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595 of 630 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nonduality "Light" with a Side Order of Questionable Science, May 10, 2005
I bought a copy of David Hawkins' "Power vs. Force" at the recommendation of a good friend and fellow spiritual seeker who has been quoting Hawkins at me for a couple of years. I am certainly glad to have read this book, and will add that I found it intriguing enough to order the two subsequent books in Hawkins' trilogy. At the same time, I have rather mixed feelings about what I read-- which is reflected in this review.
Whereas I tend to keep an open mind, I have considerable skepticism of any teacher, mystic or expert who claims to have "THE answer." Although he'd like us to think he has the "definitive answer," what Dr. Hawkins has-- and offers readers-- is a PERSPECTIVE, much the same as most other Teachers. And whereas it may be an intriguing and possibly life-altering perspective for some, it is none-the-less still just that: a perspective. Since the majority of the reviews written so far seem to be offering largely *opinions* I'll start by trying to explain what this book is actually ABOUT.
This is mostly a spiritual book, masquerading under a facade of questionable science. Loosely speaking, Hawkins pokes at the fringes of Nonduality, vaguely drawing on traditions of Teachers ranging from Sri Ramana Maharshi to Eckhart Tolle. Yet, at the heart of Hawkins' theories about life, and "How Things Work" is the "science" of Applied Kinesiology (AK). AK is not exactly new, having first gained some attention in the 1960s. It is basically a kind of "muscle testing" which posits that we simply "know" whether something is truth or not-truth, regardless of intellect, training, experience or anything else. Thus if something is "bad," "untrue" or "evil," our muscles will be "weak" in its presence. Conversely, if something is "good," "truthful" or "benevolent," we will be "strong" in its presence.
The basic process of this muscle testing *appears* straightforward enough. The test involves two people-- one who holds out his/her arm to the side, parallel to the ground, and one who asks a simple yes/no question about an object, person or idea. Depending on how the object "calibrates" the person holding their arm out will either test "strong" or "weak." What is NOT straightforward are the particular conditions and limitations Hawkins claims must be met to make muscle testing viable and accurate. And herein lies one of my (and many other reviewers') hesitation with the concept: There's a distinct tone of "We have this fabulous and 100% accurate method, but almost nobody is qualified to execute it, and it's almost impossible to create the environment in which it is completely accurate."
It's tempting to dismiss AK as "complete quackery" since there is very little scientific evidence to support it. At the same time, there may be more to it than meets the eye-- a "version" of it has been used by several large "canned music" providers to select music that makes people "test weak" to be played as background music in retail environments; the implication being that you'll be "weak" with your wallet. For my money, it amounts to "Strange Theory" which Hawkins presents in a highly "scientific-sounding" style, perhaps in the hope that readers will be convinced that "if it SOUNDS like science, it must BE science."
According to Hawkins we, as humans, live at vastly different "levels" of consciousness. All these levels, along with the "truth level" of ANY true/false style inquiry, can be tested for truth and numerically "calibrated" through muscle testing, on a logarithmic scale of 1-1000. According to Hawkins, any person, concept, thought or object that calibrates at 200 (The level of Integrity) or above is positive ("power"); anything below 200 is negative ("force"). So far, so good. Hawkins' "map of the levels of human consciousness" is highly consistent with most spiritual teachings, running the range from Shame (lowest) to Enlightenment (highest). Hawkins' descriptions of the levels are accurate; his coverage personal growth, positive energy and similar concepts are spiritually sound.
The book is a "mixed bag" that is both fascinating and may certainly be eye-opening, if not enlightening, to many people-- while some individuals (especially those of a scientific bent) will probably find it distressing that the work presented appears to be based on some "dicey math" and some philosophical "leaps of faith" that don't necessarily hold water in double-blind tests in a controlled environment. To which I feel compelled to reiterate that-- HOWever it may be presented, and WHATever he may want us to believe-- Hawkins' work is really more "spiritual" than "scientific." My point? The spirituality is predominantly sound; the science is.... dubious.
On the first read, this book annoyed me-- possibly because I had expected to be "wow'ed" to a greater degree than I was. However, once I got comfortable with the idea that I was being offered another "puzzle piece" on my spiritual journey (as opposed to "the Truth"), I found it a reasonably enjoyable and interesting read. I was disturbed by a number of (mostly trivial) contradictions that brought into question how the material in the book could ostensibly calibrate at 800+ (level of enlightenment). For example, Hawkins states that it is unlikely that a person's level of consciousness will rise enough to calibrate more than a few points higher in their lifetime-- yet the mere process of "being exposed" to the material in the book can raise consciousness by 30 calibration points. Huh? Likewise, I take issue with Hawkins' persistent undertone that unless you're highly intelligent, well educated (and basically from the "priviliged classes") you have very little hope of reaching enlightenment. Whereas I can recognize this thinking as a reflection of Hawkins' own neo-conservative life philosophy (which is entirely HIS business, I don't care), its INCLUSION here detracts from the integrity of the work. However, if you can overlook such nitpicks, there are some very sound spiritual and self-development principles presented throughout the book-- largely following path of Non-duality.
