Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender

Eminently readable, this book can be read on its own or following the reading of its predecessor, "Power vs Force", which provides a very useful background to Hawkins' work in general. Hawkins presents the subject of the pervasive underlying power of emotions and their relationship to thoughts. The interplay of these two are the motivators of our behavior. He clearly demonstrates that thoroughly dealing with emotions has the power to cut short the endless cycling and recycling of negative thoughts and mitigate, then eventually to lay to rest the energies that drain us as they feed negativity. This freed-up energy can then be used in positive, constructive ways in our day-to-day lives. In short, through this, we can raise our internal energies of consciousness to higher and higher levels as we shed the lower energy emotions. Higher energy emotions then infuse our lives and enable us to continue the upward cycle. Hawkins explains the technique of "letting go" as allowing whatever negative emotions we have: letting them arise, then sitting with them for as long as it takes, letting them fill us. While this may be painful, it is nevertheless an acute and temporary experience and compared to the chronic pain and negative influences we experience from holding onto these emotions, it is a worthwhile effort to rid ourselves of them. In a sense, it's an internal cleansing and detoxification. Anyone who has ever done a body "detox" or "cleanse" will know that the temporary discomfort of it is well worth the incredible result. Hawkins makes clear the importance of revisiting recurring emotions that may arise after initial "letting go" efforts. Most of us have lifelong inner "baggage" to release. We can start with this process and release much of it, thus freeing the remaining suppressed and repressed emotions that lie beneath. As they arise, we can let go of these in the same manner, as many times as it may take. He also stresses the importance of regular "maintenance" by continuing the process as and when new situations in life trigger new emotions. Hawkins' book presents whole chapters explaining the nature of a number of key negative and then positive emotional levels. Through concrete examples, he enables any reader to grasp the subject. Additionally, he explains the mechanism of "letting go" numerous times, and offers a section of FAQs, as well as an extensive appendix on the subject of the kinesiological muscle testing technique. The subject matter and style are deceptively simple, but provide an elegantly profound presentation of a technique that has the potential to dramatically change the way we live, work and interact as individuals, societies, and as a world community. As an educator and health care professional myself, I highly recommend this book and would love to see it as required reading for schools. Anyone with a modicum of willingness & openness can truly benefit from this book.

I found this book to be really helpful, in fact that’s an understatement, it was life-changing for me. All the other reviews, even the negative ones are true - it’s simple, it’s repetitive but somehow this book unlocked some things for me. I find that many times the simplest truths are the most impactful which I would say is true in this case. I do a lot of reading books such as this one by Tolle, Course in Miracles, Deepak Chopra, Easwaran, etc and this one helped put it all together and it made sense in a way that was actionable. When I started reading the book I was very depressed and apathetic. I felt trapped and like I was going thru the motions of every day life but without joy. Right from the beginning of the book it struck a cord with me as he described all of the desperate things people do to try to avoid their feelings. I thought, this is me! It was like holding a mirror up and I saw my sadness and drain of energy to avoid my feelings and at the same time the desperate flailing about looking for anything to help make me feel better. Within the first few chapters I was able to identify some old repressed feelings and just by recognizing they were there, I think it released them. I feel so much better. I equate it to a ball that is being held under water and when it is released it shoots up. That’s what it felt like. But I wondered could it be that simple? I’m learning apparently in my case it can - it seems it is. While it is true that Dr Hawkins doesn’t really describe in detail the actual mechanics of letting go, for me just identifying the emotion, recognizing it was there was enough to release it. I am not sure if this book would have had the same impact had I not done extensive reading of other authors, hard to say, but this one helped all the concepts to coalesce for me. The other thing that I found helpful was the spirit of acceptance and understanding. I no longer feel shame or guilt over my less noble feelings such as jealousy, competitiveness, arrogance, pride, or anger. I can recognize them for what they are as part of my human condition and the programming of my past. I can work thru them without hiding them or the added burden of guilt or shame and release them. That, in and of itself, is a powerful thing and a great gift that I received from this book. I would recommend this book to anyone and hope that it has the same positive, life-changing effect on you that it had for on me.

