How did you find the Diamond Approach?
In the 1990s I lived in Osho Rajneesh's ashram in India. Before he died he made a point to tell us that we wouldn’t betray him by finding another teacher; we would betray him if we didn’t. After his death I was lost. The only thing I knew was that I wanted to know how to get "there" from where I was now. A few months later, when I moved to California with my current husband, I decided to get some therapy. While I was in India my parents had hired a professional to deprogram me, and the experience had been traumatic. I found Jessica Britt, a teacher in the Diamond Approach, and began working with her, but soon realized that the work went beyond regular therapy. I asked her what was going on and in response she gave me the book Essence with the Elixir of Enlightenment: The Diamond Approach to Inner Realization. I read it and knew that this was my new path. Unbeknownst to me, my longing to start my exploration exactly where I was, and work from there is one of the founding tenets of the Diamond Approach.
When you first started, what was your greatest challenge?
The greatest challenge for me is also something I consider unique to the Diamond Approach, which is the understanding that to develop presence you have to be present in the now. It took me a while to understand what that meant and to recognize that to meet my true nature I had to develop the capacity to be present in a fully embodied way. For me, the Sensing, Looking, and Listening practice completely changed my spiritual life. I discovered that to really open to the gift of existence you need to be awake to each moment and you can’t do that unless you are actually present in that moment. That may sound obvious, but when I first entered the school I was very much caught in my ideas about reality—my beliefs and concepts—rather than experiencing it directly, and I had no idea that that was the case or how to undo it.
What has kept you engaged with the Diamond Approach teachings?
The practice of inquiring into your present experience once you are "here," another foundational practice of the Diamond Approach, has an alchemical magic that supports the unfolding of our true nature, our being. Being curious about and radically allowing and accepting what is arising in the now—including pain and sorrow, not-knowing, and doubt—continuously opens doors to the mystery of existence where the truth of reality keeps emerging in an ever-deepening way. Following this path, I am becoming that unfolding reality. Where else would you ever want to be?
What aspect of the teaching is most alive in you right now?
Teaching introductory weekends for the Diamond Approach California Diamond Heart 10 group keeps reminding me that the present moment is our true home. This recurring realization brings an upwelling in my heart to share this, a desire to facilitate opening the door for students to taste this for themselves. What feels most alive for me is the awareness that my flame to find the truth of our being doesn’t only burn for me, but for everyone around me.
What has been the most surprising discovery for you?
We often describe this path as a gradual path of moving our experience and identity from personality to essential being—our deepest, truest nature not separate from the depth of reality. This year I have become aware of how much of my life is spent in being. The Work works!
What advice/encouragement would you offer to someone ‘on the fence’ about attending an Intro event?
You no longer have to travel to India to find a realized teacher, thanks in part to the internet. There are many teachings and teachers available now, and there are many that teach through online courses. And there are thousands of spiritual books available. But I have learned that spiritual awakening cannot be transmitted to you. You must make an effort; you have to learn how to be here. That is why we call the Diamond Approach a work school. If you come, you will be transformed.
If you could have one wish for humankind, what would it be?
May we move toward oneness consciousness and all that would bring to each individual, to the human race, to the planet and all its beings so that we could evolve into our alive, creative, and sacred potential.
Mayuri Onerheim is a teacher of the Diamond Approach working primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a member of the teaching team for the newly forming Diamond Approach California Diamond Heart 10 group. She was a long-time Ridhwan Board member and is currently a member of the Finance Committee. She has built on her experience as a Canadian CPA, business advisor, and Enrolled Agent (a tax preparer certified by the IRS) to create a unique approach that addresses with clarity and deep insight a subject rarely discussed—the spiritual aspect of money. Studying with a number of teachers from various spiritual traditions including Osho, Tantra, and Tibetan Buddhism for more than thirty years has given her the wisdom to address the relationship between money and spirituality. Mayuri developed the inquiry seminar that explores our personal relationship to money called The Logos of Money and expanded these teachings in her book, Money•Spirituality•Consciousness. She lives in Marin County with her husband and dog. She is leading a weekend on the Logos of Money on October 14-15.