"The ways the various levels of human consciousness express themselves are profound and far-reaching...." - David R. Hawkins
In my last post, I introduced the idea of a scale of consciousness, which I have reproduced here for the sake of convenience.
As is readily apparent by the diagram, the scale is basically broken into two parts: Power and force.
In this post, I want to briefly unpack the levels in the bottom portion of the scale - namely the levels of force. To reiterate what I stated in my previous post breaking down the definition of Power, those levels of consciousness that reside in the range of force are levels that tear down or take away from life and energy. These are the destructive levels of humanity.
Shame and guilt (levels 20 and 30) are the lowest of the low. These are the levels of consciousness found in those who are suicidal, even if conscious suicide is not their intent. People who operate primarily out of shame and guilt have deep hatred for themselves and the world around them. Terrorists, mass-murderers, etc. are the types of folks who operate primarily out of shame and guilt. People who subconsciously commit suicide by extreme lack of self-care or extreme recklessness also operate out of shame and guilt.
At level 50, we have apathy. While apathy is still very low, it is a step higher than shame and guilt. The apathetic person experiences deep despair and hopelessness. Their outlook on life is generally one of just not caring about much. Most homeless people fall into this category. Survival is still not important to people at this level.
Once we get to grief at level 75, there starts to be a little hope. David Hawkins says that once a despairing and hopeless person starts to cry, this is a sign of progress. While grief is quite low on the scale, it represents a level where a person might start to take positive action.
Fear is a level that grips large swaths of our society. We are constantly bombarded with messages of fear: You need an alarm system so that you don't get robbed or murdered, you need to take this or that supplement or drug or else your health will suffer, you should invest your money like this so that you don't go broke, etc. Fear can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it can be a driver for good - as in when you are about to be attacked by the proverbial saber-tooth tiger and you need to run. But, it can also be detrimental - as in when a person becomes such a hypochondriac that they are afraid to go out of the house.
The level just above fear is desire at level 125. This, too, is a common level to many people. In this context, desire is more like greed or lust. It's an all-consuming wish for something. Someone who has deep desire for something or someone becomes enslaved by it, and that is why it is such a toxic level. To be sure, desire can also work for good, but like fear it has an evil twin.
David Hawkins says that desire often leads to anger (level 150) because a person with deep desire is unable to get the target of their desire. The resulting emotion is one of frustration or downright anger. In some situations, anger has led to very positive results, such as the civil rights movement. However, in most people, anger tends to present itself as resentment and revenge. As a result, anger is still a negative level of consciousness.
The final level of force is pride (175). Pride in this context refers to an egoic pride as opposed to someone who is proud of their work in a healthy way. Pride can also lead to positive results, but the downside to it is that a prideful person tends to become very self-centered. At this level of consciousness, the ego is still very much the driver of the person.
In my next post, I will discuss the levels of Power, which I find to be a much more fun discussion!
