Dr. David R. Hawkins
Posted by: SPA ()
Date: May 03, 2014 03:36AM

Hello:

David R. Hawkins was previously discussed on this Cult Education Institute forum thread.

A man called Jakob Merchant is quoted in the new foreword of Power vs. Force as a student who has had success with Hawkins' teachings. On Merchant's website he refers to Hawkins as his "Lord." As a devout student for years, Merchant also discusses "the downside of Kinesiology." He refers to his community as being deeply rooted in "a blind faith of the God of Kinesiology": "At one point people would calibrate to form a cult, at another to commit to immoral or even illegal activities because their muscle testing would tell them to do so...[including testing] unlawful things like killing somebody."

Scott Jeffrey, a former longtime student and colleague of Dr. Hawkins, has written two books about Hawkins. The first is a biography, Doctor of Truth: The Life of David R. Hawkins, wherein he expresses some doubts regarding Hawkins’ teachings and character. The second, Power vs. Truth: Peering Behind the Teachings of David R. Hawkins, is a highly critical examination of Hawkins, and his impact on students, whom Mr. Jeffrey refers to as “Hawkins Fundamentalists.”

In the biography, Jeffrey refers to himself as a “former student of David’s work” (p. xiii), and makes statements such as, “It seems David's not interested in details and the accuracy of his statements...He has a tendency to exaggerate and a flair for the dramatic” (p. xiv).

Power vs. Truth, an allusion to Hawkins’ book Power vs. Force, refers to Hawkins’ community as the “Devotional Nonduality cult.” One of the most important discoveries Jeffrey made is regarding Hawkins’ stated endorsements from Mother Teresa, Sam Walton, and Lee Iacocca, who merely responded politely to unsolicited manuscripts of Power vs. Force. Jeffrey writes, “Hawkins twisted the replies of Walton, Iacocca, and Mother Teresa to make them appear to be endorsements. From a publishing perspective—and from the perspective of socially condoned moral behavior—this was untruthful and unethical” (p. 22).

Veritas Publishing, Hawkins’ self-publishing company, and Hay House both claim that Hawkins was endorsed by Mother Teresa, and offer this quotation: “[A] beautiful gift of writing... [You] spread joy, love and compassion through what you write. The fruit of these three is peace, as you know...” However, Jeffrey found that her actual letter stated: “Thank you very much for the book. Continue to use your beautiful gift of writing to the full, so that people may read the good news and glorify the Father, spread joy, love and compassion through what you write. The fruit of these three is peace as you know--the peace that comes from loving and caring and respecting every person as a child of God--my brother--my sister.”

Jeffrey offers for free the first few chapters of Power vs. Truth.

Furthermore, The Mother Teresa of Calcutta Center has confirmed that Mother Teresa did not endorse Power vs. Force. Sister M. Callisita, MC stated of Mother Teresa's letter, “Definitely it is not [an] endorsement of the book...Contesting such cases in the past, has proved counterproductive as it gives more publicity to the book which frequently have questionable or inappropriate content.” Veritas Publishing, which is reportedly operated by Mrs. Susan Hawkins, now falsely claims that the precise quotations initially attributed to Mother Teresa and Sam Walton instead derive from The New Yorker and Scientific American.

Hawkins’ work has wide appeal. Independent Scientologist Mark Rathbun, for instance, is promoting it. This is discussed at the Ex Scientologist Message Board. This is ironic because Hawkins’ Map of Consciousness has been traced to L. Ron Hubbard by way of Lester Levenson (the Sedona Method) and Vern Black (est). For example, Hawkins’ “level 200” marks the critical distinction between positive and negative energy levels; however, this derives from Hubbard’s “2.0.” This is demonstrated in Secrets of David R. Hawkins: Map of Consciousness by Arjuna Aletheia. It draws on work of Jeffrey as well as Jon Atack, and finds the earliest roots of Hawkins’ Map and Hubbard’s Tone Scale in the ancient world and the work of Hippocrates.

For those unfamiliar with Hawkins’ work, it utilizes applied kinesiology, a disproved pseudoscience, as an absolute means of determining truth from falsity. However, the International College of Applied Kinesiology (ICAK), current ICAK president John Wittle (2008-present), past ICAK presidents Eric Pierotti (1999-2008) and Robert Blaich (1985-1989, and 1995-1999), and Dr. John Diamond--who initially inspired Hawkins' muscle test--all do not accept as true Hawkins applied kinesiology. The ICAK's official stance on the Hawkins muscle test is: “The use of a manual muscle test is not an acknowledged nor accepted test for `truth' by the ICAK nor is it Applied Kinesiology.” This is documented in Secrets of David R. Hawkins: Hawkins Applied Kinesiology.

There is one scholar, Fran Grace, who is promoting Hawkins’ work. However, Catherine Tomas at Oxford University stated in regard to an article Grace wrote on Hawkins that it is not academic, lacks critical engagement, and "reads like an evangelical hagiography supported by pseudo-science."

Hawkins’ knighthood is in a self-styled order, and his doctorate is from the degree mill Columbia Pacific University, although he was a psychiatrist.

Hawkins and his group seem to fit many of the warning signs outlined by Mr. Ross.

Dr. Hawkins passed on September 19, 2012.

For some further related reading, please see the following pages:

Spiritualteachers.org: David Hawkins

More on Dr David Hawkins

Skeptic's Dictionary: Dr. Doctor David Hawkins's AK Quackery

Cults.co.nz: Hawkins, David R.

The Emperor's New Clothes — David Hawkins' absolute calibration of truth

Guruphiliac: Calibrate This!

A Critique of David R. Hawkins and Kinesiology

Greetings from the "lower levels"

Review:David R. Hawkins:Truth vs Falsehood

Why You Are Not Seeing the Map of Consciousness, Etc., Here

Chilling Effects

Thank you. Best regards.

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