Ep. 222 (Part 2 of 2) | A. H. Almaas’ teachings on spiritual love and the inner beloved are based on his own experience, he explains in Part 2 of the first dialogue in the Path of Love Series. “In this path, experience is almost everything,” he says. Spiritual experience created the Diamond Approach—it isn’t a philosophy. What makes Hameed’s path of love unique and different from other paths of love, like the Sufi and the bhakti paths? First off, it is the methodology: the practice of inquiry. Inquiry combines both mind and heart, Hameed explains. It adds a means of discernment that helps to keep the force of love from going astray on its own; it brings understanding to our experience, and shows us our obstacles. “[This path] has in it the sensibilities of modern mind and modern life and how to live it from the perspective of the heart.”

Another unique feature of A. H. Almaas’ path of love is how we experience drawing closer and closer to the inner beloved. Hameed describes the experience of approaching the inner beloved as a heartrending mixture of “sweetness, passion, ecstasy, drunkenness… many stages of melting, surrender, effulgence, fullness, radiance… all intertwined with yearning and pain and the feeling of being separate” from one’s heart’s true desire. With his customary concise eloquence, Hameed also answers several of the co-hosts’ questions: How does Hameed see contemporary society in the light of this vision of love? Does he think humanity will wake up? What is a fulfilled life? Hameed concludes by telling us that the question this path of love is designed to answer is, how do you live your life while also engaging in the way of the heart? Recorded December 11, 2025.

“The mind asks the questions, the heart finds the answers. The mind gets clear, the heart melts.“

1. The difference between Hameed’s approach and other paths of love is the methodology: inquiry (00:32)
2. Truth is a quality of the heart, not the mind; the heart knows truth, the mind doesn’t (05:43)
3. Spiritual experience created Hameed’s teaching—it isn’t a philosophy (09:08)
4. The union between inquiry and the force of love (11:19)
5. The heart is patterned by our history, especially our history of love (15:39)
6. Two common misunderstandings: attributing love to an external source, and believing there is only one manifestation of spirit (17:51)
7. Nearing the inner beloved, there are many stages of melting, surrender, passion, ecstasy, all intertwined with yearning and pain, the feeling of separation (18:49)
8. How does Hameed see contemporary society and its many discontents in the light of this vision of love? (20:53)
9. Is humanity going to wake up? (23:03)
10. What is a fulfilled life? (27:29)
11. On the path, the ego self becomes not just secondary—it’s gone (31:11)
12. The death wish: to dissolve into the inner beloved (32:07)
13. A possible future series by Hameed: What happens after you’re enlightened? (34:21)
14. How do you live your life and follow the way of the heart? (35:57)

1. A. H. Almaas, The Inner Beloved: The Heart’s Journey to Divine Unity
2. A. H. Almaas, Love Unveiled: Discovering the Essence of the Awakened Heart
3. A. H. Almaas, Nondual Love: Awakening to the Loving Nature of Reality
4. Bhakti, a concept common in Indian religions, may refer to loving devotion for a personal God, a formless ultimate reality, or an enlightened being
5. Seven Levels of Being, Sufi Path of Love
6. Ken Wilber, The Spectrum of Consciousness
7. Exploring Gurdjieff’s Insight: Man as a Machine (Gurdjieff Central)
8. Sri Ramana Maharshi, Who Am I?

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Deep Transformation’s Path of Love Series begins with an overview of Hameed Ali’s Love Trilogy — Love Unveiled, Nondual Love, and The Inner Beloved — to orient us on the spiritual path of love unique to Hameed Ali and the Diamond Approach, then delves into the profound and deeply touching topics Hameed addresses in his most recent book, The Inner Beloved, published in February 2026. Listeners may want to get a copy of this book, to study and follow along on this extraordinary 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

Ep. 221 (Part 1 of 2) | Deep Transformation is excited to release the first episode in our new Path of Love Series with A. H. Almaas, in honor and celebration of Hameed Ali’s latest book, The Inner Beloved. The series begins with Hameed sharing his motivation for writing all three of the books in his Love Trilogy (Love Unveiled, Nondual Love, The Inner Beloved), namely, when he realized his prior books had omitted to teach specifically about the role of love on the spiritual path. Love is the energy, the driving force toward union with our inner nature, Hameed explains, and it is love that dissolves the obstacles that remain towards the end of the path. It is the path of heart that gets you all the way.

