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David R. Hawkins — Map of Consciousness

Who He Was

Dr. David R. Hawkins (1927-2012). Psychiatrist, physician, consciousness researcher, spiritual teacher. MD from the Medical College of Wisconsin (1953), PhD in Health and Human Services (1995). Served in the U.S. Navy during WWII. Medical Director of the North Nassau Mental Health Center (1956-1980). Director of Research at Brunswick Hospital (1968-1979). Had the largest psychiatric practice in New York for 25 years.

Founded the Institute for Spiritual Research (1983) in Sedona, Arizona. Published Power vs. Force in 1995 at age 68, introducing the Map of Consciousness. The book has been translated into 25 languages with over a million copies sold.

Personal transformation: Hawkins described himself as a former atheist and alcoholic who experienced a radical spiritual transformation around 1965. He claimed to have received what he described as a transmission from an archangel that fundamentally shifted his consciousness. Through his friendship with AA founder Bill Wilson (whom he met while researching nutritional approaches to alcoholism), he eventually moved through his atheism into direct spiritual experience. He spent his final three decades in Arizona correlating science and spirituality.

His own calibration: Hawkins calibrated his own books between 850-999.8. Some critics note he calibrated his later writings higher than the teachings of most historical saints and sages. He reportedly calibrated his personal consciousness above 700 (enlightenment threshold). The exact number he claimed varies across sources.


The Methodology: Applied Kinesiology

Hawkins' entire system rests on a specific application of muscle testing (kinesiology). The method:

  1. Two people participate — one holds their arm extended horizontally
  2. The tester makes a declarative statement (e.g., "This book calibrates above 500")
  3. The tester presses down on the subject's arm
  4. If the statement is true, the arm stays strong; if false, it goes weak
  5. By narrowing the range ("above 600?" "above 700?"), a specific number is reached

Hawkins claimed to have conducted over 250,000 calibrations across 20 years of research, on multiple continents, with "generally identical and reproducible results."

Important context: This methodology has no peer-reviewed scientific validation. The calibration numbers should be understood as Hawkins' framework, not objective measurements. Many spiritual teachers and scholars have questioned both the method and specific results. That said, the pattern of what calibrates high vs. low is often intuitively resonant and tracks with perennial philosophy findings.


The Full Scale: Named Levels (20-1000)

This is the complete Map of Consciousness with all named levels:

Level Calibration Emotion Life View Process
Enlightenment 700-1000 Ineffable Is Pure Consciousness
Peace 600 Bliss Perfect Illumination
Joy 540 Serenity Complete Transfiguration
Love 500 Reverence Benign Revelation
Reason 400 Understanding Meaningful Abstraction
Acceptance 350 Forgiveness Harmonious Transcendence
Willingness 310 Optimism Hopeful Intention
Neutrality 250 Trust Satisfactory Release
Courage 200 Affirmation Feasible Empowerment
Pride 175 Scorn Demanding Inflation
Anger 150 Hate Antagonistic Aggression
Desire 125 Craving Disappointing Enslavement
Fear 100 Anxiety Frightening Withdrawal
Grief 75 Regret Tragic Despondency
Apathy 50 Despair Hopeless Abdication
Guilt 30 Blame Evil Destruction
Shame 20 Humiliation Miserable Elimination

The critical threshold is 200 (Courage). Below 200, consciousness is dominated by force, contraction, and falsehood. Above 200, it shifts to power, expansion, and truth. Hawkins claimed only ~15-22% of the world's population calibrates above 200.

The 500 threshold (Love) marks the shift from the linear/Newtonian paradigm to the nonlinear/spiritual domain. This is where the intellect gives way to direct knowing.

The 600 threshold (Peace) marks the beginning of what mystics describe as illumination — the experience of oneness.

The 700 threshold (Enlightenment) marks permanent God-realization, nonduality, identification as consciousness itself.


Everything Calibrated at 500 and Above

PART 1: THE AVATARS (1000)

The ceiling of human consciousness. Hawkins identified four figures at this level:

Name Calibration Notes
Jesus Christ 1000
Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) 1000
Krishna 1000
Zoroaster 1000

Also at 1000: Brahman / Christ Consciousness / The Absolute as concepts.


PART 2: PEOPLE / LUMINARIES (500+)

Organized from highest to lowest calibration.

