Dr. David R. Hawkins and the Apotheosis of Applied Kinesiology

[Although he is no longer living, the controversial teachings of Dr. David R. Hawkins are still popular. When students of mine ask for my opinion of the late psychiatrist-guru, I direct them to my three-star Amazon reviews of two of his book: “The Eye of the I, “and “I, Reality and Subjectivity.” Below are the reviews.]

A PROVOCATIVE, BUT FLAWED TEXT

David R. Hawkins (1927-2012), the late psychiatrist-guru, was a controversial and interesting fellow. I first learned of him about ten years ago, when two ex-Adi Da follower friends of mine became students of his. After my friends told me about Dr. Hawkins, I immediately bought three of his books, including the "The Eye of the I," generally considered one of Hawkins' best texts; and my reaction to it is the same now as it was then--mixed.

First, the negative. In "The Eye of the I," Dr. Hawkins, like many mystics, impugns the efficacy of the human mind. He asserts that "the human mind is incapable of discerning truth from falsehood." In other words, your mind is incapable of determining if two plus two really equals four; and if someone claims a disabled midget is actually a better basketball player than Lebron James, your mind cannot ascertain if that statement is true or false. The human mind is hardly omniscient and makes mistakes, but to assert that it is incapable of discerning truth from falsehood is ridiculous.

The Preface of the "The Eye of the I" states: "By `transcending the opposites,' the author resolves the ages-old, seemingly irresolvable conflict and impasse between science and religion..." This is hardly the case, and instead of resolving this conflict, Dr Hawkins proffers pseudo-science, in the form of applied kinesiology, as the definitive tool for measuring, or calibrating, reality. And, unsurprisingly, according to Dr Hawkins' calibrations, his own teachings calibrate at a level far exceeding those of any other twentieth-century spiritual guru.

I am a spiritual teacher-writer and expert in mysticism, and in my opinion, Dr. Hawkins' unique brand of Advaita Vedanta, though worth reading, hardly qualifies as the foremost spiritual Dharma. Other spiritual teachings, such as those of Ramana Maharshi and Adi Da, are more profound than Dr. Hawkins. And my own Electrical Spiritual Paradigm, unveiled in my forthcoming text, "Electrical Spirituality" (available Spring 2013), is more integral than his.

Now for the positive. Dr. Hawkins' iconoclastic viewpoints, disregard for political correctness, and innovative Advaita teachings, which encourage the practices of devotion and reception of the Holy Spirit, make for a stimulating read. And, as one would expect from a psychiatrist-guru, Dr. Hawkins is chockfull of insights into personal and social psychology.

I have written a couple of books that deconstruct Eckhart Tolle's teachings, and Dr. Hawkins' calibration of the New Age pop guru (though not presented in "The Eye of the I") supports my assessment of Tolle. According to Dr. Hawkins, Tolle calibrates at about the same vibrational level as George W. Bush. I thank Dr. Hawkins for his kinesiological confirmation. When I add up the plusses and subtract the minuses of Dr. Hawkins' teachings in "The Eye of the I", I end up with three stars. And when I apply kinesiology to validate my rating, I get a perfect score of 1000. Who says this stuff doesn't work?

A LOT OF HOOOEY, A LITTLE HONEY

A fan of my books and Amazon reviews asked me to review this text, and being a compliant sort of fellow, I agreed. I first read this book several years ago, quoted some of it in my book "Beyond the Power of Now," and now, after reading it again, I'm ready to review it.

"I: Reality and Subjectivity" is the third book of a Dr. David Hawkins' trilogy. It follows "Power versus Force" and "The Eye of the I." Whereas "Power versus Force" focuses mainly on the lower-to-middle levels of the spectrum of consciousness (below 600 on Dr. Hawkins' logarithmic calibration scale) and "The Eye of the I" on the middle-to-upper levels (600 to approximately 850), "I: Reality and Subjectivity" centers primarily on of the upper levels (850 to 1000). Dr. Hawkins' logarithmic scale of consciousness is based on his own method of applied kinesiology, which, he contends, is the definitive method for discerning truth from falsehood and calibrating the levels of consciousness of everything in existence.

Dr. Hawkins believes that applied-kinesiologic calibrations are man's salvation, because according to him, "the mind is not really capable of actually knowing anything at all, and the illusion it knows is a pretense and a vanity." Because, as Dr, Hawkins informs us, "the mind is incapable of discerning truth from falsehood," and "all axioms are illusions and barriers to enlightenment," man needs an infallible means to provide him with true knowledge - and that means is applied kinesiology, applied the way he teaches it.

I couldn't disagree more with Dr. Hawkins. I believe that the human mind, though very capable of ignorance and error, is also very capable of knowing things and of discerning truth from falsehood; and I do not find all axioms illusions and barriers to enlightenment. But I do find Dr, Hawkins somewhat of a philosophic ignoramus. If the human mind cannot know truth, then Dr. Hawkins cannot know (or claim to know) that the mind cannot know anything and that all axioms are illusions. He makes a fool of himself by invalidating human knowing and then using it himself to assert his knowledge. He says all axioms are illusions, then presents us with his axioms, the principal one being that all axioms are illusions. Serious philosophers laugh at contradiction-riddled "thinkers" like Dr Hawkins.