Hameed orients us with an overview of the Diamond Approach’s experiential path of love, gifting us with some tremendous teachings on love as a prelude to delving deeply into his newest book, The Inner Beloved. When asked, What is the inner beloved? he responds, The beloved is not just love. Love serves the beloved, love is the way to the beloved. The inner beloved is what our deepest heart longs for. The path of the heart is painful at times, he continues, because we feel separate from what we yearn to become one with. At the end of the dialogue, Hameed shares that with his path of love teachings, he wants us to know there is a way to address our longing, our yearning. There is a way for it to complete itself, he assures us. Recorded December 11, 2025.

“The beloved is the deepest nondual truth you can experience.”

1. Introducing A. H. Almaas and his trilogy of books on love: Love Unveiled, Nondual Love, and The Inner Beloved (00:48)
2. Hameed’s motivation to write about love came when he realized his prior books had omitted teaching about the role of love on the spiritual path (04:27)
3. The first book in the trilogy, Love Unveiled, talks about 3 kinds of love important in human life and in spiritual practice (07:01)
4. The second book, Nondual Love, talks about the boundless dimension of universal love (09:05)
5. The third book, The Inner Beloved, is about the path of love—the movement toward our fundamental nature through the heart (10:59)
6. Roger points out that Hameed’s teachings on love go far beyond other spiritual teachings (12:20)
7. The beloved is not just love: love serves the beloved, love is the way to the beloved (13:35)
8. We all have 3 centers of operation: head, heart & belly—each one is a spiritual brain of its own (16:24)
9. Love is the most explicit motivator for the spiritual journey (18:08)
10. The Diamond Approach is not about being liberated or free from suffering, it’s about loving to know the truth (20:40)
11. The path of the heart is painful because we feel separate from what we yearn to become one with (24:13)
12. Emptying the heart of all other loves (26:01)
13. The inner beloved is the most jealous of beloveds (30:21)
14. Was there a certain point of surrender for Hameed? (33:04)
15. Love’s function is to move us towards the inner beloved (35:55)

(For fans of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, the Wisdom Series, based on Hameed’s book The Inner Journey Home, will be continued later in the spring.)

1. A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series on Deep Transformation, based on Hameed’s book The Inner Journey Home
2. A. H. Almaas, The Inner Beloved: The Heart's Journey to Divine Unity
3. A. H. Almaas, Love Unveiled: Discovering the Essence of the Awakened Heart
4. A. H. Almaas, Nondual Love: Awakening to the Loving Nature of Reality
5. A. H. Almaas, The Point of Existence: Transformations of Narcissism in Self-Realization
6. A. H. Almaas, The Pearl Beyond Price: Integration of Personality into Being: An Object Relations Approach
7. A. H. Almaas, The Void: Inner Spaciousness and Ego Structure
8. Ram Dass, renowned spiritual teacher, psychologist, and author
9. Bhakti, a concept common in Indian religions, may refer to loving devotion for a personal God, a formless ultimate reality, or an enlightened being
10. Sri Ramana Maharshi, Who Am I?
11. Kabir, Indian mystic and poet

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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

Ep. 220 (Part 2 of 2) | In part 2 of Sliding Towards Authoritarianism, Constitutional Law expert and Ethics professor Mark Fischler unpacks the significance of the extreme lack of civic understanding in the United States and, well informed about students’ cognitive abilities and mental health status nationwide, adds the precipitous drop in achievement scores and through-the-roof diagnoses of ADHD, autism, anxiety, and depression to the mix, concluding, “You begin to see why an authoritarian world requiring only simple actions and answers would be more attractive than a democratic world that requires complexity, conversation, and the ability to see the intrinsic worth of the person across from you… to collectively decide to honor democratic processes and the winner who was voted in.”

This is the challenge, Mark says: “Since everybody has a partial piece of the truth, we need to ask ourselves, am I curious enough to understand another’s partial piece of truth in order to enrich myself and help me understand that we are all in this together?” “We need to take up the fight for greater awareness that recognizes the good, the true, the beautiful, and the oneness of what is,” he continues. Despite all that Mark has shared with us regarding the current Administration’s dehumanizing, authoritarian tactics and other significant factors contributing to the deterioration of our democracy, when asked what gives him hope, Mark answers, “A lot of things!” The discussion ends in a hopeful place—grim realities balanced with inspiring trends, including the growing recognition around the world that we are all in this together in what is essentially one global village. Recorded December 4, 2025.

