At courage one sees the world as exciting and filled with possibilities. One undergoes empowerment here. This marks the start of active pursuit of
growth – where there exists a gap, the person will act to fill it. For example, learning new job skills, embarking on new education, pursuing
personal growth. The life-view is feasible – anything is manageable since the person is able to harness power to deal with situations in life.
People in the higher levels >200 recognize that their happiness and life lies within them.
10) Neutrality (250): The emotion at this level is trust and safety. Here, people are non-judgmental, objective and able to see things as they truly
are. They are not attached to possessions, situations, outcomes and can roll with the punches in life. If they are not able to get something, they are
equally happy settling for something else.
This is NOT the same as apathy – the power of neutrality comes from a positive place, where one recognizes his/her inner power and abilities and
does not feel the need to prove anything to anyone; apathy is rooted from being forsaken in self and the world, resulting in nonchalance and jadedness
towards the external world. The process is one of release (of everything), and the life-view is satisfactory, where anything goes. These people are
easy to get along; however they are difficult to engage towards causes and visions because they are detached towards everything.
11) Willingness (310): Optimism runs high here. At Willingness, the individual is open to do anything and everything – he/she is not bounded by
others’ judgments or by limitations. For example, he/she is willing to take on menial jobs if he/she cannot get jobs elsewhere. The marked
characteristic between willingness and levels below is the desire to do things well (for the sake of it), rather than just doing things. Someone at
Willingness can readily bounce back from set-backs, is easily mouldable and genuinely open to everyone. Success follows them easily. The process one
undergoes here is of intention (to do anything). The life-view is hopefulness. At this level you have people who perform extremely well in their
careers in corporations, start-ups; however the question then comes as to whether they are investing their energy in the best way.
12) Acceptance (350): In my opinion, this marks the second waking point for an individual and where he/she is fully awake from his/her sleepwalker
stance. Here, one finally realizes that he/she is THE creator and source of his/her life, as opposed to having relegated some part of it to someone
else or a different entity. He/she is (1) aware of the social constructs present in one’s life, whether by family, society, nation, religion, work
(2) able to discern against (limiting) beliefs, viewpoints and conditioning which he/she is surrounded with and (3) able to consciously craft his/her
life above and beyond all these social constructs. Characteristic behaviour at this level will be acceptance vs. rejection, seeking for resolutions
vs. judging right or wrong, long-term vs. short-term view, engaging on life harmoniously on its terms vs. resisting it, striving for personal
excellence and growth. Forgiveness is the dominant emotion. The process one undergoes is transcendence (above what one faces in life). The life-view
here is harmonious.
13) Reason (400): The emotion is understanding and rationality. One seeks out huge amounts of information and analyses them to infinitesimal detail
before reaching conclusions. This is where the noble prize winners, leaders of science and medicine and great thinkers of history calibrate. However,
Reason falls into the trap of over intellectualization in concepts and theories. Where differing theories clash and each argument is sound on its own,
we reach a blockade, leading to the inability to resolve discrepancies. This leads to the process of abstraction or preoccupation with data. The
life-view is meaningful.
14) Love (500): This represents unconditional love – love that is pure, unfaltering, unwavering, not subjected to any external conditions. It is not
the same love that is commonly portrayed in mass media, which is rooted in lust, desire, pride, control, addiction, attraction, jealousy and
possessiveness. While the media is often establishing love and hate as opposite poles, hate is actually rooted from pride (desire for
control/possessiveness) and not actual love.
Reverence is the main emotion in the level of (unconditional) love. At this level, duality becomes an illusion; the feeling is one of entirety that
rises above separation. Unconditional love is inclusive of everyone and expands beyond self. While reason deals with specific data, love deals with
entirety, thus giving rise to the capacity for instantaneous understanding. This aspect is often linked with intuition. The process one undergoes is
revelation. The life-view is benign; there is no separation, fear or negativity. Hawkins claims only 0.4% of the population (1 in every 250 people)
ever reaches this level.
