56 pages • 1-hour read
Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior
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Themes
The Divinity of Consciousness
Hawkins’s work is centered on the concept of a universal consciousness that is divine. He acknowledges Carl Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious, a sort of database of knowledge that can be tapped by any person. He goes beyond Jung to posit that the source, and basis, of all consciousness is divine. As Fran Grace states in the Foreword, Hawkins’s work posits every aspect of human expression as being “an expression of, and a pathway to, the Ultimate” (27). However, he leaves the interpretation of this higher power to the individual. By doing this, he both stresses the universality of a divine consciousness and appeals to diverse religious beliefs.
The existence of universal consciousness as a higher power is unquestionable to Hawkins. As he says in Chapter 8, individuals of great power throughout human history all attributed the source of their power to “something greater than themselves” (135). Still, Hawkins does not usually refer to this divine source as God and rarely uses the word “God” aside from discussions of organized religions. When he mentions God in Chapters 2 and 22, he equates God with the infinite potential, power, and energy source of all existence, also called “Deity” and “Divinity.” Elsewhere he refers to “the Maker of all things visible and invisible” (209). Even when he dedicates the book to the glory of God, he uses a Latin phrase, “Gloria in excelsis deo” (“Glory to God in the highest”), offering praise rather than absolute definitions.
Instead of naming the source of universal consciousness, Hawkins focuses on describing it. He claims that its power is a “giant” attractor field that the rare seeker may experience as the state of peace beyond all understanding, in which existence is witnessed as omnipresence and timelessness. The levels of truth found in teaching by its avatars, such as Jesus Christ, calibrate at or close to 1,000 in their purest forms. Furthermore, since everyone taps into this collective level, when people improve themselves, they benefit everyone else. Choices that support life support all of life.
Although attainment of the highest energy levels does not bring immortality, Hawkins maintains that death is only an illusion created by the concept of perception. Instead, he says the universal consciousness also survives beyond death in a “different realm of existence” (203). This, too, is something he regards as a universal characteristic of the divine, shared by Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam.
Power Versus Force
In contrasting the concepts of power and force, Hawkins states, “power arises from meaning” (127). When a person or group’s meaning, motive, and principles support the divinity of life, then they proceed from a higher level of consciousness and show power. On the other hand, if a person or group means to create a win/lose situation for self-serving purposes, then they proceed from a lower level of consciousness and show force. Throughout the text, Hawkins juxtaposes power and force, presenting power as inherently superior and, ultimately, stronger than force.
The author argues for the superiority of power in multiple fields of endeavor, but always comes back to the question of intent. In politics, for example, he argues that powerful people and movements, such as Gandhi and the American Revolution, aim to support the human right to freedom and self-determination granted by virtue of the divinity of creation. Tyrants, on the other hand, wish to divide and polarize their subjects for their own gain, again creating a win/lose dichotomy and showing force.
In the business world, good leaders show power, not force. For example, Hawkins believes that Walmart’s employees are trained to support the human value of their customers. Hawkins contrasts this approach with government institutions that fail to serve their citizens because their lower level of consciousness limits their perception. As a result, he asserts, they often attack causes instead of supporting solutions. His example is vice squads that fail to solve the problem of crime.
To contrast religious movements with individuals and groups that seek spirituality, Hawkins offers the example of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), which isn’t allied with a religion and works on principles of honesty, goodwill, and the promotion of health and self-respect. Hawkins believes that AA proceeds from power because the intent of its founders, carried on by millions of members, was to promote spiritual growth and human ideals.
Hawkins argues that religious truths initially expounded by enlightened beings, including Christ, Buddha, and Krishna, similarly proceed from power. However, he posits that spirituality is not the same as religion. A religion’s level of truth declines as it becomes more involved with worldly affairs. As Hawkins says, the founders of the world’s great religions would be shocked at the “profoundly unspiritual deeds wrought in their names” (169). This is because force always distorts universal truths and principles for self-serving intent.
Hawkins sees this contrast between power and force, and between choices that arise from selfless or self-serving intent, in relationships and “all the various interactions that make up the fabric of life” (138). Simply put, he concludes that the universe favors power, and that the more enlightened a person is, the more they will favor power over force.
The Illusions of Duality and Causality
Hawkins stresses the role of context throughout the book, often pointing to it as a perceptual bias that creates false concepts. He argues that context “arises from the level of consciousness of the observer” (205) and can therefore limit the ability to recognize the truth of a situation. In particular, he claims that perception creates two illusions: That of causality and that of duality.
In Hawkins’s view of the universe, everything is connected and coherent. The universe is itself conscious, and every thought, act, and choice made by an individual has an energy pattern of a specific frequency. Causes and effects appear simultaneously, not as a sequence in which one event “causes” another. His “ABC” example encapsulates this view. What we perceive as a sequence of events, A leading to B which leads to C, is really a pattern called ABC, according to Hawkins.
Context, however, in the form of human perception, limits human understanding of events and causes people to assign causality where it doesn’t really exist. In Hawkins’s words, “the sequence is that of observation itself” (205). Due to the limitations of context, humans can’t observe or recognize an event without a “prior context and language” for naming the event (228), a situation called paradigm “blindness.” This is why M-fields, invisible organizational patterns that can be replicated once they are created, are important. Every human breakthrough, such as the Wright Brothers’ mastery of flight, creates a new M-field and reinforces its power.
Context also creates the false illusion of duality, the idea that the mind and body are separate entities. Existence without form is the ultimate reality; when one achieves the highest level of consciousness, there is no separation between subject and object, between a “knower” and that which is “known,” or between “me” and “you.” The body is “merely a tool of consciousness through the intervention of the mind” (94). This understanding of nonduality or complete oneness, however, can only be reached by those who have attained enlightenment. For most people, ego colors their perception and creates the illusion of duality. The mind tries to protect its “correctness,” an individual’s native set of beliefs, by denying any other possibilities. This is what makes spiritual work so difficult and why the average consciousness advances only a few points during a lifetime. The mind clings to the lower energy fields to which it is accustomed.
Hawkins offers tools for overcoming the twin illusions of causality and dualism: To seek the truth, one must increase one’s “integrity, understanding, and capacity for compassion” (252). He presents this enlightenment as a progression that begins with taking responsibility for the truth of one’s own life and leads on to acceptance, love, forgiveness, and compassion. Compassion, in turn, is the doorway to Grace and the “ultimate source of all existence” (252)—the universal and divine consciousness.
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