“To understand is to forgive.” – Dr. Michael Fischler

1. What the problem of pervasive civic ignorance signifies for our democracy (01:02)
2. Our susceptibility to authoritarian leaders is not surprising considering our ignorance of civil responsibility (04:53)
3. Future shock: people under stress regress psychologically, making it even easier for an authoritarian to take over (06:57)
4. There is more than one reason for our pervasive civic ignorance (09:08)
5. Using A.I. to fact-check what we see and hear (10:37)
6. Education: cognitive understanding in young people has plunged below lowest-level functioning thresholds (16:35)
7. Among students, autism, ADHD, anxiety & depression diagnoses are through the roof (18:03)
8. Because of people’s lack of achievement & lack of civic understanding, it makes sense that people are willing to let democracy go (19:40)
9. Cultivating a quest for truth is part of the solution (22:48)
10. A call to contemplative warriors to take up the fight for greater awareness that recognizes the good, the true, the beautiful—and the oneness of what is (25:35)
11. Everybody has a partial piece of the truth (28:36)
12. To understand is to forgive (32:30)
13. The Supreme Court is asking, should we even take race into account? (35:22)
14. What gives Mark hope? A lot of things! (39:51)

1. Professor Mark Fischler, Plymouth State University
2. The Integral Justice Warrior series, co-hosted by Mark Fischler and Corey deVos (Integral Life website)
3. Justice David Souter’s speech at UNH’s Franklin Pierce School of Law: Constitutionally Speaking: How Does The Constitution Keep Up With The Times
4. Alvin Toffler, Future Shock
5. Jia Lynn Yang, America’s Children Are Unwell (NY Times, Nov 2025)
6. Ken Wilber, A Post-Truth World: Politics, Polarization, and a Vision for Transcending the Chaos
7. Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 27: “…what is a good man but a bad man’s teacher…”
8. Ken Wilber’s prime directive: protect and promote the well-being of the whole developmental spiral of consciousness, rather than privileging just one level or worldview, A Theory of Everything
9. Louisiana v. Calais
10. Greg Thomas on the Deep Transformation podcast: Using the Dance of Our Differences to Wise Up, Harmonize, and Actualize

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Mark Fischler is a professor of Ethics, Constitutional Law, and Criminal Procedure at Plymouth State University. Prior to joining the Plymouth State faculty, he practiced law, representing poor criminal defendants for the New Hampshire Public Defender’s Office. Mark left the law after being guided by the Universe to focus on his Spiritual Awareness for almost two years. Upon his return, he was called to become a teacher and accepted a job at Plymouth State in 2003.

Since then, Mark has worked extensively with alternative theoretical models in law, constitutional law, and higher education, and has published on integral applications to teaching, being a lawyer, and legal theory. In his time at the university, he’s been a chair, Dean, and Interim VP. His focus in the classroom is ethics and criminal procedure and constitutional law. He is well respected for a teaching philosophy that emphasizes recognizing the humanity and dignity of each student. Professor Fischler was awarded the outstanding teaching award at his university in 2014. He currently offers a weekly Spiritual Inquiry class for college students and also for faculty and staff.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 219 (Part 1 of 2) | Constitutional Law expert and Ethics professor Mark Fischler joins Deep Transformation again, to help us make sense of the slide towards authoritarianism happening in the United States today. Mark’s vast knowledge of the law, the Constitution, and the Supreme Court, his deep comprehension of ethics and morality, his Integral understanding, and his profound contemplative awareness all make for an extraordinary exploration of what is going on in this country at levels we don’t often consider. Beginning with examples of events in 2025 that are representative of various facets of authoritarianism, Mark goes on to discuss how the very crassness of the current Administration is undermining democracy: “We need to demand civil, fact-based discussion from our leaders, but we’re all accepting it’s okay to act like toddlers and dehumanize each other.”

Mark cites some stunning figures illustrating the widespread ignorance of democratic processes and institutions among the populace in this country, and describes why a lack of civic understanding makes us susceptible to authoritarians coming in and taking over. He also acknowledges that progressives are at fault for marginalizing conservatives, and calls on us to recognize the honor and dignity of all people, regardless of their politics—this is part of the solution, he explains. Mark’s passionate caring, wanting the best for all people and all beings, is a current that flows throughout, grounding the discussion in a beautiful way, while also making for a heartbreaking contrast relative to the chilling events happening in the political arena now. Recorded December 4, 2025.

“An ignorant people can never remain a free people.” – Thomas Jefferson

1. Introducing a frequent guest on Deep Transformation: Ethics, Law & Criminal Justice professor Mark Fischler, to help us make sense of our deteriorating democracy (00:43)
2. The trajectory of Trump’s presidency: the devolution of democracy towards authoritarian government (01:51)
3. John presents defining characteristics of fascism according to A. I. (04:01)
4. How does Mark define authoritarianism? (07:24)
5. Mark offers examples of 12 hallmarks of authoritarian government that happened in 2025, beginning with the stifling of dissent and speech (08:12)
6. Statistics on how U.S. citizens feel our democracy is performing (16:51)
7. What surprises Mark the most? The crassness & crudeness of the Trump Administration (18:15)
8. The deterioration in the greater culture at large: who and what is responsible? (21:19)
9. Deflecting our attention using whataboutism breeds cynicism & corrodes our democracy (24:45)
10. We need to demand civil, fact-based discussion from our leaders, but we’re all accepting it’s okay to act like toddlers and dehumanize each other (30:00)
11. Recognizing the humanity & inner dignity of everyone is part of the solution (31:16)
12. Progressives on their side are at fault for marginalizing conservatives (33:38)
13. The red meme mentality (Spiral Dynamics) that is taking place (39:24)
14. Why pervasive civic ignorance in the U.S. is a very significant problem (41:57)