15) Joy (540): The dominant emotion is serenity and compassion. This is the inner joy that arises from every moment of existence rather than from an
external source. This is the level where saints, advanced spiritual students and healers dwell. At this level, one is characterized by enormous
patience and an unwavering positive attitude in the face of harsh adversities. The world is seen as one of perfection and beauty. Individuals are
motivated to dedicate themselves to the benefit of life rather than for specific individuals. Here, the process of transfiguration occurs (emanating
of radiance from the person). The life-view the individual holds is completeness (of the world). Near death experiences have the effect of temporarily
bumping people into this level.
16) Peace (600): The emotion is bliss. At this level, there is no longer any distinction between the observer and the subject. People here become
spiritual teachers, great geniuses in their field to effect great contribution for mankind; they typically transcend formal religious structures and
replace it with pure spirituality where religions originate from. Perception becomes one of slow motion, suspended in time and space. Everything is
perceived as interconnected by an infinite presence. The process one undergoes is illumination; the life-view is perfect. Hawkins claims this level is
only attained by 1 out of 10 million people.
17) Enlightenment (700-1000): The emotion is ineffable, in other words – inexpressible. This is the pinnacle of the evolution of consciousness of
mankind. The greatest people of history have attained this level, such as Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, and Mother Theresa. Here, the body becomes
recognized as a tool to project consciousness in. One’s existence becomes all-encompassing and transcends time and space. The process is described
as pure consciousness. The life-view here is simply ‘Is‘. In achieving our highest potential and embracing our best lives, we should strive for
the highest possible level i.e. enlightenment.
Overview of the Map of Consciousness
Below is a map that captures the summary of all 17 levels of consciousness:
About the Figures
1. They are logarithmic figures and not arithmetic figures.
What this means is when you see a figure, say 200, it means 10 to the power of 200 (10^200) and not the absolute number 200. Thus, 200 on the scale do
not mean twice the magnitude of 100.
2. A small increment by a few points represents a huge increase in magnitude.
For example, let’s look at 100 and 105. Even though it’s just +5 in pts., in logarithmic terms, a +5pt difference represents 100,000 (i.e. 10^5)
times the difference in magnitude! This means even if you are in the level of Guilt or Apathy, just raising your consciousness by +5pt will result in
enormous improvements in your wellbeing and state of life.
About the levels of consciousness
1. The level of consciousness which you are currently at is a weighted average of the different consciousness levels you operate in.
A person usually vibrates at a default consciousness level and shifts to a couple of levels below and above that level depending on the situation.
Every thought, every feeling and every action you have in every situation is rooted from a particular consciousness level; all these can be summed up
and averaged to identify the default level you are in. It is rare someone will maintain an exact same state of consciousness in a given period of
time. Even within the same day, you may behave at a certain consciousness in this context and at a totally different consciousness in a different
context.
One influence on your consciousness is the stimulus in your life. This includes the situations you are in, the type of people you spend time with,
your environment and so on. In times of pressure, one’s consciousness level usually gets bumped down a few levels. Depending on how the person
recovers from the pressure, his or her default consciousness level might be elevated to a higher level after the encounter.
2. One can move across different levels of consciousness.
Your consciousness level now does not define what your consciousness will be in the future. It is open to change; it is not static. Each person is
open to move across different levels, depending on how he/she (chooses to) evolve in his/her consciousness.
3. Distinction of levels of Power vs. levels of Force.
Hawkins segmented the consciousness into two main categories – one based in force (200). People in levels of Force vibrate at a level of fear-based
emotions. They are more inclined to exert control over others or themselves (oppression, force, coercion, and manipulation, violence) to achieve their
desired outcomes. For example, crime, war, governmental passing of certain policies, abuse, or even authoritative leadership/parenting styles. People
in levels of Power (love, empathy, and understanding) vibrate at a level of love-based emotions. They are increasingly aligned with the present moment
and universe and use that to bring about their desired results.
4. Each level can be beneficial or detrimental to you depending on the level you are at.
For example, the state of fear (100) may look quite undesirable if you are at the level of desire (125). However, if you are at the state of guilt
(30), being around people at state of fear (100) is actually beneficial for you as it can help elevate you to a higher level. It is generally more
effective when you are around people at higher consciousness levels which are closer to your level (vs. a huge distance ahead), since it is easier for
your energy levels to reach resonance with theirs. When the people are too distanced from you in their energies, it may result in detachment and
alienation instead.
