A.H. Almaas – Diamond Approach Online

A multi-venue channel for commentary, dialogue and inquiry with A. H. Almaas, founder of the Diamond Approach to Self-realization.

In the Diamond Approach, true identity is referred to as the point of existence as it is this point that gives existence to all elements of a human life. Thus, points of interest expresses the where, what, when of dialectic interaction between two points of existence.

Advaita Vedanta: That Thou Art – (Tat Tvam Asi)

Information on the full lecture series is available here. Coming Soon! An edited video recording of this lecture will soon be available.We will also post a Downloadable Handout featuring the quotes referred to in the lecture. This is not a teaching on Advaita Vedanta. It is an overview of how it is practiced in the West, and the ways it is practiced effectively or not. 1. SHANKARA Credited with the present formulation of Advaita Vedanta, by distilling and developing the nondual teachings of the old Vedas, like the Upanishads. 2. JNANADEVA Emphasized devotion and love 3. RAMANA MAHARSHI Seemed to follow the view of Shankara. But he was well known for his luminous heart. 4. LINEAGES Different schools and lineages

September 17, 2021 No Comments

Krishnamurti: His Experience

A. H. Almaas Lecture Series: Krishnamurti: His Experience https://vimeo.com/553134822/93157bfca7 A more polished version will be available by May 30. Download the Lecture Handout for the quotes referred to in the lecture. In the case of Krishnamurti, the teachings of this 20th-century spiritual master can’t be truly understood without understanding the man and his inner transformation. Krishnamurti did not bring up his personal experience while teaching, yet his life was a highly unusual one. Adopted as a youth by Annie Besant (of the Theosophical Society), as an adult he kept no home but chose to travel and lecture, producing a vast body of work. Anyone with the good fortune to hear him talk toward the end of his life, when he

May 7, 2021 56 Comments

Jiddu Krishnamurti: His Teaching

Information on full lecture series is available here. Download the Lecture Handout for the quotes referred to in the lecture. No authority, teacher or teaching can help you be free 21:06 – His Teaching Intense self observation without any interference from the mind Attention is not the same as concentration 33:56 Experiences of Observation Studying without trying to explore Focus on a kind of intense observation The need for intense passion and love 37:32 The Observer is the Observed Total Seeing Nondual & Suchness Totality or Suchness Total Freedom 57:00 Otherness See Other Lecture Series Videos: Nisargadatta Maharaj’s Neglected Teachings Krishnamaurti: His Teaching Krishnamurti: His Experience

April 3, 2021 51 Comments

Nisargadatta Maharaj’s Neglected Teachings

5 Under-explored Aspects of Nisargadatta’s Teachings Below are the outline-notes from A. H. Almaas’ lecture on Nisargadatta. Download the lecture handout. Please leave questions and comments below. A. H. Almaas discusses some critical aspects of Nisargadatts Maharaj’s teachings that he feels often fail to get the attention needed to fully understand the teaching. Nisargadatta Maharaj is a nondual teacher. Many connect him to Advaita Vedanta. Guru of the lineage known as Navnath Sampradaya, lineage of the 9 saints. Had a guru for few years, who gave him teachings and practices. He almost went to the Himalayas to be a renunciate but was convinced by a friend to live a normal city life. Major Points: 1. Nondual teaching making consciousness primary: Don’t say you are

March 12, 2021 57 Comments

spirituality transcendence transformation (1)

Spiritual Transcendence and Transformation (Diamond Approach)

From the beginning. . . …it’s important to know the distinction between spiritual transcendence and spiritual transformation. Most teachings, especially those that come from the East or are influenced by the East, tend to emphasize spiritual transcendence and teachings that come from the West, like the Kabbalah, tend to emphasize spiritual transformation. This doesn’t mean they are mutually exclusive. (This post is derived from a recorded live presentation. Some minor edits have been made. Quotes and images added for emphasis and to show a certain amount of agreement between other recognized nondual teachers.) Dictionary Definitions: Transcendence: existence or experience beyond the normal or physical level. Transformation: a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance; a metamorphosis during the life cycle of

March 9, 2021 No Comments

Spiritual Spirituality

Spiritual, Emotional & Psychological Health The view we take, which happens to be the view of the major traditional spiritual teachings, is that spiritual attainment has many levels, and that psychological health improves with the deepening of this attainment. The latter will be the integration of one’s spiritual attainment in one’s life, an important dimension of spiritual maturity. Therefore, spiritual attainment might coexist with neurosis; however, spiritual attainment that does not heal one’s psyche is incomplete, or imbalanced. – The Inner Journey Home, Notes Spiritual Self We can define “spiritual” more precisely at this point. The spiritual dimension of the self is its ontological presence, its essential nature. In fact, what we have termed Essence is what the various philosophies,

January 24, 2021 No Comments

Perspective of the Work (Diamond Approach)

A. H. Almaas – 6/21/1981 I want to give a perspective that somehow delineates, not that this Work (the Diamond Approach) is available and useful, but to delineate its nature and how it is different from other kinds of Work. What does this mean? That’s the part that is really difficult to see, because many of you have never been involved with other kinds of Work. Many of you have never really done any deep work in essential development or deep work in a psychological sense. So it’s hard to get a perspective when you have nothing there to compare it with. I think that by having a perspective of what’s available here, how it is different or similar to

December 22, 2020 1 Comment

Harmony of Centers

Three elements needed for the process of understanding To be able to turn away from something, to turn away from a certain experience, a certain sort of image, your identity needs to be at a deeper level than that self-image in that moment. You cannot turn away or disidentify from something if you happen to be identified with something that is more superficial than what you’re intending to disidentify from. This post is an excerpt from a teaching by A. H. Almaas in July of 1983 So, if you are identified with a certain self-image, and then there’s a feeling that arises and you find yourself unable to turn away from it, it might be because it is at a

November 23, 2020 No Comments

The Liberated Heart

In this teaching from 1986, A. H. Almaas discusses the Liberated Heart. Some of the points discussed are: The capacity to feel and to feel freely Reactivity versus feeling Higher emotional center versus lower emotional center Higher emotional center expresses the qualities of essence bringing out the aesthetics of the present moment The barrier to the operation of the true heart can be viewed from two perspectives – phenomenological and psychological Both boil down to the issue of attachment What are the roots of attachment? Ego is attachment When appreciation is continuous, the higher emotional center is operating If you are attached, the you don’t want to see the relationship as it is objctively The conceptual mind splits experience into

November 7, 2020 No Comments

The Interplay of Grace and Effort on a Nondual Path

The Paradox of Grace and Effort (This teaching was first presented in 5/29/1993 to students of the Ridhwan School) In working with the question of impeccability in terms of doing this Work, the Diamond Approach, I will bring in a paradox related to impeccability by working with polarity. The more you learn about impeccability and learn to be impeccable, the more you will be able to be impeccable in the Work. There’s a danger of us coming to believe that what happens in our work is the result of our efforts and actions. This brings in the paradox. The way that I will work with it is with the perspective of Chesed and Geburah, usually translated as mercy and severity,

October 5, 2020 No Comments