1. Professor Mark Fischler, Plymouth State University
2. The Integral Justice Warrior series, co-hosted by Mark Fischler and Corey deVos (Integral Life website)
3. NY Times Editorial Board, Are We Losing Our Democracy? (Oct 2025)
4. Judge Michael Luttig, President for Life (The Atlantic, Dec 2025)
5. Tom Nichols, A Confederacy of Toddlers (The Atlantic, Nov 2025)
6. Supreme Court Justice David Souter
7. Ken Wilber’s prime directive: protect and promote the well-being of the whole developmental spiral of consciousness, rather than privileging just one level or worldview, A Theory of Everything
8. Mona Charon, Whataboutism Is Rotting Our Brains, Our Consciences, and Our Politics (The Bulwark, June 2025)
9. David Brooks, What if We’re the Bad Guys Here? (NY Times Opinion, Aug 2023)
10. Don Beck & Christopher Cowan, Spiral Dynamics, Mastering Values, Leadership and Change
11. Ken Wilber, Boomeritis
12. Justice David Souter’s speech at UNH’s Franklin Pierce School of Law: Constitutionally Speaking: How Does The Constitution Keep Up With The Times

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Mark Fischler is a professor of Ethics, Constitutional Law, and Criminal Procedure at Plymouth State University. Prior to joining the Plymouth State faculty, he practiced law, representing poor criminal defendants for the New Hampshire Public Defender’s Office. Mark left the law after being guided by the Universe to focus on his Spiritual Awareness for almost two years. Upon his return, he was called to become a teacher and accepted a job at Plymouth State in 2003.

Since then, Mark has worked extensively with alternative theoretical models in law, constitutional law, and higher education, and has published on integral applications to teaching, being a lawyer, and legal theory. In his time at the university, he’s been a chair, Dean, and Interim VP. His focus in the classroom is ethics and criminal procedure and constitutional law. He is well respected for a teaching philosophy that emphasizes recognizing the humanity and dignity of each student. Professor Fischler was awarded the outstanding teaching award at his university in 2014. He currently offers a weekly Spiritual Inquiry class for college students and also for faculty and staff.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 218 (Part 2 of 2) | In Part 2 of the 17th dialogue in the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali explores the great freedom we experience when we allow being itself to unfold through us—when we let reality take its course without our egoic selves getting in the way. When we are out of the way, Hameed explains, all the virtues come through us: responsibility, ethics, morality, compassion, caring, sensitivity, and more. These ideals are not human-made, he says, they are expressions of our true nature. In fact, Hameed adds, this is what a true human is; expressing the absolute is the fulfillment of life.

Just knowing the absolute does not eliminate all obstacles, Hameed continues. Even as we go very deep, there are “ego islands” that pose ongoing difficulties. But the practice is to be with our experience and let it inform us—allow our life experiences to become the arena for the expression of spirit. All we need to do is abide in the knowing that the absolute is expressing itself through us, Hameed says. And laughs telling a story about the “do nothing” instructions of lamas and Zen teachers, as they attempt to show their students that there is nothing to be done but get out of the way. All manifestation, our lives, even our problems and challenges and getting lost in the illusion is all a play of the absolute, Roger reflects. Another very rich, deeply nourishing conversation with A. H. Almaas. Recorded November 13, 2025.

“If we become mature enough to cease and desist, to let reality take its course… when we’re out of the way, true nature will come through—that’s what a true human is.”