On the same note, when you elevate yourself to a higher level, it becomes obvious that the lower levels are more limiting. For example, if you are at
the level of Pride, you will see how levels of Shame/Guilt/Apathy/Grief/Fear/Desire/Anger bind people down. If you are at the level of Acceptance, you
will realize how being at levels of Pride/Courage/Neutrality/Willingness restrain others.
5. At Courage and Acceptance, one experiences a marked leap in the experience of the world.
An increase in consciousness at any level changes your experience significantly. However, there are two particular levels where one experiences a
marked leap vs. the other levels. The first is Courage, which separates the levels of force (200). This is the first waking point from the sleepwalker
status. The second is Acceptance, where one recognizes it is he and he himself who is the conscious creator of everything in his life. This is the
point where one completely awakes from sleepwalking.
Where Does Our World Stand Today?
If you are to take a guess, what do you think is the collective consciousness of humanity today? 100? 200? 300? 400? 500?
When Hawkins wrote the book in 1995, he calibrated the collective consciousness of our world to be at the level of courage (calibrated 207). Now as
humanity’s consciousness has shown to only increase about +5pts every century, 207 would very likely still to be the figure for today.
However, this does not mean that the majority of our world is at the level of courage – in fact, 85% of the world calibrates below courage (200).
The lower levels of the masses is balanced out by a few individuals near the top (remember the number is logarithmic, not arithmetic), thus giving us
a overall calibrated figure of 207. Just having a few highly conscious leaders walk the earth is capable of raising the overall consciousness of the
world – for example, Jesus, Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa, and so on. Before this, the world’s collective consciousness has been at 190
for many centuries.
Why is the figure so low? If we are to look at around at what we see in the world, the answer becomes quite apparent:
1. Over 80% of humanity is living at less than $10/day, under extreme poverty.
This includes third world countries, war and disaster stricken areas. Many people here are trapped in states of Apathy (50).
2. Religious teachings and institutions have drastically lowered in consciousness over the years, as they become embroiled with personal agendas of
various men and leaders.
The original teachings of Jesus, Buddha and Krishna calibrated at 1,000. Today, the teachings of Buddhism dropped over the centuries to an average of
900+; Hinduism at 850; Christianity at 750 or even 500 depending on the denominations; militant Islam fundamentalism is at 130 (Desire). In order to
keep members within the religion, many religious leaders turn to Guilt (30) and Fear (100) based teachings towards the members.
3. In first-world developed nations, our society is deeply entrenched in states of Fear (100), Desire (125), and Pride (175).
Fear includes fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of loss, fear of uncertainty. Desire encompasses the insatiable quest for material possessions
(wealth and goods), status, power, love, belongingness. Pride takes root from dualistic views such as elitism, competition, nationalism, racial pride,
factions, religions, as well as attachment to status/wealth/goods. These are all dominant levels we see our society operating in today.
4. Our mass media continually perpetuates levels of fear, desire and pride, or even lower.
Refer to the below table on the calibrated consciousness of several popular shows (obtained from New Connexion; unfortunately the content is no longer
online). Try examining your favourite shows across the levels of consciousness and see where they are likely to lie.
• Desperate Housewives: 63 (Apathy)
• Bourne Supremacy: 73 (Apathy)
• Everybody Loves Raymond: 82 (Apathy)
• NFL Football: 82 (Apathy)
• CSI Miami: 92 (Fear) – (This was one of my favourite shows years back!)
• Day After Tomorrow: 92 (Fear)
• Passion of the Christ: 98 (Fear)
• Shrek 2: 124 (Desire)
What Level of Consciousness Are You At?
What level of consciousness are you at? Which level do you find your thoughts and feelings dominating every day?
Remember that every thought, every belief, every feeling and every action you have is rooted from the level of consciousness you are in. When you
shift your level of consciousness, you also change your world views and mentality.