The Inner Journey Home: Soul's Realization of the Unity of Reality

This book is a brilliant masterpiece and must read that clarifies and integrates vast areas of psychology, philosophy, spirituality, and Reality itself. This is the most comprehensive and integral treatise on the human Soul and the Reality of Being and True Nature that I have ever read. The author speaks from a lifetime of experience, practice, and study and has obviously achieved the highest levels of Spiritual Realization.This is one of 3-4 books in my collection of 1500 or so titles that I will read and reference again and again. In my opinion, the brilliance of this book is the way that A. H. Almaas integrates all aspects and dimensions of the human psyche, Soul, and Spirit and Reality Itself, which is the Ground of Being and True Nature that we are and in which we live, move, and have our Being.I am in the process of spiritual awakening and Self Realization. I experienced a kundalini awakening 23 years ago, which brought me face to face with a Divine Source that was radiating and sustaining me at a higher level of Reality. This ecstatic Source showed me that I was its beloved child and that it was the Ground and Source of my Being and also my True Nature. This upset my worldview and my psyche as I believed that I was a separate entity and that G-d was something "out there" somewhere that I intuited but did not really know. The encounter loosened the repressed instincts, emotions, feelings, blocks, unresolved issues, and deep complexes inside me which were lying in a dormant state in my unconscious body-mind. This began a process of arduous and agonizing purgation and purification of my psyche-self that lasted to this day.Now that my subtle body is cleared, the channel to my True Nature-Being has opened and my subtle body is now gradually filling with Spirit. The delicious taste, bliss, love, and expanded consciousness of Spirit is no longer a matter of intellectual belief but is becoming an experiential Reality for me. The Realizations are endless and the work continues.Many spiritual traditions could not adequately explain my experience as I went through awakening. Some traditions skip over the personal self and brush it off, devalue it, and tell you to "transcend it" and that "it's ultimately not real". This is a major misunderstanding and false teaching. The psyche, self, and Soul are One Integral Being and are expressions of and manifestations of Being Itself (G-d). Secular psychology does not even acknowledge the Soul or Being as Almaas points out. Both Jung's and Assagioli's psychology integrated some knowledge of the Soul but nowhere near with the precision and depth presented in this brilliant work by A. H. Almaas.Even though we are all Individuating Spiritual persons, our deepest nature is Being and True Nature Itself. Yet we are all at different levels of evolution and growth. For a person healing their psyche and dealing with their personal issues, teachings about the Non dual Nature of Reality leaves out or minimizes the Soul or they bypass it altogether. This is now recognized as spiritual pathology and wrong teaching...or partial teaching at best. This is called the "spiritual bypass". People meditate for awhile or practice Yoga or some other practice and touch upon the Unified field of consciousness. They then interpret this as the only Reality. This makes understanding non dual Unity nearly impossible for a person who is engaged in deep healing of the psyche-self and who is approaching Soul Realization.These partial teachings leave out the fact that G-d is not only the One Ground and True Nature of All Being and manifestation, but is also individuating as each one of us. Yes, this means that you are a Divine Self every bit as personal, unique, and individual as you are completely Universal and One with the All. The personal self and the Transcendent Self are One. The partial/false/non integral teachings are leaving out the Sacred Person hood and suchness of each Individual Being. This omission does nothing to help heal the deep Primal Wound and alienation from Self, Nature, G-d, and others that is the ordinary condition of delusional separateness that secular psychology and society consider "normal". This split, alienated, broken, separate condition is far from normal. It is suffering. The One and the Many are not in conflict, They are in fully integrated and Unified.Another aspect of this book that I love is that the teaching is based in Ontology and Almaas identifies and precisely explains a multi-dimensional structure of Being. This is incredibly helpful in understanding True Nature/Being. Almaas also explains Non-dual in a way that people who have not had the direct Realization of non duality can easily understand. Non Dual Realization does not eliminate, diminish, or devalue personal selfhood, which Almaas emphasizes as sacred and indispensable. The individual personal self only appears separate because it has lost its connection to Soul. Once this connection has been re-established and the Soul comes to the forefront of lived experience, a human person experiences their soul-self deeply and profoundly loved and valued by G-d. Then the understanding of non duality becomes experiential and the person no longer fears that they will somehow lose their individuality by surrendering to Spirit/G-d/Being.The ego and its fears and insecurities are healed, dissolved, and integrated with Soul. This brings incredible fullness, satisfaction, love, joy, compassion, strength, purpose...everything you ever wanted; you realize were aspects of your True Nature and Being all along. You can be completely poor materially speaking and experience yourself as the wealthiest person in the world. This book helped me realize that I am not only deeply and profoundly valued and loved, I AM Love itself. This realization changes everything. Much gratitude and Love to Almaas for this profound teaching of Soul Being and True Nature.

A.H. Almaas is a brilliant synthesizer of vast amounts of information and understanding from many faith and psychological traditions, who then goes further to clearly outline how the individual soul becomes obscured during ego development and how it can be uncovered in adulthood.

This is a most comprehensive, penetrating, and powerful teaching about consciousness and how to nurture, refine, and enjoy one’s participation in its endless wonder. The reader's soul is invited "to learn about experience without labeling, discrimination without abstraction, perception without conceptualization, even consciousness without content" (Chapter 15).Jörn W. Kroll

With this inspired book A.H.Almaas posed a wonderful challenge to all sort of spirituality.WholenessPresence knows itself directly, without reflecting itself, and without a self-object dichotomy. It does not look at itself; it knows itself by being itself. A.H. AlmaasThe wind is blowingyou breathe the airthe spirit is given by divine graceso your presence knows itselfas it is, in its active wholenessliving in all-embracing gratefulnessfeeling the singular as part of the wholetransforming the blessing of this presenceinto a healing flowpraising the Onethat allows it all to be.Love Johannes

This is Almaas's magnus opus, a explanation in depth of the concepts central to his his life's work as a teacher of self-realization. For those who are interested in this subject, this compendium is truly worth reading and studying. It is an authoritative textbook on the phenomenon of essential realization from the spiritual and psychological points of view.

I have read all of the books by Almaas and am in the Ridhwan school. This book is both brilliantly articulate and comprehensive. I often go to the index and scan it at this point. There, I will find a word that catches my attention, and turning to the page where it is addressed will open a universe of meaning for me. My only difficulty with Inner Journey Home is that this is my third copy. The others have come apart at the seams from my use.

Excellent book, I am totally enjoying reading it. I read 2 subsections a day. This is a formidable work that demands some time and attention. While most Non-Dual teaching skip consideration of the "soul" Almaas integrates it flawlessly. In fact this book is really a full presentation of the mystery of "soul."

This book was recommended by one of the followers of the author who travels to lecture to small groups around the world. I found it to be overly wordy, repetitive and so vague regarding his idea of the soul that I am left with nothing more to conclude about the soul than before I read the book.

I enjoyed this book, it has helped me to come closer to myself, which this is all about, to remember your true self.Then your real life begins.