Spacecruiser Inquiry

Author: A. H. Almaas
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834825368
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 480

Book Description
Over the past twenty-five years A. H. Almaas—widely recognized as a leader in integrating spirituality and psychology—has been developing and teaching the Diamond Approach, a spiritual path that integrates the insights of Sufism, Buddhism, Gurdjieff, and other wisdom traditions with modern psychology. In this new work, Almaas uses the metaphor of a "spacecruiser" to describe a method of exploring the immediacy of personal experience—a way of investigating our moment-by-moment feelings, thoughts, reactions, and behaviors through a process of open-ended questioning. The method is called the practice of inquiry, and Spacecruiser Inquiry reveals what it means to engage with this practice as a spiritual path: its principles, challenges, and rewards. The author explores basic elements of inquiry, including the open-ended attitude, the focus on direct knowledge, the experience of not-knowing, and the process of questioning. He describes the experience of "Diamond Guidance"—the inner wisdom that emerges from our true nature—and how it can be realized and applied. In this process Almaas looks at many of the essential forms of Diamond Guidance, including knowing, clarity, truth, love, intelligence, compassion, curiosity, courage, and determination. Also included are exercises and questions and answers from the original talks by Almaas on which the book is based.

Spacecruiser Inquiry

Author: A. H. Almaas
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1570628599
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 480

Diamond Heart: Elements of the Real in Man

Author: A. H. Almaas
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834823845
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 241

Book Description
The opening installment in a five-volume series on the Diamond Approach—a path to greater self- and spiritual realization—presented by its founder Founded by spiritual teacher A. H. Almaas, the Diamond Approach presents a unique path to enlightenment that borrows from modern psychology and therapy. Through the method’s core practice of inquiry, practitioners engage with their inner world—the very qualities and experiences that make them human—as a means of unlocking their potential and discovering the true power of their spiritual nature. This five-volume series is a collection of Almaas’ lectures on the Diamond Approach. In Elements of the Real Man, he covers topics such as faith, commitment, nobility and suffering, truth and compassion, allowing, and growing up. Through these talks, Almaas offers valuable guidance and advice for those on a spiritual path, and he explores the challenges and psychological barriers faced by those seeking self-realization.

The Unfolding Now

Author: A. H. Almaas
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834825570
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Book Description
The keys to self-knowledge and deep contentment are right here before us, in this very moment—if we can simply learn to live with presence and open awareness In The Unfolding Now, A. H. Almaas presents a marvelously effective practice for developing the transformative quality of presence. Through a particular method of self-observation and contemplative exploration that he calls inquiry, we learn to live in the relaxed condition of simply “being ourselves,” without interference from feelings of inadequacy, drivenness toward goals, struggling to figure things out, and rejecting experiences we don't want. Almaas explores the many obstacles that keep us from being present—including defensiveness, ignorance, desire, aggression, and self-hatred—and shows us how to welcome with curiosity and compassion whatever we are experiencing.

The Power of Divine Eros

Author: A. H. Almaas
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834829134
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Book Description
Two innovative spiritual teachers show how to use desire and passion—eros—as a gateway to realizing our fullest potential What do desire and passion have to do with our spiritual journey? According to A. H. Almaas and Karen Johnson, they are an essential part of it. Conventional wisdom cautions that desire and passion are opposed to the spiritual path—that engaging in desire will take you more into the world, into egoic life. And for most people, that is exactly what happens. We naturally tend to experience wanting in a self-centered way. The Power of Divine Eros challenges the view that the divine and the erotic are separate. When we open to the energy, aliveness, spontaneity, and zest of erotic love, we will find it inseparable from the realm of the holy and sacred. When this is understood, desire and passion become a gateway to wholeness and to realizing our full potential. Through guided exercises, the authors reveal how our relationships become opportunities on the spiritual journey to express ourselves authentically, to relate with openness, and to discover dynamic inner realms with another person. Through embodying the energy of eros, each of us can learn to be fully real and alive in all of our interactions.

