® Copyright 1999 by John Davis. This material is excerpted from the author's book, THE DIAMOND APPROACH, and published by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston.

Personal Dimensions

The Diamond Approach provides a systematic description of the various forms of Being, their particular qualities, their dynamics, and their associated psychological issues. In the personal realm, Being manifests as the ego and Essence. These are personal in the sense that they are experienced as being your own and you can identify with them. It makes sense to say, "This is my ego or my Essence."

Diamond Dimensions

In another realm, which Ali calls the Diamond Dimensions, Being is revealed through its universal qualities. The seven Diamond Dimensions are Objective Understanding, Pleasure, Conscience or Action, Knowledge, Love, Will, and Humanness. The attributes and qualities of Being which can be experienced in a personal way are here experienced as universal qualities. Furthermore, they are experienced in an objective and undistorted way. A knowing and understanding arises with the Essential quality, and this understanding is not separate from the experience of Being. Here, I am using "objective" in the sense of something being known in a non-subjective, unbiased, and unfiltered way, rather than in the sense of making Essence into an object. Our personal histories and concepts of Essence fade into the background in this realm, and the qualities of Being are experienced in a more pure way as more vivid, alive, and real. There is, at the same time, a more objective knowing of these qualities.

For example, in the personal realm, the experience of Essential Love is deeper and more authentic than the usual experience of love based on mental constructs and emotional needs. In the universal realm or Diamond Dimensions, love feels present in an unconditional way, pure and clear. The heart feels universal. Furthermore, we not only feel authentic love, we know it in a clear, insightful, and objective way, we find pleasure in it, and we discover that is brings with it the necessary support to manifest it.

Boundless Dimensions

Ali calls a third realm the Boundless dimensions. The five Boundless dimensions have identifiable qualities but are not experienced from the perspective of the individual. In the Boundless Dimensions, there is no experiencer separate from the experience, only the unconditional experience of Divine Love, the fullness of presence, clear awareness, the dynamic unfolding of existence, and the absolute mystery of Being. There is no sense of a boundary within or around these dimensions.

It may help to remember that all these dimensions of Being (personal, universal, and Boundless) are always present, although they are rarely experienced directly. The Diamond Approach offers means for experiencing directly these dimensions of Being as the foundation and source of our lives.