Dr. Hawkins applied-kinesiologic method and calibrations are a joke. I know people who were long-time followers of Dr. Hawkins, and when they and their fellow followers tested the same things Dr. Hawkins did, they got very different calibrations. There is a term that perfectly summarizes Dr. Hawkins applied-kinesiologic method: pseudo-science.

When I checked out some of Dr. Hawkins applied-kinesiologic calibrations online (you can Google them and do the same), I almost fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard. He had Zen Buddhism at 890 and Tibetan Buddhism at 490. I'm an expert in both schools of Buddhism, and I rank Tibetan Buddhism well ahead of Zen. Interestingly enough, Dr. Hawkins practiced Zen but not Tibetan Buddhism. A Course in Miracles at 600 is a real hoot. I gave the text one star in my Amazon review. As I suggested in my review, it should be retitled "A Course in Utter Trash." According to Dr. Hawkins, spiritual enlightenment commences at the 600 level. Shockingly, Dr. Hawkins calibrated the gurus Ramesh Balsekar (740) and Swami Muktananda (750), ahead of India's greatest twentith-century master, Ramana Maharshi (720). Contradicting their lofty rankings, Balsekar was exposed as a lecherous old eructation, and Muktananda as a pedophile. As bad as these calibrations are, there are worse ones, such as hatha yoga at an undeserved 260, below even nefarious Wal-Mart (310). But the worst one may be Shaktipat Energy at 160. Shaktipat Energy is the same Energy as the Holy Spirit, and it is the Energy that Swami Muktanada, a Shaktipat guru, would transmit to his disciples. How could Muktananda calibrate at 750 and the Shaktipat Energy at 160? Don't ask, because none of it makes sense to anyone with a mind capable of discerning truth from falsehood.

Dr. Hawkins insists that "opposites are not opposite at all but merely linear gradations along the same line and not along different lines." Unbeknownst to Dr. Hawkins, east and west as well as north and south are opposite directions; men and women are opposite sexes; negative and positive are opposite electrical poles, and every sign in the Zodiac has one a 180-degrees opposite from it. I could continue, but I'm sure you can think of your own exceptions to Dr. Hawkins' axiom.

In this book as well as in his others, Dr. Hawkins voices strong sociopolitical opinions; and I find myself in agreement with most of them. For example, I love the fact that he loves the U.S. Constitution, calibrating it at a strasopheric 705; and I applauded the 180 he stuck on political correctness. Dr. Hawkins is NOT a liberal (in fact, he is commonly labeled a neo-con), and his calibration of the corrupt and contemptible George W. Bush at a bloated 460 is enough to make anyone question the objectivity of his kinesiologic calibrations.

Although Dr. Hawkins enjoys pontificating on politics, he has little understanding of political philosophy. He doesn't understand that the "far right," which he calibrates at a satanic-level 90, is really patriotic, Constitution-worshipping individuals such as Glenn Beck, Alex Jones, John Stossel, Ron Paul, and Judge Napolitano, and not those who represent, in his words, "the forces of moral degeneracy, violence, criminality, war and slaughter." Unbeknownst to Dr. Hawkins, and made clear in Jonah Goldberg's superb text "Liberal Fascism," it is actually left-wing liberalism that is the totalitarian political religion, and at the root of so-called right-wing twentieth-century European fascism.

Dr. Hawkins peppers his writing with interesting facts. For example, he informs us that 94% of all university professors are libtards, and that castrated men live 9 years longer on average than regular men. The implication is clear, ladies: If you want an emasculated hubby you can kick around for an extra decade or so, have the old boy "fixed."

Amid all his philosophic poppycock, Dr. Hawkins provides some worthwhile insights. For example, he writes: "Evolution is the unfoldment of Creation as it appears to perception; thus Creation and evolution are actually the same thing." He also clarifies the nature of the void, which is important for zoned-out Buddhist who mistakenly equate emptiness with Ultimate Reality. Dr. Hawkins writes: "The correct translation of the illumined State as `void' actually means devoid of content, not containing any thing or form. It was misconstrued as meaning "nothingness" as the supposed opposite of Allness. Using reason as a tool, it can be seen that nothingness cannot exist, or be, or represent a valid option."

In the later part of this book, Dr. Hawkins focuses his attention on esoteric spirituality and the upper levels (850 and above) of the consciousness scale. As someone who has devoted the last forty years of his life to the study and practice of esoteric spirituality (check out my Amazon reviews for my insights into this field), I can only say that Dr. Hawkins is hardly an expert in the field of mysticism, and judging from some of his ignorant statements and laughable calibrations, I wouldn't wager a plugged nickel on his being fully en-Light-ened, in the mode of, say, the Buddha or Ramana Maharshi.

Even though this text is teeming with hooey, it does offer some honey. If you remember to separate the hooey from the honey, you just might find Dr. Hawkins a provocative and worthwhile read.