960-999

Name Calibration Notes
Huang Po 960 Zen master (770-850 AD)

900-955

Name Calibration Notes
Saint John the Baptist 930 (6 BC - 36 AD)
Moses 910
Apostle John 910
The Twelve Apostles (average) 905

800-850

Name Calibration Notes
Bodhidharma 795 Buddhist monk, founder of Zen

700-790

Name Calibration Notes
Mahatma Gandhi 760 (1869-1948)
Ramesh Balsekar 760 Advaita teacher
Muktananda 750 (1908-1982); also listed at 655 in some sources
Saint Paul of Tarsus 745
Master Dogen 740 Zen master (1200-1253)
Adi Shankaracharya 740 (788-820); also listed at 710
Plotinus 730 Neoplatonist philosopher
Rabbi Moses de Leon 720 Author of the Zohar
Sri Ramana Maharshi 720 (1879-1950)
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj 720 (1897-1981)
Teresa of Avila 715 (1515-1582)
Patanjali 715 (150-200 BC)
Mother Teresa 710 (1910-1997)
Meister Eckhart 705 (1260-1328); also listed at 700
Kashyapa 695 (9,000 BC Buddhist)

600-699

Name Calibration Notes
Abhinavagupta 655 Kashmir Shaivism (~950-1020)
Swami Muktananda 655 (1908-1982)
Johannes Tauler 640 Christian mystic (1300-1361)
Mechthild von Magdeburg 640 Christian mystic (1207-1282)
Rangjung Rigpe Dorje (16th Karmapa) 630 (1924-1981)
Sri Ramakrishna 620 (1836-1886)
Lao Tzu 610 (604-531 BC)
Swami Vivekananda 610 (1863-1902)
San Juan de la Cruz (St. John of the Cross) 605 (1542-1591)
Sri Swami Satchidananda 605 (1914-2002)
Aurobindo 605
Dannion Brinkley 595 Near-death experiencer
Padmasambhava 595 (800-900 AD)
Chuang Tzu 595 (365-290 BC)
Confucius 590 (551-479 BC)
Saint Patrick 590
Louis Armstrong 590 (1901-1971)
Padre Pio 585 (1887-1968)
Joseph Carey Merrick 580 "The Elephant Man" (1862-1890)
John Calvin 580 (1509-1564)
Martin Luther 580 (1483-1546)
Robert Powell 575 Advaita teacher
Brother Lawrence 575 Practice of the Presence of God
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche 575 (1910-1991)
Thomas Aquinas 570 (1225-1274)
Tenzin Gyatso (14th Dalai Lama) 570
Pope John Paul II 570 (1920-2005)
Pope Benedict XVI (Ratzinger) 570
Samartha Ramdas 570 (1608-1681)
Abraham Lincoln 565 (1809-1865)
Roshi Shunryu Suzuki 565 (1905-1971)
Carl Jung 560 (1875-1961); also listed at 540
Jakob Boehme 558 (1575-1624)
Saint Augustine 550 (354-430); also listed at 503
Rumi (Jalal ad-Din) 550 Persian poet/mystic
Giacomo Puccini 550 (1858-1924)
Gopi Krishna 545 (1903-1984)
Socrates 540 (469-399 BC)
George Harrison 540 (1943-2001)
Paramahansa Yogananda 540 (1893-1952)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 540 (1756-1791)
Bill Wilson 540 AA founder
Swami Yukteswar 535 (1855-1936)
Martin Buber 530 (1878-1965)
Annie Besant 530 (1847-1933)
Robert Baden-Powell 525 Scout founder
Henri Matisse 525 (1869-1954)
Helen Keller 520 (1880-1968)
Sri Poonja-Ji (Papaji) 520 (1910-1997)
Thomas Merton 515 (1915-1968)
Charles Fillmore 515 Unity co-founder (1854-1948)
Origen 515 (185-253 AD)
Jean Klein 510 (1916-1998)
Winston Churchill 510 (1874-1965)
Joseph Smith 510 (1805-1844)
Ludwig van Beethoven 510 (1770-1827)
Georg Friedrich Handel 510 (1685-1759)
Peter Paul Rubens 510 (1577-1640)
David Bohm 507 Quantum physicist (1917-1992)
Nelson Mandela 505
Marie Curie 505 (1867-1934)
Johnny Cash 505 (1932-2003)
Eric Hoffer 505 (1902-1983)
Dante Alighieri 505 (1265-1321)
James Allen 505 (1864-1912)
William Jennings Bryan 505 (1860-1925)
Barry Manilow 505
Bob Dylan 504
Ronald Reagan 502
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 500 (1881-1955)
William Shakespeare 500 (1564-1616)
Mikhail Gorbachev 500
Frederic Chopin 500 (1810-1849)

PART 3: SACRED TEXTS & SCRIPTURES (500+)

Organized from highest to lowest.