For some context, I'm in my late 40's and gave up drinking 3.5 years ago. It was my crutch for a toxic job, which I still have, and for clinical depression. In its place, I exchanged the alcohol for more positive coping mechanisms like yoga, meditation and voracious reading. Over the last couple years, I've grown tremendously, in part to self-help books like these. Right before I began reading this book, I had an incredible breakthrough and awakening, acknowledging the power of Acceptance which then led me seamlessly into Letting Go. This book took me much longer than usual to read through, because I couldn't stop myself from highlighting and making margin notes. So many parts spoke directly to me and intertwined with this recent journey of spiritual and personal awakening. I can only describe what this book has meant to me and the impact it's had on my life. The practicality of its messages is what makes it indispensable. You can begin practicing letting go every day, starting with the small stuff and working your way up to life's biggest challenges. An example from my own life: I would always get so angry if I happened to get stuck in and be delayed by traffic. I live in the Dallas area, which is notorious for it. With the help of this book, I've completely changed. Even my wife is surprised and impressed. Now when I'm stuck in traffic, instead of being on the verge of a hysterical breakdown, I'm completely at peace with it. My initial response may be anger, but I'm acknowledging it, sitting in it for just a moment, and then letting it wash through me. It no longer has the effect it once had. My wife doesn't even realize I'm processing the emotion in the moment itself. And this is just one example of a hundred, across the full spectrum of emotions. After finishing this book, it instantly became my favorite read ever. It provides such an inspiring blueprint for how to accept that the only thing in our lives that we control is how we choose to respond. Reaching that point of letting go lightened my life and elevated my consciousness. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

I discovered David Hawkins in 2004, read the three trilogy books in print, and then eagerly consumed his writing over the years as each new book was published. I always simply felt blown away by David's insights into Spiritual Reality, and in jaw-dropping AWE of his beyond-eloquent command of the English language to describe the indescribable, the ineffable. David's writing self-illuminates on the page before your very eyes as you read words never before so beautifully written in the English language. Consider this (this is HUGE): For thousands of years now, Eastern Sages have taught the very same truths of Spiritual Reality that David Hawkins taught. But guess what? Not a single one of these revered Masters of Enlightenment from the East spoke English! Not even one! ALL of their teachings (not some, but ALL of their teachings) are available to us English speakers ONLY THROUGH THE LENS OF A TRANSLATOR - - whose brain/mind is choosing which English words we get to read as the ONLY ACCESS to the original teachings of the Realized Master Teacher. In contrast, we English speakers are gifted with DIRECT ACCESS to the same, exact English words that David Hawkins selected himself personally from the English lexicon to best approximate what he repeatedly describes as the subjective and therefore ineffable experience of witnessing the Source of Creation with the ego-blinders of the human condition removed. I agree with Jonathan's assessment that David's last book (Letting Go - published 20 days after his death) is the most readable and practical of all of his previous works. I just finished reading it a couple days ago. I will be sending gift copies via Amazon Prime to many of my family, friends and even my PhD psychologist therapist. David Hawkins is an international treasure for the English speaking world. Letting Go is the single most valuable and useful book ever published, in my opinion. It is the most effective guide there is to help us human beings transition from serving as the authors of our own suffering to becoming the authors of our own joy and fulfillment. (For Hawkins fans, I strongly recommend Doctor of Truth by Scott Jeffrey. The story of David's life will only deepen your love and respect for his amazing gifts to humanity.) Some people are put off by the failure of muscle "truth" testing for the masses and David's curious threats of litigation to silence naysayers (still nearly nothing about him on wikipedia). He is dead now. Regardless of his personal problems, the quality of his writing has inspired me for 9 years now. I've made a personal choice to throw out the dirty bath water and keep the baby. It's a very nice baby, and very much worth keeping.

