ytain said:
Has anyone read his books?
Hi ytain,
I've read two of them and an introductory overview of his system. Alas, quite a while ago (6 to 11 years) and in Dutch translations.
These are the ones:
_http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Approach-Introduction-Teachings-Almaas/dp/1570624062
_http://www.amazon.com/Facets-Unity-Enneagram-Holy-Ideas/dp/0936713143/ref=pd_cp_b_3/190-0596299-8188006
_http://www.amazon.com/Pearl-Beyond-Price-Integration-Personality/dp/093671302X
Zadius Sky said:
It's likely that he would have been prone to the "misinterpretation" of the backgrounds of these area and teaches them.
I have to confirm that.
Whereas Laura started out with a quest for 'God' and for the origins of true Christianity while dissatisfied with her then current beliefsystem and religious practicies (see her account in
Amazing Grace, the
Wave Series and
Adventures with Cassiopaea - preferably in this order), most of these so called spiritual teachers and entrepreneurs started out from a totally different query - namely difficulties in academic theorybuilding and/or insoluble inconsistencies in either medical or psychiatric therapies, or in their teaching practices at universities. This difference has dire consequences for the results obtained.
From what I've gathered so far, this whole approach of which Almaas is only one exponent started way back in the 1950's with the input of Claudio Naranjo (see: _http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Naranjo) who's wikipage somehow reads like a sort of
Who is Who in this particular field of research and teaching.
To cut a long story short (with inevitable simplification): although some of these teachers did have revelations or realizations of a strictly personal nature during or at the start of their work, the bulk of their development, teachings and writings centers on psychology, psychiatry or medicine first with spirituality, enlightenment or esotericism as an afterthought so to speak - as an accessory or an auxiliary to fill some gaps that couldn't be mended with the mainstream academic science of the time.
As such, these attempts in bringing about some sort of integral psychology and transpersonal therapy all restrict themselves to the raiding and plundering of whichever spiritual tradition seems suited for their immediate needs and the result inevitably comes down to a veritable subjective potpourri of originally possible B-Influences written down and elaborated upon in A-Influences terminology - with no connection whatsoever to any source of C-Influences (see: http://cassiopedia.org/glossary/A%2C_B_and_C_Influences).
Add the usual academic stiff competition and some big egos into the mix and you end up with a wide proliferation of schools, teaching methods, theories, therapies and what not - all demonising as well as envying each others' mere existence. So, no networking beyond the very narrow boundaries of each individual system. At best they go along in some sort of cold war environment, thereby confirming in real life the truth of the saying about the 'confusion of tongues' (see, for example, this post explaining about that particular phenomenon: http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,12770.msg292755.html#msg292755 ).
So, in my view, reading those works or attending those schools serves no purpose whatsoever in terms of 4Th way work - except maybe for reasons of sharpening ones capability of discernment and self observing ones gullability programs and such.
Having said all this, there could exist circumstances (academic study, education in general, personal path towards the 4Th Way, to name a few) wherein it might make sense to read some of at least the best specimens in this particular field of endeavor - but I won't pretend to be able to give authoritative recommendations for that. I'm truly sorry about that.
