It was my reading of Dr David R Hawkins’ seminal book “Power vs. Force” that enfolded God’s created potentiality and put me on the road of spiritual endeavor. Almost 3 years ago, pure “accident” directed me towards Dr Hawkins and his teachings. Today, many books and DVDs later, and after countless hours of meditation, I have succeeded in becoming a better person.

Here’s where I’ve advanced:

1. My love of God is immeasurably stronger, and has replaced religion-instilled adoration of an “old man” with whom my only appointment was on the Judgement Day. Now, I’m with God at every moment of my life.
2. My love of fellow humans is growing, helped by the realization that this is God looking at me through the eyes of those with whom I cross paths. The compassion I feel for them is sincere and profound.
3. The essence of my beingness is getting clearer and with it this life’s purpose is easier to find and follow.
4. Plentiful of the earthly rewards that God blesses me with. Small and huge, they amaze me with appearing precisely at the “right” time. Be it love, health or money.

And before you say: “It doesn’t matter how you see your progress; what matters is how other people see you…” let me remind you that subjectivity and subjective awareness paramount in spiritual work. They are the “eye of the I” – the Self, and ultimately, determine who you are. But, I’m digressing…

Reading “Power vs. Force” for the third time, I suddenly begun to “understand” the concepts and meanings that were only “noticed” during the earlier readings. Example: The opening pages of Chapter Six of the book, titled “New Horizons in Research” deal with social problems. The nature of drug and alcohol dependencies is explained for their true human perspective. Yes, that was my comprehension during the earlier readings.

But, one more reading brought on a momentous discovery, poised to change the way I live. A quote from the book: “Ours is a society that idealizes the pleasureless – hard work, stoicism, self-sacrifice, restraint – and condemns pleasure in most of its simpler forms, frequently even declaring these illegal.”
And further down: “In our society, unfulfilled promises and enticement are legitimized, but satisfaction is denied. Commercialized sexual allure, for instance, is used to sell products endlessly, but the enjoyment of actual commercial sex is forbidden as immoral. Historically, all ruling classes have achieved status and wealth by controlling society through some form of puritanical ethic.”
During my earlier readings, I’ve completely missed this!

Now, listen to this – I quote: “Experientially seen, pleasure is merely high energy. The energies of the masses have been co-opted over the centuries to produce for the overclasses the very wealth of pleasures denied to the underclasses. In truth, the pleasures of life energy are mankind’s basic capital; robbing man of this has resulted in the wide division between “haves” and multitudes of “have-nots.”
And finally: “The moral code thus functions as a rationalized exploitation of the life energy of the masses, through a calculated distortion of values. The illusion proffered is that the more hellish one’s life is, the more heavenly the reward will be.”

Did you get it? Third time lucky for me… But now I know – pleasure is there for the taking, for you and me! And by enjoying these little and big pleasures that we come across in our lives, we don’t make ourselves less worthy of God’s Love and… a place in heaven.
Joy of living is an intrinsic part of the “package’ of being a human, and testament to the perfection in all of God’s creation. Sadly, this law of the Universe has been hidden from many of us. Till now! Now you know, why you should read “Power vs. Force” again. Spiritual discovery never ends, and when your companion is God, you’re bound to find treasures that will last many lifetimes…