Power Vs Force

Are you moving with life or against it? Priyanka Jamwal revisits Power Vs Force, a book by Dr David Hawkins that can help you gauge your current status.

Considering the COVID-19 world we are living in, it’s hardly surprising that mental health crisis seems to be the next tsunami to hit us. I, for one, have been working towards stabilising my own thoughts through regular (and much needed) visits to my therapist. During the course of one such visit, I happened to mention that I love to read, and she smiled and remarked, ‘That’s good — it’ll save your life!’ I didn’t know how right she was until I came across the book Power vs. Force by Dr David Hawkins that completely blew me away and literally saved my life, or at the very least, improved it by a zillion percent.

Firstly, Power vs. Force helped me understand how everything we do depends on the level of consciousness (awareness or observation without judgement of any kind) that we are in.  Second, it explained what these different levels were and measured them individually on a scale of 1–1000. Finally, it showed me a testing methodology, which could help measure the level of consciousness of every single thing in the world.

Sounds too good to be true?  Well, let me assure you that it isn’t — it’s as real as you and me.

According to quantum physics, all physical matter is made up of energy. This includes your body, thoughts, emotions and everything around you – the chair you’re sitting on, the book you are reading, even the TV channel you are watching. Hence, by this principle, human consciousness is also energy. So if we can measure the quality of the energy or consciousness (of a thing) we can determine whether it is good for us or not.

This is what enabled Dr Hawkins to develop a map of consciousness featuring the differing levels of consciousness ranging from 1–1000, with shame at the lowest level (20) and enlightenment at the highest (700–1000). “Anything below 200 is said to be negative, false, weak and force – therefore not life-sustaining while anything above 200 is positive, true, strong, power and life-sustaining,” says Hawkins in his book.

Now the question arises — how do you test the energy or consciousness of a particular object or person? In Dr Hawkins’ testing methodology, two people are required.

“One person acts as a subject by holding out his hand laterally parallel to the ground. The second person then presses down with two fingers on the wrist of the extended arm and says, ‘Resist’. The subject then resists the downward pressure with all his strength. A statement may be made by either party. If the statement is false, life-endangering or calibrates below 200, the test subject’s hand will go weak and will not be able to withstand the pressure. If the answer is true, life-supporting or calibrates over 200, his hand will remain in position and not go down,” writes Hawkins.  For instance, a picture of Hitler made every subject go weak whereas a picture of Gandhi made every subject remain strong.

The test will be accurate irrespective of the personal opinions of the subject and the tester. It will also be accurate irrespective of the knowledge, or the lack thereof, of the subject and the tester about the area being tested. So, it doesn’t matter if the subject and tester love Hitler or hate Gandhi, it doesn’t matter if they have no idea who Hitler and Gandhi were — the test will still be accurate.

For all you sceptics with similar thoughts, I understand your cynicism. When I first read Power vs Force, I was pretty sceptical myself, but let me share the solid and scientific rationale behind Hawkins’s testing method with you.

So how does this work?

This testing method is based on 25 years of rigorous research on the principles of applied kinesiology and human behaviour. Applied kinesiology is a system of treatment that helps identify the specific areas of disease in the body through muscle testing. The idea is that the dysfunction in every organ is associated with weakness in a corresponding muscle.

“Applied kinesiology has demonstrated how muscles instantly become weak when the body is exposed to harmful stimuli and remain strong when the body is exposed to helpful stimuli. For example, artificial sweetener made every subject test weak whether placed on the tongue, held next to the solar plexus or hidden in a plain envelope (the contents of which neither the tester knew nor the subject), while vitamin C made every subject test strong,” explains Hawkins.

Thus, the body responds accurately even when the conscious mind is unaware, indicating that our body has its own intelligence, not to mention a built-in genetic capacity to determine what’s helpful or harmful to us. This isn’t surprising when you see that one of the most basic functions of biological survival is the ability to detect threat or safety in the environment.

“Living things all react to what is life supportive and what is not – this is the fundamental mechanism of survival.  For example, trees become smaller at higher elevations as the oxygen in the atmosphere becomes scarcer. And human protoplasm is far more sensitive than that of a tree,” says Hawkins. Hence one can only imagine how sensitive its detection capabilities might be.

Incidentally, ancient Hindu Vedic texts also point in the same direction as Hawkins. According to Sadhguru, the world-famous Indian mystic, one can instantly determine the prana (life force, energy, consciousness, chi) of any person, place or thing simply by holding a rudraksha mala over it. If the beads move in a clockwise direction, the object or person has high, positive prana, and if they move in an anti-clockwise direction, the object or person has a low or negative prana associated with it.

“The Indian chakra system also co-incidentally calibrates almost exactly on the map of consciousness with the crown chakra at level 600 and the root chakra at 200,” writes Dr. Hawkins. And in southern India, it is still customary to find water under the ground through the practice of dowsing, also known as water divining, in which a pendulum is used to locate a water source. People who practise this believe that the locations where water is present are surrounded by forces that will produce a response in their tools.

It’s amazing how the same notion is used in different contexts in different parts of the world. In fact, understanding the energy quotient of human beings can have great implications in building the right kind of relationships between people. This is because a person with a high level of consciousness can counterbalance and neutralise the energies of hundreds of thousands of people at lower levels. A case in point is Mahatma Gandhi (power), who calibrated at level 760, and who was able to take on the British Empire (force) single handedly, even though he was perceived as weaker in comparison.  

In fact, applying the energy test to our personal situations can help us choose effectively. “This is how one can resolve the most crucial of all human dilemmas, how one can instantly determine the truth or falsehood of any statement or supposed fact,” explains Hawkins about consequently aligning oneself with higher states and moving away from lower ones.