Glossary: D
-
Death
One learns that death is nonexistent on the Being level. More accurately, one learns that death, in terms of consciousness, is really nothing but an aspect of Being. The associations that most of us have with death are actually related to an aspect of Being which we call Death Space.... more »
-
Death Space
Peace: It is not an emotional state or merely the absence of conflict; it is rather the presence of stillness, which is an aspect of Essence. It is the presence of Being as absolute stillness and calmness. This stillness is not experienced as dull or vague, but as an exquisitely... more »
-
Defending
Defending yourself is to defend against the superego, whether it is external or internal. The purpose of the superego is to preserve the ego's point of view. The superego ultimately stops you from seeing reality. Defending yourself is one method you use to help you look at things objectively and... more »
-
Defense
The child cannot try to defend against his experience in the present moment and at the same time remain in touch with his present essential nature. Thus, all ego defenses, necessary though they are for the psychological balance of the inadequately cared-for child, contribute to his disconnection from his essential... more »
-
Deficient Emptiness
In other words, deficient emptiness is nothing but space experienced through the filter of ignorance (which is composed of images from the past taken to define oneself, accompanied by wrong beliefs and emotions associated with the images). This explains why when the deficient emptiness is experienced, it transforms into space... more »
-
Depression
The self-identity structure is a dynamic structure comprised not only of self-representations, but also of inner activity (Kohut’s tension arc). This "dynamic essence of the self" is an automatic, compulsive and incessant activity, which is mostly unconscious … the main components of this activity are rejection, hope and desire. Repeated... more »
-
Destiny
One must be sensitive to the direction and promptings that the universal logos is unfolding within one's experience. It is the universal logos that unfolds our experience, and if we listen to its guidance and intimation we may discern which way it is taking us. In other words, the universal... more »
-
Development
The process of development is the same thing as the process of unveiling or shedding at the same time. The development and actualization of a state is what is needed to go beyond it. They are not two separate things. You cannot go beyond self until you actualize self. For... more »
-
Developmental Psychology
In developmental psychology, emotional independence and ego autonomy are seen as the culmination of ego development. While this perspective explains one of the deepest aspirations of the man of the world, the desire for autonomy, it does not take into consideration the values of the man of spirit, and the... more »
-
Diamond Approach
In the Diamond Approach we first integrate the various forms of being. So we integrate Presence in the qualities of peace, kindness, love, truth, strength, clarity, space, knowingness, intelligence, existence, and so on, until we are permanently in contact with the dynamic flow of essential Presence. more »
-
Diamond Consciousness
The "diamond consciousness," responsible for the diamond perspective, is like Aurobindo's "supermind" in its capacity to look through all facets. Cosmic consciousness looks without facets so it sees everything, all points of view integrated in one perspective. The diamond consciousness can see all points of view, including the integrated point... more »
-
Diamond Dome
The diamond dome is basically direct and objective knowledge of true nature; hence it is the wisdom of the path of essence. It demonstrates how each aspect of essence is a particular way of knowing true nature, and shows how the realization of each aspect can be a path on... more »
-
Diamond Guidance
When there is love of truth and true curiosity about it, it becomes possible to see the objective truth in the particular experience. Seeing the objective truth is the function of the Diamond Guidance. Thus, the sincere desire for truth for its own sake - love and curiosity about truth... more »
-
Diamond Issues
A diamond issue is an ego issue that results from identification with ego. Its presence is inseparable from ego identifications, regardless of how pathological or healthy the ego structure is. Only the severity of the issue is determined by the particular personal history. more »
-
Diamond Vehicles
The Diamond vehicles function like spaceships, carrying our consciousness to exotic worlds. Each one takes us to a different universe, with different qualities constituting the building blocks of reality. They resemble spaceships in that they are vehicles that travel in inner space, taking our attention to the furthest reaches of... more »
-
Dimensions
