Alchemy of Freedom
A Community Gathering with A.H. Almaas
In his latest book “Alchemy of Freedom”, the well-known spiritual teacher A. H. Almaas uses the metaphor of the mysterious philosophers’ 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 life. 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?
In this conversation with A. H. Almaas we will discuss some of the main themes in the book: What is the distinction between necessary and primary awakenings? What is a non-hierarchical view of the path? What are the properties of our true nature when it is free of constraints, and what is continual awakening? We will explore some of the main differences between the Diamond Approach teachings and some of the classical Nondual/Advaita Vedanta teachings.
The Philosophers’ Stone and the Secrets of Existence
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.
http://www.ahalmaas.com/books/the-alchemy-of-freedom
http://www.ahalmaas.com/glossary/seeking/4900
Presenter
A.H. Almaas
Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas), Founder of the Diamond Approach, was born in the Middle East, but at age 18 he moved to the USA to study at the University of California in Berkeley. Hameed was working on his Ph.D. in physics, where he was studying Einstein’s theory of general relativity and nuclear physics, when he reached a turning point in his life and destiny that led him more and more into inquiring into the psychological and spiritual aspects of human nature. Hameed is the founder of the Diamond Approach®—a spiritual teaching that utilizes a unique kind of inquiry into realization, where the practice is the expression of realization. Freedom is living our realization, a dynamic enlightenment where our transcendent nondual truth lives personally in the world. This inquiry opens up the infinite creativity of our Being, transforming our lives into a runaway realization, moving from realization to further realization. Almaas’ books include: Love Unveiled, Unfolding Now, and The Keys to the Enneagram.