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

Hello, we want to share thoughts and quotes from Dr. David R. Hawkins and his wife, Susan Hawkins. We will keep you informed of upcoming events, as well. For available books, CDs, DVDs, and the Map of Consciousness, visit the Dr. David R. Hawkins product page.  Find a Dr. Hawkins Study Group in your area.

Illusion and Positionality

Q: What, then is illusion that we hear about so much?

A: The entire perceptual illusion that the ego claims to be reality is completely and totally the product of positionality.  This is very important to unravel and understand in one’s own experiential awareness.  If you observe carefully, you will note that at the time the mind is taking a position, that position stems from choice, training, desire, emotion, or political or religious viewpoint.  From that positionality stem all the pointless sacrifice and sufferings of the world.

From The Eye of the I: ch. 12, pg. 239-240

Curiosity with Discernment

Q: Is curiosity then an advantage to the spiritual seeker?

A: With humility, it is a useful servant.  Without discernment, however, it can lead to serious pitfalls.  Curiosity can lead the naïve seeker into blind alleys and useless distractions as well as snares and serious, painful traps.  This is where a true teacher is necessary.  Again, humility means acceptance of the indisputable fact that cannot be repeated too often: The human mind is incapable of discerning truth from falsehood.  Were this not so, there would have been no wars in history, no social problems, and no ignorance or poverty.  Everyone would be enlightened, and the consciousness level of mankind would not have remained at 190 century after century.

From I: Reality and Subjectivity, ch. 6, pg. 117

Life Itself is Not Subject to Death

It is essential to understand that the nonphysical spiritual reality cannot be understood in terms of ordinary intellectualization or reason. The linear and the nonlinear arise from different paradigms and different contexts. … Both the heartbeat and the brain waves are merely the consequences of the presence of life: they are not life itself, which is intangible.
 
… Life itself is not subject to death. … The human imagination assumes, of course, that it goes ‘elsewhere’. In Reality, there is no ‘elsewhere’. Outside time, location, and temporality, there is neither ‘here’ nor ‘there’; there is neither ‘now’ nor ‘then’.
 

The Essence of Spiritual Practice

What is the Essence of Spiritual Practice?

To activate by inspiration, dedication, and decision of will those aspects of consciousness that  become progressively self-actualizing.  They are empowered by compassion, devotion, humility, and the willingness to surrender to unconditional love.  Perception then transforms into spiritual vision.  This evolution evokes a supportive response from the highest levels of consciousness for it takes great power to overcome the ‘gravity’ of the earthly life and its habits of perception.  The act of worship is an entreaty and invitation to these higher energies for assistance in one’s spiritual endeavor.

From The Eye of the I, ch. 9, pg. 186