I was recently asked my opinion on the work and teachings of A.H. Almaas, called the Diamond Approach. This article is not a general review of his work, it is about something that I believe to be a common misconception of spirituality, particularly throughout the West (e.g. many proponents of Integral philosophy). However I found in Almaas' work a clear and succinct expression of that misconception, which has inspired me to say something about it now.

Firstly let me say that I am not familiar with Almaas or his work, however after reading an article on the core principles, written by him and an interview with him I think I can sense the gist of where he is coming from. He has many deep insights that suggest genuine realisations, hence I suspect that many spiritual aspirants could get some benefit from his fusion of depth psychology with aspects of both dualist and nondual spirituality. That is all I have to say regarding his work in general.

However, from my perspective and the perspective of Eastern spirituality, he succumbs to a critical mistake. It is this mistake that I will discuss here because it is very limiting and it is prevalent and growing in popularity throughout the West.

I am talking about a misconception of spirituality that is based on a partial realisation that is mistaken for a full realisation. The seeker attains a degree of realisation, but mainly at an intellectual level, which has not penetrated very deeply into their subconscious / unconscious mind – they are often not even aware that it should penetrate deeply or how deep it must go before one has full realisation. Hence they believe themselves to be realised and to understand the spiritual path, even whilst the bulk of their mind is unconsciously dominated by the ego and still bound within the illusory world that the ego imagines itself to inhabit and the illusory life that the ego imagines that it is living.

The partial realisation results in thinking that could be phrased as “Okay, so now I'm realised, but I'm still me, an individual person in the world - so what now? How can this realisation help me and others to lead a better, more spiritual life? That is after all what spirituality is really about.” This thinking results in the tendency to approach spirituality more as a spiritually themed lifestyle for the ego as it lives its illusory life in the world. Rather than seeking to deepen their realisation and eventually attain full and complete realisation of reality and truth, and thereby overcome the ego and all of its delusions; thus traversing the greatest paradigm shift of all and coming to apprehend and live in reality, which is radically different to what the ego imagines.

This misconception leads to a very limited and limiting approach to spirituality. Rather than fully realise one's true nature as the whole of existence, as “God in action”, instead one pays lip service to this whilst focusing mainly on living as a physical person on planet earth whilst adopting a spiritually themed lifestyle for the ego. This is naturally very popular with egos and is therefore, in some circles, eclipsing other forms of genuine spirituality, which tend to be quite challenging to the ego.

If the words of Almaas and others were merely the expression of a partial truth it would not concern me, however it is often touted and accepted as a whole truth, indeed as a genuine spiritual path, which is problematic. Furthermore, although the limited approach (of spiritually themed lifestyles) can be used as a “design that contains and conceals”, by seducing many egos to enter the spiritual path who would not have otherwise done so. Where the promises of a better life for the ego gets them hooked and only later do they realise that the principle aim of spirituality is to overcome the ego. In such cases the deception must be handled very carefully, leaving open the space for true spirituality to arise and to not simply dwell on spiritually themed lifestyles. However I believe that to a large extent this is not what is happening in the West. Instead the seducers are themselves seduced since they too have fallen for the deception. Hence the subtle trick has become a self-perpetuating lie. Thus there is often little opening into true spirituality and therefore a danger of wallowing in ego corrupted pseudo spirituality. It is this that inspires me to say something – out of compassion for the All (and its many apparent manifestations) as it strives to pull itself together and know itself as it is.

Because the spiritual realisation is shallow; just enough for one to imagine and rationalise that one is now realised, but not penetrating deep enough into ones subconscious and unconscious for one to overcome egoic delusion. One still imagines oneself to be an individual human living on planet earth and one then seeks a more spiritual way to be a human on planet earth. However if one attained full realisation one would realise that one is the whole of existence itself and there are no humans and no planet earth in the sense that one used to believe – those are appearances that arise in the mind and get projected into an imaginary world when the mind is clouded by egoic delusion. There is something real behind it all, but things are not what they seem to be.

I'll use a metaphor to explain this in more detail because it represents such a profound paradigm shift for most minds that it is often misunderstood. Consider the situation of virtual beings within a virtual universe that is simulated by a quantum computational process. This analogy is actually very close to our situation, where the quantum field is our inside-view of the simulator and our innermost awareness is the animating essence.

• At first these virtual beings are entirely caught in a naïve realist, egoic / materialistic perspective; imagining themselves and the world that they perceive to be fundamentally real. This results in concepts such as 'I', 'it', 'you', 'us', 'people', 'life', 'death', 'matter', “the world”, “the physical universe” and so on. This stage is analogous to the state of no spiritual awakening.

• Then some of them get the realisation that they are actually virtual beings in a virtual universe, but at first this is only a shallow realisation, because deep down in their subconscious / unconscious mind they still have many ingrained cognitive habits that cause them to interpret and experience themselves and their world as real. This is analogous to the partial awakening that characterises the misconception that I am discussing here. Hence they might talk about how we are all spirit beings who are having a physical experience, or some such metaphors, however ultimately they see spirituality as a means to living a better life within the context of their egoic / materialist illusions.
  
  At this stage it is common for them to get sidetracked due to their partial realisation and to go off on some crusade or create a popular movement to try to help others or to spread their partial teachings. This is understandable and can even be useful, so long as they remain upon the spiritual path to some degree and don't get too sidetracked. Eventually the unconscious habits will weaken and their delusions will gradually dissolve. Due to ego defence mechanisms it is much easier for them to realise that their world is virtual than it is for them to realise that they themselves are virtual, hence their egoic image of themselves as individual beings is usually the last delusion to dissolve. Hence it is common for them to express profound insights about the nature of reality in general but to still cling to an egoic conception of the purpose of spirituality in what they imagine to be “their life”.
  
  Note: as a disclaimer, I myself am somewhere in this stage, not fully realised and still doing the inner work to overcome the many unconscious habits that result in entrenched delusions and urges to go on some kind of crusade.

• Eventually some of them attain full realisation and they no longer unconsciously imagine themselves to be individual beings in a world. Instead they know and experience themselves to be the computational essence that animates everything. They can still perceive various appearances but these are clearly known to be just appearances – in the same way that we watch television and don't keep thinking that there are real people inside the box; we know at a deep level that they are just images. Hence they realise that there is no world full of people; the whole of the virtual reality (including themselves) is just an appearance that was mistaken for reality due to ignorance and cognitive habits such as naïve realism. They now fully realise that there is only one universal essence, which is their true nature and the true nature of all the imagined objects, people, places and events in the imagined virtual world. This is full realisation.
  
  “That which permeates all, which nothing transcends and which, like the universal space around us, fills everything completely from within and without, that Supreme non-dual Brahman - that thou art.” (Sankaracharya)

Full realisation doesn't mean that one disappears in a flash of light or is carried into the Heavens by a host of angels, or any such thing, it is simply the total elimination of delusion. Nothing real actually changes, it is just that all of ones illusions vanish. Other minds still trapped in illusion will still see one as a person in a world, but the realised one sees things very differently. This leads to subtle changes in how others perceive one, but there need be no obvious sign to others than a deep awakening has occurred. Although, the Self knows so those who abide in union with/as the Self recognise that another dreamer has awakened and realised that they are the Self. Note: it is difficult to describe these things because this language is the language of the dreamer in the dream world, hence it is not suited to describing reality.

The Eastern perspective is diverse but it is ultimately grounded in full realisation, whereas the perspective espoused by Almaas and many other Western approaches is based on a partial realisation, which knows various insights at various depths but is still entangled in unconscious egoic and materialist assumptions and illusions at the deepest levels of the mind.

As an example, this can be seen in an interview with Almaas, which I will quote from at some length and comment on along the way...

“ ... there is a true spiritual current that is Western, that has its own flavor, its own emphasis. For instance, in the West we're not interested in being liberated so we won't be reincarnated again. That's an Eastern phenomenon, it has to do with an Eastern way of looking at life. Here in the West we want a spirituality that will make our life authentic and real. We don't want to leave life; we want to live life in a real, authentic, and truthful way.” (A.H. Almaas)

Consider the VR metaphor from above where virtual beings are living a virtual life within a virtual universe that is simulated by a quantum computational process. What they really are is computation itself, but they believe themselves to be individual people living on a physical planet. Metaphorically speaking, Eastern spirituality aims to break out of the delusion of being the individual person so that one can realise that one is actually computation itself, and that the simulator, the virtual universe and all the virtual beings are happening inside you – this is your real life, as the whole of existence. As the Ashtavakra Gita says, “All of this is really filled by you and strung out in you, for what you consist of is pure awareness (computation) – so don't be small-minded.”

