ACIM & Hawkins

[belle99]

Hello everybody,

Grace and Pamela and I had the wonderful idea to start a new thread for discussion and application of the ideas presented in A Course in Miracles and the works of David Hawkins (Power vs. Force, I, Transcending the Levels of Consciousness, etc.)

I'll start the discussion with a quote from Transcending the Levels of Consciousness:

"Adopt the attitudes associated with the Higher Mind...and select any of the virtues. Refuse or reject negative attitudes or positionalities. Act in a gracious manner in all circumstances towards oneself and others. Reject the violation of spiritual principles for short-term gain. Create an idealized image of oneself and practice it as if for a movie role.

Acting 'as if' brings to awareness the potentiality to actually become that which is admired. As a learning device, it is often surprisingly effective to 'pretend' to be the quality that is desired, and then, much to one's surprise, discover that it has been a nonactivated and latent aspect of one's own potentiality. Many people make self-improvement the number one priority in their lives and identify with admired figures instead of envying them.

As a practical exercise, before leaving the house, review how one would like oneself to be and decide to act that way. In so doing, note the response to others to one's being friendly, considerate, gracious, or loving..."

I have found Hawkins' work to be a great way to give my intellect something useful to do instead of run me in unproductive circles. The high-frequency energies in his teachings can raise one's vibration just by reading the material.

Let the wonderful discussion begin!!

[Pamela]

I'm gonna LOVE this!

Oh, Belle...

I am going to LOVE this! And...the quote you have just posted by Hawkins is a wonderful intro for this thread! As you know, I finished "Power Vs. Force" a few weeks ago and then got "The Disappearance of the Universe" by Gary Renard which is a wonderful discourse of his journey with "A Course In Miracles"... While reading THAT, I was compelled to rush out and get ACIM and have been absolutely mesmerized by it! And NOW, my fingers are simply itching to respond to this quote by Hawkins, but I have some everyday stuff to attend to first, so I can guarantee you that I will be getting back to this once I have some "time" to respond with clarity and substance!

for starting this, My Friend!

With Much Love and Gratitude,

Pamela

[elias]

David Hawkins' Book

Hi,

Thought to share the link for the PDF of the book Power vs Force on the net. This book is definitely a very interesting read:

http://www.alemagroup.com/download/DHawkins-PvF-Full.pdf

Elias

[Pamela]

Beautiful!

Elias!

That is FABULOUS of you to post this link! Have I ever told you what a Big Beautiful Blessing You Are, Elias??? Now, as this thread unfolds, anyone who looks to it can also have a lookie to the text and know what we are talking about!!! Thank You SO Much!

I also want to post this link to The Map of Consciousness for a quick reference for anyone who might want to do some muscle testing and see what their level is at any given moment!

david hawkins power vs force (levels of consciuosness)

With Much Love and Gratitude,

Pamela

[elias]

Thank you

Pamela,

I am so grateful for your wonderful response, and also thanks for the link you posted, I was actually looking for it.
It is not so easy to buy the books from where I live so any other link for these material is greatly appreciated. All of you are great blessings in my life.

Elias

[Pamela]

Trancending the Levels...

Hi Lovies...

Okay, let's start with this quote from Hawkins and assume that it is indeed one's desire to reach the higher levels of consciousness as described by Hawkins in the above "Map of Consciousness" link... It would seem to me that anyone who truely wants to experience the magic of their personal power and "know" joy and peace, the goal is to consciously work towards these higher levels...

"Adopt the attitudes associated with the Higher Mind...and select any of the virtues. Refuse or reject negative attitudes or positionalities. Act in a gracious manner in all circumstances towards oneself and others. Reject the violation of spiritual principles for short-term gain. Create an idealized image of oneself and practice it as if for a movie role.

Acting 'as if' brings to awareness the potentiality to actually become that which is admired. As a learning device, it is often surprisingly effective to 'pretend' to be the quality that is desired, and then, much to one's surprise, discover that it has been a nonactivated and latent aspect of one's own potentiality. Many people make self-improvement the number one priority in their lives and identify with admired figures instead of envying them.

As a practical exercise, before leaving the house, review how one would like oneself to be and decide to act that way. In so doing, note the response to others to one's being friendly, considerate, gracious, or loving..."

Here, it appears that to begin this journey, one must strive to act in a loving manner to all beings, including oneself, even if the emotions that are held at any moment, for whatever reason, may not be congruent to to such feeings of love, kindness, graciousness, forgiveness, etc. By acting "as if" or "pretending to be the quality that is desired", one's subconscious will eventually accept these attitudes as True and it will become a natural way of being, thereby transcending ones consciousness to an even higher level. I believe he is saying that such virtues are inherent qualities in all beings, but because of the illusions of dualism and separation, apparently most people are unaware of the "truth" of their powerful potentiality and thus we find the collective level of consciousness at only 207 ... But by consistantly and consciously acting "as if", this latent potentiality is activated and the transcending begins.

