Category: Thoughts & quotes from Sir David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. & Susan Hawkins

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Divert your attention to that which is really essential, experientially.  Some days it rains; some days it’s sunny; some days it’s cloudy.  You can’t change the rain, but you can put on your raincoat.  You can be realistic and take the necessary steps to remain dry.  There are many aspects of life you can’t change, but you can let go of your expectation or need that they be different from what they are.  With observation, for instance, you will notice that there is always a war going on somewhere in the world.  So to be peaceful, it is necessary to accept that waging war is part of human nature and has been throughout all of recorded time.  Mankind has been at war 97% of the time.

Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender, Ch. 21, pg. 330-331

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Devotion is like an inner valor or fortitude that incorporates courage, willingness, and conviction, together with the knowledge of essential information.  It develops wisdom, patience, and forbearance with experience.  Because of focus, it also develops skill and aptitude for processing the levels of consciousness as they are encountered.  Devotion learns to expect periods of delay or discouragement as well as moments of doubt or fear.  By virtue of devotion, there is alignment with inner integrity that results in the self-honesty and conviction necessary to transcend the seduction of transitory emotional payoffs of the intransigent ego.

The desire to reach Enlightenment is already a Divine gift to be treasured and revered.  “Many are called but few are chosen” could be rephrased as “Many are called but few choose to follow.” Thus, the choice is by decision and assent of the inner will, and by this assent, the enormous power of Divine Will aligns with intention and empowers devotion to overcome all obstacles.

Discovery of the Presence of God, Ch. 1, pg. 45-46

On the level of acceptance, because of the major change in the way we perceive others, we now become aware of the inner innocence behind the frantic, fear-driven struggles that have obscured it in ourselves and in our neighbors, friends, and family.  The great teachers have said that the negativity which we see in a person or in society is really due to blindness, ignorance, and unconsciousness.  This inner innocence, once it is perceived in others, is also perceived in ourselves.  All that we did was done because we just didn’t know better at the time.  If we had known a better way at the time, we would have done it that way.  “It seemed like a good idea at the time,” we say.  We see that same blindness operating in others, and we can look past their character defects and see the innocent child within.

Once we see our innocence, there is an identification with others and a loss of feeling alone and stressed.  We are able to see innocence even behind the most rash and apparently horrible behaviors.  We look inside a person and see the frightened animal that just doesn’t know any better. …

In the state of acceptance, it is possible to forgive our own past, as well as that of others, and to heal past resentments.

Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender, Ch. 11, pg.167-68

A paradigm is a whole worldview, and it is only limited by what we view as possible.  As old ways of looking at things are challenged, our worldview begins to stretch and expand.  That which was previously considered to be impossible becomes possible and eventually is experienced as a new dimension of reality.  There is the capacity to look within ourselves to examine our belief systems, ask questions, and seek new solutions.  On the level of courage, we are willing to take self-improvement courses, learn consciousness techniques, and risk the journey within to seek our own true Self, the inner reality.  There is a willingness to experience uncertainty, periods of confusion, and temporary upset because underneath the temporary discomfort, we have a long-term transcendent goal.  The mind that is operating on the level of courage makes such statements as “I can handle it”; “We’ll make it”; The job will get done”; We can see this through”; “All things shall pass.”

Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender, Ch. 10, pg. 157-158

 

With observation, it is quite clear that negative feelings reverberate and boomerang back to us, and profoundly affect our relationships. The other person merely mirrors back what we are projecting onto them. When inner feelings are relinquished, the way in which we see the situation changes, and we are often surprised by the abruptness with which feelings of forgiveness suddenly arise and the relationship becomes transformed, even though on the external level we did or said nothing to express this inner change.

Try this exercise now, by bringing to mind a person in your life that you have an unkind attitude toward.  Write down the negative feelings you have toward this person.  Since this is your journal, honestly express everything you feel in this moment about this person and why.

When you feel that all the negative feelings have been written down and released, at least on paper, look within yourself and see if you sense any higher feelings, perhaps calm, peace, forgiveness, a sense of being okay, or acceptance.

…Note if anything changes in your relationship with this person, now that you have let go of your negative feelings toward them.

The Letting Go Guided Journal: Pgs. 108-109.