawkins is mainly known for (and wanted to be known for) this pseudiscientific nonsense. When he talks about kinesiology he comes off as deluded.

    Maybe it comes down to the fact that the letting go technique doesn’t really belong to Hawkins. It is a dead simple “technique” that hundreds of spiritual teachers espouse. So Letting Go may be a good book but I’ve found learning more about Hawkins to be a dead end. The rest of his work is pseudoscientific gobbledygook mixed with delusional nonsense about angels, auras, and other unverifiable BS undistinguishable from mental illness.

    The practical use of letting go and a general understanding of the consciousness scale as a relative comparison of mental/emotional states (neither of which are Hawkins orignal ideas) are the only good takeaways I’ve seen from his work.

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  23. The fact that you’re making money off of your Amazon affiliate links (to Hawkings’ books) tells a lot about the level of your audacity 😀 😀 😀

    1. I’d make more money if I gave Hawkins 5-stars. The good thing about Hawkins is you don’t have to believe him or me. Try his techniques for yourself, and if you have benefits then great. You’ll see a mix of opinions in the comments section. I leave them all, in the interest of sharing. Yes, what I do is “audacious” when your favorite gets a one-star, and “wonderful” when they get five. Such are the stories we tell our selves.

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