1. Is there such a thing as a false descent? (00:33)
2. Most of the time, a realization of the absolute is incomplete—there are still some issues that haven’t been worked out (01:43)
3. Hameed’s teachings expanded as his experience expanded (04:22)
4. Even a spiritual teacher with an incomplete realization can be helpful; what causes trouble is when teachers don’t acknowledge their knowing is limited (07:26)
5. All we need to do is abide in the knowing that the absolute is expressing itself through us (12:25)
6. The practice is to be with our experience; the ego gets in the way by trying to take over (15:00)
7. The great freedom of allowing reality to take its course: the do nothing meditation (18:02)
8. Our life is fulfilled when we’re acting at the behest of the absolute (23:10)
9. Even as we know the absolute, there is always more to be free from (24:17)
10. The central issue of descent is letting go of all identification—of our ego, even of the absolute (28:41)
11. Reality is such an interesting thing—even ignorance is an interesting thing (31:57)
12. True nature is indestructible, incorruptible—at bottom it is perfect (34:26)
13. Don’t get discouraged reading this chapter, if you just learn a few things, that’s all that matters (37:02)

1. A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali), founder of The Ridhwan School, home of The Diamond Approach
2. A. H. Almaas, The Inner Journey Home: Soul’s Realization of the Unity of Reality
3. Chogyal Namkhai Norbu & Adriano Clemente, The Supreme Source: The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde, initial Dzogchen book that says any spiritual practice will only delay enlightenment
4. Seng-t’san, the Third Chinese Patriarch, The Hsin Hsin Ming, Verses on the Faith-Mind
5. A. H. Almaas, Runaway Realization: Living a Life of Ceaseless Discovery
6. Dzogchen
7. Lectio Divina

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

Ep. 217 (Part 1 of 2) | In the 17th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali explores the classic spiritual theme: the journey of descent. What happens after we awaken, having had a realization of the deepest kind? The path of descent, where we retain the awareness of what came with our experience of the absolute, and bring it into our life, expressing it with every aspect of our being. Many teachings talk about the ascent (the journey of awakening) and the descent, Hameed explains, but when they talk about the descent, they interpret it as an individual coming down the mountain with their great realization. Hameed thought this was how it happened too, he laughs. But then it became clear to him following his own descent that it is not an enlightened individual who descends back into the world—it’s the absolute. In Christian terms, it’s the father who comes, appearing as the son.

What was it like for Hameed as he descended, living in the absolute dimension at the same time as living in the everyday world? co-host John Dupuy asks. Something transcendent lives through the body with the individual as the organ of perception, Hameed responds. “The entire universe becomes subtle shimmerings…like the waves in quantum theory; the blackness so extreme that it shines—and that sheen is the world.” Different from the classic Eastern spiritual path, where what is significant is living the transcendent rather than living regular life, in the Diamond Approach (Hameed’s path), actualization is the goal, coming back to the everyday world and living life as an expression of the Absolute. Recorded November 13, 2025.

“It is inherent to true nature for it to be lived in the world.”

1. Introducing the 17th dialogue in the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, focusing on the journey of descent: actualizing the realization of the absolute (00:39)
2. The path begins with the journey of ascent, then comes realization, then the path of descent: actualization, living your realization (04:46)
3. Being in the world and not of it is an important principle of the Diamond Approach (06:44)
4. What was it like for Hameed as he descended, living in the absolute dimension and the everyday world simultaneously? (08:17)
5. It’s not the individual who descends but the Absolute (14:45)
6. Differentiating from the Eastern spiritual path, where what’s important is living the transcendent rather than living life (19:33)
7. Are there obstacles to the descent? (20:44)
8. In descent, the entire universe becomes subtle shimmerings… like the waves in quantum theory (25:04)
9. Something transcendent lives through the body; the individual is the organ of perception (27:06)
10. Hameed was already a spiritual teacher, sharing about the journey of ascent, before he experienced the journey of descent (29:49)
11. Can a person experience a series of cycles of ascent and descent? (31:06)
12. In Christian language, the descent is the father coming into this world, appearing as the son (33:14)
13. Authenticity: the practice is to be your experience, abide in it, and let it reveal its truth (34:29)
14. The quintessence is the full integration of all the dimensions (36:13)
15. The absence of substance is what gives the Absolute its power (37:46)

1. A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali), founder of The Ridhwan School, home of The Diamond Approach
2. A. H. Almaas, The Inner Journey Home: Soul’s Realization of the Unity of Reality
3. Ramana Maharshi, Hindu sage and liberated being
4. Cynthia Bourgeault, modern-day mystic, author, retreat leader
5. Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
6. Arnold Toynbee’s cycle of withdrawal and return, A Study of History
7. Dzogchen
8. Mahamudra
9. Dharmakāya

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

Ep. 216 (Part 2 of 2) | In Part 2 of Deep Transformation’s first episode in the What is Real Greatness Series, longtime spiritual teacher Jack Kornfield declares that in his experience real greatness is a greatness of heart. In Buddhism, greatness of heart is embodied in the ideal of the bodhisattva—one whose life is dedicated to the well-being of all. Embodying compassion is not a grim proposition, Jack explains, but a joy! The whole point of it being human happiness and inner freedom. Because of his deep understanding of compassion, Jack was invited to the Oslo Freedom Forum to counsel global activists on how to prevent burnout, and when talking to them about their outrage, he told them, “You do this because you care—that is not a loss of power, it’s actually the deep power. Tune into the care.” Greatness of heart is the great power.