Text Calibration Notes
Hawkins' I: Reality and Subjectivity 999.8 (Hawkins' own book)
Hawkins' The Eye of the I 980 (Hawkins' own book)
Vedas 970
Upanishads 970
Hawkins' Transcending the Levels of Consciousness 965 (Hawkins' own book)
Sermon on the Mount 955
Hawkins' Truth vs. Falsehood 935 (Hawkins' own book)
Bhagavad Gita 910
Zohar (Kabbalah) 905
Nicene Creed 895
Lamsa Bible (complete) 880 Translated from Aramaic
Hawkins' Power vs. Force 850 (Hawkins' own book)
Dhammapada 840
New Testament (KJV, without Revelation) 790
Lotus Sutra 780
Heart Sutra 780
Hawkins' Reality, Spirituality, and Modern Man 750 (Hawkins' own book)
New Testament (Lamsa, from Aramaic) 750
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 740
Summa Theologica (Aquinas) 730
Quran / Koran 720
Rig Veda 705
Cloud of Unknowing 705
Diamond Sutra 700
Gospel of Luke 699
Midrash 665
Mishna 665
Genesis (Lamsa translation) 660
Gospel of Thomas 660
Psalms (Lamsa translation) 650
Aggadah / Haggadah 645
New Testament (KJV, with Revelation) 640 Revelation alone calibrates at 70
The Flowing Light of the Godhead (Mechthild) 640
Vijnana Bhairava 635 Hindu tantra text
Tao Te Ching 610
Dark Night of the Soul (St. John of the Cross) 605
Kabbalah (as scripture) 605
A Course in Miracles (Workbook) 600
Talmud 595
Tibetan Book of the Dead 575
The Practice of the Presence of God (Brother Lawrence) 575
The Book of Kells 570
A Course in Miracles (Text) 550
Torah 550
Conversations with God trilogy (Neale Donald Walsch) 540
Filial Piety Sutra 540
I and Thou (Martin Buber) 530
Confessions of St. Augustine 520
Pensees (Pascal) 515
The Road Less Traveled (M. Scott Peck) 510
Book of Mormon 510
Divine Comedy (Dante) 505
Man's Search for Meaning (Viktor Frankl) 501

Additional Books Calibrated 500+

Book Calibration Author
The Spiritual Teaching of Ramana Maharshi 722
I Am That 720 Nisargadatta Maharaj
Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi 715
Prayer: Seeking the Heart of God 710 Mother Teresa / Brother Roger
God is Love Alone 700 Brother Roger of Taize
Praying Our Goodbyes 588 Joyce Rupp
Serenity: A Companion for 12 Step Recovery 579
A Return to Love 560 Marianne Williamson
The Power of Now 556 Eckhart Tolle
All For Her 553 Fr. Patrick Peyton
One Day at a Time in Al-Anon 552
The Path to Love 550 Deepak Chopra
You Can Heal Your Life 546 Louise Hay
Love 525 Leo Buscaglia
Dreams and Healing 521 John Sanford
Called to be Friends 520 Paula Ripple
Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul III 517
Meditations from the Road 512 M. Scott Peck
The Monastic Journey 511 Thomas Merton
Chicken Soup for the Soul 505
The Image of His Maker 505 Robert Brennan

PART 4: RELIGIONS & SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS (500+)

Tradition / Movement Calibration Notes
Christianity — 1st century "The Way" 980 Before any councils
Mahayana Buddhism 960 "Enlightenment of all mankind"
Raja Yoga 930
Karma Yoga 915
Zen Buddhism 890
Hinayana/Theravada Buddhism 890 "Individual enlightenment"
Hinduism (current) 850
Christianity (pre-Nicaea, 325 AD) 840
Lotus Land Buddhism 740 "Like the Christian heaven"
Sufism 700
Hasidism 605
Kabbalah (as tradition) 605
Judaism (world religion) 555
Orthodox Judaism 545
Tantric Buddhism 515
Gnostic Christianity 515
Catholicism (current / 2004) 510
Protestantism (modern) 510
Freemasonry 510
Kundalini Yoga 510
Taoism 500
Native American teachings 500

