Things can rock your foundation. There had been some renovations at my home and I was awakened early one morning by the vibration of roaring power tools in the backyard. The cats scattered off the foot of my bed as the house’s foundation thrummed. It enlivened my energy, making me want to get up and accomplish something.
It got me thinking about the impact of vibration on energy, thoughts, and consciousness, particularly after the past few tumultuous months. Have you noticed how ill you can feel after reading divisive, combative, and hateful posts on social media as well as watching the increase of frightening actions based on hate and fear? You feel it in your mind, body, and spirit.
It’s splintering.
I took a break from all media for a few days. Then I started thinking more about the power of raising our thought vibrations to improve our mood as well as the temperaments of those around us.
I spent an evening with a group of people — people I would call highly conscious — and the collective pain and grief were palpable in regards to what’s happening right now. Many of us felt fractured and torn, down deep, by the discord that’s come to be, by the ground swell of a low, fear-based vibration that’s come to light.

The Power of the Collective
During that evening I understood more the true power of the collective consciousness. Power that can surge low when people speak despicably toward one another and the seeds are planted for further hate-mongering. Or power that can soar high through thoughts, words, and actions that foster love, compassion, understanding, forgiveness, and collective healing.
Collective rising. Yeah, let’s do that, we all said.
David R. Hawkins in his book, “Transcending the Levels of Consciousness: The Stairway to Enlightenment,” says that “consciousness evolves through progressive levels of power that can be calibrated as to relative strength.” In other words, each level of consciousness is mirrored with an emotion that carries a measurement of vibration. The lower the calibration number, the lower the vibration and the lower the emotion.
The measurements under 250 on his scale of consciousness are fear-based levels — despair, anger, hate, regret, grief — that lead to what he calls disempowerment: destruction, despondency, humiliation, withdrawal, misery, tragedy.
The calibrations 250–1000+ are the love-based levels — willingness, acceptance, love, joy, reason, peace — that lead to empowerment: intention, understanding, forgiveness, revelation, bliss, transfiguration, and the highest being pure enlightenment, which is the level of Christ, Buddha, etc.
HAWKINS’ MAP OF THE SCALE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
The Scale of Consciousness is also a Map and a wise guide to live by. The goal is to evolve toward and operate from the higher levels or vibrations of consciousness.
Imagine from this perspective, the power of raising the collective consciousness. That’s an unstoppable force of healing and love. And, it starts with each of us.
The Effects on Society
In his book “Healing and Recovery,” Hawkins illustrates the effects of the levels of consciousness on society.
You can see how the lower levels of thought and consciousness breed the types of behavior and talk we’ve seen more recently. But, the power to change it is within each of us.
How do you make a shift?
It’s human to feel all of the levels from time to time. This is where choice and self-awareness come into play.
When you feel anxiety or despair over what’s in front of you, start by recognizing what you’re feeling and what’s underneath it. Is it fear? If so, fear of what? Is it anger? Naming it is the first step to raising the thoughts around it.
A lot of people are feeling anger right now, on both sides of the coin. It’s a valid and real emotion. Hawkins said about anger:
“Anger is very obviously a high energy emotion. However, if an angry person knows how to utilize that anger constructively instead of destructively, it can energize resolve and determination.
Anger in the form of resentment may lead to hatred, grievances, grudges, and eventually even to murder or war. But the process going on in consciousness is one of expansion; for example, when an animal is angry, it swells up. When the cat gets angry, its tail swells up to almost twice its normal size, and the cat tries to look imposing. The biological purpose of expansion is to intimidate one’s apparent enemy. The energy of anger can be positive if used to pursue something better, allowing us to move up to the next level.”
When you find yourself at one of the fear-based levels, pause.
Give yourself some love and then blast the situation, person, or experience with some love. Soon you’ll find yourself out of that place and on your way up a level of consciousness.
Activism from raised thoughts and higher consciousness, particularly as a collective force, will result in a much stronger, love-abiding nation and peaceful world.
It starts with one raised thought at a time. I find this helpful and hope you do too.