About this episode
Karen Johnson is a co-founder of the Diamond Approach as it is taught in the Ridhwan School, a contemporary original spiritual understanding and path, expressing timeless wisdom on self-realization using the insights of our time. She is a colleague and friend of Hameed Ali (A.H. Almaas). Her life is dedicated to the discovery of inner freedom and sharing the treasures with humankind. In this interview, we discussed how the Diamond Approach is evolving, what differentiates it from other traditions, and the most recent developments of the past 15 years, about which Karen and Hameed have only recently begun to teach, speak and write. Neither the depths of spirit nor the surface of the mundane world can adequately express what reality is and what is possible for each of us. How can our human lives be both the arena for spiritual practice and enlightenment, and the occasion for our true being to express its infinite possibilities? When we realize that we are each the miracle of matter and spirit and at the same time we are neither, our everyday ordinary experiences can become doorways to further possibilities of reality, of awakening to our spiritual potential in its endless possibilities. True Being lives through the particulars of our lives, utilizing them to reveal its potentialities. The Diamond Approach explores how to use our personal situations as occasions for practice and learning, and as opportunities for expression of our finer spiritual qualities. It enables people to work with their everyday experiences of work, relationships, play, creativity, love, sex and so on to learn to be the transcendent living a human life. Its students learn to employ each particular situation within this world to go beyond it in a way that includes it. Inclusive transcendence enables our human consciousness to view reality beyond the concepts of duality and nonduality. Each particular situation affords us the opportunity to use its energies and forces to liberate and optimize our experience. Following such path, it becomes natural to be of help to others and to life in general. Book: The Power of Divine Eros: The Illuminating Force of Love in Everyday Life Website: ridhwan.org Summary and transcript of this interview Interview recorded 5/31/2014 Karen Johnson and Hameed Ali (A.H. Almaas) on Nondual Relationships at the SAND conference. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Karen Johnson and the Diamond Approach 00:03:14 - The Beginnings of Spiritual Awakening 00:05:53 - Childhood Experiences with Seeing Auras 00:09:03 - The Significance of Refined Perception 00:12:43 - Energy Information and Exchange 00:15:59 - The Essence of Spiritual Development in Ridwan School 00:19:19 - Meeting Hamid and the Beginning of a Journey towards Awakening 00:22:46 - Awakening of Presence 00:27:00 - The Evolution of the Working Relationship 00:31:46 - The Evolution of Work and Relationships 00:36:03 - Being's Guiding Intelligence 00:39:26 - The Energy of Mollusks in Teaching 00:42:46 - The Curriculum and Practices in the Ridwan School 00:48:48 - Different Perspectives and Dimensions of Spiritual Experience 00:54:24 - The Gray Night of the Soul 00:57:05 - Opening up the realm of the freedom vehicle 01:01:18 - The Development and Integration of Spiritual Experiences 01:04:54 - Acting Like a Normal Human Being 01:09:11 - The Deeper Realities and Fluidity of View 01:13:40 - Fluidity and Growth in Understanding Reality 01:17:14 - The Dynamism of Different Traditions 01:20:02 - The Possibilities of the Unimagined 01:23:33 - Discovering Freedom and Possibilities 01:26:31 - The Recognition of Life and Death 01:29:32 - The Individual and the Ocean of Consciousness 01:33:12 - Exploring Other Realms and Traditions 01:36:08 - The Experience of Featurelessness 01:39:19 - Varying Degrees of Impressionability 01:42:24 - Embracing Differences and Discernment 01:45:35 - Closing Remarks and Farewell 01:47:47 - Farewell and Closing Music