Notable below-500 calibrations for context: - Tibetan Buddhism: 490 - Christianity post-Nicaea (325 AD): 485 - Hinduism (modern, alternate calibration): 499 - Catholic Church (1900 AD): 460 - Islam (modern): 325 - Scientology: 195 - Jehovah's Witnesses: 195


PART 5: CONCEPTS, STATES & PRACTICES (500+)

Concept / State / Practice Calibration Notes
"Nothing causes anything" (statement) 999
"Judgment day is every day" 999
Karma (concept) 999
"Circumstances of birth are karmically perfect" 998
Dhyana (Buddhist meditation) 985
Avatar level 985
Om (as name of God) 975
Buddha's Law of Dependent Origination 965
Trinity (Christian concept) 945
"No one comes to the Father but by me" 940
Allness (concept) 855
The Void / Nothingness / Full Enlightenment 850
Samadhi (Nirvikalpa) 800
Manifestation (concept) 750
Om (mantra) 740
Universal Rights 700
Christian Communion 700
Om Mani Padme Hum (mantra) 700
Self as Existence 680
Christmas (peace for humanity) 675
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti (mantra) 650
Lord's Prayer 650
"I am" state 650
Om Namah Shivaya (mantra) 630
Shangri-La (concept) 625
Kinesiologic muscle test 605 He calibrated his own method here
E Pluribus Unum 605
Peace / Oneness / Illumination level 600
Satori 585
Ecstasy 575-590
Surrender to God 575
Beauty / Perfection / Healing 570
Collective Unconscious (Jung) 560
Compassion 560
Devotion 555
Social Equality (US Constitution) 550
Unconditional Love 540
Humor (attitude) 540
Alcoholics Anonymous 540
12-step self-help groups 540
Christmas (energy of giving) 535
Simplicity 530
Jesus Prayer 525
Bathing in the Ganges 520
Near-death experiences 520
Patriotism 520
Rosary Prayer 515
Thanksgiving (US holiday) 515
Sacrificing one's life for another 510
Valor / courage to be oneself 505
Love / Revelation / Forgiveness / Synchronicity 500
Christian sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation) 500
Cat's purr 500

PART 6: PLACES & SACRED SITES (500+)

Place / Site Calibration
Westminster Abbey 790
Notre Dame 790
Chartres Cathedral 790
Great Buddha of Kyoto 780
Alhambra 720
Basilica of Saint Peter 710
Stupa (Tibetan-Buddhist) 640
Stonehenge 599
Angkor Wat 550
Egyptian Pyramids 520
Machu Picchu 510
Lourdes 510
Unity Village 510

PART 7: MUSIC & ART (500+)

Work / Artist Calibration
Rembrandt's work 700
"Le Grand Bleu" (The Big Blue, 1988 film) 700
Canon in D (Pachelbel) 645
Gregorian Chants 595
Michelangelo's work 590
Pieta (Michelangelo) 590
Amazing Grace 575
Ave Maria 575
Silent Night 575
Joy to the World 575
Leonardo da Vinci's work 565
"Brother Sun, Sister Moon" (film) 550
Charles Dickens' work 540
George Harrison's music 540
Mozart's music 540
Johann Sebastian Bach 530
Carlos Santana 515
"Jonathan Livingston Seagull" (film) 515
Beethoven 510
Handel 510
Rubens 510
Bee Gees 510
"Oprah Winfrey Show" 510
Barry Manilow 505
Bob Dylan 504
Johnny Cash 504-505
Riverdance 500

Hawkins' Own Books — Self-Calibrations

This deserves its own section because it is both remarkable and controversial:

Book Calibration
I: Reality and Subjectivity 999.8
The Eye of the I 980
Transcending the Levels of Consciousness 965
Truth vs. Falsehood 935
Power vs. Force 850
Reality, Spirituality, and Modern Man 750

For perspective: Hawkins calibrated I: Reality and Subjectivity (999.8) higher than the Upanishads (970), the Bhagavad Gita (910), the Zohar (905), and the Sermon on the Mount (955). He calibrated Power vs. Force (850) higher than the Dhammapada (840), the New Testament without Revelation (790), and the Quran (720).


Critical Notes

  1. No peer-reviewed validation. Applied kinesiology as Hawkins uses it has no scientific consensus behind it. Multiple studies have failed to replicate muscle-testing claims.

  2. Self-referential problem. Hawkins calibrated his own methodology (kinesiology) at 605 and his own books at 850-999.8. This is circular.

