Most suffering is manufactured by the mind. It can be unmade the same way.
I was ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh and taught by some of the great teachers of the last century. I have spent more than thirty years helping people find inner harmony and contentment.
Four threads, one life
Lineage, lived experience, practice and science
Lineage
Ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh in 1998 and a 43rd-generation teacher of the Linji School of Zen. Yoga Master under Gurudev Amrit Desai. A Chopra-certified meditation instructor for more than twenty years.
Life
Thirty-three years of continuous sobriety. His first book, Soul Silence, grew out of that journey and made the Eleventh Step practical for people of every faith and none.
Practice
Founder of Harmony Mountain Institute and Inner Harmony Wellness in 1997. Co-founder and chair of the National Integrative Medicine Council, with Dr. Andrew Weil.
Science
A PhD in Mind-Body Medicine from Saybrook University. His doctoral research produced the Theory of Awakening, a grounded-theory map of how people actually wake up.
The only promise
“If you allow what happened to me to happen to you, you’ll experience change. Whether it’s a little bit or a lot is up to you. That’s all I can promise.”Peter Amato
The Amato Method
A living framework, built over thirty years.
Three traditions meet in the Amato Method: the “I Am” teaching of Advaita and Zen, Mahayana mindfulness, and the yogic science of the five koshas. One method, with language that changes to fit whoever is walking it.
- The I AMMeeting your true self, the witness of your thoughts, often for the very first time.
- The Theory of AwakeningHis doctoral map of the journey through states of consciousness and stages of growth.
- The Inner Harmony ApproachThe language, path and manual for walking it, day by day.
1999
Then came India.
From the moment he stepped off the plane in Delhi, he describes it as arriving in another world. What followed were ashrams, sacred sites and silence, in the living traditions of the great teachers of the last century.
From his chapter “India: The Mother of Love” in A Blessing in Disguise.
One method, several pathways
The same teaching, offered in the way that fits you.
Integrative care at Inner Harmony Wellness. Private immersions at Harmony Mountain. Teaching and training at the Institute.
The book
Soul Silence: The Path of Awakening
The expanded second edition (2025) of his Los Angeles Times bestseller, now including his doctoral Theory of Awakening and the method that grew from it.
“Peter Amato’s book, Soul Silence, is a guide for the countless individuals struggling to navigate through recovery.”Deepak Chopra