Levels of Consciousness

by Steve Pavlina

From the book, "Power vs. Force"
by David R. Hawkins

There’s a hierarchy of levels of human consciousness. It’s an interesting paradigm. If you read the book, it’s also fairly easy to figure out where you fall on this hierarchy, based on your current life situation. While we can pop in and out of different levels at various times, usually there’s a “normal” state for us. If you’re reading this, chances are you’re at least at the level of courage because if you were at a lower level, you’d likely have no conscious interest in personal growth.

I’ll go over these levels in order, mostly focusing on the ones between courage and reason, since that’s the range where you’re most likely to land. The labels are Hawkins'. The descriptions are based on his descriptions but blended with my own thoughts.

Shame – Just a step above death. You’re probably contemplating suicide at this level. Either that or you’re a serial killer. Think of this as self-directed hatred.

Guilt – A step above shame, but you still may be having thoughts of suicide. You think of yourself as a sinner, unable to forgive yourself for past transgressions.

Apathy – Feeling hopeless or victimized. The state of learned helplessness. Many homeless people are stuck here.

Grief – A state of perpetual sadness and loss. You might drop down here after losing a loved one. Still higher than apathy, since you’re beginning to escape the numbness.

Fear – Seeing the world as dangerous and unsafe. Usually you’ll need help to rise above this level, or you’ll remain trapped for a long time, such as in an abusive relationship.

Desire – Not to be confused with setting and achieving goals, this is the level of addiction, craving, and lust — for money, approval, power, fame, etc. This is the level of smoking and drinking and doing drugs.

Anger – the level of frustration, often from not having your desires met at the lower level. This level can spur you to action at higher levels, or it can keep you stuck in hatred. In an abusive relationship, you’ll often see an anger person coupled with a fear person.

Pride – The first level where you start to feel good, but it’s a false feeling. It’s dependent on external circumstances (money, prestige, etc), so it’s vulnerable. A state of irrational denial and defensiveness. Religious fundamentalism is also stuck at this level. You become so closely enmeshed in your beliefs that you see an attack on your beliefs as an attack on you.

Courage – The first level of true strength. Courage is the Gateway and where you start to see life as challenging and exciting instead of overwhelming. You begin to have an interest in personal growth. You start to see your future as an improvement, rather than a continuation of the same.

Neutrality – This level is epitomized by the phrase, “live and let live.” It’s flexible, relaxed, and unattached. Whatever happens, you roll with the punches. You don’t have anything to prove. You feel safe. A lot of self-employed people are here. A very comfortable place. You’re taking care of your needs, but you don’t push yourself too hard.

Willingness – Now you start using your energy more effectively. Just getting by isn’t good enough anymore. You care about doing a good job — perhaps even your best. Think of this level as the development of willpower and self-discipline. These people get things done and don’t complain. This is the point where your consciousness becomes more organized and disciplined.

Acceptance – Now a powerful shift happens, and you awaken to the possibilities of living proactively. This is the level of setting and achieving goals. I don’t like the label “acceptance” that Hawkins uses here, but it basically means that you begin accepting responsibility for your role in the world. If something isn’t right about your life, you define your desired outcome and change it. You see your life more clearly.

Reason – At this level you become capable of using your reasoning abilities to their fullest extent. You now have the discipline and the proactivity to fully exploit your natural abilities. You’ve reached the point where you say, “Wow. I can do all this stuff, and I know I must put it to good use. You start making meaningful contributions. At the very high end, this is the level of Einstein and Freud. It’s obvious that most people never reach this level in their entire lives.

Love – This isn’t the emotion of love. It’s unconditional love, a permanent understanding of your connectedness with all that exists. Think compassion. You now place your head and all your other talents and abilities in service to your heart (not your emotions, but your greater sense of right and wrong — your conscience). This is the level of awakening to your true purpose. Your motives are pure and uncorrupted by the desires of the ego. This is the level of lifetime service to humanity. You also begin to be guided by a force greater than yourself. It’s a feeling of letting go. Your intuition becomes extremely strong.

Joy – A state of pervasive, unshakable happiness. Just being around people at this level makes you feel incredible. At this level life is fully guided by synchronicity and intuition. There’s no more need to set goals and make plans — the expansion of your consciousness allows you to operate at a much higher level. A near-death experience can temporarily bump you to this level.

Peace – Total transcendence. Hawkins claims this level is reached only by one person in 10 million.

Enlightenment – The highest level of human consciousness, where humanity blends with divinity. Extremely rare. Even just thinking about people at this level can raise your consciousness.

I think you’ll find this model worthy of reflection. Within your own life, you’ll see that some parts of your life are at different levels than others, but you should be able to identify your current overall level. We naturally fluctuate between multiple states throughout the course of any given week, so you’ll see a range of 3-4 levels where you spend most of your time. Progressing even one level can be hard, but that change can radically alter everything in your life.

The most important work we can do as human beings is to raise our individual level of consciousness. When we do this, we spread higher levels of consciousness to everyone around us. What an incredible world this would be if we could at least get everyone to the level of acceptance. According to Hawkins 85% of the people on earth live below the level of courage.

Look at this with an open mind and see if it leads you to new insights that help you take the next leap in your own life.

Namaste.