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The Power of Divine Eros: The Illuminating Force of Love in Everyday Life
An innovative spiritual teacher shows how to use desire and passion as a gateway to realizing our full potential.
What do desire and passion have to do with the spiritual life? They are an essential component of it, according to A. H. Almaas and Karen Johnson. Most spiritual teachings take the position that desire, wanting, and passion are opposed to the spiritual path. The concern is that engaging in desire will take you more into the world, into the mundane, into the physical, and into egoic life. And for most people, that is exactly what happens. We naturally tend to experience wanting in a self-centered way. The Power of Divine Eros explores how to be passionate and to feel a strong wanting without that desire being in conflict with selfless love. It also shows how relationships with others are an important part of the human journey--an opportunity to express oneself authentically and be present with someone else. Through understanding the energy of eros, each of us can learn to be fully real and alive in all our interactions.
In the words of the authors, "Any spiritual work involves the element of love, whether explicitly or implicitly. What we want to explore is how the energy and quality of love explicitly open the door to reality and to our deeper nature. The portal is there for every human being to open; each of us can be fully real and alive in all our interactions. And the erotic, as it is felt and experienced in the body, is a part of that openness, whether it becomes sexual or not. For many reasons, eros has become separated from the pure and the holy, and as a result, it is usually relegated to the domain of the gross and unrefined. But eros is the energy of the divine. As such, it is always divine and pure."
Through guided exercises, the authors invite the listener to connect to the pure energy behind their desire. When we allow ourselves to fully experience our wanting, the authors suggest, and we trust that the wanting itself has the intelligence to reveal the pure energy of desire that underlies it, we get a taste of what it's like to feel love and desire as a unified force. Being in the world in a way that does not separate us from spirit, while also feeling the pleasure of our energy, our erotic nature, our aliveness and love, makes life complete. We want to experience our humanness, the authors say, but we don't want to divide ourselves to do it. We want to know more about both the spiritual and the worldly reality and how the two interrelate, because they are naturally a part of what it means to be human.
What do desire and passion have to do with the spiritual life? They are an essential component of it, according to A. H. Almaas and Karen Johnson. Most spiritual teachings take the position that desire, wanting, and passion are opposed to the spiritual path. The concern is that engaging in desire will take you more into the world, into the mundane, into the physical, and into egoic life. And for most people, that is exactly what happens. We naturally tend to experience wanting in a self-centered way. The Power of Divine Eros explores how to be passionate and to feel a strong wanting without that desire being in conflict with selfless love. It also shows how relationships with others are an important part of the human journey--an opportunity to express oneself authentically and be present with someone else. Through understanding the energy of eros, each of us can learn to be fully real and alive in all our interactions.
In the words of the authors, "Any spiritual work involves the element of love, whether explicitly or implicitly. What we want to explore is how the energy and quality of love explicitly open the door to reality and to our deeper nature. The portal is there for every human being to open; each of us can be fully real and alive in all our interactions. And the erotic, as it is felt and experienced in the body, is a part of that openness, whether it becomes sexual or not. For many reasons, eros has become separated from the pure and the holy, and as a result, it is usually relegated to the domain of the gross and unrefined. But eros is the energy of the divine. As such, it is always divine and pure."
Through guided exercises, the authors invite the listener to connect to the pure energy behind their desire. When we allow ourselves to fully experience our wanting, the authors suggest, and we trust that the wanting itself has the intelligence to reveal the pure energy of desire that underlies it, we get a taste of what it's like to feel love and desire as a unified force. Being in the world in a way that does not separate us from spirit, while also feeling the pleasure of our energy, our erotic nature, our aliveness and love, makes life complete. We want to experience our humanness, the authors say, but we don't want to divide ourselves to do it. We want to know more about both the spiritual and the worldly reality and how the two interrelate, because they are naturally a part of what it means to be human.
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First published September 17, 2013
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141 people want to read
About the author
A.H. Almaas
141 books207 followersA.H. Almaas is the pen name of A. Hameed Ali, the creator of the Diamond Approach to Self Realization. The Diamond Approach is a contemporary teaching that developed within the context of awareness of both ancient spiritual teachings & modern depth psychological theories.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 5, 2013
All of life can be a passionate love affair. When divine eros is flowing freely, we have the power to respond to the people and events of our life and our world with passionate, alive intelligence, and sensitivity.
