About the Diamond Approach®
The Diamond Approach® is a contemporary spiritual path characterized by sincere inquiry into one’s experience, fueled by the love of truth. This inquiry is guided by a precise and progressive teaching that begins with our familiar sense of self resulting from our personal history. This journey gradually deepens, taking us beyond conditioning and beliefs to an implicit immediacy of what we truly are. Through practice, inquiry, and the support of a group field engaged in inner discovery, we come to recognize our True Nature and live from this deeper knowing.
The work is multi-faceted and our exploration together is ongoing. We look at historical and psychological structures that limit our ability to know ourselves as True Nature itself. As we taste this nature, we discover deeper and deeper truths. The richness and immediacy of our living presence awakens and transforms what we are and how we live.
Learn more about the path at www.diamondapproach.org
"We live in a world of mystery, wonder, and beauty. But most of us seldom participate in this real world, focusing rather on the parts that are mostly strife, suffering or meaninglessness. The situation is basically due to our not realizing and living our full human potential. This potential can be actualized by the realization and development of human essence. The human essence is the part of us that is innate and real, and which can participate in the real world." ~ A.H. Almaas
3 Complementary Components of the Diamond Approach
The Diamond Heart 11 program provides several complementary formats for practice and learning — a large group, small groups, and individual sessions — that support the inner journey in a different but interconnected ways.
The Large Group is a context for being immersed in the wisdom of the Diamond Approach. The teachers present teachings that progressively deepen the work of the group, sharing verbally in talks and nonverbally through transmission of essential presence. The talks are followed by exercises with fellow group members and then an opportunity to ask questions and explore one’s experience with the presenting teacher. Along with meditation, movement and chanting, these teachings and personal inquiries foster a shared field of dedication to the truth in which students develop a deeper understanding and experience of their familiar sense of self and of their deeper nature.
Small Groups provide an opportunity to practice in a more intimate group context guided by a Diamond Approach teacher. They are subsets of the large group, each consisting of 12-18 students that will meet about ten times a year. In small group, the focus is not on the teaching but on personal work as the teacher guides each student as they inquire into where they are and discover the truth of what is moving in their process. Small group is also a place to practice being present, to ask questions about the teaching, and to witness the teacher work with other students, thus creating a rich learning environment for everyone. Being present for others’ inquiries often helps one recognize elements of one’s own experience that have not been seen before. Within this shared field, students come to know each other in more true and meaningful ways.
Individual Sessions are one-on-one meetings with a Diamond Approach teacher and take place every other week or once a month, depending on the student’s needs and schedule. The teacher’s presence and training provide steady, personalized guidance for helping students as they reconnect with their authentic nature. Individual sessions provide a central support for the Diamond Approach work by helping students navigate their individual experience in order to reveal the underlying meaning and truth of what is going on and support its integration into everyday life.
Together, these three components provide a balanced path of learning that includes guidance, direct experience, embodiment and ongoing transformation in a community of individuals dedicated to the truth..