Quantum Leaps of Human Consciousness

In his book Power vs. Force, David Hawkins described a hierarchy of levels of human consciousness. This is a fascinating approach to understanding personal growth and transformation. Here are the levels, listed from lowest to highest:

• Shame
• Guilt
• Apathy
• Grief
• Fear
• Desire
• Anger
• Pride
• Courage
• Neutrality
• Willingness
• Acceptance
• Reason
• Love
• Joy
• Peace
• Enlightenment

While people can shift between these levels, there is usually one predominant “normal” state. If you’re reading this article, you’re likely at least at the level of Courage, since lower levels rarely spark a conscious interest in personal development. Hawkins named these levels and described them as a logarithmic scale: far fewer people exist at the higher levels than at the lower ones. Each transition from a lower to a higher level is accompanied by a significant life change.

Descriptions of the Levels

• Shame – One step away from death. You may be contemplating suicide or be filled with self-hatred. This is the lowest level, where self-loathing dominates.
• Guilt – Slightly above shame, but still plagued by thoughts of self-condemnation. You see yourself as a sinner and can’t forgive your past actions.
• Apathy – A sense of hopelessness and helplessness. Many homeless people are stuck at this level, convinced of their own powerlessness.
• Grief – Endless sadness and loss, often after losing a loved one. Depression. It’s higher than apathy because you’re starting to break free from numbness.
• Fear – The world feels dangerous and unreliable. Paranoia is common. It’s hard to rise above this level without help, and people often get trapped in oppressive relationships.
• Desire – The level of craving, bad habits, and passion for money, approval, power, fame, etc. Consumption and materialism dominate. This is the level of smoking, alcohol, and drugs.
• Anger – The level of frustration, often because desires from the previous level go unfulfilled. Anger can motivate you to act or drown you in hatred. In toxic relationships, one partner may be stuck in anger, the other in fear.
• Pride – The first level where you start to feel good, but it’s a false sense of well-being, dependent on external factors like money or prestige. Pride can lead to nationalism, racism, and religious wars. You become so attached to your beliefs that any challenge feels like a personal attack.
• Courage – The first level of true strength. Life’s challenges become exciting rather than overwhelming. You start to see your future as growth, not just a continuation of the past. Interest in personal development emerges, even if you call it career advancement or education.
• Neutrality – “Live and let live.” Life is flexible, relaxed, and unburdened. You don’t need to prove anything to anyone and feel safe with others. Many self-employed people are at this level. It’s comfortable, but can also be lazy and complacent.
• Willingness – Feeling safe and comfortable, you begin to use your energy more effectively. Just getting by is no longer enough. You focus on working well, time management, productivity, and self-organization. This is the level of willpower and discipline. These people are the “soldiers” of society, doing their jobs without much complaint.
• Acceptance – A powerful shift occurs, and you awaken to the possibilities of proactive living. You become competent and want to put your abilities to good use. This is the level of setting and achieving goals, taking responsibility for your role in the world. If something in your life isn’t right, you identify the desired state and work to achieve it. Many people at this level change careers, start businesses, or focus on health.
• Reason – You transcend the emotional aspects of lower levels and begin to think clearly and rationally. Hawkins calls this the level of medicine and science. You can fully use your mind’s abilities and seek meaningful ways to apply your talents. This is the level of Einstein and Freud. Most people never reach this level in their lifetime.
• Love – Unconditional love and a constant sense of connection with all that exists. Compassion dominates. At the level of reason, life is run by the head, but eventually, you realize you need a broader context. At the level of love, your mind and talents serve your heart and a higher sense of good. Motives are pure and not tainted by ego. This is the level of lifelong service to humanity—think Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer. Intuition becomes extremely powerful. Hawkins claims only 1 in 250 people reach this level in their lifetime.
• Joy – A sense of deep, unshakable happiness—the level of saints and advanced spiritual teachers. Life is guided by intuition and synchronicity. There’s no need for goals or detailed plans; your expanded consciousness operates on higher concepts. Near-death experiences can temporarily lift you to this level.
• Peace – Complete transcendence. Hawkins says only one in ten million people reach this level.
• Enlightenment – The highest level of human consciousness, where humanity merges with divinity. Extremely rare—this is the level of Jesus. Even thinking about people at this level can raise your own consciousness.

Applying the Model to Your Life

This model is worth considering. Not only people, but also objects, events, and even entire communities can be evaluated by these levels. In your own life, you may notice that different areas are at different levels, but you can identify your overall current level.

For example, you might be at the level of Neutrality but have a tendency to smoke (Desire level). Lower levels act like a drug, pulling you down, but you can also find higher levels in your life. You might be at Acceptance but reading a book at the Reason level and feel truly inspired. Think about what is currently having the strongest influence on your life. What lifts your consciousness? What brings it down?

One way to discover your true current level is to consider how you behave under stress. When you squeeze an orange, orange juice comes out because that’s what’s inside. What comes out of you when you’re under pressure? Do you become paranoid and withdraw (Fear)? Do you lash out at others (Anger)? Do you get defensive (Pride)?

Everything in your environment affects your level of consciousness: TV, movies, books, websites, people, places, objects, food. If you’re at the Reason level and watch TV news (which is typically at the Fear and Desire levels), it will temporarily lower your consciousness. If you’re at Guilt, TV news might actually raise it.

Moving from one level to the next requires tremendous energy—a quantum leap. Without conscious effort or help from others, you’re likely to stay at your current level until some external force intervenes in your life.

Pay attention to the natural sequence of levels and consider what might happen if you try to rush the process. If you try to reach Reason before mastering discipline (Willingness) and goal-setting (Acceptance), you’ll be too disorganized to fully use your mind. If you try to reach Love before mastering Reason, you might suffer from naivety and get stuck in a cult.

Each transition can be extremely difficult; most people never make more than one leap in their entire lives. Even a single level change can transform everything. That’s why it’s unlikely for people below Courage to progress without outside help.

Courage is needed to walk this path wisely; it’s required for the ongoing struggle with reality for a chance to become more aware. But once you reach the next level, you realize the struggle was worth it. For example, when you reach Courage, your old fears and false pride seem silly. When you reach Acceptance (goal-setting and achievement), you look back at Willingness and see you were like a hamster on a wheel—good at running, but not choosing the direction.

Arguably, the most important work we can do as humans is to raise our personal level of consciousness. When we do this, we spread higher levels of consciousness to everyone around us. Imagine how amazing the world would be if we could raise everyone to at least the level of Acceptance. Hawkins claims that 85% of people on Earth live below the level of Courage.

When you temporarily experience higher levels, you can see where you need to go. You have those moments of insight when you realize what needs to change in your life. But when you’re stuck in the lower levels, those memories become clouded.

You can’t reach the higher levels until you master the basics. Jesus was a carpenter. Gandhi was a lawyer. Buddha was a prince. We all have to start somewhere.

Look honestly at this hierarchy and consider whether it has given you new insight into what might help you make your next leap in life. No level is more right or wrong than another. Try not to let your ego get attached to any particular level—unless, of course, you’re currently at the level of Pride.