Jack relates that the experience of awakening can be felt in different ways: it might feel like everything is love, perfection, emptiness, or freedom. For me, the channel is love and my practice is to love everyone, he explains. We have to love both the lion and the gazelle, he continues, and shares a poignant story of how very loving Ram Dass became towards the end of his life, loving everything, even his pain. When the conversation turns towards the potential demise of humanity, Jack wonders, will we be able to do something beneficial with our consciousness now that we’re aware that we are all connected? What is the spirit you want to lead with? he asks. What is the dance you want to do? A thoroughly thought provoking, nourishing, inspiring conversation. Recorded October 2, 2025.

“You think you’re separate – you think you exist. But you’re not who you think you are. You are consciousness in drag.”

1. You think you’re separate, but you’re not who you think you are (00:27)
2. The bodhisattva vow as aspiration, never off-duty (04:23)
3. What real greatness is changes with each turning of Buddhism (08:26)
4. The experience of awakening can be felt in different ways: love, perfection, emptiness, or freedom (12:19)
5. Jack’s channel & inspiration is love; and a story of how very loving Ram Dass became (19:00)
6. Teaching activists to remember to hold themselves in their own circle of compassion at the Oslo Freedom Forum (23:52)
7. Jack’s upcoming workshop: Inner Technology for Outer Technologists (29:18)
8. How do you embody the bodhisattva? Spiritual practice isn’t a grim duty—it’s actually joyful (31:08)
9. As Andre Gidé said, joy is our moral obligation (32:49)
10. What stands out to Jack about all the amazing people he’s encountered? (34:09)
11. When there’s a greatness of heart…that is the great power (35:04)
12. The hospice now is for humanity, not for Earth, which knows how to take care of itself (37:42)
13. What is the spirit you want to lead with? What is the dance you want to do? (40:18)
14. The end questions: Did I love well? Did I live fully? Did I learn to let go? (41:13)
15. Your purpose here is to deliver your cargo, your gifts (41:47)

1. Jack Kornfield, founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center and the Insight Meditation Society, author of A Path with Heart and many more
2. Stanislav Grof, LSD: Doorway to the Numinous
3. Ram Dass & Rameshwar Das, Be Love Now: The Path of the Heart
4. The Oslo Freedom Forum, bringing together the world’s most engaging human rights advocates, journalists, artists, tech entrepreneurs & world leaders to brainstorm ways to unleash human potential around the globe
5. The Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu, The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World
6. Nobel prize winner André Gide
7. Malidoma Patrice Somé, shaman, writer & workshop leader, primarily in the field of spirituality
8. Zen Master Seungsahn, The Compass of Zen

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Jack Kornfield trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, India, and Burma. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is a founding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. He is one of the key teachers to introduce mindfulness practice to the West, has taught internationally since 1974, and is the author of 17 books which have sold 2 million copies.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 215 (Part 1 of 2) | The first of Deep Transformation’s What is Real Greatness Series, this conversation with world-renowned meditation teacher Jack Kornfield is filled with beautiful teachings touching into the sacred at the heart of our lives and the point of our whole spiritual journey: to remember and embody our innate capacity to awaken and experience the reality of our own innate dignity and nobility. Respecting ourselves at the deepest level is what transforms us and transforms society too, Jack explains. “Do you hold yourself with nobility and respect?” he asks. “Can you remember your own beauty and dignity? Can you see it in others?”

The topic of greatness—real greatness—is woven throughout the dialogue, as Jack recounts the seed events of his own spiritual journey and ruminates on Roger’s question, what is the sacred question at the center of your life? This is a question Jack often asks his own students, and we are inspired to ponder it for ourselves, along with, if you were to write your own bodhisattva vow, what would it be? Jack is a master at inspiring us to live our ideals, to broaden the possibilities of our lives, and to remember the miracle of our existence. A warmly personal, deeply profound discussion. Recorded October 2, 2025.

“The beautiful thing about the bodhisattva ideal is that it becomes your intention… it becomes the setting of the compass of your heart.”