Diving in the Inner Ocean

Author: Dominic C. Liber
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1611809088
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 234

Book Description
Unlock your hidden potential with this practical and approachable introduction to self-directed inquiry--the main meditative practice of the Diamond Approach. Much like the ocean, each of us has inner depths: an entire world beneath the surface of everyday living pulsing with beauty, life, and mystery. The secret depths of our inner worlds are the very things that we spend our lives searching for: love, support, belonging, meaning, joy, and freedom. Through a contemplative practice known as diamond inquiry, you can begin to directly explore your conscious experience just like a diver exploring a reef. You'll discover wondrous treasures and terrifying sights alike, as well as infinite expanses, and limitless potential and freedom. Diamond inquiry combines the depth of meditation with the power of understanding and psychological insight. Guided by your own curiosity, you use a variety of questions to explore your present-moment experience as it unfolds, deepens, and transforms. This method was developed by A. H. Almaas, founder of the Diamond Approach, though the practice is ideal for anyone who wants to explore their inner world. Dominic C. Liber introduces this powerful tool along with step-by-step exercises to develop your understanding. Through this simple yet profound practice, in time every situation will become a doorway to realizing and actualizing deep insight and transformation.

Perceiving the Divine through the Human Body

Author: T. Cattoi
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 023033976X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 154

Book Description
Cattoi and McDaniel present a selection of articles on the role of the body and the spiritual senses - our transfigured channels of sensory perceptions - in the context of spiritual practice. The volume investigates this theme across a variety of different religious traditions within Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Daoism.

The Inner Journey Home

Author: A. H. Almaas
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1590301099
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 1020

Book Description
What is the soul, and how do we come to know it? What is its journey in life, and what stages and obstacles are encountered along the way? These questions are explored here in detail according to the Diamond Approach, a spiritual path that combines systematic inquiry into personal experience, the practice of traditional spiritual methods, and the application of modern psychological research. The Inner Journey Home is the centerpiece of the Diamond Approach literature, providing a complete overview of the teaching with references to the author's other books for more details on certain topics.

The Alchemy of Freedom

Author: A. H. Almaas
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1611804469
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 217

Book Description
Well-known spiritual teacher A. H. Almaas uses the metaphor of the mysterious philosopher's stone to discuss a tremendous liberating power that leads to endless enlightenment For millennia alchemists sought the philosophers’ stone, the miracle substance believed to be the key to all the secrets of existence. The quest was fueled by some of the prime questions of human existence: What am I? Why am I here? How has this world come to be? A. H. Almaas shows that the tremendous liberating power of the mysterious philosophers’ stone is closer to us than we realize. In fact, it is the true nature of all reality—in all times and all places, without being limited to being anything in particular. Through the philosophers’ stone, real transformation can happen, our consciousness can become free, and we can open to all the possibilities of reality. Almaas discusses the factors that are involved in igniting the catalytic property of the philosophers’ stone and then begins to unpack the properties of true nature when it is free of constraints. Finally, we are left with the revelation that true nature is endlessly knowable, and yet nothing we can know or say about it exhausts its mystery and power. The result is a new understanding of what liberation and practice are—and a view of what it’s like when seeking ceases and life becomes a process of continual discovery. We begin to appreciate that the freedom of reality expressed in the complete and fulfilled life all human beings seek—and few find—is actually the simplicity of the ordinary.

Soul without Shame

Author: Byron Brown
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834825325
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 405

Book Description
Liberate yourself from the limitations and judgments imposed by your inner critic, and develop “soul qualities” to experience freedom and vitality Whether we call it the inner critic or the superego, most of us have a judge within who nags us and is constantly on our case. Byron Brown provides a comprehensive guide to understanding how the inner critic works as well as practical, positive suggestions for breaking free of it. Using straightforward language and everyday examples, you’ll explore: • Where the inner judge came from • How it operates • Why it trips us up • Why we believe we need it • How to develop awareness of it • How to disengage from it • The "soul qualities" we can develop to weaken its influence Each chapter begins with an episode of the story of Frank and Sue to illustrate the insidious nature of the inner critic inside all of us. A simple exercise is also included at the end of each chapter, designed to help readers move along the path of self-discovery.