Any thoughts on the statement, "Reject the violation of spiritual principles for short-term gain?"

With Much Love and Gratitude,

Pamela

[belle99]

My take on violating spiritual principles for short-term gain is pettiness or manipulation, or making unnecessary sarcastic comments that you think are going to feel good but end up doing harm.

I'm going to start on ACIM soon!!!

[Bobi]

My take on violating spiritual principles for short-term gain is pettiness or manipulation, or making unnecessary sarcastic comments that you think are going to feel good but end up doing harm.

I agree. Selling out personal integrity for what might appear to be short-term gain --but brings with it a greater cost. Plus it feels icky.

b.

[Pamela]

Power Vs.Force

Thank You, Belle and Bobi...Well said!

I love these two excerpts from "Power Vs. Force":

This first one emphasizes your above thoughts from "Transcending Human Consciousness"...

(105) Simple kindness to one's self and all
that lives is the most powerful
transformational force of all. It produces
no backlash, has no downside, and never
leads to loss or despair. It increases one's
own true power without exacting any
toll. But to reach maximum power such
kindness can permit no exceptions, nor
can it be practiced with the expectation
of some selfish reward. And its effect is
as far reaching as it is subtle.

And this second one highlights the magnitude of the difference between these two "choices"...

(108) On examination we will see that
power arises from meaning. it has to do
with motive and it has to do with
principle. Power is always associated
with that which supports the significance
of life itself. It appeals to that in human
nature which we call noble, in contrast to
force, which appeals to that which we
call crass. Power appeals to that which
uplifts and dignifies-ennobles. Force
must always be justified, whereas power
requires no justification. Force is
associated with the partial, power with
the whole.
If we analyze the nature of force it
becomes readily apparent why it must
always succumb to power; this is in
accordance with one of the basic laws of
physics. Because force automatically
creates counter-force, its effect is limited
by definition. We could say that force is
a movement. It goes from here to there,
or tries to go from here to there against
opposition. Power, on the other hand, is
still. It is like a standing field that does
not move. Gravity itself., for instance,
does not move against anything. Its
power moves all objects within its field,
but the gravity field itself does not move.
Force always moves against something,
whereas power does not move against
anything. Force is incomplete and
therefore has to constantly be fed energy.
Power is total and complete in itself and
requires nothing from outside itself. It
makes no demands; it has no needs.
Because force has an insatiable appetite,
it constantly consumes. Power, in
contrast, energizes, gives forth, supplies
and supports. Power gives life acid
energy. Force takes these away. We
notice that power is associated with
compassion and makes us feel positively
about ourselves. Force is associated with
judgment and makes us feel badly about
ourselves.
Force always creates counter-force; its
effect is to polarize rather than unify.
Polarization always implies conflict; its
cost, therefore, is always high. Because
force incites polarization, it inevitably
produces a win/lose dichotomy; and
because some (109) body always loses,
enemies are always created. Constantly
faced with enemies, force requires
constant defense. Defensiveness is costly,
invariably, whether in the marketplace,
politics or international affairs.
In looking for the source of power we
have noted that it is associated with
meaning, and this meaning has to do with
the significance of life itself. Force is
concrete, literal and arguable. It requires
proof and support. The sources of power,
however, are inarguable and are not
subject to proof. The self-evident is not
arguable. That health is more important
than disease, that life is more important
than death, that honor is preferable to
dishonor, that faith and trust are
preferable to doubt and cynicism, that the
constructive is preferable to the destructive... all
are self-evident statements not subject
to proof. Ultimately, the only thing we
can say about a source of power is that it
just "is."

Imagine how exquisite this world would be if this truth was intrinsically understood on a global basis...

With Much Love and Gratitude,

Pamela

[belle99]

Pamela,

Well put. I had a very interesting illustration of this last night. I was sandwiched between two people who believed X very strongly and were forcefully critical of me for believing Y. I did not know how to respond other than to leave the conversation and then come back, to interrupt the train they were on. I felt compelled to defend myself, to respond to force with force. Today I was reminded of lesson 1 in ACIM that none of what I'm observing has any meaning. I knew this, but did not remember it in the moment, when my impulse was to protect and defend myself.

Thanks for posting.

I was also struck this morning about the idea that there is no relative difference between miracles, large and small. I was looking at a row of trees, and pondered that the miracle of photosynthesis is the same for the large tree as it is for the little weed growing up from cracks in a parking lot. By extension, maintaining peace in a situation where I'm talking to people who believe "Y" like me should be no easier than maintaining peace in a situation where the people around me believe "X." Both are meaningless, and that's perfectly OK.

