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SPIRITUAL PRACTICE AS A PHENOMENOLOGY OF BEING The Diamond Approach is described as a "response to an important need that is being felt in many quarters, a need for a spritually informed psychology, or conversely, for a psychologically grounded spirituality. This perspective does not separate psychological and spirtual experience, and hence sees no dichotomy beween depth psychology and spritual work... This body of knowledge is not an integration or synthesis of modern depth psychology and traditional spiritual understanding. The inclination to think in terms of integration of the two is due to the prevailing belief in the dichotomy between the fields of psychology and spirituality, a dichotomy in which the Diamond Mind understanding does not participate." (A.H. Almaas, The Point of Existence) The Diamond Approach could rightly be called a Phemonenology of Being, for its remarkably precise description of the various aspects and dimensions of Spirit or Being, but is also a very efficient spiritual psychotherapy healing the wounds of the soul by reconnecting it to Spirit. PRINCIPAL IDEAS Structure of Reality In the Diamond Approach, reality is seen as consisting of three important elements: God/Being/Spirit, soul/self, and world/cosmos. The world is the outer manifestation of reality, the multitude of physical forms that we are all familiar with. Being is the inner source and true nature of reality, which is the focus of the great spiritual traditions of both East and West. It is known as . The soul can be experienced as a living presence that contains the thoughts, feelings, and sensations we usually call our self. Essence and the Essential Aspects While most spiritual paths conceive of Being as universal, the Diamond Approach also pays a great deal of attention to a more individual way of experiencing Being, called Essence. The concept of Essence is similar to the Hindu idea of Atman . While Being is the true nature of all of reality, Essence is the portion of it that forms the true nature of the soul. It is experienced as a substantial Presence, which can differentiate into various qualities or Aspects, such as Compassion, Strength, Will, Joy, Peace, Love, Value, Humanness, Personalness, Identity, Space, etc. The Theory of Holes As our soul develops, it is faced with a double challenge: it must learn to function in the world, while staying connected to Spirit. Due to various reasons, some innate and others environmental, we slowly become alienated from our Essence through the development of fixed patterns of perception and behaviour, known as the personality or ego. Each of these patterns or ego structures disconnects us from a specific Essential Aspect. In other words: it is built around the "Hole" of this aspect. By exploring the structure, both cognitively and experientally, one eventually comes to the Hole, and by going through it, the lost aspect is retrieved. METHODOLOGY The Diamond Approach uses methods which its founders learned from Claudio Naranjo . Almaas' scientific background (he studied physics at Berkeley) helps explain the emphasis on rigorous (self) inquiry. Several contexts for participation are provided, including regular one-on-one sessions with a trained teacher, seminars, and participation in various formats of organized ongoing groups. Presence The practice referred to as "presence" is based on two methods: learning to sense one's body (especially one's arms and legs) in an ongoing manner, and regularly focussing one's attention on a point in the belly called the "kath center" (known in Chinese philosophy as the "tan tien"). These methods help one to become more grounded in the body and in physical reality, and in time develop one's ability to experience oneself as the presence of Essence. Inquiry The Diamond Approach centers on practice of investigation of the self, experience and perception. "Inquiry" answers the question posed by 's "transcendental phenomenological reduction, or epoché", with Sigmund Freud 's psychodynamic exploration. An important feature of inquiry is that one learns to be aware of both the content of experience (emotions, thoughts, sensations), and one's attitudes and reactions towards it. In this way, the subject-object dichotomy is transcended and one learns to relate to oneself without having to create inner splits. Open-ended Inquiry is both a path to, and the state of, a realized person, and in time is understood to be a self-revelation of the mysteries of Being. MOTIVATION The main motivation for embarking on the spiritual journey in this approach is love for the Truth. "Truth" refers to seeing things as they really are, which ultimately comes down to recognizing Being as the true nature of everything. Love for the truth therefore combines the traditional Bhakti and Jnana perspectives on spirituality. WRITTEN TEACHINGS Almaas has composed an extensive body of teachings on the Diamond Approach. See references at A. H. Almaas . Works by other authors include:
SCHOOL A. H. Almaas has established The Ridhwan School for the purpose of teaching the Diamond Approach. It is based in Berkeley, California and Boulder, Colorado , but has outlying groups throughout North America and in Europe and Australia. CRITIQUES In recent years the work of Almaas has received high praise from important spiritual teachers and explorers such as John Welwood, Jack Kornfield , and Ken Wilber . EXTERNAL LINKS
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