by John Davis, Diamond Approach teacher and student in the Colorado Big Group
The Sufi story of Dhat has been important to the Diamond Approach since its inception. Dhat appears in Idries Shah’s Tales of the Dervishes as “The King’s Son” (although we can expand it to include the Queen’s daughter). In fact, for some years, the name of our organization was the Diamond Heart And Training (DHAT) Institute. It tells of an archetypal hero’s journey or rite of passage in which the central character must leave home and face a difficult challenge, “so that in both repute and in fact, [they] should have achieved—by watchfulness and effort—a degree of [maturity] not to be attained in any other way. Thus it has been ordained from the beginning, and thus it will be until the end” (p. 217). Leaving home for an alien land, Dhat’s task is to reclaim a jewel guarded by a “fearsome monster.” Once there, Dhat meets another who is on a similar mission. However, they fall into “a kind of sleep” and settle into a conventional, two-dimensional life, unaware of their missions. Eventually Dhat is awakened by those from his home, gets the jewel and returns home, now awake to its splendor and sanctuary for the first time.
In one of our early group meetings Hameed (Hameed Ali, founder of the Diamond Approach) asked us to read this story out loud. We passed the book around the small circle that had gathered in a member’s living room, each of us reading a sentence, each adding their own inflection to this universal tale. I was moved by the possibilities of awakening and feeling at home in my life. A priceless gem sounded cool, and I was inspired to face my own monsters. At the time I had little idea what I was exiled from or what my soul’s true home was. Nor did I understand just how ruthless and entrenched those monsters would be. This story has been a regular guide on my journey since then.
However, I feel a part of the story is missing. It sounds wonderfully simple. Dhat wakes up, faces the monster, gets the jewel, and goes home. But I never found it so simple. I woke up a little and recognized something precious. Then I fell back into forgetfulness or discovered a bigger monster and tried to hide away, over and over again.
Clearly I needed more than the story presents. What else is available to help us on the journey of awakening? The story hints at one answer. Remember Dhat’s companion? As one drifts back into a waking sleep, the other can give a nudge that says, “Wake up and remember.” If there was one other companion, there could easily be two, four, or a whole community, each on their own missions and, at the same time, all on the same mission. Furthermore, teachers could appear along the way to guide them.
I am convinced that a community of like-minded seekers and loving, skillful teachers play parts in this universal story. They certainly play parts in mine. Although there are aspects of the journey that must be solitary, my personal experience tells me that I could not have made any real progress on my path without the shared companionship of a true community of spiritual friends or the guidance and support of my teachers. I dare say none of us could. I find this companionship in the presence gathered in the large meeting room at the summer retreats, watching a video teaching with fellow students, working together on the grounds of our local Ridhwan Center, in a triad with my inquiry partners and in many other forms. The benefits of a spiritual community come as encouragement from people I trust, wake-up nudges when I fall into old patterns, truly meeting others in the midst of our differences, both the celebratory and sober expressions of an ever-deepening shared presence and the knowledge that I am part of a larger body of seekers.
Sometimes when I am gathered with spiritual friends and companions, I feel an ancient and universal presence connecting us to other gatherings of seekers from distant times and places. Yet, somehow no matter how distant they seem, they are right here with us, and I know Dhat is in our presence.