Runaway Realization: Living a Life of Ceaseless Discovery

by A.H. Almaas

Spiritual teacher A. H. Almaas presents the highest level and most profound teachings of the Diamond Approach on the true nature of reality and the path to enlightenment The teaching in this book is off the map—because reality itself cannot be captured in a map. In fact, reality is far more alive, far more mysterious than anything we can conceive of.  It is always revealing itself by knowing itself; and knowing reality and living it becomes the fulfillment of our life. Here, A. H. Almaas, the originator of the Diamond Approach, presents a new paradigm for understanding the view of totality. He reveals that our life can become an endless revelation of reality, an adventure with neither beginning nor end.   A. H. Almaas has been developing and teaching the Diamond Approach, a spiritual path of self-realization and maturity based on an original synthesis of modern discoveries in the field of psychology and a new paradigm about spiritual nature, for more than thirty years. The Diamond Approach aims to realize the truth at progressively deeper levels until one reaches the ultimate Truth—the Absolute—and to become integrated into that truth so that we are a living presence and embodiment of it. The teachings of this path have been unfolding over time, and Runaway Realization presents—for the first time in print—the highest level of teachings in the Diamond Approach in the most profound work by Almaas so far. Almaas offers a detailed look at the true nature of reality and the nature of enlightenment. He also talks about practice—what it is and what it isn't, and how it relates to the process of realization. He looks at what it is to be a human being and what our role is in the totality of the universe. The material includes a discussion of the nature of space and time, as well as a view of more and more subtle levels of realization.

Genres: Spirituality, Psychology

273 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 21, 2014

About the author

A.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.

Reviews

[Gord Clements · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just completed the latest book by A H Almaas. I have read a number of his books and feel that this my favorite. It seems that his experience and writing has matured and in this book he writes in a way that is not so focused on method but on discussing, exploring and reflecting on what is involved when waking up. It is the most thorough and revealing discussion that I have read on this topic and it seems that his insight is enormous. I really appreciated this book.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd give any book written by AH Almaas, nom de plume of Dr. Hamid Ali, five stars. Not because his books are exceptionally delivered, many are poorly edited collections of lectures, but because they are exceptionally conceived. The man has a capacity to visualize and describe, in a stream of consciousness geyser, the multilayered invisible depth-defying nature of reality, so hold onto your hat with both hands.

If you yearn to make any sense at all of this confounding thing we call "life," or wish to simply meet your Self, and I don't mean the one in the mirror, start with Book I, then read Book II and continue reading each of his couple dozen complex circuitous tomes one after another. I caution you to read them in order, or what may seem difficult to comprehend, might be impossible. It may take the rest of your life, but it is the single most important thing that happened in mine to help descramble and reassemble the broken, meaningless narrative I call "me" into something semi navigable and even sometimes enjoyable. And, trust me on this, that's saying a lot.

[Mindfulnessmyttymuhveli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read this when it came out, finished it, felt disappointed and that I wasted my money -tried to read it again this summer and came to the conclusion: Utter drivel, would not recommend to anyone. The book is like someone barfed over zen and daoism, took a half-hearted swing at buddhism and hinduism, and just for fun, poked holes with an ugly stick into major religions such as christianity, judaism and islam. I recommend watching Buddha at the gaspump's interview with the author if you're thinking about buying this book, just to get a bit of a preview into what he has to say and what his spiritual attitude and demeanor is.

[Markus Stobbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deep philosophical reading about enlightenment that will only be appreciated by mystics with a strong intellectual bent. There are some beautiful moments of insight that make it a worthwile read: the enlightenment drive, beyond nondual to the Totality, Living Being is the true practicioner, and realization is not an end state but always ongoing. Just be prepared for Almaas to repeat himself too much throughout. The gems of this book could be condensed into a quarter of its size.