Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender (Power vs. Force, #9)

by David R. Hawkins

This energy is miraculous, inclusive, nonselective, transformative, unlimited, effortless, radiant, devotional, saintly, diffuse, merciful, and selfless. It is characterized by inner joy, faith, ecstasy, patience, compassion, persistence, essence, beauty, synchronicity, perfection, surrender, rapture, vision, and openness. We relinquish seeing the personal self as a causal agent. Everything happens effortlessly by synchronicity.

Out of humility, all opinions about others are surrendered.

Unconditional love is a love that doesn’t expect anything from others. When we have become loving, we have no limitations or demands on others that they should be a certain way in order to be loved.

We pray for a miracle to see the truth about the situation or person, and we surrender all of our opinions about the matter. We look at the payoffs we’re getting from keeping our perception of what occurred, and we let go of each little payoff: the pleasure of self-pity, of “being right,” of being “wronged,” and of our resentments.

Letting go now becomes more automatic and continuous. Periods of inner stillness and beauty begin to occur with greater frequency and duration. These may occur at a very profound level. Oddly, they may follow episodes of great inner turmoil and struggle. These periods of intense inner work occur because we can no longer tolerate negativity. Now that we have greater power of consciousness, we are able to reach down and handle problems at the deepest levels of consciousness.

In peace, there is no longer any conflict. There is a total absence of negativity and an all-encompassing lovingness that is experienced as serenity, tranquility, timelessness, completion, fulfillment, stillness, and contentment. There is inner quiet and light, a feeling of oneness, unity, and total freedom. The peace is imperturbable. Actions become effortless, spontaneous, harmonious, and loving in their effect. There is a shift of perception of the universe and of our relationship to it. The inner Self prevails. The personal self has been transcended, with all of its feelings, beliefs, identities, and concerns. This is the ultimate state sought by all seekers, whether they are religious, humanist, or have no spiritual or philosophical identification at

Lost Horizon, once the hero had experienced Shangri-La, although he returned to the world again, he viewed it in a totally different way. He longed, at any cost, to return to Shangri-La where the state of peace prevailed. Once the experience of peace has occurred, we are no longer a victim of the world. We are no longer at its effect as we once were, for we have had a glimpse of the truth about it and of what we really are. With continual surrender, we begin to experience these states of peace with ever-increasing frequency.

The person who has found inner peace can no longer be intimidated, controlled, manipulated, or programmed. In this state, we are invulnerable to the threats of the world and have, therefore, mastered earthly life. When the state of peace has become established, ordinary human suffering is no longer possible because the very basis of that vulnerability has been totally relinquished.

We describe the person who has reached that state of peace as “enlightened” and being in a state of Grace. Within and beyond that condition are various advanced states of illumination and levels of realization described by the mystics, sages, saints, and avatars. There is a silent, nonverbal benefit of being in the actual presence of an enlightened state.

Via silent transmission, the energy from the advanced teacher or saint is incorporated into our aura, our brain function, and our whole being.

Then, entering a restaurant on that cold rainy Sunday afternoon, sitting down alone at the table, suddenly the world was miraculously transformed. A profound sense of inner stillness and peace occurred. It was greater than anything imaginable. The experience was beyond time. In fact, time had no meaning whatsoever, nor did space exist in the way in which we commonly experience it. All things were connected. There was only one life expressing itself with one Self through all living things. There was no identification with the body and no interest in it. It was no longer any more interesting than any other body in the room. All emotions and events were interconnected, and all phenomena occurred because each thing was manifesting its own inner nature spontaneously, as though movement and growth were the spontaneous unfolding of potential. There was a rock-like quality to the imperturbable stillness. It was obvious that the real Self was invisible—without beginning, without end—and that there had been only a transitory identification with the body and the story that went with the identification as an individual.

The thought seemed absurd. There was no longer any feeling of a separate self, and the pronoun “I” disappeared and became meaningless. Instead, there was the awareness of being all things.

There had been a wishful thought to experience separate existence, and this wishful thought had manifested itself as the individual person with an individual identity and a physical body to go with it.

Everyone seemed to be intensely alive. Their aliveness shown forth from their Beingness, and the Self, which was the same for all, shone forth through their eyes.

The body spoke to others, spontaneously carrying on normal conversations and behaving in its usual way. At the time, the body seemed like a karmic wind-up toy run by all of its accustomed patterns and programs, not needing any attention in the slightest. It seemed to know what to do and did it very effectively and effortlessly. All conversations and interactions were merely witnessed as phenomena, not directed. It seemed like a strange vanity to have once believed that there had been a small self as the author of the body’s actions.

It could be allowed or it could be let go. It was allowed, and so the process of return continued. When the next morning dawned, the return was complete, but now with a different sense of personal identity. The truth of the Self had been revealed. The responsibility for having chosen to experience life once again as an individual was accepted, yet without being at the effect of a belief in individual existence. In fact, by conscious choosing, there was complete responsibility for it. Experientially, all of this happened autonomously.

