Over the years of this study, millions of calibrations have defined a
range of values accurately corresponding to well-recognized sets of
attitudes and emotions, localized by specific attractor energy fields,
much as electromagnetic fields gather iron fillings. We have adapted the
following classification of these energy fields so as to be easily
comprehensible, as well as clinically accurate.
It’s very important to remember that the calibration figures do not
represent an arithmetic, but a logarithmic, progression. Thus, the level
300 is not twice the amplitude of 150; it is 10 to the 300th power
(10300). An increase of even a few points represents a major advance in
power; the rate of increase in power as we move up the scale is
enormous.
The ways the various levels of human consciousness express themselves
are profound and far-reaching; their effects are both gross and subtle.
All levels below 200 are destructive of life in both the individual and
society at large; all levels above 200 are constructive expressions of
power. The decisive level of 200 is the fulcrum that divides the general
areas of force and power.
In describing the emotional correlates of the energy fields of
consciousness, keep in mind that they’re rarely manifested as pure
states in an individual. Levels of consciousness are always mixed; a
person may operate on one level in a given area of life and on quite
another level in another area. An individual’s overall level of
consciousness is the sum total effect of these various levels.

Energy Level 20: Shame

The level of Shame is perilously proximate to death, which may be
chosen out of Shame as conscious suicide or more subtly elected by
failure to take steps to prolong life. Death by avoidable accident is
common here. We all have some awareness of the pain of “losing face,”
becoming discredited, or feeling like a “nonperson.” In Shame, we hang
our heads and slink away, wishing we were invisible. Banishment is a
traditional accompaniment of shame, and in the primitive societies from
which we all originate, banishment is equivalent to death.
Early life experiences that lead to Shame—such as sexual abuse—warp
the personality for a lifetime unless these issues are resolved by therapy.
Shame, as Freud determined, produces neurosis. It’s destructive to
emotional and psychological health and, as a consequence of low self-
esteem, makes one prone to the development of physical illness. The
Shame-based personality is shy, withdrawn, and introverted.
Shame is used as a tool of cruelty, and its victims often become cruel
themselves. Shamed children are brutal to animals and to each other.
The behavior of people whose consciousness is only in the 20s is
dangerous:
They’re prone to hallucinations of an accusatory nature, as well as
paranoia; some become psychotic or commit bizarre crimes.
Some Shame-based individuals compensate with perfectionism and
rigidity, becoming driven and intolerant.
Notorious examples are the moral extremists who form vigilante groups,
projecting their own unconscious shame onto others whom they then
feel justified in righteously attacking. Serial killers have often acted out
of sexual moral-ism, with the justification of punishing “bad” women.
Since it pulls down the whole level of personality, Shame results in a
vulnerability to the other negative emotions, and, therefore often
produces false pride, anger, and guilt.

Energy Level 30: Guilt

Guilt, so commonly used in our society to manipulate and punish,
manifests itself in a variety of expressions, such as remorse, self-
recrimination, masochism, and the whole gamut of symptoms of
victimhood. Unconscious Guilt results in psychosomatic disease,
accident-proneness, and suicidal behaviors. Many people struggle with
Guilt their entire lives, while others desperately attempt escape by
amorally denying it altogether.
Guilt-domination results in a preoccupation with “sin,” an unforgiving
emotional attitude frequently exploited by religious demagogues, who
use it for coercion and control. Such “sin-and-salvation” merchants,
obsessed with punishment, are likely either acting out their own guilt,
or projecting it on to others.
Subcultures displaying the aberration of self-flagellation often manifest
other regional forms of cruelty, such as the public, ritual killing of
animals. Guilt provokes rage, and killing frequently is its expression.
Capital punishment is an example of how killing gratifies a Guilt-ridden
populace. Our unforgiving American society, for instance, scorns its
victims in the press and metes out punishments that have never been
demonstrated to have any deterrent or corrective value.

