® 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.

The Diamond Approach uses a broad range of methods. In private sessions with a teacher and in small groups, students of the Diamond Approach explore their feelings, thoughts, and actions. It integrates emotional, cognitive, and intuitive processes, breathwork, and subtle energies all within a spiritual framework. (The several case studies presented in this book are examples of this way of working).

There are also a variety of formats for pursuing this path. Students of the Diamond Approach generally do this work in individual sessions with teachers trained and certified by Hameed Ali, who developed the Diamond Approach. Students also meet in small, ongoing groups led by a teacher. Large group meetings are used to teach, using a combination of lectures, experiential exercises, and meditation, and other practices. Ali and other Diamond Approach teachers also conduct longer teaching retreats. Finally, students of the Diamond Approach engage in their own study and application of this material through meditation, reading, and other specific practices.

These methods and formats for learning the Diamond Approach have evolved in response to the needs of students and of the Diamond Approach itself. The variety of forms which the Diamond Approach takes will likely continue to expand.