CATALYST NEWS

Eva Dahm, CPCC, MA

February, 2005

Dedicated to your growth and exploration

TAKE THE HIGH ROAD

Over the past several months, people have mentioned or recommended the book Power vs. Force to me. For some reason, I delayed pursuing their suggestion until now.

This book by David Hawkins combines quantum mechanics with the psychological study of consciousness and its meaning. It helped me to better understand the way I want to be in the world and the way I'd prefer our country operate in the world.

Mahatma Gandhi is an example of the use of true POWER. A war or violence is the use of FORCE.

Hawkins explains, "Not only did Gandhi bring the British Empire to its knees, he effectively brought the curtain down on the centuries-old drama of colonialism, and he did it by simply standing for a principle: The intrinsic dignity of man and his right to freedom. Fundamental to this principle was the fact that such rights come to man by virtue of the divinity of his creation."

The use of FORCE always creates an opposite FORCE-every action creates a reaction. We wage war and we see rebels reacting and fighting back. However, POWER simple attracts and exists. Standing bravely in your beliefs is seen as admirable even when others disagree. A key to Gandhi's POWER was his on-going choice of nonviolence as a way to live from his ideals.

POWER achieves with ease while FORCE call for an effort. David Hawkins describes, "Gandhi demonstrated, for the world to witness, the POWER of selflessness versus the force of self-interest."

"Another example of the same dichotomy is Nelson Mandela and his long and dramatic resistance to the governing rules of apartheid. The South African government was typical of an organization using FORCE because they did not tolerate dissent, and they were arrogant. Mandela displays the POWER characteristics of humility and an unassuming nature." Hawkins says.

Hawkins explains FORCE is divisive and polarizes. POWER attracts and unites people. It appeals to our higher nature. This reminds me of a person taking the high road in a disagreement. Rather than fighting or squabbling, some mature individuals will rise above the muck. Two clients recently separated from their employers, and both took the high road and stayed positive for all involved. They actually raised the consciousness of the interaction. And because quantum mechanics tells us we are all connected, they raised the level of the whole planet.
For the most part solutions are found on this higher ground. After all, Einstein said the solution to a problem is rarely found on the same level that created the problem.

KINESIOLOGY

Powerful approaches and patterns actually test in a muscle test as strong. They are based on truth (which also tests strong). Forceful responses test weak in our muscles. So we can actually use a simple test to see what holds truth for us and what does not. Call me to learn more on how to muscle test.

I have used muscle testing to check in with my higher knowing about a training workshop and a healing session (whether to participate or if it would be helpful to me). This is a very useful way to ask your subconscious (the huge "hard drive" of our body's computer) which connects to the Universal database of information and is very knowledgeable according to Hawkins.

APPROACHES SEEN IN THE WORLD

Power vs. Force goes on to describe organizations and individuals acting from each approach and the results. For example, in commerce POWER is win-win rather than win-lose (FORCE). And a company being run from a foundation of POWER focuses on their own principles of integrity, excellence and true service. From a belief in FORCE, the company would be pursuing triumph over others no matter what the costs.

The author describes many different current issues in these terms and provides an overview and perspective that helps us to understand in a different way. For example, the approach of using guns and nightsticks on criminals, Hawkins says, is not based on Truth but on falsehood. He suggests we need to encourage a solution instead of attacking the supposed causes (since attack is a weak pattern). Then Hawkins tells us about a section of Amsterdam that is a designated red-light district and is very quiet, calm and safe. This is in contrast to such areas in U.S. cities where crime flourishes as do police raids.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

Another wonderful example of the impact of a powerful approach is the creation and growth of 12-step programs based on Alcoholics Anonymous. AA allies itself with integrity, honesty, responsibility and service. Before the creation of the organization, society and medical professionals saw the disease of alcoholism as a hopeless one that destroyed many lives in its path and had no cure.

However, AA was able to appeal to the higher self of its members and focus them on positive principles as a way to reinvent their lives. This paradigm has now been applied successfully to a wide variety of self-help groups.

Hawkins says one of the principles of AA is directly tied to advanced physics because "in a universe in which everything is connected with everything else, unseen POWER accomplished things for us that we never do by ourselves."

"Successful solutions are based on the powerful principle that resolution occurs by fostering the positive, not by attacking the negative. Recovery from alcoholism can't be accomplished by fighting intoxication, but, rather, only by choosing sobriety. The 'war to end all wars' did no such thing, nor could it possibly have done so. Wars-including wars on vice, drugs, or any other human needs regularly traded for in the great hidden social marketplace that underlines conventional commerce-can only be won by choosing peace."

Powerful patterns are associated with health and weak patterns with disease. POWER is a focus on love, compassion, caring, and understanding. FORCE is revengeful, judgmental, and condemning.

This book connects many areas of knowledge for me in an interesting way. Using kinesiology (muscle testing) to poll our subconscious plus the reliance on quantum mechanical explanations for the world and us are recent areas of study. And the consciousness scale as an explanation of taking the high road of true POWER in life is a scientific explanation of what I have known and seen when people choose the high road.

I encourage you to try muscle testing your options in life-check in with your higher self for wisdom. And see when you can take the high road with others. I know you will have situations that will facilitate your practice. If these ideas are of interest, check out this book.

Love and light, eva

Click here to order Power vs. Force and check out other books I have read and recommend.

Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior, David R. Hawkins, 1995.

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