Thoughts & quotes from Sir David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. & Susan Hawkins – Page 35

Paradigm Allegiance

Each person perceives, experiences, and interprets the world and its events in accord with their own predominant level of consciousness. … each level tends to be self-reinforcing … this process results in what is best described as ‘paradigm allegiance’ or the presumption that one’s own personal perceived/experienced world represents ‘reality’ (Protagorars’s error as pointed out by Plato).

… For comfort and mental reinforcement, people seek for agreement and thus tend to congregate with others who share the same paradigm or worldview…

Paradigm thus predetermines the range of possible experiences or discoveries and is a factor about which the ordinary consciousness is unaware.

From Reality, Spirituality and Modern Man p. 59-60

The World is Not a Trap

To survive, the ego has to believe it is real, and that it has a separate, independent existence…

At some point, the illusion breaks down and the opening for the start of the spiritual quest commences. The quest turns from without to within and the search for answers begins. With good fortune, one comes upon the teachings of true enlightenment…

… Does spiritual commitment mean one has to give up the world? No, of course not. It means merely that worldly life needs to be recontextualized, restructured, and envisioned differently. It is not the world that is a trap, but one’s attachment to it, along with one’s observations that cloud the search for Truth.

From The Eye of the I p. 115-116

Unload the Mind

Spiritual evolution is supported by education and information up to the point where the intellect is no longer a primary tool as it is in ordinary learning. The spiritual ‘work’ then transitions from the mental/intellectual/conceptual linear to the nonlinear region of human consciousness that relates more to context than to content and form or data. This major shift entails reliance on different qualities, such as faith, intention, devotion, volition, and will. Character traits are called into action, and attitudes are of greater practical use than specific ideas.

Whereas ordinary information is ‘acquired’ by effort, in spiritual endeavor the emphasis is on relinquishing, letting go, and surrendering.

… the core of spiritual work is aligned with undoing of and the unloading of the mind rather than its enrichment. To seek Enlightenment is major decision. The decision itself is akin to a ‘Yin” posture. While the ordinary ego is programmed to ‘getting’, spiritual intention now shifts to ‘allowing’… The actual process is innately simple yet challenging of accomplishment by virtue of the innate structure of the ego/mind…

… Its actual practice is not so much a matter of ‘doing’ but a way of ‘being’ or aligning with the subjective awareness of life.

… Whereas the consciousness level of the witness/observer increases awareness, the ego watches with the expectation of ‘doing’ or ‘getting’ something.

… The field is independent of content.”

– Dr. David R. Hawkins, Discovery of the Presence of God p. 61-67

The Spiritual Will

Spiritual motivation, intention, and alignment could be likened to changing the magnetic or gravitational field of influence by which context is shifted, revealing a different understanding. For example, a presumed loss becomes recontextualized as a hidden gain (greater freedom, opening of opportunities and choices, etc.).

… The Spiritual Will is not like the ego’s understanding of will as ‘willpower’, which means emotional force with clenched teeth of exertion and increased emotionality. The ego-driven will takes energy and is taxing. It could actually be understood as a form of aggression. In contrast, invoking the Spiritual Will is like opening floodgates and then standing back. The ego/will contextualizes events in terms of cause and effect in which the personal self-will claims credit or blame because it sees itself as a causal agent. In contrast, the Spiritual Will is not personal but is a quality of consciousness that changes context by surrender to an invitation to the power of the Self.

The Spiritual Will, invited by complete surrender, is thus capable of performing the seeming ‘miraculous’, whereas the personal will, paradoxically, often automatically triggers resistances, as anyone knows who has tried personal ‘willpower’ to overcome even minor habits.

… Surrender of the personal will to the Will (Wisdom) of God (or Providence, Higher Power) signifies relinquishment of control. One can expect the ego to resist doing so, and it invents excuses, counter arguments, and multiple fears in order to maintain illusory control. The ego’s positions are reinforced by pride as well as desire for specific results. Thus, to the ego, to step back and invite the intervention of Divinity seems like a loss, whereas, to the Spirit, it is definitely a win.

From Discovery of the Presence of God: Devotional Nonduality p. 64-66

All Reality is Subjective

Q: Is there not a difference between an objective and a subjective reality?

A: All reality is subjective. Every other position is an illusion based on duality. The subjective and objective are one and the same, just different descriptions from different points of perception, duration, description, form, or measurement. All such attributes are those of perception itself, which is, by its very nature, transitory, arbitrary, limited, illusory, and dualistic.

From The Eye of the I, Ch. 12, pg. 233-234