In their new book, The Power of Divine Eros: The Illuminating Force of Love in Everyday Life, Karen and Hameed invite us in: “Eros is relevant for any human being who is interested in living a full human life, since it is the inherent energy of the zest and sparkle of our life force. Knowing the fundamental nature of our life force is of great importance for the serious spiritual student. And to lead a life of spiritual maturity and full participation in the world, both the knowledge and the embodiment of the nature and energy of life are needed.” The book explores divine eros, which includes the zesty, erotic life force of the belly center and the sweet, selfless love of the heart.
Divine eros can be sexual, but it doesn’t need to be, and one of the areas of exploration in the book is how our distortions and blocks about sexuality can be a hindrance to allowing the free flow of eros in every area of our life. The book demonstrates this flow. It is immediate and engaging, like being at a retreat with the authors (it is based on a Quasar retreat held in Amsterdam). Just as being at a retreat can impact our soul to experience the qualities we explore there, this book can have a similar effect, igniting the flame of desire to engage in life more fully and passionately.
The Power of Divine Eros has a broad appeal, and is accessible to people who are new to inner work. It describes the method and meaning of many Diamond Approach practices, including the kath meditation, the Om salutation, inquiry, the Hu chant, and dialectical inquiry. For that alone, it is worthwhile for existing DA students—perhaps providing a new and fresh view of our practices—as well as for those new to the work. Karen and Hameed even provide musical selections that help to evoke the qualities of divine eros.
Here, any reader can experience Hameed’s sweet, innocent delight, playfulness, and curiosity, and Karen’s evocations of the depths of the mystery as it impacts our soul with love and passion. Together, they weave a spell that allows us to taste divine eros, and hunger for more: “For eros to be divine, we must express the embodiment of life and love as one. Having the capacity to be in the world in a way that does not separate us from spirit, while also feeling the pleasure of our energy, our erotic nature, our aliveness and love, makes life complete.”
In closing, I would like to add that I think it's about time we heal the split between sexuality and spirituality. Our passion is here for us always, in all aspects of our lives!
In their new book, The Power of Divine Eros: The Illuminating Force of Love in Everyday Life, Karen and Hameed invite us in: “Eros is relevant for any human being who is interested in living a full human life, since it is the inherent energy of the zest and sparkle of our life force. Knowing the fundamental nature of our life force is of great importance for the serious spiritual student. And to lead a life of spiritual maturity and full participation in the world, both the knowledge and the embodiment of the nature and energy of life are needed.” The book explores divine eros, which includes the zesty, erotic life force of the belly center and the sweet, selfless love of the heart.
Divine eros can be sexual, but it doesn’t need to be, and one of the areas of exploration in the book is how our distortions and blocks about sexuality can be a hindrance to allowing the free flow of eros in every area of our life. The book demonstrates this flow. It is immediate and engaging, like being at a retreat with the authors (it is based on a Quasar retreat held in Amsterdam). Just as being at a retreat can impact our soul to experience the qualities we explore there, this book can have a similar effect, igniting the flame of desire to engage in life more fully and passionately.
The Power of Divine Eros has a broad appeal, and is accessible to people who are new to inner work. It describes the method and meaning of many Diamond Approach practices, including the kath meditation, the Om salutation, inquiry, the Hu chant, and dialectical inquiry. For that alone, it is worthwhile for existing DA students—perhaps providing a new and fresh view of our practices—as well as for those new to the work. Karen and Hameed even provide musical selections that help to evoke the qualities of divine eros.
Here, any reader can experience Hameed’s sweet, innocent delight, playfulness, and curiosity, and Karen’s evocations of the depths of the mystery as it impacts our soul with love and passion. Together, they weave a spell that allows us to taste divine eros, and hunger for more: “For eros to be divine, we must express the embodiment of life and love as one. Having the capacity to be in the world in a way that does not separate us from spirit, while also feeling the pleasure of our energy, our erotic nature, our aliveness and love, makes life complete.”
In closing, I would like to add that I think it's about time we heal the split between sexuality and spirituality. Our passion is here for us always, in all aspects of our lives!
Currently reading
April 19, 2015This is a juicy book!
It is organized in such a way as to include you in the workshop process from which the book was written. The approach is not only novel but facilitates the integration of self-discovery in a deeper way.
