Each retreat has a theme related to a core teaching of the Diamond Approach. The sequence of these teachings follows the Diamond Approach path. The same teaching is provided to all students no matter where they live in the world.

In all its group meetings Diamond Approach Australia uses an experiential approach that includes talks, spiritual practices (e.g. inquiry, meditation and awareness), experiential exercises, large group discussion and personal exploration. Usually a retreat day commences at 9.30am and concludes at 5.30pm. The day is divided into two, three-hour sessions with a 90-minute break for lunch. Each session starts with a meditation practice followed by a specific teaching related to the theme of the retreat.

Students deepen their personal inquiry through experiential exercises, usually in pairs or triads, before re-joining the large group to process what has emerged in response to the teaching.

There are three Sydney-based retreats each year that you commit to attend in person. Retreats are held in January, June and October and total 13 days (i.e. usually two five-day retreats and one three-day retreat). In addition, between each retreat there are small group meetings organised in your area or online.

Deepening your inquiry process is supported through individual sessions with your private teacher. You are also encouraged to develop individual meditation, awareness and inquiry practices. These practices are viewed as essential for you to really learn and integrate the spiritual realisations possible on this path. So, making time for individual practice daily is important.

There are fees for each aspect of participating in the Diamond Approach Australia process. The fees include payments for: i) three Diamond Approach Australia retreats and six interim small group meetings (approximately $2,600 per year GST inclusive): ii) monthly individual teacher sessions ($130 per session); iii) membership fees for the Ridhwan Foundation (sliding scale between $80-$160 per year), and the Diamond Approach Australia Student Association ($10 per year).

Fees are kept as low as possible and are mostly less than other comparable self-development experiences. Expenses associated with travel, accommodation and food are not included in Diamond Approach Australia fees and are the only additional costs that you would incur.

Our students make only an inner commitment to their participation in Diamond Approach Australia and the Diamond Approach, so you are not required to sign a contract of any kind with Diamond Approach Australia.

People of all nationalities, races, cultures, ethnicities, creeds, generations, sexes, genders, abilities and sexualities may participate at any level of Diamond Approach Australia and the Ridhwan School. The Diamond Approach teaching on totality appreciates differences in these areas of human experience and encourages openness to understanding diversity more deeply, including examining our unconscious biases in these areas. As a spiritual community and learning centre Diamond Approach Australia is non-discriminatory and actively supports inclusiveness in offering this path.

As part of our vision, we recognise the effects of power and privilege that arise in relation to our differences, and that these effects may be individual, interpersonal and systemic as well as visible and invisible. We seek to reduce these dynamics in individual teacher sessions, interpersonal relationships and group teachings. We also seek to express this vision in the organisational structures, policies, procedures, and functioning of Diamond Approach Australia. As with the Diamond Approach itself, this vision is growing and evolving, and we understand the need for an active and ongoing engagement with it.