Biography of A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali)
Creator of the Diamond Approach to Self-Realization, Founder of the Ridhwan School for Spiritual Development
A. H. Almaas is the pen name of A. Hameed Ali, the founder of the Diamond Approach to Self-Realization, emphasizes the dynamic between “essence” and “personality,” The Diamond Approach is a contemporary teaching that developed within the context of ancient spiritual teachings and modern depth psychology theories.
Almaas has authored twenty-one books about spiritual realization, including the Diamond Heart series, The Pearl Beyond Price: Integration of Personality into Being: An Object Relations Approach, The Void: Inner Spaciousness and Ego Structure, The Unfolding Now: Realizing Your True Nature through the Practice of Presence, and The Point of Existence: Transformations of Narcissism in Self-Realization.
He founded the Ridhwan School, an inner work school devoted to realizing True Nature. The school’s orientation is directed toward helping students become aware of and embody their “essence” or essential nature.
A. H. Almaas Bio
A. Hameed Ali was born in Kuwait in 1944. At the age of eighteen, he moved to the USA 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 more and more into inquiring into the psychological and spiritual aspects of human nature.
Hameed’s interest in the truth of human nature and the true nature of reality resulted in the creation and unfoldment of the Diamond Approach®:
“The Diamond Approach is a path of wisdom, an approach to the investigation of Reality and work on oneself that leads to human maturity and liberation. Because of our particular vision of Reality, it is not completely accurate to think of this approach as spiritual work, for this work, does not separate the spiritual from the psychological, nor does it see these two as separate from the physical everyday life and scientific investigation of the content of perception. However, because we live in a society where the prevailing thought is that of the separated facets of Reality, the closest category recognized in this mentality, to our approach, is that of a spiritual path or exploration.” – A. H. Almaas
Almaas’ recognition as a spiritual teacher is evident through his teachings and writings, which have been influential in the spiritual community. The Diamond Approach is described as a “response to an important need” for a spiritually informed psychology and a psychologically grounded spirituality. It offers a precise description of various aspects and dimensions of Spirit or Being and is considered a form of spiritual psychotherapy.
Almaas has been teaching since 1976 and has established centers in the San Francisco Bay Area and Colorado. His work has been appreciated for its precision, experimental approach, and emphasis on the love of truth, and he has been referred to as a “true spiritual genius” by some in the field.
In the Fall of 2003, Bob Olson, a clinical psychologist and a student of the Diamond Approach, conducted an interview with Hameed to explore more of the personal side of the man behind the teaching (Hameed the Person/Teacher).
A.H. Almaas: The Freedom to Be Nobody
Monday, August 8, 2016
A.H. Almaas – the pen name of A. Hameed Ali – is an author, teacher, and the creator of the path of spiritual inquiry known as the Diamond Approach. Speaking on Almaas, Sounds True producer Mitchell Clute shares, “In editing [Almaas’] talks, on more than one occasion I pushed the pause button and sat in stunned silence, trying to wrap my head around what I just heard.” In this audio segment excerpted from Endless Enlightenment: The View of Totality in the Diamond Approach, Almaas considers the many identities we take on as spiritual seekers – and how one will eventually come to a point of exploration where all personal identification falls away. In this realization of “no-thing and no-body,” Almaas finds a place of joyous liberation..
Related: Almaas Helped Me See the Power of Psychology
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The Biography of the Diamond Approach to Inner Realization by Karen Johnson, Co-founder of the Diamond Approach and the Ridhwan School