I like the activities. These are actually a set of questions meant for group discussion. I meditate on them, then a few days later have a discussion on them with my partner, Derek, and then finally journal on them. This has become a good practice for me to slow down and actually spend time with the book and myself.
From the first words of the book, I wanted to devour it whole! I realized this type of binge reading would not be conducive to the kind of transformative learning that I am desiring.
It is organized in such a way as to include you in the workshop process from which the book was written. The approach is not only novel but facilitates the integration of self-discovery in a deeper way.
I like the activities. These are actually a set of questions meant for group discussion. I meditate on them, then a few days later have a discussion on them with my partner, Derek, and then finally journal on them. This has become a good practice for me to slow down and actually spend time with the book and myself.
From the first words of the book, I wanted to devour it whole! I realized this type of binge reading would not be conducive to the kind of transformative learning that I am desiring.
April 13, 2015
Disappointing
This book is basically a transcript of a workshop. Consequently I never felt like the authors were talking directly to me. It felt more like eavesdropping. There is some good stuff in the book, but most of it didn't really touch me. I couldn't connect.
This book is basically a transcript of a workshop. Consequently I never felt like the authors were talking directly to me. It felt more like eavesdropping. There is some good stuff in the book, but most of it didn't really touch me. I couldn't connect.
February 6, 2024
I was very interested in learning more about Eros Energy and Divine Eros specifically, so I had high hopes for this book. I knew going in that the concept is a bit "hippy-dippy" and didn't expect a scientific approach by any means, but hoo-boy this book was a big bunch of nothing. It's like the authors didn't have much to say, so they spend a lot of time trying to state and restate things in all different metaphorical ways to make content. But it's all a bunch of word soup that doesn't amount to anything. Here's a sample trying to describe Divine Union:
"There is the unmanifest and the manifest, which are two sides of the same thing. It is not that manifestation comes out of the unmanifest, which is behind it. Yes there is the unmanifest back and the manifest front, and if you slice them, again there is a back and front at every point, but the spaciousness of the unmanifest and the presence of the manifest always arise as one interpenetrated unity."
If content like that makes sense to you, this book is DEFINITLEY your thing, but for anyone who wants more solid, sensible content related to Eros energy, I'd search elsewhere.
"There is the unmanifest and the manifest, which are two sides of the same thing. It is not that manifestation comes out of the unmanifest, which is behind it. Yes there is the unmanifest back and the manifest front, and if you slice them, again there is a back and front at every point, but the spaciousness of the unmanifest and the presence of the manifest always arise as one interpenetrated unity."
If content like that makes sense to you, this book is DEFINITLEY your thing, but for anyone who wants more solid, sensible content related to Eros energy, I'd search elsewhere.
March 27, 2022
3&1/2 ⭐
An intriguing investigation into the nature of desire and how it is not only constrained towards suffering, but can be a potential increase towards the life-giving force of love when we let ourselves sit with our emotions and fully realize them - letting them open up to be full and real energy.
I like the structure of this book, as it isn't just informative, but let's you meditate on questions and come to realize what different things mean for you personally. I've never read a book like that, so I'd give it an extra 1/2 star if I could.
I also appreciate hearing the dialogues given on how people responded to the questions themselves. It gives nice examples of what listening to our emotions can do for us.
I did struggle a bit with fully appreciating this book though because it seemed a bit too spiritual, or mystical at times (?) A bit less conceptual and more emotional. So, I read through it pretty quickly, but I did meditate through most of the prompts and discovered some really wonderful things!
An intriguing investigation into the nature of desire and how it is not only constrained towards suffering, but can be a potential increase towards the life-giving force of love when we let ourselves sit with our emotions and fully realize them - letting them open up to be full and real energy.
I like the structure of this book, as it isn't just informative, but let's you meditate on questions and come to realize what different things mean for you personally. I've never read a book like that, so I'd give it an extra 1/2 star if I could.
I also appreciate hearing the dialogues given on how people responded to the questions themselves. It gives nice examples of what listening to our emotions can do for us.
I did struggle a bit with fully appreciating this book though because it seemed a bit too spiritual, or mystical at times (?) A bit less conceptual and more emotional. So, I read through it pretty quickly, but I did meditate through most of the prompts and discovered some really wonderful things!
December 9, 2025
One of those rare books that feels like it’s whispering something you already knew but hadn’t yet put into words. A deeply illuminating and quietly transformative read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews