The Alchemy of Freedom
By A. H. Almaas
For millennia alchemists sought the philosophers’ stone, the miracle substance believed to be the key to all the secrets of existence. The quest was fueled by some of the prime questions of human existence: What am I? Why am I here? How has this world come to be?
A. H. Almaas shows that the tremendous liberating power of the mysterious philosophers’ stone is closer to us than we realize. In fact, it is the true nature of all reality. Through the philosophers’ stone, real transformation can happen, our consciousness can become free, and we can open to all the possibilities of reality.
Almaas discusses the factors that are involved in igniting the catalytic property of the philosophers’ stone and then begins to unpack the properties of true nature when free of constraints. It is revealed as endlessly knowable, and yet nothing we can know or say about it exhausts its mystery and power. The result is a new understanding of what liberation and practice are—and a view of what it’s like when seeking ceases and life becomes a process of continual discovery.
"I am just loving The Alchemy of Freedom. A. H. Almaas tells it like it is, without neglecting how it seems to be. He eloquently describes the indescribable ‘true nature’ of reality as the ‘philosophers’ stone,’ the key to the secret of existence, as enlightened, extraordinary ordinariness. He seems intriguingly to speak as if enlightened, yet, most importantly and blessedly, he does not claim ‘enlightenment’ as his possession. He does not trap himself in what the Chan masters of old called ‘the demon ghost cave’ of considering one’s self to be enlightened, and so, set apart from life and above others. In fact, he manifests himself as open-minded, open-hearted, and ever curious. He clearly enjoys life through the exquisitely equalizing wisdom experience. The inconceivable voidness’s compassionate, clearlight way seems to unfold him as its oracular mirror. I so much appreciate his teaching. I could go on, but better that he goes on with his lapidary guidance, and best that you all continue your own journey of discoveries with this great gift of a book!" —Tenzin Robert A. F. Thurman, founder and president of Tibet House US and author of Man of Peace: The Illustrated Life Story of the Dalai Lama of Tibet