We use the word “dimension” to refer to a level or plane of being, on which the various qualities of Essence appear in specific ways that differentiate it from other dimensions. Each dimension adds to essential aspects a new characteristic, universal to all aspects in this dimension. There is the... more »
-
Direct Perception
By direct perception we mean what is actually perceived when the inner capacities of Essence are functioning. These capacities are not generally experienced on the ego level, but sometimes a hint of them can be recognized from the perspective of the ego. For instance, the capacity of empathy is commonly... more »
-
Discipline
Discipline is a basic ingredient in almost all schools of inner development. This is for several reasons. One reason is that the emotional, false personality tends to behave and act in a haphazard way, mainly in whatever way seems to help avoid any unpleasant truth. So without discipline it will... more »
-
Discrimination
This discriminated and discriminating property of the essential dimension, and of the Essence of the self, makes it possible for us to recognize the many forms in which Presence manifests. This capacity is a reflection of the wisdom of discrimination, of the nous dimension of Presence. Our understanding is that... more »
-
Disidentification
The capacity for disidentification can develop in two ways: The first is by increasing the capacity to tolerate greater distance from certain self-representations, which allows us to experience Being more easily... The second way the capacity for disidentification develops is that our overall self-representation becomes so much more complete that... more »
-
Dissolution
When a student is able to deal with the narcissistic wound and the attendant rage, he can come to understand and accept the hurt. This allows him to be open to the essential quality of loving-kindness and hence to develop a greater tolerance of this wound, which is felt as... more »
-
Dissolving
When we speak of defenses or self-images dissolving during a session, we clearly don't claim that a given boundary or image dissolves permanently upon being brought to awareness, even when the experience of space results. As in many therapeutic processes, the process is much more complex. It involves reactions of... more »
-
Distortion
Everything that is negative is a distortion of something real. It is a misunderstanding of something true. So I'm saying there is a reason, there is an actual significance to everything. It's not all accidents and mistakes; it is possible to understand every single thought, every single image and to... more »
-
Divine Light
…divine light is dark. It is black light, the source of all light, not colorless but pre-color. We might think that clear light is the ultimate light, as is asserted by some Buddhist schools. However, clarity is an attribute, albeit a fundamental one. It is the absence of color, but... more »
-
Divine Love
Because this dimension of true nature is of the most pure and gentle love, it impacts the soul in ways she has always longed for but could not fully attain. Its softness is soothing, lulling the mind into rest, the body into natural relaxation, and the heart into serene openness.... more »
-
Doubt
In the Diamond Approach, this realization is related to the crystal vehicle of the citadel. It is the timeless wisdom leading to nonconceptual certainty. One attains here a certainty beyond doubt, because it is independent of belief, of knowledge, and of any intellectual or experiential category. One is oneself, and... more »
-
Dreaming
And you believe that you are there and that person is there, and you are talking to that person. But when you wake up, you realize, no, it is actually all in one place, in your mind. These people do not exist, not in the sense that we usually think.... more »
-
Dual Unity
In this state of ego development, the child is not aware of the mother or himself as separate individuals in their own right. The ego has not separated out. Mother and self are still a unity—a dual unity. In infant observation, we find that when the infant experiences the dual... more »
-
Duality
Usually we think of our experience in terms of the duality we have developed as the experiencer and the experienced, the perceiver and the perceived. In terms of the example of fear, we would say, “There is fear and there is me perceiving the fear.” We think fear exists someplace... more »
-
Dynamic Presence
In other words, when we experience our soul as a living dynamic presence we are actually experiencing the dimension of dynamic presence but in a limited and individual way, as related to our particular physical body. Dynamic presence does not dismember itself into individual and separate souls, but simply appears... more »
-
Dynamism
The dynamism of Being, as experienced in the deeper stages of self-realization, is a spontaneous and natural flow of Presence. In the human soul the Presence functions as the inspiring and motivating center of initiative, action, and creativity, and its intrinsic patterning functions as the guidance that directs that activity.... more »