1. Introducing the first of Deep Transformation’s What is Real Greatness? series (00:38)
2. Introducing renowned meditation teacher, prolific author, and clinical psychologist Jack Kornfield (03:09)
3. In discussing real greatness, Jack advises not to throw out money & power as being unworthy (04:47)
4. The story of Emperor Ashoka, who shifted from seeking outer greatness to seeking inner greatness: peace of mind and heart (07:49)
5. How the Buddha turned the Hindu caste system on its head, honoring young monks for their innate nobility (13:17)
6. Can you remember your own beauty & dignity? Can you see it in others? (16:19)
7. Each of us has a sacred question at the center of our lives, what’s been Jack’s? (17:30)
8. Jack’s first draw to Buddhism: suffering and the relief from suffering (21:08)
9. The seeds of our sacred journeys: the path doesn’t go from here to there but from there to here (24:15)
10. It’s completely weird that we exist! (25:40)
11. King Ashoka & other historical figures, good candidates for the What is Real Greatness Series (27:13)
12. Do we ask ourselves, “How do I live?” (28:28)
13. The beautiful thing about the bodhisattva ideal is that it becomes the setting of the compass of your heart (31:32)
14. The prayer with which the Dalai Lama begins his day (36:37)
15. Ideals illuminate the possibilities of how we might live (38:39)
16. If you were to write your own bodhisattva vow… what would it be? (40:47)
17. Sometimes it’s suffering and sometimes it’s an awakening experience that draws us to spirituality (44:28)
18. Jane Goodall, interspecies bodhisattva, and the story of Joanna Macy’s wake (47:37)

1. Jack Kornfield, founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center and the Insight Meditation Society
2. Mind & Life Institute, bringing science & contemplative wisdom together to better understand the mind and create positive change in the world
3. Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life
4. Jack Kornfield, The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology
5. Jack Kornfield, No Time Like the Present: Finding Freedom, Love, and Joy Right Where You Are
6. Emperor Ashoka the Great is credited with an important role in spreading Buddhism across ancient Asia
7. Dr. Wing-tsit Chan, Chinese scholar and professor
8. T. S. Eliot, “…the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time, ” from Eliot’s 1942 poem “Little Gidding”
9. Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
10. Shantideva, 8th-century CE Indian philosopher, Buddhist monk, poet & scholar
11. Diane Ackerman’s poem “School Prayer,” “In the name of daybreak… I offer myself humbly as a guardian of nature…”
12. The Sufi tradition of Sohbet
13. Trudy Goodman, founding teacher of InsightLA and co-founder of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy
14. Remembering Jane Goodall
15. Joanna Macy, beloved environmental activist, author & scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology

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Jack Kornfield trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, India, and Burma. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is a founding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. He is one of the key teachers to introduce mindfulness practice to the West, has taught internationally since 1974, and is the author of 17 books which have sold 2 million copies.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 214 (Part 2 of 2) | Part 2 of the 16th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series takes us on a sweet journey farther into our exploration of the nature of the absolute. Hameed Ali discusses the paradox of the absolute, being both source and cessation of all things, the nonduality of emptiness and beingness, these being two sides of the same coin, and explains why many nondual teachings do not touch upon the absolute. He makes sense of the difficult-to-fathom concept of pure emptiness, explaining that the absolute’s nature is absence—in contrast with presence—and relates that Mystery is the essence of the absolute, the fundamental essence of the nature of reality. “We are never going to know where it’s at, what’s happening, what life is about,” he laughs. Our knowledge is but “small islands in the vast ocean of mystery we live in;” mystery cannot be eliminated.

In the absolute, the soul finds its final resting place, Hameed tells us. The absolute is our true home—the essence of the meaning of home. All humans are searching for their true home, Hameed says, and they search in many places. But here the search is over. Reflections of the absolute bring us closer to love, like when we are in love, Hameed continues. Being in love with an outer beloved brings us closer to the inner beloved and we see deeper. “The absolute is total intimacy, Hameed finishes. “In the absolute we are intimate with everything.” How do we express this in the world, in our ordinary lives? “It becomes very simple,” Hameed says. “The absolute is the essence of simplicity—so simple, even though there is a profundity…” Recorded October 9, 2025.

“You don’t have to experience the absolute to know nonduality.”

1. Emptiness is nondual with consciousness, two sides of the same thing (01:03)
2. Many nondual teachings don’t talk about the absolute (02:50)
3. You don’t have to experience the absolute to know nonduality (03:32)
4. There’s no sense of individual self, but some teachings take the absolute as the ultimate Self (04:52)
5. Making sense of pure emptiness: the absolute’s nature is absence—in contrast with presence (09:47)
6. The absolute is the essence of mystery (12:59)
7. Experiencing all phenomena as projections of the absolute (13:57)
8. The absolute reveals that true nature itself is unmanifest (17:58)
9. Mystery is the nature of the absolute; the absolute IS mystery (19:08)
10. The absolute is the extreme limit of purity; the heart empty of everything except the love of God (23:13)
11. We live in an ocean of mystery; what we know are little islands (25:07)
12. The search ends in the absolute; the soul is home (27:32)
13. Reflections of the absolute bring us closer to love, like when we are in love (32:28)
14. The absolute can pour itself into a manifest being expressing itself in the world: beyond realization to actualization (33:46)
15. The absolute is the essence of simplicity, even though there is a profundity… (35:23)
16. The absolute is total intimacy; we are intimate with everything (38:28)

