Luminous Night's Journey: An Autobiographical Fragment [Paperback]

A. H. Almaas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2000

In Luminous Night's Journey, Almaas shares excerpts from his personal journal, which describe a certain thread in his own journey of realization and the processes involved in integrating that realization. This publication marks a fortunate development in our knowledge of how Being is realized in and through the human soul: The process of realization and integration of true nature described in the voice of one who articulates precisely and vividly the psychological and epistemological barriers which confront the individual consciousness as realization is integrated in the context of personal life.

Almaas describes how his participation in the unfolding manifestation of Being ushers him into realms that expose and transform increasingly deep ego structures and attachments. Luminous Night's Journey clarifies how the unveiling of Being and the exposure of ego structures constitute one process, leading to the soul's integrated realization of absolute nature and the manifestation of the human being as a personal embodiment of that nature.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A. H. Almaas is the pen name of Hameed Ali, the Kuwaiti-born originator of the Diamond Approach, who has been guiding individuals and groups in Colorado, California, and Europe since 1976. He is the author of Spacecrusier Inquiry, The Pearl Beyond Price, Facets of Unity, and other books. 

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala; 1 edition (September 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0936713089
• ISBN-13: 978-0936713083
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.4 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #853,120 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Descriptions of Higher state of Consciousness, October 22, 2001

By 

Roger Fruci (Spokane, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Luminous Night's Journey: An Autobiographical Fragment (Paperback)

I have been reading about and studying higher states of consciousness for 30 years, and in all that time I have never read such personal, detailed, in depth descriptions of experiences of Unity Consciousness. Almaas has an amazing facility to describe profoundly subtle experiences. His descriptions are consistent with classical descriptions of that state, yet at the same time he adds an element of examining his own "ego structures" in the light of the Untiy experiences. If you are into this type of thing, this is a truely facinating book.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous Reading Experience, December 13, 2006

By 

M. Lange (Washington) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Luminous Night's Journey: An Autobiographical Fragment (Paperback)

I have read this book twice, and each time I had a very different experience. The second time was a real adventure, because the concerns the author grapples with in this book are now similar to those I have in my own life. So, there was a real sense of affinity in the second reading.

The book is a series of journal passages written over what appears to be a number of years, in which Hameed Ali (A.H.Almaas) shares, and wonderfully describes, his most intimate mystical reflections. He describes in beautiful language his encounters with the fears and exhilarations he experiences as he manifests new and increasingly powerful dynamics on the ascent of Being. Eventually he arrives at a temporary "state" of experiencing the "Absolute." Some time later, this achievement of bonding and unity with the Absolute becomes a "station," in that it has become a permanent state of consciousness.

This book is very well written, with descriptions of feelings and insights that are at times astounding in their beauty and fullness. A word of warning, though: this book will appeal far more to a more mature reader who has familiarity with actual mystical experience, an abundance of metaphysical and, especially, mystical study and practice, or a strong background in Hameed Ali's works on the Diamond Approach. I would recommend a reading of John Davis's The Diamond Approach for an overview, then plunging in to the Diamond Mind, Diamond Body, and Diamond Heart books. I would also suggest reading Evelyn Underhill's books on western mysticism, Idries Shah's works on Sufism, D.T. Suzuki's writings on Zen Buddhism, and the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

With those books and concepts in mind, Hameed Ali's writings on his personal and deeply intimate mystical experiences will take on even more flavor and beauty.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary Account of enlightenment, June 26, 2010

By 

rokeisland - See all my reviews

This review is from: Luminous Night's Journey: An Autobiographical Fragment (Paperback)

This is the most precise, detailed, self-revealing, honest and fascinating personal account of the enlightenment (or self-realization) process that I have ever read. An amazing and moving book.