The book "Power vs. Force" by the late David Hawkins is one of the most fascinating books in the world today, and it has what might be the least appropriate title in the world. You see, the words power, versus and force all imply contention, yet that's not what the book is about.

The book is really about its subtitle, "The Hidden Determinants in Human Behavior." David Hawkins began practicing psychiatry in 1952 and then discovered the power of kinesiology, a science which obtains answers direct from the subconscious mind of a subject through muscle-testing.

Finding this a fascinating avenue into the unknown, David probed deeper, finding that he was accessing what he calls attractor fields in the subconscious. Attractor fields are what Carl Jung called archetypes and they are created by the group efforts of millions of minds in the collective unconscious. When an individual tunes into an attractor field, such as anger, love or fear, their brain is entrained to something much larger than them. Attractor fields hold a fascination because of their size and power.

Just when his practice became huge, with 50 therapists and other employees working for him, David abandoned it all for a life of research. Instead of treating one patient at a time, David wanted to discover how everyone could be helped by the promise and potential of kinesiology.

His research over the years proved conclusively the same thing that the new theoretical physics is beginning to say, that everything in the universe is connected. With kinesiology, he confirmed that whatever question is asked, if there is an answer to that question somewhere in the universe, then that answer will become yours.

He also set up a system of calibrating levels of human consciousness. Arbitrarily assigning the numbers 1 to a 1,000 as the possible range of consciousness, he soon found that he had to use the logarithm of numbers, rather than just plain numbers. This is because the power of consciousness at higher levels is vast compared its power at lower levels.

When you use a base-ten logarithmic system, the number 4 is not twice the number 2. Log 4 is 10,000 (one plus four zeros) versus log 2's value of just 100 (one plus two zeros). This means that a consciousness level of 300 is not twice 150, it is 10 to the 300th power; a one with 300 zeros after it.

Furthermore, David found that the consciousness level of 200 was critical. It is necessary to sustain life on this planet without it sinking into eventual self-destruction. Since the mid-1980s, he reports, the global average reading for humanity climbed above the critical 200 level. This, of course, is yet another discovery confirming the existence of today's ongoing shift in consciousness, which we call simply The Shift*.

Then he began to wonder how much people of higher consciousness were compensating for people who live below the 200 level. Consider, for example, that 800 million people in the world are hungry, with many of them living near starvation. The consciousness of despair tests at a level of just 50. Even anger and hatred rate higher in frequency than the deep depression experienced by those who live with no appearance of hope.

So here we are, on Planet Earth, a collective humanity swimming hard through life to keep our collective chins above the 200 level, working towards the day when hunger and hopelessness will be eradicated from our world once and for all.

What can you do to help? The answer, surprisingly, is the same that enlightened teachers have been saying for centuries. Your greatest service to humanity is the development of your own consciousness. As you raise your consciousness, you contribute more to the spiritual quality of the global mind.

How exactly can that help the world? Getting back to modern science and its numbering systems, along with our liking for summaries that spell out "the bottom line," here are the test results.

One individual at a higher level counterbalances many, many individuals who are below the critical level of 200. Below the 200 level are the attractor fields of shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, desire, anger and pride. Right at the critical 200 level comes courage and its ability to empower the self out of the victim-orientation of the lower frequencies.

At 300, a person has risen above many emotions of conflict to achieve some non-judgment and to feel optimism. At 300, one person counterbalances an incredible total of 90,000 people below the 200 level. Such is the power of higher states of consciousness.

At 400, the individual achieves a harmonious attitude which brings acceptance and forgiveness. Furthermore, they gain an enhanced sense of reason, which brings understanding and meaning to life. This is not a difficult level to achieve. Those who, for example, pursue higher education and the professions function at the 400 level, where one person counterbalances 400,000 people below the 200 level.

To reach 500, you need to be spiritually conscious. At this level, unconditional love and unconditional forgiveness become alive and well in your reality. You also counterbalance 750,000 people below the 200 level.

When you have practiced meditation long and diligently enough to attain bliss consciousness at the 600 level, you are, at that moment, counterbalancing 10 million people below the 200 level.

Do you need any more reason to develop your inner faculties? Just look at the wonderful level of service that each advance in consciousness brings into our world.