In His Image: An Intimate Reflection of God Book

I found this to be a valuable book, but didn't feel I got quite so much out of it as the others of his I've read/reviewed. But all Hawkins' books are of such high quality that they deserve five stars.

The book is comprised of two sections - The Spiritual Process and Discussion. Included in the former section are chapters on Devotional Nonduality , The Inner Path, Orientation, Spiritual Practices, and more.

We are informed that the condition of Enlightenment is "the state of pure Radiance that chimes forth as the Presence/Self". The personal self does not become enlightened but instead "falls away and is replaced by the previously obscured Reality of the Self as the Radiance of God Immanent".

Devotion is not the same as piety "but … a way of life and a way of being with oneself, God, and the world."

According to consciousness research, the likelihood of reaching Enlightenment is now about one thousand times more likely than in the past.

The pathway of nonduality is not arduous - it is merely the degree of the ego's resistance to it that is so.

We are informed about the paths shown by the great religions. E,g. Christianity is the path of love and forgiveness, Buddhism is the path of compassion, Judaism is the path of living by sacred law. And so on.

Both the Buddha and Jesus Christ taught that the basic 'sin' (defect) of humans is ignorance.

"Consciousness calibration research confirms that God is transcendent, immanent and present in all that exists as the very Source of Existence itself, and thus the non-linear is simultaneously present in the linear."

The purpose of mantras is to still the mind and invoke a high energy field. States of spirituality and ecstasy occur naturally at the calibrated levels of the high 500s. "To reach Enlightenment, they also must be surrendered to God, and in their place arises a great Peace beyond all description."

An interesting section of the book indicates the calibrated levels of consciousness of over a hundred well-known, respected teachers.

Some of these have, for me, a surprisingly "low" level of consciousness, e.g. Joel Goldsmith 480, Manley G. Hall 485, Rudolf Steiner 485. Ram Chandra, years ago my own guru, calibrated at 540. The Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso) 570. Mahatma Gandhi 760. Ramani Maharshi 720. Thomas Merton 515. Paramahansa Yogananda 540, Ramakrishna 620. Rumi 550.

Some scriptures and spiritual writings have also been calibrated.

A Course in Miracles (workbook) 600
" " (textbook) 550
Bhagavad-Gita 910 (!)
Gospel of St. Luke 699
Gospel of St. Thomas 660

And lots more.

In short, read this book too if you appreciate the works of David R. Hawkins.