The reason I wish to begin with emotions is that they are great storehouses of energy; they can lead you to great opportunities as well as block you from making progress in life, career or spiritual endeavors. Once you have left behind the low-vibration emotions, you will find that it is easier to break through obstacles and achieving your goals.
The laws of physics teach us that energy cannot be destroyed; it can only change form. That is what happens when we experience emotions. Emotions are a form of energy and can display themselves across a wide range from low vibrations such as shame to the highest vibrations such as peace.
This transmuting is best seen and explained through Dr. David Hawkins’ work. He developed a scale, or a ladder, of human consciousness using kinesiology as a way to quantify the calibrations. All living organisms stand somewhere on this scale, and they can ascend or descend. There are 18 levels assigned to the ladder, and a brief description of each level follows. As you read, assess intuitively where you think you stand on this ladder.
0. Death (0): Death could be naturally occurring (sickness, old age), accidental, or even a deliberate choice (suicide or failure to make the necessary arrangements to preserve life).
1. Shame (1-20):
Shame leads to neurosis. Someone vibrating at this level considers their body “dirty.” This might be especially true if they are victims of rape. Long-term domestic violence and child abuse victims vibrate at this level.
Associated feelings: Humiliation, low self-esteem, and paranoia. When one vibrates at this level, they may feel that they have “lost face”; they may wish to be invisible and may feel worthless.
Process: Vibrating at this level for prolonged periods leads to elimination of self and/or others (e.g., serial killings, rape) and moral extremism where self-righteous judgment is directed towards others.
View of life: Misery. Persons at this level will see mostly misery in their life and the lives of others. Life is deemed not worth living as it doesn’t offer anything of value.
Opposite traits: Healthy self-esteem, confidence.
2) Guilt (30):
Having vindictive hatred. One will feel bad, even about healthy, licit sexual activity and consider it sinful.
Associated feelings: Persons at this level burden themselves with the feeling of being a sinner. This preoccupation with “sin” is commonly exploited by religious leaders to control others.
Process: Leads to destructive activities (e.g. acts of ritual killing to “appease” higher entities).
View of life: Condemnation of self and others. The world is seen as an evil place full of sinful people. Opposite traits: Discernment of extremes and considering “sin” as merely “missing the target” and making the decision to do better next time.
3) Apathy (50):
One experiences neglect of self, business, health, and dependents. This may be taken to the extremes of making the body unhealthy and malnourished, and becoming financially poor until they lack not just resources, but also the energy required to bring themselves out of this level.
Associated feelings: Indifference, despair, hopelessness. Feeling their life is out of their control. Considering themselves victim of circumstances.
Process: Failure to fulfill their responsibilities as a parent, guardian, or leader. Feeling helpless and “stuck.”
View of life: The world and future appear bleak.
Opposite traits: Hopefulness, optimism, seeing the opportunities inherent in every adversity.
4) Grief (75):
A state of low spirits caused by loss of hope or courage. Commonly, chronic gamblers who habitually lose are at this level.
Associated feelings: Regret, sadness, and feelings of loss are dominant. It is common to vibrate on this level when people experience death of loved ones, unemployment, loss of home, etc.
Process: Mourning, bereavement and remorse about the past. Pining away.
View of life: Tragic outlook. Life is a nightmare. Sorrow is seen as the price of life.
Opposite traits: Able to detect joy in even the simplest things of life.
5) Fear (100):
Fear dictates one’s world(fear of death, sickness, enemies, etc.)
Associated feelings: Anxiety, Paranoia.
Process: Excessive worrying, fretting about the future, and being afraid of telling the truth. Everything uncertain causes fear which leads to withdrawal from normal, healthy activities.
View of life: The world is a dangerous and frightening place.
Opposite traits: Bravery, courage.
6) Desire (125):
This is an ongoing energy and has to do with acquisition and accumulation. At this level, addiction and desire become more important than life.
Associated feelings: Insatiable craving. Lust.
Process: Pursuit of money, beauty, power, fame, or reputation. An example of someone at this level would be lonely singles longing to be in a romantic relationship. Marketing is effective at conditioning “wants” in those vibrating at this level, as it issues enticing advertisements and promises happiness through consuming more goods.
View of life: Life is disappointing when one cannot obtain what they desire.
Opposite traits: Contentment, satiety, counting one’s blessings, and living life with gratitude.
7) Anger (150):
The emotion at this level is hatred. Anger expresses itself as resentment, frustration, and even revenge. One vibrating at this level might exhibit irritable and volatile behavior. A more beneficial manifestation of anger in society is activism toward important causes (environmental problems, animal rights, poverty and corruption in third-world countries, etc.) Anger turned in this direction has resulted in liberation and great movements in the society. The downside to anger is dangerous behavior and the intentional harm that might ensue from it.