Whereas the spirituality that Almaas and many others espouse is “small-minded”; aiming only to give the virtual person a more spiritually themed lifestyle as they continue to imagine that they are an individual person living their life on a physical planet, all the while never questioning their egoic delusion and never thinking to break through into the much greater reality.

What Almaas describes as an “Eastern way of looking at life” is simply a non-egoic and fully realised way of looking at life, whereas what he thinks of as the Western way is egoic and only partially realised. The Eastern approach isn't aimed at escaping real life, because the life that the ego imagines itself to be living isn't real. Eastern spirituality seeks to escape illusory life in order to live in reality rather than in fantasy. However the Western approach assumes that the fantasy life is real, hence it tries to use spirituality to augment that fantasy life, erroneously believing that this will make the egoic fantasy life more authentic and real. However, no amount of spirituality can turn an illusory life into a real life. One must overcome the illusion in order to live in reality.

Real life, i.e. living as the whole of existence, is ones true nature; even right now, although many don't realise it because they are too focused on the egoic delusion of being a person in a world. “Nothing stops you from being a gnani (Self-Realised) here and now, except fear. You are afraid of being impersonal, of impersonal being.” (Nisargadatta Maharaj)

“...I think in the West there is more emphasis on this life, on the individual, on personal life. There is more emphasis on these things both in the spiritual traditions of the West and in the society itself. People in the United States prefer to be autonomous, Independent, making their own living. They want to be successful and to provide for themselves and other people.

That can be very materialistic and very devoid of any spirituality, but it could become very spiritual, right? Something in it points toward a truth that we can't find in the East – that it is possible to be a real individual. You have your own personal life; you're married and you work and you have your interests, but you're really authentic, you're real, you're essential. You even do business, but you do it with fairness, with integrity, with respect, with compassion, with awareness. A person doesn't have to become a monk or a nun to live a true spiritual life. I think in the West there is more possibility of that happening than in the East. I'm not saying the East doesn't have that part, it's just not emphasized as much. And I think that's the way that the West and East are different.” (A.H. Almaas)

True spirituality does not result in one becoming a real individual because the individual is an egoic delusion, that is why one doesn't find that supposed 'truth' in the East. As Nisargadatta Maharaj succinctly put it “Liberation is never of the person, it is always from the person.” and U.G. Krishnamurti explained it thus “Every time a thought is born, you are born. When the thought is gone, you are gone. But the 'you' does not let the thought go, and what gives continuity to this 'you' is thinking. Actually there's no permanent entity in you, no totality of all your thoughts and experiences. You think that there is 'somebody' who is feeling your feelings - that's the illusion.”

True spirituality is not about living a less materialistic lifestyle and doing business with more integrity; those are just some useful steps to disentangle from egoic delusion as one treads the path towards true spiritual awakening and they are also side effects of true awakening, but they are not the goal of spirituality. Contrary to what Almaas says, in Eastern traditions one doesn't have to become a nun or monk, it is far more common for the aspirant to be a 'householder' with a family and a job, although the aim is still to overcome the ego, not to give it a spiritually themed lifestyle.

Western culture is primarily based upon an egoic foundation, hence the Western mind often finds it extremely difficult to overcome the ego and to even recognise the depth and pervasiveness of egoic delusion. Much of what the Western mind considers to be indisputable facts of reality are actually egoic delusions – consequently they cannot imagine the vast liberating potential of overcoming those delusions. Even when engaged in spirituality (which is fundamentally aimed at overcoming the ego) the Western mind often still strives to retain the ego at all costs and to make spirituality serve the ego and its interests. Such as trying to give the ego a spiritually themed lifestyle rather than engaging in genuine spirituality that overcomes the ego, that eliminates the egoic delusions and that results in true liberation and direct apprehension and participation in reality. Whilst the Eastern aspirant tends to focus on connecting with reality, the Western aspirant too often chases after worldly phantasms.