Reality. We may think that we know what it is, yet it has been a subject of debate by the great philosophers both east and west. Is it based on individual perception? Consensus? Or is there an ultimate reality that is beyond human cognition? A related question is how to deal with suffering? Seeking an answer to these questions leads us on a quest for freedom; a quest that initiated many of the world’s major religions. The problem is that simple answers are often mystified. Why? Is it because someone gains power? Do we cherish complexity? In ‘Letting Go,’ David Hawkins wants to simplify transformation. He seeks to de-mystify the process of at-one-ment. Much of this language ‘of awakening’ is not new, the themes he emphasizes have been in vogue in popular culture for over a century, including the idea that we are programmed. Our egos are a set of programs that have been implanted in us through a lifetime of sitcoms, news, advertisements, books, music, education, family and community upbringing. The question is how to de-program, and free ourselves? Mr. Hawkins says we don’t have to hire a personal guru, join an ashram, or fire-walk. All we need to do is ‘Let Go.’ Mr. Hawkins promises to show us readers how to let go. First, however, he introduces us to his concept of ‘the scale of emotions.’ He also shares how discoveries from chaos theory and quantum physics backs up his insights. He describes each particular emotional state on his scale of emotions along with a corresponding degree of separation that is felt at that particular emotional state. In lower emotional states people experience more separation. In higher emotional states they experience higher degrees of unity with the ‘all,’ ‘ultimate reality,’ etc. He then demonstrates that by ‘letting go’ we can transform our consciousness, ‘evolve’ on the ‘scale of emotions,’ and transfigure our state of shame to the state of bliss in atonement or enlightenment. He continues his case by illustrating the health benefits that could accrue from the use of this simple technique. Utilizing case studies he demonstrates how people could recover from illnesses simply by ‘letting go.’ I found some of what he had to say on this particular subject hard to believe. For instance, he insinuated that people who ‘let go’ could even recover their eyesight. Even though I found these statements distracting, they served to emphasize his point, that letting go provided health benefits. I kept reading, waiting for Mr. Hawkins to enlighten me on this process of ‘letting go.’ Unfortunately, I never did find a specific method. Maybe one had to read between the lines, or maybe I had read past the technique, or maybe it was so simplistic and that is why I missed it. However, I basically had to digest another review to discover what the method actually was. We have five responses for dealing with our emotions, these include escape, expression, repression, projection, and surrender. Of course it depends on the circumstances of each situation, yet out of all these responses ‘the way of surrender’ is the best. The ‘letting go’ response is the way of surrender and it includes: 1) becoming aware of a feeling 2) letting the feeling come up, staying with it, and letting it run its course without doing anything about it, just letting the energy out of it. 3) Don’t judge the feeling or try to resist it in any way. If it is not resisted it will disappear and the energy of it will burn out. This technique sounds easy enough, yet as Mr. Hawkins warns us, it is much more difficult than it sounds; especially since we have been conditioned to repress or project our feelings. Even though it may be more difficult than what it sounds, we should keep attempting the letting go technique until we feel like we have had success with it. For the most part I liked what Mr. Hawkins had to say. Yet, I am not sure if I am in full agreement with all of his points. For instance, I think he is oversimplifying the ‘scale of emotions,’ and their corresponding levels of consciousness. Can we actually quantify the ‘state of shame’ versus ‘the state of bliss?’ Another question I had was, ‘does someone who is feeling the state of love ever have any shame or guilt? My intuition tells me that maybe someone higher up on the scale would feel higher emotional frequencies more often. However, if they are human, they would still feel the lower emotions of guilt, fear, or anger. The same has to be true for someone lower on the scale too. Maybe their blissful states are less in frequency or degree but to deny them the experience of bliss based on their supposed rating on ‘a scale of emotions,’ sounds too much like some kind of tracking system. We have already devised enough ways to demonstrate our supposed superiority toward our fellow man. Are we now shallow enough to say that we are emotionally superior too because of some rating on a ‘scale of emotions?’ I don’t think this was Mr. Hawkins intent with his ‘scale of emotions.’ Yet, someone could use it to show superiority. This is why I hesitate to put much stock in this ‘scale’ besides using it as a tool for growth. Despite these reservations, ‘Letting Go’ has many redeeming qualities. Mr. Hawkins provides many insights into the human condition. He also held my attention. I felt it definitely was worth the energy put into reading and contemplating it.

