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Adi Da graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy in 1961 and went on to complete a Master's Degree in English Literature at Stanford University in 1966.<ref>Jones (1972) pp. 11-17.</ref> In his later life, he said his college years were a crucial period, during which he became well-versed in western philosophy, art, and psychology.<ref>Samraj (2004) pp. 75-78.</ref>
Adi Da graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy in 1961 and went on to complete a Master's Degree in English Literature at Stanford University in 1966.<ref>Jones (1972) pp. 11-17.</ref> In his later life, he said his college years were a crucial period, during which he became well-versed in western philosophy, art, and psychology.<ref>Samraj (2004) pp. 75-78.</ref>


Beginning in 1964, Adi Da studied with a succession of spiritual teachers in both the West and the East. His first teacher, based in New York City, was a disciple of [[Swami Muktananda]], called [[Rudi (Swami Rudrananda)|Swami Rudrananda]] or simply Rudi. Adi Da described engaging in rigorous practice under Rudi's guidance, eventually traveling to India to meet Rudi's guru, Swami Muktananda.<ref>Jones (1972) pp. 39-59.</ref> In 1968, Adi Da went to see Swami Muktananda in Ganeshpuri, India for the first time and described having extraordinary spiritual experiences in his company.<ref>Jones (1972) pp. 70-83.</ref> After a second trip to Swami Muktananda's ashram, upon returning to America, Adi Da and his then wife first became members and then employees of the [[Church of Scientology]] for over one year.<ref>Jones (1972) pp. 84-86.</ref> He returned to India in 1969, when Swami Muktananda formally authorized him to initiate others into the [[Siddha Yoga]] tradition.<ref>Jones (1972) p. 97.</ref>
Beginning in 1964, Adi Da engaged in a series of spiritual traditions. His first teacher, based in New York City, was a disciple of [[Swami Muktananda]], called [[Rudi (Swami Rudrananda)|Swami Rudrananda]] or simply Rudi. He also studied at a [[Lutheran]] seminary in Philadelphia<ref>Bubba Free John, The Knee of Listening", pp.59-60</ref>. In 1968, Adi Da went to see Swami Muktananda in Ganeshpuri, India for the first time and described having extraordinary spiritual experiences in his company.<ref>Jones (1972) pp. 70-83.</ref> After a second trip to Swami Muktananda's ashram, upon returning to America, Adi Da and his then wife first became members and then employees of the [[Church of Scientology]] for over one year.<ref>Jones (1972) pp. 84-86.</ref> He returned to India in 1969, when Swami Muktananda formally authorized him to initiate others into the [[Siddha Yoga]] tradition.<ref>Jones (1972) p. 97.</ref>


[[File:AdiDaandMuktananda.gif|thumb|Adi Da sitting with Swami Muktananda]] Throughout these years, Adi Da claimed to have experienced every form of spiritual attainment and insight. Having explored Western philosophy and Eastern esoteric traditions, Adi Da wrote that he realized none of the approaches he had encountered regarding the question of human suffering were sufficient, because none of them could engender the state of awareness he had inherently known as a child.<ref>Samraj (2004) pp. 230-245.</ref> Later in 1970, Adi Da said that while sitting in the Vedanta Temple in Los Angeles, CA, he permanently became re-established in "The Bright."<ref>Jones (1972) pp. 9-11, 135-160.</ref> In 1971, during his final trip to India, it became clear to Adi Da, that he and Swami Muktananda differed over the nature of enlightenment, and he then returned to America and began to teach.<ref>Jones (1972) pp. 122-130.</ref>
[[File:AdiDaandMuktananda.gif|thumb|Adi Da sitting with Swami Muktananda]] Throughout these years, Adi Da claimed to have experienced every form of spiritual attainment and insight. Having explored Western philosophy and Eastern esoteric traditions, Adi Da wrote that he realized none of the approaches he had encountered regarding the question of human suffering were sufficient, because none of them could engender the state of awareness he had inherently known as a child.<ref>Samraj (2004) pp. 230-245.</ref> Later in 1970, Adi Da said that while sitting in the Vedanta Temple in Los Angeles, CA, he permanently became re-established in "The Bright."<ref>Jones (1972) pp. 9-11, 135-160.</ref> In 1971, during his final trip to India, it became clear to Adi Da, that he and Swami Muktananda differed over the nature of enlightenment, and he then returned to America and began to teach.<ref>Jones (1972) pp. 122-130.</ref>

