With Our Thoughts We Shape the World

The title of this article is inspired by the opening narration of the classic television series Monkey. Those opening words stayed with me long before I understood why. Looking back now, I believe they point towards one of the deepest questions we can ask: does the world shape our consciousness, or does our consciousness shape the world we experience?

As my own understanding has evolved, I have become increasingly interested in the possibility that changing consciousness changes perception. Two people can witness exactly the same event, hear the same words or read the same document, yet experience entirely different realities.

This idea eventually led me to explore a number of conceptual frameworks, one of the most influential being Dr. David R. Hawkins' Map of Consciousness. Whether or not one accepts every aspect of Hawkins' work, I have found it to be an invaluable way of thinking about how consciousness itself influences perception.

Understanding the Map of Consciousness

One of the recurring themes throughout this blog is that two intelligent people can witness exactly the same event and yet arrive at completely different conclusions.

One sees oppression where another sees security.

One sees freedom where another sees chaos.

One sees justice where another sees persecution.

How can people, all observing the same reality, perceive it so differently?

One possible answer comes from the work of Dr. David R. Hawkins, particularly his book Power vs. Force, in which he introduced what he called the Map of Consciousness.

Whether or not one ultimately accepts every aspect of Hawkins' work, I have found the underlying concept to be an extremely useful framework through which to understand both my own development and the extraordinary diversity of human perception.

Consciousness Shapes Perception

Hawkins proposed that human consciousness develops through progressively higher levels of awareness. These are not simply differences in intelligence, education or accumulated knowledge. Rather, they represent fundamentally different ways of experiencing reality.

According to Hawkins, our dominant state of consciousness influences not only how we think, but what we are capable of perceiving.

At the lower levels consciousness is dominated by emotions such as shame, guilt, fear, anger and pride.

As consciousness develops it progresses through courage, neutrality, willingness and acceptance before arriving at what Hawkins regarded as one of humanity's greatest achievements — Reason.

Reason occupies a pivotal place within the Map of Consciousness.

Science.

Mathematics.

Political theory.

Philosophy.

The rational investigation of the natural world.

These are all expressions of the level Hawkins identified as Reason.

Reason is not dismissed.

Quite the opposite.

It represents one of the highest achievements of civilisation.

Yet Hawkins argues that reason, remarkable though it is, has limits.

Logic can analyse.

Logic can compare.

Logic can construct elegant theories.

But logic alone cannot answer every question concerning meaning, consciousness or spiritual experience.

Beyond Reason Hawkins places progressively higher modes of awareness characterised by Love, Joy, Peace and ultimately Enlightenment.

Looking Back

When I first began writing this blog my education in Political Science and Criminal Justice Administration naturally shaped the questions I asked.

Politics.

Constitutional reform.

Taxation.

Justice.

Public administration.

Those subjects remain important and continue to influence my writing today.

What changed over time was not simply my opinions.

The questions themselves began to change.

Instead of asking:

How does government work?

I found myself asking:

• Why do human beings organise themselves in this way?
• Why do different people perceive the same events so differently?
• What is consciousness?
• What is judgement?
• What is freedom?
• What is the purpose of physical existence?

Those questions gradually led me beyond politics and into philosophy, spirituality and ultimately the nature of consciousness itself.

Looking back over the historical archive today, I can see that what changed most profoundly was not the world around me.

It was the observer.

The Relationship with the Nine Veils

Readers familiar with this blog will also have encountered the concept of the Nine Veils to Perception.

To me these two frameworks are not alternatives.

They complement one another.

The Nine Veils describe the progressive unveiling of reality.

The Map of Consciousness describes the progressive evolution of the observer.

One concerns what we perceive.

The other concerns how we perceive.

Taken together they have provided one of the most useful frameworks through which I have been able to understand my own journey.

Whether they ultimately prove to be complete, incomplete or merely stepping stones towards a deeper understanding remains to be seen.

The journey is not over.

The historical archive exists precisely because it records that journey honestly.

I do not preserve the earlier articles because I believe I have always been right.

I preserve them because they show how perception evolves.

Perhaps that is what those opening words from Monkey meant all along.

With our thoughts we shape the world.