Energy Level 50: Apathy

This level is characterized by poverty, despair, and hopelessness. The
world and the future look bleak; pathos is the theme of life. Apathy is a
state of helplessness; its victims, needy in every way, lack not only
resources, but the energy to avail themselves of what may be available.
Unless external energy is supplied by caregivers, death through passive
suicide can result. Without the will to live, the hopeless stare blankly,
unresponsive to stimuli, until their eyes stop tracking and there isn’t
enough energy left to even swallow proffered food.
This is the level of the homeless and the derelicts of society; it’s also the
fate of many of the aged and others who become isolated by chronic or
progressive diseases. The apathetic are dependent; people in Apathy are
“heavy” and are felt as a burden by those around them.
Too often, society lacks sufficient motivation to be of any real help to
cultures (as well as individuals) at this level, because they’re seen as
drains of resources. This is the level of the streets of Calcutta, where
only the saintly, such as Mother Teresa and her followers, dare to tread.
Apathy is the level of the abandonment of hope, and few have the
courage to really look in its face.
Energy Level 75: Grief
This is the level of sadness, loss, and dependency. Most of us have
experienced it for periods of time, but those who remain at this level
live a life of constant regret and depression. This is the level of
mourning, bereavement, and remorse about the past; it’s also the level
of habitual losers and those chronic gamblers who accept failure as part
of their lifestyle, often resulting in loss of jobs, friends, family, and
opportunity, as well as money and health.
Major losses early in life make one vulnerable to passive acceptance of
grief later on, as though sorrow were the price of life. In Grief, one sees
sadness everywhere— in little children, in life itself. This level colors
one’s entire vision of existence. Part of the syndrome of Grief is the
notion of the irreplaceability of what’s been lost or that which it
symbolized. There is a generalization from the particular so that the loss
of a loved one is equated with the loss of love itself. At this level, such
emotional losses may trigger a serious depression or death.
Although Grief is the cemetery of life, it still has more energy to it than
Apathy does. Thus, when a traumatized, apathetic patient begins to cry,
we know they’re getting better. Once they start to cry, they will eat
again.

Energy Level 100: Fear

At the level of 100, a lot more life energy is available— fear of danger is
healthy. Fear runs much of the world, spurring on endless activity. Fear
of enemies, of old age or death, of rejection, and a multitude of social
fears are basic motivators in most people’s lives.
From the viewpoint of this level, the world looks hazardous, full of
traps and threats. Fear is the favored official tool for control by
oppressive totalitarian agencies, and insecurity is the stock-in-trade of
major manipulators of the marketplace. The media and advertising play
to Fear to increase market shares.
The proliferation of fears is as limitless as the human imagination; once
Fear is one’s focus, the endless worrisome events of the world feed it.
Fear becomes obsessive and may take any form—trepidation of losing a
relationship leads to jealousy and a chronically high stress level. Fearful
thinking can balloon into paranoia or generate neurotic defensive
structures and, because it’s contagious, become a dominant social trend.
Fear limits growth of the personality and leads to inhibition. Because it
takes energy to rise above Fear, the oppressed are unable to reach a
higher level unaided. Thus, the fearful seek strong leaders who appear
to have conquered their own Fears to lead them out of its slavery.

Energy Level 125: Desire

Even more energy is available at this level; Desire motivates vast areas
of human activity, including the economy.
Advertisers play on our Desire to program us with needs linked to
instinctual drives. Desire moves us to expend great effort to achieve
goals or obtain rewards. The desire for money, prestige, or power runs
the lives of many of those who have risen above Fear as their
predominant life motif.
Desire is also the level of addiction, wherein it becomes a craving more
important than life itself. The victim of Desire may actually be unaware
of the basis of his motives.
Some people become addicted to the hunger for attention and drive
others away by their constant demands. The yearning for sexual
approval has produced an entire cosmetics and fashion industry.
Desire has to do with accumulation and greed. But Desire is insatiable
because it’s an ongoing energy field, so that satisfaction of one itch is
merely replaced by unsatisfied craving for something else. For instance,
multimillionaires tend to remain obsessed with acquiring more and
more money.
Desire is obviously a much higher state than Apathy or Grief, for in
order to “get,” you have to first have the energy to “want.” TV has had
a major influence on many oppressed people, inculcating wants and
energizing their longings to the degree that they move out of Apathy
and begin to seek a better life. Want can start us on the road to
achievement. Desire can, therefore, become a springboard to yet higher
levels of awareness.

