Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior (Power vs. Force, #1)

by David R. Hawkins

One characteristic of the experience of pure consciousness is a perception of timelessness (or timelessness of perception). Consciousness is experienced as beyond all form and time and seen as everywhere equally present. It is described as “Is-ness” or “Beingness” and, in the spiritual literature, “I-am-ness.”5 Consciousness does not recognize separation, which is the consequence of a limitation of perception. The enlightened state is of a “Oneness” in which there is no division into separate parts. Such division is only apparent from a localized perception; it is really only incidental to a fixed point of view. Similar descriptions throughout the history of thought are in accord with the studies of William James, as reported in the Gifford lectures and the famous book Varieties of Religious Experience. The experience of consciousness itself has been described as rare, unique, ineffable, and “beyond mind;” as a thought-free state of Knowingness that is complete, all-inclusive, with neither need nor want, and beyond the limitation of experiencing a merely personalized, individual self.6 Another attribute of pure consciousness is cessation of the ordinary flow of thought or feeling. There is also a condition of the presence of infinite power, infinite compassion, gentleness, and love. In this state, the personal self becomes the Infinite Self. There is an accompanying recognition of the very origin of the capacity to experience self as Self. This awareness of self as Self is...