Belle

[Doug]

Wow, helpful info!

Hey Pamela, Belle, Elias and Bobi,

Great info w/Hawkins. I'm getting more familiar w/the numbers and shooting for a 310 myself. Hmm...

Belle, I was going to post about a work deal that's been going on lately and then I read yours. In my training class most of the people on break etc. love to talk about what they hate. "Don't ya just hate it when...." "OMG a spider!!! "I hate spiders!" and a lot of sarcasm. There is a bit of comic relief - so I don't wanna say it's all bad. I was more sarcastic before and one guy there is giving me a image of myself from that time. I'm surprised how much I noticed the difference.

I'm a big Minnesota Vikings football fan and they just lost a close one to the Colts and that didn't really bother me!! I'll have to read more Hawkins...

Thanks for the thread,

Doug

[zartgirl]

Interesting...

My take on violating spiritual principles for short-term gain is pettiness or manipulation, or making unnecessary sarcastic comments that you think are going to feel good but end up doing harm.

I'm going to start on ACIM soon!!!

Belle, and everyone else here... I was reading down through and this comment you made hit a nerve... Viotating Spiritual Principles... sarcasm...

The root words of sarcasm are sar = to cut and Casm = very deep Probably not an exact translation, but when you understand what that word means, and then you watch individuals unknowingly use it on the people they love? WOW!

I teach my kids this, and this last summer my daughter was visiting an aunt with her Dad, and her uncle said something sarcastic. Izzi, explained to him what the root words meant, and he was floored and appologised. Later that night her aunt said something sarcastic and the uncle told her what Izzi had told him, and she got mad and yelled at Izzi??? Weird!

I have family that uses it all the time and do not realize that it hurts me when they do! Hmmmm.... something to think about... I can totally see why this would be violating spiritual principles! I think anything we do that is not out of LOVE would be violating spiritual principles!

Blessings Sallyjane

[Pamela]

Onward...

Hi Sweeties!

I am just LOVING these posts!

I am intuiting that there are several of us who would like to start considering the concepts taught by "A Course In Miracles", so I am going to post the Introduction to this document and then we can take it from there.

"This is a course in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what you want to take at a given time. The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness to love's presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite.

This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way:

Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.

Herein lies the peace of God."

It came as no surprise to me that ACIM explains that this world that we "think" is reality is really nothing more than an illusion, a dream, not created by God, but by our collective ego-minds and thus we "perceive" separation and duality. We come to this earth again and again to learn that we are all one, that there is no separation, that our true home is with God and that is the true "reality", yet this illusory world makes us disconnect from God and believe in this false perception of separation. Our purpose is to remember with who we really are and thus "know" joy and peace which is our inherent birthright.

"The world you see is an illusion of a world. God did not create it, for what He creates must be eternal as Himself. Yet there is nothing in the world you see that will endure forever."

And..."Whatever is true is eternal, and cannot change or be changed. Spirit is therefore unalterable because it is already perfect, but the mind can elect what it chooses to serve. The only limit put on its choice is that it cannot serve two masters."

While all Beings will eventually learn the lessons we have been placed here to learn, ACIM trains the student to develop "true" perception and that the miracle can progress one much farther and faster along his or her spiritual path than would have otherwise been possible.

"The miracle is the only device at your immediate disposal for controlling time."

"The miracle substitutes for learning that might have taken thousands of years."

As I continue to study this document (with great delight, I might add... ), it seems apparent that all thinking that is governed by the ego is nothing more than pure insanity...

That's enough from me for the moment...

With Much Love and Gratitude,

Pamela

[Pamela]

But wait...one more thought...

But wait...

Forgive me for being so mouthy today, but I just want to pop back in here with one other thought...Then I PROMISE I will hold my tongue for awhile...

Just a little bit about what ACIM says about wisdom... It seems that the world believes that wisdom is having good judgement and being right, but that's not true...Being right just keeps us stuck here forever... Here's a little excerpt that addresses wisdom and its relationship to innocence:

"Innocence is not a partial attribute. It is not real until it is total. The partly innocent are apt to be quite foolish at times. It is not until their innocence becomes a viewpoint with universal application that it becomes wisdom. Innocent or true perception means you never misperceive and always see truly."

And THAT means that we have to see EVERYONE, no matter what, as being totally innocent!

Okay...I'll shut up for now...

With Much Love and Gratitude,

Pamela

[elias]

Hello,

I recently found a better version of the book, with better formating: http://www.detiva.com/Power-Vs-Force.pdf
Hope you like it.

Best Wishes
Elias