1. A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali), founder of The Ridhwan School, home of The Diamond Approach
2. A. H. Almaas, The Inner Journey Home: Soul’s Realization of the Unity of Reality
3. Stanislav Grof writes about the plenum void in Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy
4. Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, I Am That
5. Kashmir Shaivism
6. Longchenpa: A Guide For Readers (Shambhala)
7. Samaneri Jayasāra’s YouTube readings: The Wisdom of the Masters
8. Samaneri Jayasāra on the Deep Transformation podcast: Creating Priceless Gifts of Wisdom
9. Huston Smith’s autobiography, Tales of Wonder: Adventures Chasing the Divine
10. The Ten Ox Herding Pictures from the Zen tradition
11. Isaac Newton, “… to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore…”

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

Ep. 213 (Part 1 of 2) | The 16th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series is about the absolute, the source dimension of all manifestation, deeper than any other dimension, the vastness beyond vastness. In Part 1, Hameed gives a wonderful description of the majesty and the blackness of the absolute, and tells the story of when he first experienced being one with the absolute himself. When Roger Walsh asks him, what are the doorways to the absolute, Hameed talks about mystical poverty and also the way of the heart. “When the true beloved shines through the heart, it’s an amazing ecstasy… a mindblowing kind of beauty,” he says. He discusses the fear people often feel as they approach cessation of all perception, and the need for the basic trust we were born with (which often gets clobbered as we grow up) to proceed. What changes after an experience of the absolute? John Dupuy asks. If one abides in this realization, it cleanses the soul of all impurities, and our action embodies the virtues, Hameed answers.

In Part 2, which will be released December 25th, Hameed delves into the paradox of the absolute (the absolute is the elimination, the annihilation, the cessation of all things—and the source of all things), the nonduality of emptiness and awareness, and explains that mystery is the essence of the absolute: the absolute IS mystery, he says. There is laughter all around when Hameed says you can never completely “get” it, because there’s nothing there to get! Your mind disappears as you’re trying to get it. Towards the end, the conversation relaxes so deeply into the subject of the absolute, you can just about feel its presence. We become intimate with everything in the absolute, Hameed says. It is the soul’s final resting place, our true home, where the search ends. Recorded October 9, 2025.

“The absolute itself is majesty, and the universe that emerges is beauty.”

• Introducing dialogue #16 in the 
• A.H. Almaas Wisdom Series, focusing on the source dimension, the apex of Hameed’s book The Inner Journey Home (00:41)
• “By simply witnessing the process of manifestation… the soul experiences itself as a vast silent witness… discovering a dimension deeper than any other, the absolute” (02:18)
• Being the absolute, one experiences an emptiness so empty there is no sensation (05:29)
• Cessation of perception, as the Buddha called it, was exactly Hameed’s experience (09:57)
• Neglected teachings of Nisargadatta: awareness that is not aware of itself can be experienced as “rock-like” (11:26)
• The story of Hameed’s first experience of the absolute (15:19)
• Is the absolute the destination? What is cessation? Is it the same as the absolute? (16:47)
• What changes after an experience of the absolute? (21:00) 
• The absolute is majesty, the universe that emerges is beauty (23:18)
• The flowering of virtues follows true realization (24:24)
• The spiritual path has two sides: knowing who you are and living it (26:03)
• Moving towards cessation, people feel terror (26:53)
• Trust is essential; the more we are loved as an infant, the more we trust (28:25)
• What are the doorways into the realization of the absolute? (32:02)
• Mystical poverty is one doorway; the recognition that the soul has nothing of its own—it all comes from the Source (35:29)
• There is also the way of the heart, finding the true beloved within (38:03)

• 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
• A. H. Almaas, The Inner Beloved: The Heart’s Journey to Divine Unity
• Ramana Maharshi, Hindu sage and liberated being
• Dzogchen’s dharmakāya
• The black light in Sufism (see Henry Corbin’s The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism and others)
• Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, I Am That, “I am rock-like; awareness that is not aware of itself”
• Advaita Vedanta
• St. John of the Cross talks about black light in The Dark Night of the Soul
• Erik Erikson, Childhood and Society : The Landmark Work on the Social Significance of Childhood
• Ibn Arabi, Sufi mystic, poet, philosopher, “… look for me in the heart of my lovers”

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