A more fundamental reason for our use of the term “diamond” is related to the aspect of Essence that we have mentioned which functions as inner guidance. This aspect is that of objective understanding, the understanding necessary for the realization and development of the Personal Essence. This aspect affects the consciousness in a very specific and unmistakable manner. One feels clear and objective. One’s consciousness becomes sharp, precise and luminous. There is an immediate sense of a brilliant and precise intelligence. One’s consciousness becomes crystal clear, exquisitely objective but alive. This objective consciousness, which has the function of understanding, we refer to sometimes as the Diamond Consciousness, because its experiential qualities resemble those of a clear and sharply-cut diamond. This Diamond Consciousness is a certain integration of all essential aspects ,which can exist in a dimension that is more refined and more objective than the usual, most recognizable one. This dimension is that of the existence of all aspects of Essence as aspects of understanding. All aspects of Essence function in this dimension in the service of understanding.

It is the aspect of objective consciousness. Its function is objective perception and understanding, functioning primarily through the integration of analysis and synthesis. It is the guidance for the realization and development of the Personal Essence. So one of its main issues is father's guidance in one's process of separation and individuation... This aspect, naturally, becomes projected on the teacher, as a guide for the process of inner realization.

The consciousness now is objective because it balances the seven factors, and is exactly what is needed to be free from the attachment and grasping that are the most basic characteristics of the personality. The objective consciousness, what we call the diamond consciousness, allows freedom from these aspects of the personality. The diamond consciousness is a panoramic consciousness, in contrast to the fixated focus of the personality. If you could look at your difficulties and conflicts objectively, you would see they are nothing but resistance against that objectivity, against seeing things as they really are. You are attached to your attachments and you don’t want to see things as they are.

To be objective means you must see what role your personality plays. It is this objective consciousness that can perceive the state of liberation, because it doesn’t have any of the clinging attitudes or obscurations that block the perception. These factors are called factors of enlightenment not only because they will lead you to objectivity and liberation, but also because they are present in the state of liberation itself. You are joyful, you are kind, you are energetic, you are determined, you’re clear, you’re awake, you’re completely absorbed in your experience, you’re peaceful. All these qualities are present together in the objective level, as the diamond consciousness, or the objective consciousness. When this diamond consciousness finally perceives the state of liberation, it just melts, becomes softer, delicate, liquid, relaxed, and flowing. There is no structure, no fixation, no holding this way or that way, no preference one way or another. It’s not as if you’re objective or not objective, or you’re kind or not kind, it’s none of those. They’re all there in a sort of melted, free-flowing loose way. They’re so loose, they’re so free that you don’t think of yourself as kind, you don’t think of yourself as happy. The moment you say, “Oh, I’m happy now,” it’s gone. You are it and that’s it. You’re not concerned about it, you go about your business, have breakfast, read the paper, go to work, have a fight. It doesn’t matter. There is total freedom. You have learned how to hang loose. You are liberated and you are awake.

There is a deeper form of intuition that is the function of a certain aspect of essence. We referred to this aspect earlier as objective consciousness or the diamond body. We also called it the body of knowledge. This aspect has the capacity to take facts and data, all of the different kinds of understanding about a particular object or situation, and consider them all together, simultaneously and instantly. The reasoning mind is linear; it cannot consider too many facts at the same time to find a solution. It is limited in its capacity to hold information simultaneously. This is why computers are so valuable. They can consider a whole array of facts, all at the same time. This aspect of essence can do just that, not in a thought form but in a more lived and felt way. Its capacity for considering many facts and many dimensions is limitless. Everything in the situation is considered, nd the result is a certain perception that integrates all the facts, on the various levels of understanding.

Vulnerability is needed for awareness and objectivity, for objective consciousness. This is because objective consciousness means awareness and understanding of exactly what is there. You can’t understand exactly what is there if you don’t want to be vulnerable. Understanding and vulnerability go together.