The Holographic Paradigm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order, The Tao of Physics, The Dancing Wu-Li Masters, Mindful Universe, Psychoenergetic Science and the publication of articles with titles such as “Field Consciousness and the New Perspective on Reality,” “The Enfolding-Unfolding Universe,” “The Holographic Model,” “Physics and Mysticism,” and “The Medium, the Mystic, and the Physicist.”

Many cures take place after all medical methods have failed. One reason is that, at this stage of “there’s nothing else we can do,” the patients give up, and they seek and accept the true basic nature and cause of their illness.

Kinesiology deals primarily with muscle-testing, as sudden drops in bio-energy are indicated by rapid weakening of the body’s musculature. This response can be elicited by any negative energy that comes within the aura (vicinity) of the bio-energy system. The stimulus may be physical, such as artificial sweeteners, fluorescent lights, synthetic foods and fabrics, and certain rhythms produced by heavy metal or rap music groups. The most notable stimulus for our understanding is, however, the immediate weakening effect of a negative thought or feeling. A negative thought or feeling instantly weakens the body and creates an imbalance of the body’s energy flow.

It is important to note that both the tester and the one being tested must be over the consciousness level of courage (calibration of 200) in order to obtain accurate responses from the testing procedure (see Appendix B); that is, those who are dedicated to truth are shown the truth.

As negative thoughts or belief systems are surrendered, they no longer have the power to deplete our energy. This is a basic law of consciousness: We are subject only to what we hold in mind. The body will respond to what we believe. If we believe that a certain substance is bad for us, then it will usually test weak with muscle testing. The same substance will make another person who believes that it is good for them strong. What is stressful to us, therefore, is primarily subjective. Muscle testing is responsible to unconscious belief systems as well as conscious ones. Testing often reveals that a person unconsciously feels or believes the opposite of what they think they consciously believe. The person, for example, may consciously believe they want to heal but unconsciously be attached to the payoffs of illness.

Shame: “How embarrassing. I’m such a lousy driver. I can’t even park a car. I’ll never amount to anything.” Guilt: “I had it coming. How stupid I am! I should have done a better job of parking.” Apathy: “What’s the use? Things like this always happen to me. I probably won’t collect on the insurance anyway. There’s no use talking to the guy. He’ll just sue me. Life stinks.” Grief: “Now the car is ruined. It will never be the same. Life is grim. I will probably lose a bundle on this one.” Fear: “This guy is probably furious. I’m afraid he’ll hit me. I’m afraid to talk back to him. He’ll probably sue me. I’ll probably never get the car fixed right again. Car repair people always rip me off. The insurance company will probably get out of this one, and I’ll be the one left holding the bag.” Desire: “I can make a bundle on this one. I think I will hold my neck and fake a whiplash. My brother-in-law is a lawyer. We’ll sue the pants off this idiot. I’ll get a settlement on the highest estimate and get it fixed at a cheaper place.” Anger: “The damned idiot! I think I’ll teach this guy a lesson. He deserves a good punch in the nose. I’ll sue his pants off and make him suffer. My blood is boiling. I feel shaky with rage. I could kill the bastard!” Pride: “Look where you’re going, you fool! Oh God! The world is full of such bumbling idiots! How dare he damage my new car! Who the hell does he think he is? He’s probably got cheap insurance; thank God mine is the best.” Courage: “Oh, wel...

These, in turn, literally create events and incidents in the world, events that we, then, turn around and blame for our reactions. This is a self-reinforcing system of illusions. This is what the enlightened sages mean when they say, “We are all living in an illusion.” All that we experience are our own thoughts, feelings, and beliefs projected onto the world, actually causing what we see to happen.

The basic dictum to comprehend is that the body obeys the mind; therefore, the body tends to manifest what the mind believes. The belief may be held consciously or unconsciously. This dictum follows from the law of consciousness that states: We are only subject to what we hold in mind.

Our proneness to accept negative beliefs depends on how much negativity we are holding in the first place. A positive mind, for example, will refuse to accept negative thoughts and simply reject them as untrue for oneself. There is a refusal to buy into commonly held negative ideas. We know how easy it is to sell self-condemnation to a guilt-ridden person or fear of some disease to a fearful person.

The power of mind over body has been demonstrated by clinical research. For instance, in one study, a group of women were told that they would be given a hormone injection to bring on their menstrual periods two weeks early. Actually, they were merely given a placebo injection of saline. Nonetheless, over 70% of the women developed early pre-menstrual tension with all of the physical and psychological symptoms.

Thus, when the personality that believes in allergies is present, the person is allergic; but when another personality is present in the body, the allergies disappear. One personality may require glasses and another may not. These different personalities actually have notable differences in intraocular pressure and other physiological measurements.

He wrote Anatomy of an Illness, a book about his experience of recovery from a crippling arthritic disease through heavy doses of Vitamin C and belly-laughter induced by films featuring the Marx brothers.

