On Day 25 we talked about David Hawkins’ “Map of Consciousness” which lays out a calibrated scale of the states of consciousness, from the weakest level of shame to the strongest level of enlightenment. We also discussed that courage is the threshold between weak and strong and how stepping across means freedom from ego and separation. It takes courage to honestly evaluate our own level of consciousness and dare to seek a higher state. It also takes courage to stop expecting others to change and to start changing ourselves. It is not through asking for change in others that we move to new levels of consciousness. Rather, it is having the courage to look in the mirror, recognize where we are, where we want to go, and how we will get there.
Each of us is on a hero’s journey. We all choose different paths and some of us are further along than others. Hawkins explains in Power vs Force that for most people, their individual state of consciousness will only increase a few points over the course of a lifetime. Yet a small change by one individual affects the collective and over time a shift from guilt to enlightenment can take place. In the span of human existence, we’ve already made so much progress. Some believe the soul transcends the physical body and therefore evolution of consciousness can happen over many lifetimes. Gary Zukav offers a captivating discussion of this in his book, The Seat of the Soul. [Do you believe that if you don’t reach enlightenment in this lifetime, you can try again next time?]
Right here and right now in the present moment however, we have to meet one another right where we are. We are evolved enough as human beings to know that we cannot change other people. Sure, we can try to influence, but ultimately our words will have to connect in a way that leads them to change on their own.
If you take an average of your states of consciousness, where are you on the Hawkins map? The answer doesn’t matter! Every level of the map of consciousness is legitimate and deserves to be recognized as progress from the level below. Progress is all that matters. As Gary Zukav discusses in his book, this happens whether you are consciously aware of it or not. Just like Neo in the Matrix, you can take the red pill or the blue pill.
We are all in different places on the journey. What you need might be very different than what I need. Progress includes moving from shame to guilt, anger to pride, neutrality to willingness, peace to enlightenment and everything in between. Each of these steps matter as there is a sequence to the hero’s journey. Meeting others where they are means loving and respecting them no matter what. We know we can’t ask others to change, but what if we were to commit to this loving acceptance ourselves? Would that be enough to evolve collective consciousness?
Photo by Timo Wielink on Unsplash