Defining emotions is the foundation of knowing where you stand and how to transfer from one emotional state to another. This book helps establish that foundation

Wish I had read this earlier. Knowing the truth that self inquiry does lift everything in our life experience This book just sped up my process. I’m grateful!

This book changed my life and offers a process to free yourself from negative thinking that works! I have been working on myself for many years and had read Power Vs. Force some years ago. I also recommend you read Power Vs. Force first, which talks about the evolutionary pattern of how we all spiritually develop, and that will help you understand the framework presented in Letting Go better. Now the framework is repeated in Letting Go as well, but I think it makes more of an impact if you read Power Vs. Force first. Letting Go gives us a process for evolving our emotional and spiritual selves according to that natural, evolutionary pattern explained in Power Vs. Force. Letting Go provides a framework and a process for letting go of old negative emotions, such as guilt, anger, or fear, which frees up our energy, makes us much happier, and lets us evolve spiritually. The book is not religious and can be used with any belief system. The process offers a way to clear negative stuff from the unconscious that is repressed and suppressed, allowing us to experience happiness, which should be our natural state. How many of us can say we are always naturally happy? Yeah. The book says that letting go of negative emotions may also cure chronic illness, of which I had my doubts because it sounded so woo-woo. But over the course of two months I followed the process, which only takes moments a day as old feelings come up -- you don't need to contemplate your navel for hours on end or make a big deal out of it. You need to devote thoughts to the process, but not really time so it is a very easy process to follow and you can do it anytime, while commuting, in the shower, whatever, so it does not take time out of your busy day. For myself, not only is some long-standing general anxiety gone, but a chronic illness has just gone away! I mean, one day it was there as it had been for 10 years, and the next day it was magically gone. Not only that, but I feel much stronger, powerful, more peaceful, and much happier. I look 5 years younger. I have bought this book for Christmas gifts because I think it is better than therapy for just getting happier. Even if you think you have resolved all the traumas in your life, working this process will make you so much more happy and effective. If there is one book you should be reading, it is this one.

If you feel many sorts of negative emotions and thoughts, this book will give an excellent mental framework for you to use.

I am in love with this book! every aspect of life is studied and described with simple examples + solutions to empower oneself to change for the better. I read it twice now and still learning fundamentals that help me live a better life. I highly recommend this book to anyone who seek understanding of themselves and the world surrounding them. Life can be easy, simple and beautiful. It is down to us individually to create the best reality for ourselves. This book tell you why, what and how to help you achieve that.

This book is a miracle.... I am so Grateful.

A friend told me about this book. Amazing content that you can easily put into practice. Quite literally, it has life changing content. Yes, there are some elements that are hard to comprehend and harder to practically apply consistently however the core components are easy to absorb and once applied provide a freedom mentally and otherwise that many people long for. I'd recommend this book to everyone seeking to find themselves and find a simple way to simple existence.

Este libro me tiene cautivada por su simplicidad y profundidad a la vez. Ya lo habia leido en español y ahora leerlo en ingles me da una perspectiva mas completa de lo que el autor queria transmitir al leerlo en su idioma original. Este es un libro que mas que leerlo hay que aplicarlo, lo que lo hace todo un reto en el mundo cotidiano. Confieso que no lo puedo soltar!