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Diamond Heart #4
Indestructible Innocence
We live in a world of mystery, wonder, and beauty. But most of us seldom participate in this real world, being focused 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.
The series of books Diamond Heart are transcriptions of talks given by A. H. Almaas to inner work groups in Colorado and California.
The series of books Diamond Heart are transcriptions of talks given by A. H. Almaas to inner work groups in Colorado and California.
392 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2000
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144 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 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 6, 2020
Another jewel in the crown of the Diamond Approach from Hameed Ali, A.H.Almaas the founder of this awesome teaching
September 28, 2025
"The self is the main barrier against realisation"
3.5 stars. Only took me 5 months, but I finally finished this beast. While it could've been much shorter, there were lots of golden gems in here that need to be digested in small bites. Some of my fave quotes:
"It is amazing to see multitudes of people - almost everyone searching for something that would be there if they merely stopped the search, and which cannot be there until they stop searching. People tend to believe that first they must find what they seek and then they will stop. The truth is that the finding can happen only when the search stops.
This is the absurdity of most of our activities and preoccupations - we are seeking something and by this very act of seeking, we get farther away from that which we seek. This observation reflects a perspective most people do not share.
From the conventional perspective, it sounds absurd. Even people who know this from their own experience do not remain convinced enough to actually change their behaviour of seeking. They still don't believe that the pleasure, the peace, the love, the fulfilment, is right."
"Being shows you how to manifest the beauty outside. There has to be a coordination and a working together, and ultimately a harmonisation, a balance, because we are not just talking about a state of being; we are talking about living. That is the Work we have in our life. We are already beings. Before we are born, we are beings. The story then is how to bring this Being into living. That is the task we have in this life: to lear how to live on earth in physical bodies, do things and enjoy things that the inner being is usually not concerned with. In other words, how can essential Being manifest as a human being? What we are doing—the task of life-is developing Being into a human being. That is the stage of evolution we are engaged in. Being is already here; you come as Being. It is true that you forget, and you forget because you still learning how to bring this Being into life.
However, in the case of conventional life, the necessary knowledge and guidance are absent, so a split develops.
After the splitting occurs, a part of the consciousness goes on doing and living life, separate from Being. As a result, we need to regain access to our being, and then harmonize that being with living. Regaining of Being, which is enlightenment, is not the end; it is the beginning, which is how we started anyway. But we need to grow up, and learn how to be as mature human beings."
"The main barrier to all these transitions is the belief that you are the person that is connected to the body. You are taking what we call the shell because it functions as a defensive shell) to be you. Identifying with this shell brings the terror that you are going to lose the sense of being a person. But what you actually are is not a person; you are a window to the universe.
When the body is relaxed and balanced and has no tension, there are no boundaries. Boundaries are tensions in the body. The experience of boundaries goes along with tensions in the body. The body armour is the boundary.
When the body is balanced, relaxed, there is no need for boundaries. So you could say that some self-realisation can be done physically."
"At some point, we need to begin to see things more objectively. We need to question our assumptions about inside and outside. We need to wake up at a more fundamental level. We need to stop running after the illusion that truth is inside, and start waking up to the objective truth that is everywhere."
3.5 stars. Only took me 5 months, but I finally finished this beast. While it could've been much shorter, there were lots of golden gems in here that need to be digested in small bites. Some of my fave quotes:
"It is amazing to see multitudes of people - almost everyone searching for something that would be there if they merely stopped the search, and which cannot be there until they stop searching. People tend to believe that first they must find what they seek and then they will stop. The truth is that the finding can happen only when the search stops.
This is the absurdity of most of our activities and preoccupations - we are seeking something and by this very act of seeking, we get farther away from that which we seek. This observation reflects a perspective most people do not share.
From the conventional perspective, it sounds absurd. Even people who know this from their own experience do not remain convinced enough to actually change their behaviour of seeking. They still don't believe that the pleasure, the peace, the love, the fulfilment, is right."
"Being shows you how to manifest the beauty outside. There has to be a coordination and a working together, and ultimately a harmonisation, a balance, because we are not just talking about a state of being; we are talking about living. That is the Work we have in our life. We are already beings. Before we are born, we are beings. The story then is how to bring this Being into living. That is the task we have in this life: to lear how to live on earth in physical bodies, do things and enjoy things that the inner being is usually not concerned with. In other words, how can essential Being manifest as a human being? What we are doing—the task of life-is developing Being into a human being. That is the stage of evolution we are engaged in. Being is already here; you come as Being. It is true that you forget, and you forget because you still learning how to bring this Being into life.
However, in the case of conventional life, the necessary knowledge and guidance are absent, so a split develops.
After the splitting occurs, a part of the consciousness goes on doing and living life, separate from Being. As a result, we need to regain access to our being, and then harmonize that being with living. Regaining of Being, which is enlightenment, is not the end; it is the beginning, which is how we started anyway. But we need to grow up, and learn how to be as mature human beings."
"The main barrier to all these transitions is the belief that you are the person that is connected to the body. You are taking what we call the shell because it functions as a defensive shell) to be you. Identifying with this shell brings the terror that you are going to lose the sense of being a person. But what you actually are is not a person; you are a window to the universe.
When the body is relaxed and balanced and has no tension, there are no boundaries. Boundaries are tensions in the body. The experience of boundaries goes along with tensions in the body. The body armour is the boundary.
When the body is balanced, relaxed, there is no need for boundaries. So you could say that some self-realisation can be done physically."
"At some point, we need to begin to see things more objectively. We need to question our assumptions about inside and outside. We need to wake up at a more fundamental level. We need to stop running after the illusion that truth is inside, and start waking up to the objective truth that is everywhere."
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October 18, 2009Self discovering book :)
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