Facets of Apprehension: A Phenomenological Exploration of A. H. Almaas’s Holy Ideas
First Session FREE | Remaining Four Sessions: $189
Choose the Day & Time that Works for YOU!
This Is Not Your Usual Teaching of the Holy Ideas
Most teachings on the Enneagram’s Holy Ideas approach them individually, exploring their meanings, their relationships to the nine fixations, and the spiritual understanding associated with each. A. H. Almaas’s Facets of Unity provides an extraordinarily rich foundation for this work.
We’re taking a different approach.
The Holy Ideas are objective views of reality, not simply spiritual concepts to understand. Our interest is in what happens when they become directly apprehensible, and particularly what becomes available when we explore their relationships through the geometry of the Enneagram.
We can study the Holy Ideas for years, develop a sophisticated understanding of what they describe, and remain at the level of concepts. We can even have profound experiences associated with them while the familiar organization of perception remains largely unchanged.
In this series, we’ll investigate that organization through phenomenological inquiry, sensing, and direct experience. We’ll explore how the body, nervous system, psychological identity, and our familiar sense of being a separate observer influence what we’re able to apprehend.
My new PDF, Facets of Apprehension, provides the framework for this exploration. It builds on Almaas’s work without revising or replacing it.
The Five Sessions
Each session follows one of the five parts of Facets of Apprehension.
Session 1 — Orientation: From Description to Apprehension (FREE)
We’ll establish our phenomenological approach, introduce the three lenses, and investigate the difference between understanding a Holy Idea and directly apprehending what it reveals. We’ll also begin exploring a question that runs throughout the series: Who is doing the apprehending?
Session 2 — The 9–6–3 Lens: Presence, Receptivity, and Activity
Holy Love, Holy Faith, and Holy Law. We’ll investigate how these three distinct views illuminate one another and how they relate to Presence, Receptivity, and Activity.
Session 3 — The 8–5–2 Lens: Wholeness, Knowing, and Action
Holy Truth, Holy Omniscience, and Holy Will. Our inquiry turns toward the unity of reality, knowing within that unity, and action that doesn’t require a separate doer.
Session 4 — The 1–7–4 Lens: Completeness, Unfolding, and Arising
Holy Perfection, Holy Wisdom, and Holy Origin. We’ll explore how reality can be complete as it is while continuously unfolding and bringing something new into experience.
Session 5 — The Fly’s Eye: Nine Facets, One Reality
We’ll bring all nine Holy Ideas into relationship through what I call the Fly’s Eye. Like the facets of a compound eye, distinct views can participate in a single act of seeing. We’ll investigate simultaneous apprehension and what happens to the psychological self when it no longer needs to maintain one privileged position from which reality is understood.
How the Sessions Work
There are five distinct two-hour sessions, each presented four times: twice on Tuesday and twice on Friday.
The teaching material is the same in all four presentations, but the inquiry and discussion will naturally differ. You’re welcome to attend one, two, three, or all four presentations of each session, without additional cost.
This arrangement accommodates different time zones and busy schedules while offering opportunities to explore the material more than once.
Dates and Times
All times are Pacific Standard Time (PST).
| Session | Tuesday | Friday |
| 1 — FREE | Nov 10, 10 AM & 6 PM | Nov 13, 6 AM & 3 PM |
| 2 | Nov 24, 10 AM & 6 PM | Nov 27, 6 AM & 3 PM |
| 3 | Dec 1, 10 AM & 6 PM | Dec 4, 6 AM & 3 PM |
| 4 | Dec 8, 10 AM & 6 PM | Dec 11, 6 AM & 3 PM |
| 5 | Dec 15, 10 AM & 6 PM | Dec 18, 6 AM & 3 PM |
Registration and Free PDF
Session 1 is FREE. Attend any or all four presentations to become familiar with the approach before deciding whether to continue.
Sessions 2–5: $189 for the complete series, including access to all four presentations of each session.
To register for FREE Session:
Email HarpGnosisBooks@gmail.com with the subject line Holy Ideas Workshop Registration. I’ll reply with registration and Zoom details.
To register for Sessions 2-5:
Register via Eventbrite for paid sessions 2 through 5
Would you like to read the material first?
Email me for a free copy of Facets of Apprehension: A Phenomenological Exploration of A. H. Almaas’s Holy Ideas. The PDF introduces the perspective and provides the framework for all five sessions.
Some familiarity with the Enneagram and the Holy Ideas will be helpful. I recommend Almaas’s Facets of Unity as background reading.
I look forward to exploring this territory together.
This series represents my personal exploration and is not an official Diamond Approach or Ridhwan School offering.
John Harper
Diamond Approach teacher and author