We began to understand what objectivity means on the journey of inner realization. The vantage point of personality is inherently subjective, and each of us is deeply invested in keeping its point of view intact. Objectivity, on the other hand, means holding concepts about reality that are beyond the mind of the subject—that is, the mind of a given individual. For example, we might discover something about our past or our behavior that is objective—that happened or exists whether or not we like it or want to believe it.
There are degrees of subjectivity and objectivity, and it is possible to be somewhat objective about ourselves, other people, or reality in general while we are not in the diamond state. However, when that state is present, it can make our capacities and perceptions less driven by our subjective identity. Simply having the experience of a diamond state does not make our fallibility disappear, however, nor does it erase overnight the limitations of self. That is a long process. As long as there is a self, there are limits to objectivity.
To be outside of subjective mind is a well-known spiritual goal across many traditions. When people hear the word “objectivity” in that context, though, sometimes it brings up fear that presenting a truth as indisputable carries an agenda of fortifying a personal or institutional point of view. This, unfortunately, does occur. But the Diamond Approach works by enabling us to see and know the truth about who and what we are beyond subjectivity and without rigid assertions about what the truth is.
– Karen Johnson, The Jeweled Path: The Biography of the Diamond Approach to Inner Realization, Ch. 11
The way we ordinarily see the world is not the way it really is because we see it from the perspective of our judgments and preferences, our likes and dislikes, our fears and our ideas of how things should be. So to see things as they really are, which is to see things objectively, we have to put these aside— in other words, we have to let go of our minds. Seeing things objectively means that it doesn’t matter whether we think what we’re looking at is good or bad—it means just seeing it as it is. If a scientist is conducting an experiment, he doesn’t say, “I don’t like this so I’ll ignore it.” He may not personally care for the results because they don’t confirm his theory, but pure science means seeing things the way they really are. If he says he is not going to pay attention to the experiment because he doesn’t like it, that is not science. Yet, this is the way most of us deal with reality, inwardly and outwardly. – A. H. Almaas, Facets of Unity: The Enneagram of Holy Ideas, Ch. 14