In the uncommon case of persistent illness that is not cleared by the surrender of negative thoughts and feelings, unknown factors such as karmic proclivities may be operating. In such cases, we surrender the desire to change or control our experience of life, and we await further inner discovery about the source and significance of the illness. Surrender at great depth is complete when a person has let go of needing or wanting a physical healing to occur.

He wanted to dance in the worst way, and several times during his life had attended dancing classes. But each time, he found himself to be stiff, awkward, and self-conscious. By sheer willpower, he did manage at times to go through the motions on the dance floor, but never enjoyed it and always felt ill at ease. His movements felt stiff and calculated, and the whole experience was lacking in satisfaction, doing nothing for his self-esteem.

She persisted and said, “Forget about your feet. Just watch me and do what my body does.” Reluctantly, he agreed, and he kept letting go of his feelings of resistance and anxiety.

In an instant, his inner feelings ascended the scale from apathy to love and, to his amazement, he suddenly began to dance like he had always dreamed of and envied! The realization of “I can do it!” hit him, and he went from love, to joy, and even to ecstasy.

He could hardly contain his joy. The dancing became effortless and began to happen of its own, without any conscious thought on his part. The longer they danced, the more energy he felt. It was a peak experience that was to change this man’s life. He went home that night and danced some more.

At home he turned on the disco music and began to dance for hours. He watched himself in the mirror, fascinated by the body’s surrender and the inner feeling of freedom.

The rate of emotional growth reported by those who use the mechanism of surrender is related to the consistency with which they surrender their negative feelings, and there is no relationship to age. People have ranged in age from the teens to the eighties with equal benefit. Repressed and suppressed feelings require counter-energy to keep them submerged.

The approach that brings fast and easy results is the following: Don’t look for answers; instead, let go of the feelings behind the question. When we are surrendered on the feeling behind the question, we can let go of any other feelings that we might also have about what seems to be the problem. When we are finally and fully surrendered on all components, the answer will be there waiting for us. We won’t have to look for it. Consider how simple and easy this is as compared to the mind’s usual long, drawn-out, inefficient attempts at problem solving.

When we first clear out the underlying feelings, the decisions are more realistic and wise. Think of how often we have changed our mind and regretted past decisions.

When the action that was decided upon is taken, the underlying feeling shifts. Then, from the viewpoint of the new feeling space, the decision turns out to be wrong.

Look to see what the underlying feeling is that produced the question in the first place. Once that feeling is let go, the answer will present itself automatically.

One delightful discovery we will make is that our capacity for love is far beyond what we ever dreamed. The more we let go, the more loving we become. More and more of our life will be spent doing things that we love to do, with people for whom we feel increasing love.

Love is the most powerful of the emotional energy vibrations. For love, people will go to any lengths and do things that they would never do for any amount of money.

Success stems from doing what we like to do best, but most people are tied down to what they imagine they have to do.

Such things as money, fame, esteem, position, prestige, power, ambition, competitiveness, and the need for security diminish. They are replaced by the motivations of love, cooperation, fulfillment, freedom, creative expression, expansion of consciousness, understanding, and spiritual awareness. There tends to be more reliance on intuition and feelings than on thinking, reason, and logic. People who are very “yang” may discover their “yin” side, and vice versa. Rigid patterns give way to flexibility. Safety and security become less important than discovery and exploration. Personal lives pick up momentum, and movement replaces stuck-in-a-rut life patterns.

It’s one thing to analyze the causal basis of depression and quite another to enter fully into the depth of hopelessness by letting go of your resistance to the feeling. By allowing the full feeling of it and by letting go of every sensation, every thought, and every little payoff you are getting from it, you are free. It’s not necessary to probe the “why” of depression to become free from the “what” of it.

Scientific research reveals that the results of therapy are not related to the therapist’s school of psychotherapy, training or technique; instead, the results are related to the interaction between them and the degree of the patient’s desire to improve, as well as the patient’s faith and confidence in the therapist. Therefore, psychic factors are operating of which psychotherapy is unaware.

The goal of letting go is the elimination of the very source of all suffering and pain. This sounds radical and startling and, in fact, it is! Ultimately, all negative feelings stem from the same source.

It takes progressively more and more of a stimulus to elicit it. Finally, the person who has surrendered a great deal of fear actually has to search for it diligently. The energy of fear simply isn’t there anymore. Anger also progressively diminishes so that even a major provocation fails to elicit it. A person with little fear or anger feels primarily love all of the time and experiences a loving acceptance of events, people, and the vicissitudes of life.

This self-awareness step is to circumvent a peculiarity of the mind. When we decide on a specific technique to improve our life, and when improvement occurs, the mind has a peculiar tendency to discount the very technique that brought about the change. It is as though the mind’s ego is so vain that it doesn’t want to give credit where credit is due.

We will also notice that, as the mind contrasts the lower level of life with the higher level, a peculiar resistance to the description of a higher level of functioning will occur at times. The mind will get critical and try to save face by ridiculing a higher state.

Our mind has been continuously programmed with a countless variety of belief systems about the body: what it needs, what will be good for it, and its infinite number of vulnerabilities.