® 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.

Being unfolds and manifests in an orderly way from the absolute mystery beyond human experience into the multitude of forms and objects of the phenomenal world. As it unfolds, it flows through these various dimensions in a progression from those closer to the mystery to those closer to the phenomenal world. Depending on the level from which you are perceiving, reality has very different characteristics. From some dimensions, reality is seen as a unity; from others, it is divided. Duality appears in some dimensions and not others. Consciousness can move through the various levels of Being if it is free and unconstrained. The more consciousness is free, the more it will respond to the call of Being. Being will manifest precisely in the ways that the situation calls for.

As Being flows from the Absolute to its personal and physical dimensions, it becomes expressed or manifest, first as the Boundless Dimensions, then by the Diamond Dimensions, and then in an individual and personal way. When Being is expressed on this personal level, it is the most accessible and most easily recognized. (And we should remember that all of these dimensions are present at once and that this linear outline of unfoldment is more metaphoric than literal. This is just a general pattern; our experience is much more fluid.) All dimensions, including the physical, the personal aspects of Essence, and the Boundless dimensions, reflect and express Being. They are not merely barriers to or constrictions of Being. Neither are they constructed through mental concepts or social agreements.

Personality or ego structures, on the other hand, do consist of structures which are extrinsic, mechanical, restrictive, and constructed through our interactions with the world. Yet even these conditioned personality structures are seen by the Diamond Approach to be expressions of presence, love, knowledge, will, fullness, flow, awareness, emptiness, and the absolute mystery, however limited or distorted they are. The understanding that all manifestations, even personality, are manifestations of Being is central to the Diamond Approach. This understanding leads to Ali's insights on the role of the personality in spiritual work and self-realization, and it allows for a much deeper and effective means of spiritual discovery and development. Placing the personality in the context of Being is an important contribution of the Diamond Approach.

Most people start their personal work by working on personality issues, reactions, and blocks. They also have some fleeting experiences of Essence. The path of the Diamond Approach is most often a systematic movement and a deepening of Essence from the realm of personality and personal dimensions of Essence through the Diamond Dimensions to the Boundless, egoless, nondual dimensions. From the point of view of the soul, our experience is one of movement, recovery, discovery, and development. From the point of view of Being, it is always complete and perfect.