Associated feelings: Hate. Resentment. Aggression.
Process: The process one undergoes is aggression.
View of Life: The life-view here is antagonistic where one is hostile, unfriendly, and acts in opposition/rebellion against others. One may feel cheated, deceived, or that people are conspiring against you.
8) Pride (175):
An inflated feeling of self-worth.
Associated feelings: Narcissism. Arrogance.
Process: Boasting. Scornful attitude towards other who do not have the same qualities/possessions as you do. These qualities or possessions could be more money, membership to prestigious organizations, higher educational status, etc.
9) Courage (200):
Associated feelings: Bravery. Focusing “getting to the greener pastures”.
Process: Planning to get oneself out of a challenging situation. Acknowledging that something needs to change and thinking about possible solutions. View of life: Anything is possible. Opposite traits: Cowardice. Fear.
10) Neutrality (250):
The emotion at this level is trust and safety. There is no attachment to possessions, situations, or outcomes. One at this level can roll with the punches in life. If they are not able to get a particular thing, they are equally happy with an alternative.
Associated feelings: Contentment.
Process: Being non-judgmental towards self and others.
View of life: Satisfactory; anything goes.
Opposite traits: Being “anal-retentive”. Need to win at all costs.
11) Willingness (310):
Associated feelings: Optimism. Hope.
Process: Having a “can do” attitude.
View of life: If you can think it, you can achieve it.
Opposite traits: Pessimism
12) Acceptance (350):
Here, one finally realizes that he/she is THE creator and source of his/her life, as opposed to having relegated that task to someone else or to another entity. Associated feelings: View of life: What I see before me, I created. Harmonious. Opposite traits: Blaming others for all the problems in one’s life.
13) Reason (400):
Associated feelings: understanding and rationality.
Process: Effort to understand why events in one’s life happened the way they did. View of life: There IS meaning to my life.
14) Love (500):
Associated feelings: Unconditional love.
View of life: Benign. There is no separation, fear, or negativity.
Hawkins claims only 0.4% of the population (1 in every 250 people) ever reaches this level.
15) Joy (540):
Near-death experiences have the effect of temporarily bumping people into this level. This is the level where saints, advanced spiritual students, and healers dwell. At this level, one is characterized by enormous patience and an unwavering positive attitude in the face of harsh adversities. The world is seen as one of perfection and beauty. Individuals are motivated to dedicate themselves to the benefit of life rather than for specific individuals.
Associated feeling: Inner joy and bliss. Spiritual ecstasy.
View of life: Completeness (of the world).
16) Peace (600):
At this level, there is no longer any distinction between the observer and the subject. People at this level become spiritual teachers, great geniuses in their field, and make tremendous contributions to mankind. Those at this level typically transcend formal religious structures and replace them with pure spirituality, from where religions originate. Perception becomes everything being in slow motion, suspended in time and space. Everything is perceived as interconnected by an infinite presence. The process one undergoes is illumination Hawkins claims this level is attained by only 1 out of 10 million people.
View of life: Perfection.
Associated feeling: Serenity and compassion.
17) Enlightenment (700-1000):
This is the apex of the evolution of the consciousness of mankind. The greatest people in history have attained this level. Those such as Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, and Mother Theresa reside here. Here, the body becomes recognized as a tool to project consciousness in. One’s existence becomes all-encompassing and transcends time and space. The process is described as pure consciousness.
Associated feeling: ineffable, in other words — inexpressible.
View of life: Simply “is”.
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Exercise: Ladder of Consciousness Graph
For the next 7 days, document in your journal where you feel you are on the Ladder of Consciousness, by using your intuition, Kinesiology or a pendulum. The graph might look like the following example:
Take an intuitive guess of where you stand on the Ladder of Consciousness. The next step is to use your intention to transmute your level it to a higher level by acknowledging that you are able to ascend and experience positive emotions. The tricky part is maintaining your position on the higher (more positive emotions) “steps”. With practice comes consistency.
Exercise: Transmuting Emotional Energy
Think about an emotional upheaval in your life; write down your deepest feelings about it in your journal. Spend about 15 or 20 minutes daily for 4 consecutive days on this exercise.
At the end of the 4th day, pose this question to yourself: What would it take for me to jump from ___________________ emotion to a higher vibration emotion (Love, Joy, or Peace)? In your journal, write the question with your answer filled in. Follow your instinct to transmute that energy to a higher level.