Ep. 214 (Part 2 of 2) | Part 2 of the 16th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series takes us on a sweet journey farther into our exploration of the nature of the absolute. Hameed Ali discusses the paradox of the absolute, being both source and cessation of all things, the nonduality of emptiness and beingness, these being two sides of the same coin, and explains why many nondual teachings do not touch upon the absolute. He makes sense of the difficult-to-fathom concept of pure emptiness, explaining that the absolute’s nature is absence—in contrast with presence—and relates that Mystery is the essence of the absolute, the fundamental essence of the nature of reality. “We are never going to know where it’s at, what’s happening, what life is about,” he laughs. Our knowledge is but “small islands in the vast ocean of mystery we live in;” mystery cannot be eliminated.

In the absolute, the soul finds its final resting place, Hameed tells us. The absolute is our true home—the essence of the meaning of home. All humans are searching for their true home, Hameed says, and they search in many places. But here the search is over. Reflections of the absolute bring us closer to love, like when we are in love, Hameed continues. Being in love with an outer beloved brings us closer to the inner beloved and we see deeper. “The absolute is total intimacy, Hameed finishes. “In the absolute we are intimate with everything.” How do we express this in the world, in our ordinary lives? “It becomes very simple,” Hameed says. “The absolute is the essence of simplicity—so simple, even though there is a profundity…” Recorded October 9, 2025.

“You don’t have to experience the absolute to know nonduality.”

Topics & Time Stamps – Part 2

Emptiness is nondual with consciousness, two sides of the same thing (01:03)
Many nondual teachings don’t talk about the absolute (02:50)
You don’t have to experience the absolute to know nonduality (03:32)
There’s no sense of individual self, but some teachings take the absolute as the ultimate Self (04:52)
Making sense of pure emptiness: the absolute’s nature is absence—in contrast with presence (09:47)
The absolute is the essence of mystery (12:59)
Experiencing all phenomena as projections of the absolute (13:57)
The absolute reveals that true nature itself is unmanifest (17:58)
Mystery is the nature of the absolute; the absolute IS mystery (19:08)
The absolute is the extreme limit of purity; the heart empty of everything except the love of God (23:13)
We live in an ocean of mystery; what we know are little islands (25:07)
The search ends in the absolute; the soul is home (27:32)
Reflections

Finding Our True Home in the Absolute: Experiencing Intimacy with Everything, with A. H. Almaas

Deep Transformation