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.

The Best Question to Ask

Ask, “How am I aware or even know that I exist?” That question is the best that can be acted upon for it leads directly and nonverbally to the ever present Reality. Identify with that quality, capacity, or condition of ever present subjectivity which is experienced as an underlying awareness. It is consciousness itself. Identify with that consciousness instead of with the ‘what’ it is conscious about. That is the direct route to the Self. It is actually the only practice that leads directly through the doorway. There is nothing to know, to learn, or to remember.

From: “I: Reality and Subjectivity” (2003), Chapter 22: Applications, pp. 397–399

Divinity is Unmistakable

Q: What does the Self feel like?
A: It is like the ultimate completion of being home. There is a knowingness of finality, conclusion, completion, fulfillment, satisfaction, perfection, and beauty. The quality of Love dissolves all possibility of suffering or wanting. No mentation occurs, nor is it necessary. A profound sense of certainty prevails. Divinity is unmistakable.
There is absolutely nothing in ordinary human experience to compare with the joy of the presence of the Love of God. No sacrifice is too great nor effort too much in order to realize that Presence.
 

Acceptance

Acceptance is the great healer of strife, conflict, and upset. It also corrects major imbalances of perception and precludes the dominance of negative feelings. Everything serves a purpose. Humility means that we will not understand all events or occurrences. Acceptance is not passivity but non-positionality. The development of a spiritual ego can be avoided by the realization that spiritual progress is the result of God’s grace and not the result of one’s personal endeavors.

From The Eye of the I, ch. 9, pg. 196

Every Spiritual Aspirant Serves the World

… one transcends the negative by merely choosing the opposite. With the internal discipline that stems from passionate commitment, the negative choices are no longer seen as options. We all then become conscientious objectors when we draw the line and set boundaries. This rather automatically occurs as a consequence of choosing spiritual goals that we value above the goals of the world.

Spiritual views are not very popular in society in general. It is not necessary to impose one’s views on others. Proselytizing is best done by example rather than by coercion and lapel grabbing. We influence others by what we are rather than by what we say or have. To express views that are contrary to public opinion may be sociologically praiseworthy, but to do so leads to conflict and enmeshment in the arguments and discord in the world. The pursuit of ’causes’ is the role of the social and political reformer, which is an activity different from that of the seeker of enlightenment. Praiseworthy endeavors can be seen as deserving of sympathetic support, but they are also perceptually defined positionalities with intrinsic limitations and agendas. Embroilment in the issues of society is a luxury which the seeker of spiritual enlightenment needs to forego.

Each person has their own karma or destiny to fulfill and it is best not to confuse these missions. The spiritually motivated saints of history did indeed uplift mankind, and such was the nature of their missions and the merit of spiritual courage which often included even the sacrifice of their physical lives. Collectively, these social saints inspire whole nations and cultures and thus, by their public lives, silently serve all mankind for generations.

The calling of the private-life spiritual aspirant is more socially humble but equally important and of service to the whole of mankind. The social saint uplifts by external action and example. The devotee uplifts by internal progression. Every increase in the level of consciousness affects the consciousness of all mankind…

… We change the world not by what we say or do but as a consequence of what we have become. Thus, every spiritual aspirant serves the world.

The “Non-action” of Action

Q: What about action?
A: Actions are the automatic consequence of the integration of context, field, and intention. All action is actually spontaneous and reflects karmic propensities and local conditions that may or may not favor expression. To depersonalize actions, it is only necessary to let go of the belief that there is a separate, independent causal agent called ‘I’ or ‘me’. This awareness allows for the development of the ‘non-action of action’, which is possible by relinquishment of trying to control results. The only thing one can actually ‘do’ is to ‘be’ one’s potential to the fullest.