Exploring Perspectives on the Soul

Ep. 137 (Dialogue 1, Part 1 of 2) | In this rich and engaging conversation, the first episode of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali gives us a beautiful overview of the Diamond Approach, which is a brilliant integration of teachings and a path of awakening born out of his own direct experience and informed by his deep understanding of the world’s great spiritual traditions and modern psychology. Here, Hameed details the many facets of the Diamond Approach that make it unique among spiritual paths, which leads down several intriguing avenues of exploration: What is the Diamond Approach’s understanding of the soul? How does spiritual guidance work? What are the four turnings that give context and structure to students on this spiritual path? Hameed delves, too, into the importance of inquiry on our road to discovering our true nature, love’s role in allowing us to trust reality, and the importance of realizing that the ultimate lives within each individual.

Hameed also shares personal aspects of his journey: how he was guided from the precise field of physics to the field of psychology, how he came to the revelation of the human soul, and what he attributes to why he has been so receptive to spiritual openings and realizations throughout his life. The Diamond Approach is not only about discovering the nature of absolute reality—it is also about realizing ultimate consciousness in ordinary life, to experience the beauty and richness of a life lived in simple freedom and enjoyment. As Hameed says, “Know, by engaging the path, it is possible to be free.” Recorded June 13, 2024.

“Regardless of how transcendent or vast, nondual or whatever, is the ultimate nature, the important thing is how it lives as an individual human being living an ordinary human life and enjoying this life the way it can be enjoyed—to the fullest of its possibilities.”

(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)

Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1

• Introducing the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, exploring the complete path of awakening developed by Hameed Ali—the Diamond Approach (01:06)
• John speaks to how this podcast series is based on Hameed’s life’s work, summarized in his transformative book The Inner Journey Home (04:46)
• The Inner Journey Home: a brilliant integration of teachings as well as a first person account of divine grace (07:34)
• What is the Diamond Approach and why is it unique? (09:34)
• The inner body is the lens that, as it turns, sees reality in a different way and reveals different teachings (12:13)
• The Diamond Approach recognizes the validity of many different spiritual traditions and that there are multiple possible realizations (15:00)
• After a Nyingma empowerment workshop, Hameed realized a different universe than the Dzogchen universe (16:28)
• How does spiritual guidance work? It guides the consciousness in how to be open to the next revelation (17:25)
• A universal commonality the Diamond Approach has with all spiritual teachings is that there is a true spiritual nature to all being, all life (18:44)
• The Diamond Approach emphasizes that this life has its own value (21:37)
• The individual is not an illusion—the human soul is an expression of fundamental reality manifesting as individual consciousness (24:07)
• Spiritual realization can’t happen without a human being to experience it (26:46)
• What is the Diamond Approach’s understanding of the soul? (27:32)
• Hameed discovered the soul later in the teachings—after the true nature of fundamental consciousness and the absolute (30:28)

Resources & References – Part 1

• The Ridhwan School, home of the Diamond Approach, founded by A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali)
• A. H. Almaas, The Inner Journey Home: Soul’s Realization of the Unity of Reality*
• A. H. Almaas, Runaway Realization: Living a Life of Ceaseless Discovery*
• Ramana Maharshi, Hindu sage and liberated being, Who Am I?: The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi*
• Nyingma, oldest of the 4 major schools of Tibetan Buddhism
• Kashmir Shaivism and Shaivism’s tattvas
• Sufi master Ibn Arabi, “God needs a soul just as much as a soul needs God”

Note: The A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series will generally follow the sequence of Hameed’s magnum opus, The Inner Journey Home* (which John describes as “psychoactive and spiritually, psychologically, and intellectually transformative”), so listeners may want to get a copy of this book, to study and follow along on this exhilarating path of awakening.

* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.

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A. Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) was born in Kuwait in 1944. At the age of eighteen, he moved to the U.S. to study at the University of California in Berkeley. Hameed was working on his Ph.D. in physics when he reached a turning point in his life and destiny that led him to inquire into the psychological and spiritual aspects of human nature rather than the physical nature of the universe. He left the academic world to pursue an in-depth journey of inner discovery, applying his scientific precision and discipline to personal, experiential research. This included study with different teachers in different modalities, extensive reading, and continuous study of his own consciousness in an effort to understand the essential nature of human experience and reality in general.

Hameed’s process of exploration led to the creation of the Ridhwan School and, with his colleague Karen Johnson, resulted in the founding and unfoldment of the Diamond Approach. He is the author of 20 books, including Nondual Love: Awakening to the Loving Nature of Reality, Love Unveiled: Discovering the Essence of the Awakened Heart, Keys to the Enneagram: How to Unlock the Highest Potential of Every Personality Type, The Unfolding Now: Realizing Your True Nature through the Practice of Presence, and more.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell