The Ridhwan School-Emerald Mountain, New York City
The Ridhwan School, founded in 1976 by A. Hameed Ali (A.H. Almaas) is an inner work school devoted to the realization of True Nature. The desire to return to one’s true nature is an innate impulse within the soul which, in time, will manifest as the spiritual search.
The school is oriented around the Diamond Approach to Self-Realization as developed by A. Hameed Ali. The Diamond Approach utilizes a method of open-ended inquiry into one’s immediate experience as a means of liberating the soul from the conditioned patterns of the past and the fixed ideas and beliefs about one’s identity and the nature of reality. This process is often referred to in the school as the “Workâ€.
The Work involves psychological as well as spiritual exploration that can be seen as understanding or metabolizing one’s unconscious mind, the ego, or the personality. Developing one’s personal sense of “presence†and freeing one’s capacity to know are central to working on one’s self in the Diamond Approach.
The Ridhwan School is established as a church and teachers in the school are recognized as ordained ministers. Students in the school participate in the Work via three main venues:
Private Sessions – The private teaching session involves the student and a teacher/minister in a one-to-one relationship that provides a supportive environment for the student to explore her/his issues, conditioning, beliefs, assumptions and general worldview in a manner that nurtures the student’s intimate understanding of their self.
Small Group Sessions – The small group session involves a teacher/minister and a group of 12 to 18 students. The small group format provides a venue for interpersonal dynamics to surface, which can reflect unconscious historical patterns that need to be brought into the light of awareness. The small group provides a venue for students to work in front of others, giving one the opportunity to challenge certain conditioning involving “othersâ€. Additionally, the small group can provided a greater “collective field” of presence to help support and individual’s work.
Large Group Weekends or Retreats – The large group meetings provide a venue where the logos and cosmology of the Diamond Approach can be explicated. These weekends generally involve a detailed presentation and exploration of a particular aspect of one’s essential nature or dimension of being.
Each of these venues assist the student in developing their personal capacity for inquiry and presence. The goal (orientation) of the school is directed toward helping students to become aware of and embodying their “essence†or essential nature. Although students may experience a sense of “healing” around various emotional and psychological issues, these are seen as a by-product of expanding one’s awareness and presence.
For more information on the Ridhwan school visit – www.ridhwan.org
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