Cult Education Forum

David R. Hawkins is a former psychiatrist who now apparently believes he is God. He claims applied kinesiology is an absolute way of determining the truth or falsehood of any statement, and that it can calibrate anyone and everything's level of consciousness. One of his books calibrated .2 away from Jesus Christ, Buddha and Krishna (who are "1000" in his system).

He received his Ph.D. from the diploma mill Columbia Pacific University (the same correspondence school that author John Gray got his degree from).

He operates out of Sedona, Arizona, where he started Veritas Publishing to publish his books.

His web site offers this praise from a reader:

[i:04a617cf06]Dr. Hawkins,

The Heavens often bestow the richest gifts on human beings, sometimes that beauty and abundance is given to a single individual.
He perceives the experience of life with single individual beauty, grace and ability, so that, whatever he creates or performs, every action is so divine that he surpasses all other men and clearly explicitly displays his genius is the gift of God, Creation, Life, Higher Power, and not one of his own accomplishments, but those of [b:04a617cf06]GOD!![/b:04a617cf06]

That is what you are to me.

Abundant health, always the best.
Have a blessful, blissful day...

Love, Ricardo[/i:04a617cf06]
[www.veritaspub.com]

Seems cult-like to me. Does anyone else have any experience or opinions regarding this New Age guru?

Links:
www.veritaspub.com
[en.wikipedia.org]
[skepdic.com]
[skepdic.com]
[www.energygrid.com]

I've heard of him, and he seems pretty flaky. He's very popular in many Unity churches, particularly ones that preach from A Course in Miracles and related material. Why people fall for this crap is beyond me.

From his website, regarding a book he is trying to sell named "The Eye of the I" ([www.veritaspub.com]):

"• The scientific minded reader will be pleased in that for the first time a cogent and verifiable means of verification of spiritual reality is provided by means of an 'objective' reduplicable method of measurement based on physiologically derived clinical evidence."

Um.

Should be the discovery of the century!!!!!!!

It sort of looks like he wants to sell some books. If it can be determined whether or not he has some groupies that follow him around or, if hes just hawking books, that could make it more interesting.

More than just selling books, he has workshops, seminars, ongoing study groups, you name it...mostly in Unity and New Thought churches (where anything goes).

Oh yes, he has groupies. BTW - Guy Ritchie (Mr. Madonna) recently interviewed Hawkins. You can see a picture of Hawkins with Ritchie at [davidhawkins.info] under "Press Release."

There are several Hawkins internet groups, for example. Here is one that is "devotional."

[groups.yahoo.com]

[i:ef5178b3b9]This Group is dedicated to the profound teachings of Dr. David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D.

Our focus here as a group is Devotional discussion of Absolute Truth, enlightenment, and God as it is reflected in the teachings of Dr. David R. Hawkins. [/i:ef5178b3b9]

The following group is run by Hawkins' neighbor in Sedona, and Hawkins is secretly behind the group (though they do not disclose this for "legal reasons.")
[groups.yahoo.com]

Here is another group:
[consciousnessproject.org]

I know that people have moved to Sedona simply to be near Hawkins and hear him lecture, which he does every month in Sedona. He charges $125 per lecture, and then sells the lectures in video, DVD, and CD formats.

Here is another critical link: [www.spiritualteachers.org]

I just replied in another post. David Hawkins book, Power vs. Force is a mainstay at Dahn Yoga centers. He is seen on several promotional videos with Ilchi Lee.

Anyone who associates with the likes of Dahn Yoga and Ilchi Lee is automatically suspect.

He may be sincere in his studies but he nullifies them when he associates with a dangerous cult like Dahn Yoga.

If his findings are legitimate why does he deal with Ilchi Lee?