Energy Level 150: Anger

Although Anger may lead to homicide and war, as an energy level it’s
much further removed from death than those below it. Anger can lead
to either con structive or de-structive action. As people move out of
Apathy and Grief to overcome Fear as a way of life, they begin to want;
Desire leads to frustration, which in turn leads to Anger. Thus, Anger
can be a fulcrum by which the oppressed are eventually catapulted to
freedom. Fury over social injustice, victimization, and inequality has
created great movements that led to major changes in the structure of
society.
But Anger expresses itself most often as resentment and revenge and is,
therefore, volatile and dangerous. Anger as a lifestyle is exemplified by
irritable, explosive people who are oversensitive to slights and become
“injustice collectors,” quarrelsome, belligerent, or litigious.
Since Anger stems from frustrated want, it’s based on the energy field
below it. Frustration results from exaggerating the importance of
desires. The angry person may go into rage, just like a frustrated infant.
Anger leads easily to hatred, which has an erosive effect on all areas of
a person’s life.

Energy Level 175: Pride

Pride, which calibrates at 175, has enough energy to run the United
States Marine Corps. It’s the level aspired to by the majority of our kind
today. In contrast to the lower energy fields, people feel positive as they
reach this level. This rise in self-esteem is a balm to all the pain
experienced at lower levels of consciousness. Pride looks good and
knows it; it struts its stuff in the parade of life.
Pride is far enough removed from Shame, Guilt, or Fear that to rise, for
instance, out of the despair of the ghetto to the self-respect of being
a Marine is an enormous jump.
Pride generally has a good reputation and is socially encouraged, yet as
we see from the chart of the levels of consciousness, it’s sufficiently
negative to remain below the critical level of 200. This is why Pride
feels good only in contrast to the lower levels.
The problem, as we all know, is that “Pride goeth before a fall.” Pride is
defensive and vulnerable because it’s dependent upon external
conditions, without which it can suddenly revert to a lower level. The
inflated ego is vulnerable to attack. Pride remains weak because it can
be knocked off its pedestal back to Shame, which is the threat that fires
the fear of loss and pride.
Pride is divisive and gives rise to factionalism; the consequences are
costly. Man has habitually died for Pride—armies still regularly
slaughter each other for that aspect of it called nationalism. Religious
wars, political terrorism and zealotry, the ghastly history of the Middle
East and Central Europe—these are all the price of Pride, which all of
society pays.
The downside of Pride is arrogance and denial. These characteristics
block growth; in Pride, recovery from addictions is impossible because
emotional problems or character defects are denied. The whole problem
of denial is one of Pride. Thus Pride is a very sizable block to the
acquisition of real power, which displaces Pride with true stature and
prestige.

Energy Level 200: Courage

At the 200 level, power first appears. When we test subjects at all the
energy levels below 200, we find, as can be readily verified, that all go
weak. Everyone goes strong in response to the life-supportive fields
above 200. This is the critical line that distinguishes the positive and
negative influences of life. At the level of Courage, an attainment of
true power occurs; therefore, it’s also the level of empowerment. This is
the zone of exploration, accomplishment, fortitude, and determination.
At the lower levels, the world is seen as hopeless, sad, frightening, or
frustrating; but at the level of Courage, life is seen to be exciting,
challenging, and stimulating.
Courage implies the willingness to try new things and deal with the
changes and challenges of life. At this level of empowerment, one is
able to cope with and effectively handle the opportunities of life. At
200, for instance, the energy to learn new job skills is available.
Growth and education become attainable goals. There’s the capacity to
face fears or character defects and to grow despite them; anxiety also
does not cripple endeavor as it would at lower stages of evolution.
Obstacles that defeat people whose consciousness is below 200 act as
stimulants to those who have evolved into the first level of true power.
People at this level put back into the world as much energy as they
take; at lower levels, populations as well as individuals drain energy
from society without reciprocating. Because accomplishments result in
positive feedback, self-reward and esteem become progressively self-
reinforcing. This is where productivity begins.
The collective level of consciousness of mankind remained at 190 for many
centuries and, curiously, only jumped to its current level of 207 within the
last decade.

