A Framework for Everything (Especially When the World Feels Chaotic)

I was introduced to the work of Dr. David Hawkins in 2019, and it became an unbelievably helpful framework going into 2020 and everything that has unfolded globally since.

To summarize, it is an emotional scale of the entire human experience.

There is an upper half of the scale that is associated with positive emotions and a lower half that is associated with negative emotions. However, Dr. Hawkins doesn't classify emotional states as "good" or "bad" in the conventional sense.

Instead, higher emotions are associated with spiritual growth, expansion, and participation in the world through our authentic selves.

Lower states are associated with spiritual hindrances, contraction, and participation in the world through the lens of the ego.

Shame is at the bottom of the scale. According to Dr. Hawkins' extensive research, this is the lowest a human can feel, and shame that is persistent can lead to a breakdown of the physical body.

As we move up the scale, which is logarithmic, each emotion has more energy associated with it. After shame, we have guilt, apathy, grief, fear, desire, anger, and pride.

Then, we reach a pivotal point, which he refers to as the point of neutrality. Below this point are the negative or egoic states, above it are positive, authentic, and life-giving states.

As we move up from here, we experience courage, neutrality, willingness, acceptance, and reason.

Then, there is another critical shift into a spiritual paradigm, where we experience love, joy, peace, and enlightenment.

Dr. Hawkins describes that the spiritual masters around whom modern religions have formed, such as Jesus Christ and The Buddha, experienced pure consciousness, the enlightened state at the top of this scale.

The more fundamentalist a particular religious sect, the more those teachings are being interpreted from the rigid, egoic, lower portion of the scale, filtered through the lens of shame, guilt, and fear.

In general, when we experience emotions on the top portion of the scale, we see reality more clearly. The opposite is true on the lower half of the scale.

Dr. Hawkins describes states as being phasic like the weather, while simultaneously being like an orchestra with lower tones and higher tones being played at the same time. Sometimes a particular tone stands out, and then it shifts.

As humanity has moved into a more chaotic period, this framework has helped me understand extreme views, cognitive dissonance, and the role of rigid religion in current conflicts and politics.

This is the first post I’ve written. It feels challenging to get started and I’m a little stiff with writing. I think I’ll call this one complete, but stay tuned. I have a feeling I’ll go far more in-depth with various aspects of his work, as it has helped me immensely with understanding myself and the world around me.

If you are interested in learning more, please check out his books. These three are my favorites!

1.) "Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior"

2.) “The Map of Consciousness Explained: A Proven Energy Scale to Actualize Your Ultimate Potential”

3.) “Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender” (particularly useful if you are seeking applicable tools)

Thank you for being here!

Written by me

I originally had an image of the Dr. Hawkins' Map of Consciousness here, and I removed it because of copyright concerns.

This post will make a lot more sense if you look it up! Please google "Dr. David Hawkins' Map of Consciousness"

My favorite image is this one

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