Hawkins wrote this in praise of Ilchi Lee's [u:568653687c]Brain Respiration[/u:568653687c]:

[i:568653687c]This is indeed an important and praiseworthy book for it helps us get close to the truth and actual experience of our own reality as the Self which transcends all of time, which always was, always will be, before and after all worlds or universe.
- Dr. David R. Hawkins, Author of Power vs. Force [/i:568653687c]
[www.hspub.com]

Here is what is on the Rick Ross Institute site:
[www.rickross.com]

And Steve Hassan's site:
[www.freedomofmind.com]

Of interest also is Hawkins' similarity to Scientology. He uses a scale that is very similar to Hubbard's "tone scale" and even has a doctrine about applied kinesilogy working in the opposite way for about 2.6% of the population (though Hawkins recommends a psychiatrist for these people, being one himself, not that all of these people are psychiatrists!). Apparently both Hawkins and Hubbard got their scales from the established emotional levels in psychoanalysis, I understand, which is why they appear so similar. But, Hawkins did "calibrate" Hubbard and Scientology as being "negative."

Thank you for your response.

Quote:

PhoenixPotter
...Hawkins did "calibrate" Hubbard and Scientology as being "negative."

I have spoken in depth with a cult expert who recognizes that David R. Hawkins is a cult leader, and he believes he suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) [en.wikipedia.org]

Indeed, I found a book of Hawkins' where he does explicitly express possessing the classical attributes of God: omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence. The Wikipedia article on Hawkins also notes this. By the way, Dr. Carroll of the Skeptic's Dictionary updated his entry on applied kinesiology to more extensively include reference of Hawkins [skepdic.com]

Here is Hawkins' quote claiming to be God, from [u:b2b953f70c]Dialogues on Consciousness and Spirituality[/u:b2b953f70c]:

Quote:

Y [interviewer]: About this part, I have a couple of questions. At that moment, did you have a family? Were they worried about you?
DH: Yes. And there was this miraculous change, but there was nothing I could say about it. There is nothing one can say about such things. They are so far-reaching and of such a dimension, and so far beyond orindinary human experience that there is nothing one can say. One could not just walk down the sidewalk and say, "Hey, by the way. I just got enlightened yesterday." And the other person would say, "Yeah, right, sure. Does it pay anything?"

Now everything is transformed and there is absolutely nothing one can say about it. It was like the inner part of me - whatever had been my individual self - was struck dumb with awe. It was awesome beyond all meaning of the word - to be the witness of the presence of that which is in its naked expression as all of existence.

Although the mind is stopped, one is at one with all that is known, so there is, in the instant, the experience of those attributes of God described as omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence. The power is infinite. The knowingness is also infinite. All things are known. It does not mean that all things are denoted by the intellect because one would have to have an interest in such things. It is like, in the presence of omniscience, all things are knowable; therefore, one does not bother knowing about the specific.

Once you know how to make gold, there is no point in collecting it anymore. There is no point in collecting information. It is like you have the infinite computer of all possibility, so if there is anything you would want to know, all you would have to do is ask. And in that state, what do you suppose you ask? Nothing. There is nothing to ask! To ask a question is coming out of ignorance, is it not? In the presence of omniscience, there is no ignorance, so there is nothing to ask. So if you ask me what question would I like to know, there isn't any, to tell the truth. There isn't any answer I'm interested in, except to demonstrate [with the pseudoscience applied kinesiology] for a viewer.

Quote:

This article still gets more feedback than almost any other article on EnergyGrid. Most of the emails are from Hawkins' supporters, incensed that someone should be so dismissive of their teacher and his philosophy. I firmly believe that Hawkins' calibration worldview is religious fundamentalism disguised as pseudo-science, and the nature of the criticisms I receive bear this out: specific points and objections are not discussed, but rather the disciple, in the spirit of his teacher, rants on about my ignorance and my low calibration… all classic fundamentalism.
Having learned the hard way that it is a complete waste of time trying to talk reason with a fundamentalist, I no longer bother to reply to emails from Hawkins' supporters, for their authors are almost invariably not after mutual understanding but symbolic annihilation of anything and anyone that opposes their ideology. Only one single Hawkins supporter has shown me any level of politeness, but by the time I received his email (just a month ago, thanks Jon) I had had so much time wasted that I declined the invitation for yet another "debate".

I should also say that I met a man who literally ended up going insane obsessing over Hawkins' applied kinesiology method and simultaneously doing kundalini yoga. The man started seeing demons and aliens and ended up in a mental hospital. He lost a lot of business, besides worrying his wife and children. This stuff can be dangerous. Thanks.