Course Syllabus

Overview of the Course

From the perspective of the view of totality, the spiritual journey is not a matter of going someplace—it is a matter of discovering deeply what’s happening right here and now.

Below is an overview of the Endless Enlightenment course curriculum, featuring Sounds True founder Tami Simon in dialogue with A. H. Almaas in eight hours of video instruction:

Course Modules

Module 1: Introduction to the View of Totality

In the Diamond Approach, the understanding of the view of totality is an advanced teaching, one that Hameed has only begun to introduce within the Ridhwan School and to the general public over the last several years. In our opening session, Hameed talks about the difference between nondual realization (and how there are various types of nondual realization) and the view of totality. He discusses how the view of totality emerged in his own experience and how it relates to discovering individual consciousness—a consciousness that is not the same as the ego, but is “pure consciousness individualized.”

Topics include:

• Origins of the Diamond Approach as a secret lineage and “The Brotherhood of the Bees”
• The discovery of the freedom vehicle
• The four turnings within the Diamond Approach
• Spirit and matter as a conceptual polarity
• The indeterminacy of reality

Module 2: Q&A Session with A. H. Almaas

In a 70-minute video session previously recorded live with course participants, Hameed fields a wide range of questions about the view of totality, the Diamond Approach, and the journey of enlightenment. In dialogue with individuals about their unique experiences, Hameed further illuminates this profound material and opens the door to concepts explored later in the course.

Topics include:

• The necessity of self-directed inquiry even while following an established teaching
• Working past ego to realize essential states of being
• Practical, ground-level techniques for cultivating presence
• The intersection of spiritual realization and physical experience
• The distinction between total being and true nature

Module 3: How Does the View of Totality Change Our Approach to Spiritual Practice?

In the view of totality, there is no ultimate goal or endpoint to the spiritual journey. Hameed even goes so far as to say that having a goal for the spiritual journey is like “trying to twist God’s arm.” In our third session, Hameed addresses what he calls “the dynamic of realization” and how, from the nondual perspective, “practice is nothing but reality practicing in a way to reveal itself.” Hameed also describes what he means by practicing in a “continual” way, and what emerges when our whole being is oriented towards greater self-revelation.

Topics include:

• The yoga of nondoing
• The paradox that some people have never engaged in spiritual practice yet experience profound spiritual awakenings—while others practice diligently for years without an awakening
• “Delusion after enlightenment”
• The emergence of “red sulfur” and the process that it ignites

Module 4: The Many Faces of True Nature

“True nature is what matters most when it comes to spiritual transformation,” teaches A.H. Almaas. “It is the single most important element. It is the alpha and omega of the spiritual quest.” In our fourth session, he explores the many faces of true nature and how various spiritual traditions describe it.

Topics include:

• “Necessary awakening” and “primary awakening”
• Crossing the narcissistic gap
• Unilocal realization and the collapsing of time and space
• The nature of “endless enlightenment”—the unlimited ways of experiencing true nature

Module 5: The Importance of Individual Consciousness and the Mystery of Emptiness

One of the most distinctive features of the view of totality is the importance it places on individual consciousness. In our fifth session, Hameed discusses how individual consciousness is continuous with pure consciousness, and how this “organ of perception” does not disappear after spiritual awakening.

Topics include:

• Emptiness of self, emptiness of other
• Action that is purposeless and perfectly useful at the same time
• Why a great master becomes greater as time passes
• The feeling of nonbeing, and how being and nonbeing are always wedded

Module 6: Q&A Session with A. H. Almaas

Once again, Hameed fields queries from course participants in an 80-minute, previously recorded Q&A session. This segment brings together and clarifies concepts from across the span of the course.

Topics include:

• Working with ideas that transcend the conceptual mind
• Spiritual teaching in the modern era and the transmission of wisdom through electronic media
• The many different realities of enlightenment
• Welcoming the fear of death and loss with open arms
• Loving truth no matter what form it takes

Module 7: A Nonhierarchical View of Spiritual Traditions and Spiritual Paths

A common belief is that all spiritual traditions are actually saying the same thing and simply using different languages. According to Hameed, this is not the case. In session seven, he describes how we live in a vast spiritual universe in which different spiritual traditions take us on different journeys to different realizations. The view of totality allows us to appreciate the differences among spiritual traditions with the recognition that “unity does not mean the elimination of difference.”

Topics include:

• What it means to “break the code” of a particular tradition
• The challenge faced by spiritual traditions to continue evolving in our contemporary culture
• The potential for self-delusion on the spiritual path
• The importance of having a passion for something that is beyond the self

Module 8: Total Freedom

The view of totality—a view in which we are not restrained by any beliefs or any particular realization—naturally leads to freedom. In our final session, Hameed describes four different types of freedom: freedom from, freedom of, freedom to, and freedom itself.

Topics include:

• Freedom and happiness
• Joy and its connection to the heart center
• The dynamism of reality and “seeing what wants to happen”
• Abandoning the dichotomy between spirit and matter
• The freedom to be “nobody”

Course Completion

In this module you will complete the course and explore next steps.