priscillalouise3@earthlink.net

In my late 20’s - hungry for meaning, searching for an understanding and a conversation about human life (mine in particular!) that was never talked about in my early years, ready for something which I did not know- I found myself in a small town bookstore in the Blue Ridge mountains. I was perusing the Spirituality/Psychology section, when I found a “beginners” book on the enneagram, and after flipping through the pages, brought it home to study; I found it fascinating.  The next month I went back to the bookstore to see if they sold any other books on the subject. The only other one they had was a book called Facets of Unity, by A. H. Almaas (the pen name of Hameed Ali, the founder of the Diamond Approach), so I quickly bought it. I got home and spent the next few weeks trying to read it. I didn’t understand a word, but felt mysteriously pulled in. It was one of those books that I absolutely did not get, but loved. My mind couldn’t comprehend it, but my soul resonated, and remembered.

About 10 years later, having moved to Berkeley, the Diamond Approach once again showed up on my radar, this time as a chance to have individual sessions with a teacher. Those initial sessions showed what a true path this was for me – finally, I did not have to jump over issues or try to transcend my suffering – but with the loving and attuned guidance of my teacher, I could actually enter into my experience without sugar-coating or hiding. More than 20 years later, I feel just as dazzled and devoted to the revelatory nature of reality. There is no other path that is so resonant, resolute in my soul, and utterly breath-taking, as the Diamond Approach.

It is a courageous and beautiful act, when we turn the gaze inwards- breathing with each struggling story, nuanced sensation, uncomfortable emotion, or brightly lit insight. When we allow ourselves to be just as we are, and can be open to that experience with as much sincerity and vulnerability that is available to us, the magic of inquiry shows up; unfoldment happens; the good and true qualities of our nature are revealed. The Diamond Approach shows us again and again how loving the truth is a fathomless experience of profound dimensionality and realization.