Energy Level 250: Neutrality

Energy becomes very positive as we get to the level we have termed
Neutral , because it’s epitomized by release from the positionality that
typifies lower levels. Below 250, consciousness tends to see dichotomies
and take on rigid positions, an impediment in a world that’s complex
and multifactorial rather than black and white.
Taking such positions creates polarization, which in turn creates
opposition and division. As in the martial arts, a rigid position becomes
a point of vulnerability; that which doesn’t bend is liable to break.
Rising above barriers or oppositions that dissipate one’s energies, the
Neutral condition allows for flexibility and nonjudgmental, realistic
appraisal of problems. To be Neutral means to be relatively unattached
to outcomes; not getting one’s way is no longer experienced as
defeating, frightening, or frustrating.
At the Neutral level, a person can say, “Well, if I don’t get this job, then
I’ll get another.” This is the beginning of inner confidence; sensing one’s
power, one isn’t easily intimidated or driven to prove anything. The
expectation that life, with its ups and downs, will be basically okay if
one can roll with the punches in a 250-level attitude.
People of Neutrality have a sense of well-being; the mark of this level is
a confident capability to live in the world. This is the level of safety—
people at this level are easy to get along with and safe to be around and
associate with because they’re not interested in conflict, competition, or
guilt. They’re comfortable and basically undisturbed emotionally. This
attitude is nonjudgmental and doesn’t lead to any need to control other
people’s behaviors. Correspondingly, due to Neutral people’s value of
freedom, they’re difficult to control.

Energy Level 310: Willingness

This very positive level of energy may be seen as the gateway to the
higher levels. For instance, at the Neutral level, jobs are done
adequately, but at the level of Willingness, work is done well and
success in all endeavors is common. Growth is rapid here; these are
people chosen for advancement. Willingness implies that one has
overcome inner resistance to life and is committed to participation.
Below the 200 calibration, people tend to be close-minded, but by level
310, a great opening occurs. At this level, people become genuinely
friendly, and social and economic success seem to follow automatically.
The Willing aren’t troubled by unemployment; they’ll take any job
when they have to, or create a career or self-employment for
themselves; they don’t feel demeaned by service jobs or by starting at
the bottom. They’re helpful to others and contribute to the good of
society. They’re also willing to face inner issues and don’t have major
learning blocks.
At this level, self-esteem is high and is reinforced by positive feedback
from society in the forms of recognition, appreciation, and
reward. Willingness is sympathetic and responsive to the needs of others.
Willing people are builders of, and contributors to, society. With their
capacity to bounce back from adversity and learn from experience, they
tend to become self-correcting. Having let go of Pride, they’re willing to
look at their defects and learn from others. At the level of Willingness,
people become excellent students. They’re easily trainable and represent
a considerable source of power for society.

Energy Level 350: Acceptance

At this level of awareness, a major transformation takes place, with the
understanding that one is oneself the source and creator of the
experience of one’s life. Taking such responsibility is distinctive of this
degree of evolution, characterized by the capacity to live harmoniously
with the forces of life.
All people at levels below 200 tend to be powerless and see themselves
as victims, at the mercy of life. This stems from a belief that the source
of one’s happiness or the cause of one’s problems is “out there.” An
enormous jump— taking back one’s own power—is completed at this
level, with the realization that the source of happiness is within oneself.
At this more evolved stage, nothing “out there” has the capacity to
make one happy, and love isn’t something that’s given or taken away by
another, but is created from within.
This level is not to be confused with passivity, which is a symptom of
apathy. Acceptance allows engagement in life on life’s own terms,
without trying to make it conform to an agenda. There’s emotional calm
with Acceptance, and perception is widened as denial is transcended.
One now sees things without distortion or misinterpretation; the context
of experience is expanded so that one is capable of “seeing the whole
picture.” Acceptance has to do essentially with balance, proportion, and
appropriateness.
The individual at the level of Acceptance isn’t interested in determining
right or wrong, but instead is dedicated to resolving issues and finding
out what to do about problems. Tough jobs don’t cause discomfort or
dismay. Long-term goals take precedence over short-term ones; self-
discipline and mastery are prominent.
At the level of Acceptance, we’re not polarized by conflict or opposition;
we see that other people have the same rights as we do, and we honor
equality. While lower levels are characterized by rigidity, at this level,
social plurality begins to emerge as a form of resolution of problems.
Therefore, this level is free of discrimination or intolerance; there’s an
awareness that equality doesn’t exclude diversity; Acceptance includes
rather than rejects.