  3. Cultural bias. Critics note Western/Christian bias in many calibrations. Modern Islam at 325 vs. Modern Christianity at 510. Country music at 520 while most non-Western music forms calibrate lower.

  4. Inconsistent numbers. Multiple calibrations exist for the same items across different books and lectures (e.g., Lao Tzu at 520 or 610; Muktananda at 655 or 750; Saint Augustine at 503 or 550).

  5. The pattern matters more than the numbers. Strip away the specific calibrations and what remains is a reasonable phenomenological map: shame/guilt at the bottom, fear/anger in the middle-low range, reason and intellect in the middle, love as a breakthrough threshold, and various mystical/nondual states at the top. This general architecture aligns with virtually every contemplative tradition.


Cross-Tradition Connections

Hawkins' framework maps directly onto several systems already documented here:

Hawkins Level Law of One Density Kabbalah Sephirah Hermetic Principle
20-175 (Force) 2nd Density (animal) / lower 3rd Malkuth (physical) Polarity (negative end)
200-499 (Power) 3rd Density (self-awareness) Yesod through Netzach Mentalism awakening
500 (Love) 4th Density (love/understanding) Tiphareth (beauty/heart) Correspondence ("as above, so below")
540-600 (Joy/Peace) 5th Density (wisdom) Geburah-Chesed Vibration (higher octaves)
700+ (Enlightenment) 6th Density (unity) Binah-Chokmah Cause and Effect transcended
1000 (Avatar) 7th-8th Density (gateway) Kether (crown) The All / Mentalism fully realized

Bucke's Cosmic Consciousness parallel: Richard Maurice Bucke identified the same breakthrough phenomenon Hawkins places at 600+ — the sudden onset of subjective light, moral elevation, intellectual illumination, loss of fear of death, and sense of immortality. Bucke's 14 major cases (Buddha, Jesus, Paul, Plotinus, Mohammed, Dante, Blake, Whitman, etc.) would all calibrate 700+ on Hawkins' scale.

Perennial Philosophy connection: The 500+ threshold (Love) corresponds to what every tradition identifies as the shift from ego-mind to direct knowing — metanoia in Christianity, satori in Zen, fana in Sufism, the opening of Tiphareth in Kabbalah. The specific numbers are Hawkins' contribution; the territory they describe is ancient.


Key Books by Hawkins

  • Power vs. Force (1995) — The foundational text. Introduces the Map of Consciousness, the kinesiology methodology, and the first major calibration lists.
  • The Eye of the I (2001) — Explores levels 600-850. The nature of divinity, the ego, and transcendence.
  • I: Reality and Subjectivity (2003) — Explores levels 850-1000. Nonduality, the nature of consciousness itself.
  • Truth vs. Falsehood (2005) — Massive calibration lists. Religions, politicians, countries, media, concepts.
  • Transcending the Levels of Consciousness (2006) — A level-by-level guide to moving up the scale.
  • Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender (2012) — The practical method. How to release negative emotional states through the surrender mechanism (not resist, not express, just allow and let go). Most accessible book for newcomers.
  • The Map of Consciousness Explained (2020, posthumous) — Overview and summary of the entire framework.

Open Questions

  • [ ] Full primary text excerpts from Power vs. Force and Map of Consciousness Explained in Incoming/
  • [ ] Cliff notes / quick reference for the core framework
  • [ ] Deeper analysis of where Hawkins' calibrations align vs. diverge from the cross-tradition findings documented here
  • [ ] Compare Hawkins' luminary rankings with Bucke's Cosmic Consciousness cases
  • [ ] Investigate Hawkins' surrender mechanism as practical method alongside Hermetic/Kabbalistic/Law of One practices

Sources

  • Hawkins, David R. Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior. Hay House, 1995/2002.
  • Hawkins, David R. Truth vs. Falsehood: How to Tell the Difference. Axial Publishing, 2005.
  • Hawkins, David R. Transcending the Levels of Consciousness. Veritas Publishing, 2006.
  • Hawkins, David R. The Map of Consciousness Explained. Hay House, 2020.
  • Hawkins, David R. Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender. Hay House, 2012.
  • Full calibration list compiled from multiple published sources and lecture transcripts.
  • Veritas Publishing (official Hawkins estate): https://veritaspub.com/
  • Consciousness Calibrations Database: https://consciousnesscalibrations.com/

Research session: 2025-02-25. Compiled from web sources reproducing Hawkins' published calibrations across multiple books.