Final thoughts: Recommended (7 out of 10 possible bookmarks), with some reservations. Some interesting premises, but probably not for the "lightweight" spiritual seeker-- better suited to the intermediate to advanced student. Gets a bit repetitive and subtly self-congratulatory at times; Hawkins could probably have said everything needed in 100 fewer pages. DON'T buy it for the "science," buy it for the spiritual angle.
Thanks for reading!
--Peter
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477 of 548 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ground Breaking Work - A Milestone For Human Consciousness., March 22, 2002
The new science of Kinesiology ushered in a powerful diagnostic tool called "muscle testing". (Muscle testing is a simple procedure for testing strong/weak responses, such as that of an outstretched arm, in response to questioning). Despite the revolutionary nature of these discoveries, most people are willing to rationalize that something other than the "conscious mind" is at play, something whose function it is to oversee the well-being of the individual and manage the body's myriad complex subsystems. It could then be extrapolated that this benign functionality - "subconscious mind", "field" or whatever - would be willing to communicate with the "outside world" when matters regarding the well-being of its charge were concerned. Dr. Hawkins, however, has taken a quantum leap with the idea of muscle testing. Rather than simply regarding the field or subconscious mind as the governing mechanism of the individual's body, he applied muscle testing in the context of traditional metaphysical paradigms stating that all things are connected, that all events, actions, thoughts and emotions are written into the unlimited Database of Consciousness, and that as participants in this universe, we all have access to that Database. Thus through muscle testing we have the ability to get the answer to any question we can formulate (except pertaining to the future, which has not yet been written into the record). The implications of this are staggering. Did aliens put a face on Mars? Is the government telling the truth about thus-and-such? We now have the means for direct knowledge. Most authors would be content to base an entire book solely on these revelations, but surprisingly this is merely the groundwork laid out by Dr. Hawkins for the rest of the book! Based on thousands of studies using these methods, striving for 100% repeatability on the tests, he explains many aspects of human experience including a Scale of Consciousness. Based on a logarithmic scale of 1 to 1000, all ideas, emotions, concepts, thoughts, works of art, literature and science, resonate at some level. Above the level of 200 these energies are considered nurturing, positive and "good" (Power). Below 200 are energies that are destructive, negative and "evil" (Force). Dr. Hawkins explores how "attractor" energies (mathematics from chaos theory) influence art, science, medicine and sports and examines the specific mechanisms leading to health and disease. He examines the quality of our institutions and discusses the nature of Consciousness and the path to Enlightenment. All concepts are presented with exceptional clarity and lucidity, without any sign of pedantry. Finally, as the title of the book suggests, one may attain a quantitative understanding of the difference between Power and Force. This book is an absolute must for anyone searching for a better understanding of "how reality works".
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95 of 107 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A misuse of a valid technique..., May 10, 2004
I have a rule: never take seriously anything that discusses quantum physics unless it contains equations. Although Dr. Hawkins makes numerous references to "advanced theoretical physics" he never ties it to anything in his work. Thus the book is full of questionable science. (For a really good book tying quantum phenomena to consciousness, see "The Physics of Consciousness" by Evan Harris Walker.) For example, when he gives the power, in megawatts, of a negative and positive thought, there is no discussion of how he derived those numbers. Nor is there any real explanation of how he derived his scale of levels of consciousness or why it is logarithmic. Nor are all of his terms mutually exclusive. It seems to me he has built a self-referential system that is true because the system tests as true using kinesiology. Whis is unfortunate, because I have seen kinesiology used to diagnose serious illnesses. Yet in the hands of untrained people who might be working an agenda, this could be, to be charitable, misleading. And why would just reading his book increase one's level of consciousness? What will be the noticeable effects upon one's outer life? I also have a problem with his use of the term "strange attractor." It seems clear he has little understanding of chaos theory, since a "strange attractor" is a mathematical abstraction that explains certain observed phenomena. He treats is as though it is a real, physical entity, and goes on to discuss "attractor fields" as though they are real and measurable. Even the discussion in "Chaos" by James Gleick, which is a brilliantly written book for the layman, goes beyond what Dr. Hawkins knows. A more complete discussion can be found in "Fractals Everywhere" by Michael Barnsely. Read these, then see if anything Hawkins says makes sense as anything other than an analogy. A simple magnetic field would be a better analogy, however. Something else I have always wondered about is why organically-grown fruit and such are always so much better for us than those grown with fertilizers. I can understand the harm of pesticides, but not simple inorganic chemicals that are transformed by biological processes. And why has life expectancy increased so dramatically in countries that use both chemical fertilizers and pesticides? If these things are so inimical to life, why don't they kill us quickly? Hawkins' discussion of the value of twelve-step groups is quite good, and he even has his points about consciousness. However, as for much of the rest of his work, I just don't like something so poorly substantiated to be offered as good science. I'd like to see his statistics on the double-blind studies, for example. So read this with a critical eye and questioning mind if you read it at all.
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