Energy Level 400: Reason

Intelligence and rationality rise to the forefront when the emotionalism
of the lower levels is transcended. Reason is capable of handling large,
complex amounts of data and making rapid, correct decisions; of
understanding the intricacies of relationships, gradations, and fine
distinctions; and expert manipulation of symbols as abstract concepts
becomes increasingly important. This is the level of science, medicine,
and of generally increased capacity for conceptualization and
comprehension. Knowledge and education are here sought as capital.
Understanding and information are the main tools of accomplishment,
which is the hallmark of the 400 level. This is the level of Nobel Prize
winners, great statesmen, and Supreme Court justices. Einstein, Freud,
and many of the other great thinkers of history also calibrate here.
The shortcomings of this level involve the failure to clearly distinguish
the difference between symbols and what they represent, and confusion
between the objective and subjective worlds that limits the
understanding of causality. At this level, it’s easy to lose sight of the
forest for the trees, to become infatuated with concepts and theories
and end up missing the essential point. Intellectualizing can become an
end in itself. Reason is limited in that it doesn’t afford the capacity for
the discernment of essence or of the critical point of a complex issue.
Reason does not of itself provide a guide to truth. It produces massive
amounts of information and documentation, but lacks the capability to
resolve discrepancies in data and conclusions. All philosophical
arguments sound convincing on their own. Although Reason is highly
effective in a technical world where the methodologies of logic
dominate, Reason itself, paradoxically, is the major block to reaching
higher levels of consciousness. Transcending this level is relatively
uncommon in our society.

Energy Level 500: Love

Love as depicted in the mass media is not what this level is about. What
the world generally refers to as love is an intense emotional condition,
combining physical attraction, possessiveness, control, addiction,
eroticism, and novelty. It’s usually fragile and fluctuating, waxing and
waning with varying conditions. When frustrated, this emotion often
reveals an underlying anger and dependency that it had masked. That
love can turn to hate is a common perception, but here, an addictive
sentimentality is likely what’s being spoken about, rather than Love;
there probably never was actual love in such a relationship, for Hate
stems from Pride, not Love.
The 500 level is characterized by the development of a Love that is
unconditional, unchanging, and permanent. It doesn’t fluctuate—its
source isn’t dependent on external factors. Loving is a state of being. It’s
a forgiving, nurturing, and supportive way of relating to the world.
Love isn’t intellectual and doesn’t proceed from the mind; Love
emanates from the heart. It has the capacity to lift others and
accomplish great feats because of its purity of motive.
As this level of development, the capacity to discern essence becomes
predominant; the core of an issue becomes the center of focus. As
reason is bypassed, there arises the capacity for instantaneous
recognition of the totality of a problem and a major expansion of
context, especially regarding time and process. Reason deals only with
particulars, whereas Love deals with entireties. This ability, often
ascribed to intuition, is the capacity for instantaneous understanding
without resorting to sequential symbol processing. This apparently
abstract phenomenon is, in fact, quite concrete; it’s accompanied by a
measurable release of endorphins in the brain.
Love takes no position, and thus is global, rising above separation. It’s
then possible to be “one with another,” for there are no longer any
barriers. Love is therefore inclusive and expands the sense of self
progressively. Love focuses on the goodness of life in all its expressions
and augments that which is positive—it dissolves negativity by
recontextualizing it, rather than by attacking it.
This is the level of true happiness, but although the world is fascinated
with the subject of Love, and all viable religions calibrate at 500 or
over, it’s interesting to note that only 0.4 percent of the world’s
population ever reaches this level of evolution of consciousness.

