Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior

Hawkins’s work is centered on the concept of a universal consciousness that is divine. He acknowledges Carl Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious, a sort of database of knowledge that can be tapped by any person. He goes beyond Jung to posit that the source, and basis, of all consciousness is divine. As Fran Grace states in the Foreword, Hawkins’s work posits every aspect of human expression as being “an expression of, and a pathway to, the Ultimate” (27). However, he leaves the interpretation of this higher power to the individual. By doing this, he both stresses the universality of a divine consciousness and appeals to diverse religious beliefs.

The existence of universal consciousness as a higher power is unquestionable to Hawkins. As he says in Chapter 8, individuals of great power throughout human history all attributed the source of their power to “something greater than themselves” (135). Still, Hawkins does not usually refer to this divine source as God and rarely uses the word “God” aside from discussions of organized religions. When he mentions God in Chapters 2 and 22, he equates God with the infinite potential, power, and energy source of all existence, also called “Deity” and “Divinity.” Elsewhere he refers to “the Maker of all things visible and invisible” (209).