“I think the East contributed to a much deeper understanding of what is transcendent nature, but the West has contributed an understanding of our relationship to it. How do we live in this world? How do we relate to life on earth? Which brings us to the present situation, which has to do with our environment and the earth, as well as the relationship between people, the abuses of power. So I think spirituality will have to deal with all of these things. It's not like "I'll go work on myself so I'll be free, liberated." No. I want to be liberated so I can live as best I can and benefit other people. And maybe when they die they will all come back. I don't know. For me personally I don't know whether people come back or not, that's not something I know from experience.” (A.H. Almaas)

I agree that the East contributed to a much deeper understanding of transcendent nature, but from that understanding one realises that the stream of pure awareness at the root of the mind is real, but everything that is portrayed by the phenomenal contents of the mind is no more real that the things portrayed by the phenomenal contents of a TV screen – i.e. there are no people inside the box, they are all just patterns of pixels. Similarly human beings are not real in the sense that the materialist believes, they are all just patterns arising in the phenomenal contents of the mind. These are all appearances that are imaginatively projected onto reality due to ignorance and unconscious habits. There is something real underlying these virtual forms, but reality is not what it seems, it is a universal unified process – a cosmic life-force. That is our reality; our real, authentic life. The world of people places and things is a limited and limiting delusion that obscures reality.

In Vedanta they say, Brahman is everything and that thou art. Similarly for the virtual beings in the analogy, computation is everything and that thou art. Hence if one truly realises oneself, this is the All realising the All. So it is a gross misunderstanding of spirituality to say...

“It's not like "I'll go work on myself so I'll be free, liberated." No. I want to be liberated so I can live as best I can and benefit other people.” (A.H. Almaas)

To attain liberation is to overcome the illusion of being an individual amongst a world of individuals, it is not about living a better life as an individual or helping other individuals to lead a better life. Doing the inner work is not a selfish act because there is no individual self – there only appears to be through the lens of egoic delusion. Doing the inner work is an act of the whole on behalf of the whole. The other people only appear to ones mind because one is still caught in delusion. Once delusion is overcome one knows and experiences the reality that everything is a single unified process, nothing is separate. From this perspective real harmony arises and true love is as natural as self love because everything is the Self. Whereas struggling on as an isolated individual who is unknowingly acting out of egoic delusions eventually leads to strife regardless of ones good intentions. “To bring Peace to All, one must first discipline and control one's own mind.” (Buddha)

Regarding Almaas' statements about reincarnation, that is only a surface teaching. The deeper teaching is succinctly stated by Ramana Maharshi, “What is it that had birth? Whom do you call a human being? If, instead of seeking explanations for birth, death and after-death, the question is raised as to who and how you are now, these questions will not arise... Reincarnations only (seemingly) exist so long as there is ignorance. There is no incarnation, either now, before or hereafter. This is the truth.” This can be understood in terms of the virtual reality metaphor; in truth “That which is the subtle essence, in it is the self of all that exists. It is the True. It is the Self, and thou art it.” (Chandogya Upanishad). The virtual form is not ones true being, we are far greater than that, “Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” (Bible, Mat:6:25)

The limited and limiting approach (of spiritually themed lifestyles) is not a “true spiritual current” as Almaas and others often think of it; it is a partial realisation mistaken for a full realisation. So long as it doesn't become enshrined as “the Western way” it will be just a transient hiccup along the way to the attainment of a deeper understanding. Eventually the Western approach will come into much closer alignment with the Eastern approach as both converge on reality and truth.

However if this partial realisation does become entrenched, as many are trying to achieve, this could lead to generations of egoic delusion and futile striving for progress upon the spiritual path. Those threads of the All, or streams of awareness / computation, which are currently imagining themselves to be people on planet earth will be led astray and find that their pseudo spirituality doesn't lead to the union with truth and reality that they yearn for – but instead into ever deeper entrapment in the world-illusion. The All will find it harder to come to know itself due to such false ideas. It is for this reason that compassion inspires me, a thread of the All, to say something – those who claim that it is a true spiritual current are unknowingly spreading a false teaching and leading many astray.