Energy Level 540: Joy

As Love becomes more and more unconditional, it begins to be
experienced as inner Joy. This isn’t the sudden joy of a pleasurable turn
of events; it’s a constant accompaniment to all activities. Joy arises from
within each moment of existence, rather than from any other source;
540 is also the level of healing and of spiritually based self-help groups.
From level 540 up is the domain of saints, and advanced spiritual
students and healers. A capacity for enormous patience and the
persistence of a positive attitude in the face of prolonged adversity is
characteristic of this energy field; the hallmark of this state is
compassion. People who have attained this level have a notable effect
on others. They’re capable of a prolonged, open visual gaze, which
induces a state of love and peace.
At the high 500s, the world one sees is illuminated by the exquisite
beauty and perfection of creation. Everything happens effortlessly, by
synchronicity, and the world and everything in it is seen to be an
expression of love and divinity. Individual will merges into divine will.
A Presence is felt whose power facilitates phenomena outside
conventional expectations of reality, termed miraculous by the ordinary
observer. These phenomena represent the power of the energy field, not
of the individual.
One’s sense of responsibility for others at this level is of a different
quality from that shown at the lower levels: There’s a desire to use one’s
state of consciousness for the benefit of life itself rather than for
particular individuals. This capacity to love many people
simultaneously is accompanied by the discovery that the more one
loves, the more one can love.
Near-death experiences, characteristically transfor-mative in their effect,
have frequently allowed people to experience the energy level between
540 and 600.

Energy Level 600: Peace

This energy field is associated with the experience designated by such
terms as transcendence, self-realization, and God-consciousness. It’s
extremely rare, attained by only 1 in 10 million people.When this state
is reached, the distinction between subject and object disappears, and
there’s no specific focal point of perception. Not uncommonly,
individuals at this level remove themselves from the world, as the state
of bliss that ensues precludes ordinary activity. Some become spiritual
teachers; others work anonymously for the betterment of mankind. A
few become great geniuses in their respective fields and make major
contributions to society. These people are saintly and may eventually be
officially designated as such, although at this level, formal religion is
commonly transcended, to be replaced by the pure spirituality out of
which all religion originates.
Perception at the level of 600 and above is sometimes reported as
occurring in slow motion, suspended in time and space—nothing is
stationary, and all is alive and radiant. Although this world is the same
as the one seen by others, it has become continuously flowing, evolving
in an exquisitely coordinated evolutionary dance in which significance
and source are overwhelming. This awesome revelation takes place
nonrationally, so that there is an infinite silence in the mind, which has
stopped conceptualizing. That which is witnessing and that which is
witnessed take on the same identity; the observer dissolves into the
landscape and becomes equally the observed. Everything is connected
to everything else by a Presence whose power is infinite, exquisitely
gentle, yet rock-solid.
Great works of art, music, and architecture that calibrate between 600
and 700 can transport us temporarily to higher levels of consciousness
and are universally recognized as inspirational and timeless.

Energy Levels 700-1,000: Enlightenment

This is the level of the Great Ones of history who originated the
spiritual patterns that countless people have followed throughout the
ages. All are associated with divinity, with which they’re often
identified. This is the level of powerful inspiration; these beings set in
place attractor energy fields that influence all of mankind. At this level,
there is no longer the experience of an individual personal self separate
from others; rather, there is an identification of Self with Consciousness
and Divinity. The Unmanifest is experienced as Self beyond mind. This
transcendence of the ego also serves by example to teach others how it
can eventually be accomplished. This is the peak of the evolution of
consciousness in the human realm.
Great teachings uplift the masses and raise the level of awareness of all
of humanity. To have such vision is called grace, and the gift it brings is
infinite peace, described as indefinable, beyond words. 1 At this level of
realization, the sense of one’s existence transcends all time and
individuality. There’s no longer any identification with the physical
body as “me,” and therefore, its fate is of no concern. The body is seen
as merely a tool of consciousness through the intervention of mind, its
prime value that of communication. The self merges back into the Self.
This is the level of nonduality, or complete Oneness. There is no
localization of consciousness; awareness is equally present everywhere.

Great works of art depicting individuals who have reached the level of
Enlightenment characteristically show the teacher with a specific hand
position, called mudra— wherein the palm of the hand radiates
benediction—-this is the act of transmitting this energy field to the
consciousness of mankind. This level of divine grace calibrates up to
1,000, the highest level attained by anybody who has lived in recorded
history—to wit, the Great Avatars for whom the title “Lord” is
appropriate: Lord Krishna, Lord Buddha, and Lord Jesus Christ.