Ep. 177 (Part 1 of 2) | In the ninth dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed gives a fascinating account of how four distinctly different wisdom teachings came to him in succession, directly from true nature, embodied in the form of diamonds. “In the beginning, I didn’t know…what the hell were these? Is it my imagination?” Hameed laughs. But then his colleagues and students experienced the diamondness too. Like angels of revelation, each diamond vehicle brings a different type of wisdom: the first diamond vehicle, Guidance, brings clarity and initiated the practice of inquiry; the second embodies the wisdom that pleasure is what we are, bringing an understanding of pleasure from a spiritual perspective; the third diamond vehicle holds the wisdom of how to conduct our lives from a place of truth, and the fourth the wisdom of true knowledge—knowing by being—the knowing that is needed for awakening.

Not only do we hear marvelous stories of how the diamond-shaped wisdom messengers appeared to Hameed, but he also imparts a wonderfully comprehensive yet succinct rendering of the teachings they brought, and the conversation flows from embodying wisdom to embodying pleasure, the inward turn, and why bliss must be combined with emptiness for enlightenment to occur. Also, how to live a life of truth with the inner compass provided by the third diamond teaching, the pitfalls of the ego’s tendency to accommodate others, how being is inseparable from knowing, and lots more. A very full, warm, rich conversation, filled also with humor, sparkle, and delight. Recorded January 30, 2025.

“For enlightenment to happen, emptiness has to be combined with bliss.”

Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1

• Introducing the 9th dialogue in the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series: How did the Diamond Approach teaching come to Hameed? (00:53)
• First came a pure, transparent presence like liquid diamond: clarity itself (04:46)
• The diamond also came with a sense of precision, of sharp discrimination, of objectivity (08:07)
• Hameed’s vision of the diamond vehicles: like a fleet of ships in black space (11:05)
• The first diamond vehicle, guidance, brought about the practice of inquiry (12:06)
• Hameed’s near-death experience: looking down upon his body it was a body of diamonds; two diamonds called him back: love and joy (13:23)
• Recounting this experience to friends later, the diamond vehicle filled the room—the sacred manifest (17:08)
• Manifest in this one body was the guidance for the teaching, like an angel of revelation but shaped like a spaceship made of diamonds (19:46)
• Each diamond vehicle brings a different kind of wisdom (20:58)
• Diamond wisdom can be used as guidance in the scientific field (22:36)
• It’s not just a teaching, but a presence that embodies the teaching; embodying the presence is learning the teaching (25:11)
• The second diamond vehicle is the vehicle of pleasure, understanding pleasure from the spiritual perspective: the teaching of the inward turn (27:04)
• Pleasure turns out to be a whole realm, where all aspects appear in their pleasurable form (34:38)
• Inner guidance is where the truth is from instant to instant, telling you to look here, not there (35:58)
• Hameed differentiates pleasure from bliss, because pleasure is something ordinary human beings know (37:39)
• Embodying the wisdom that pleasure is what we are (40:08)
• All the vehicles are expressions of the essence of consciousness, messengers of wisdom (40:54)
• For enlightenment to happen, emptiness has to be combined with bliss (42:10)

Resources & References

• A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali), founder of The Ridhwan School, home of The Diamond Approach
• A. H. Almaas, The Inner Journey Home: Soul’s Realization of the Unity of Reality
• Vajrayana Buddhism’s Saṃbhogakāya
• The three kayas of Mahayana Buddhism (Lion’s Roar website)
• A. H. Almaas, Space Cruiser Inquiry: True Guidance for the Inner Journey
• Advaita Vedanta
• Dzogchen
• Dogen, founder of the Sōtō School of Zen, “A blade of grass is a blade of grass.”
• William Blake, “Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,” from “Auguries of Innocence”
• A Course in Miracles, Helen Schucman and the Foundation for Inner Peace
• Walt Whitman, “Dismiss whatever insults your own soul,” from the preface of Leaves of Grass 
• The cessation of perception as recognized by the Buddha (Wisdom Library website)
• A. H. Almaas, Luminous Night’s Journey: An Autobiographical Fragment

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.

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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