Revision as of 15:34, 12 September 2009

Adi Da Samraj
Adi Da Samraj
Born(1939-11-03)3 November 1939
New York, New York, United States
Died27 November 2008(2008-11-27) (aged 69)
Naitaba, Lau Islands, Fiji

Adi Da Samraj (Devanāgarī: अादि द समराज) (November 3, 1939 – November 27, 2008),[1][2] born Franklin Albert Jones in Jamaica, Queens, New York, was a contemporary, often controversial guru, spiritual writer, and artist. He was the founder of a new religious movement known as Adidam. At different points in his career he went by different names which he said reflected changes in his teaching method. These names included Bubba Free John, Da Free John, Da Love-Ananda, Da Kalki, and Da Avabhasa.

Similar to many Asian philosophical and religious traditions, Adi Da taught that unhappiness is caused by the illusion of ego, or separate self, which he described as an activity called "the self-contraction."[3] He said that true happiness and fulfillment could be recovered, but emphasized that no technique or self-effort would prove truly successful. Owing to his proclaimed unique spiritual attainment and status as an avatar,[4] he said only complete devotion to him as guru would stop the activity of "self-contraction" and result in ultimate realization.

In the mid 1980s, allegations by former devotees of financial, sexual and emotional abuses within Adidam were widely reported in a number of newspapers and on local television news,[5][6] culminating in national coverage on NBC's The Today Show. These allegations resulted in a number of lawsuits on both sides. Adidam said that these allegations were part of a conspiracy to extort large sums of money from the movement.[7]

Biography

Adi Da as a child

Adi Da was born Franklin Albert Jones in Jamaica, Queens County, New York on November 3, 1939, and said that from the time of his birth, he existed in a unique state of spiritual illumination and boundless joy, which as a child he called "The Bright." Adi Da said that while growing up, he was dismayed to notice that others did not seem to exist in the same state he enjoyed, saying that he then realized his life purpose: to discover why other human beings did not live in the state that he knew, and what they would have to do in order to realize it.[8]

Adi Da graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy in 1961 and went on to complete a Master's Degree in English Literature at Stanford University in 1966.[9] In his later life, he said his college years were a crucial period, during which he became well-versed in western philosophy, art, and psychology.[10]

Beginning in 1964, Adi Da engaged in a series of spiritual traditions. His first teacher, based in New York City, was a disciple of Swami Muktananda, called Swami Rudrananda or simply Rudi. He also studied at a Lutheran seminary in Philadelphia[11]. In 1968, Adi Da went to see Swami Muktananda in Ganeshpuri, India for the first time and described having extraordinary spiritual experiences in his company.[12] After a second trip to Swami Muktananda's ashram, upon returning to America, Adi Da and his then wife first became members and then employees of the Church of Scientology for over one year.[13] He returned to India in 1969, when Swami Muktananda formally authorized him to initiate others into the Siddha Yoga tradition.[14]

File:AdiDaandMuktananda.gif
Adi Da sitting with Swami Muktananda

Throughout these years, Adi Da claimed to have experienced every form of spiritual attainment and insight. Having explored Western philosophy and Eastern esoteric traditions, Adi Da wrote that he realized none of the approaches he had encountered regarding the question of human suffering were sufficient, because none of them could engender the state of awareness he had inherently known as a child.[15] Later in 1970, Adi Da said that while sitting in the Vedanta Temple in Los Angeles, CA, he permanently became re-established in "The Bright."[16] In 1971, during his final trip to India, it became clear to Adi Da, that he and Swami Muktananda differed over the nature of enlightenment, and he then returned to America and began to teach.[17]

In 1972, Adi Da began teaching in a bookstore in Los Angeles, California that came to be known as the "Melrose Avenue Ashram", where he developed a new religious movement he initially called "The Dawn Horse Communion", now known as "Adidam."[18] In 1973, Adi Da (then Franklin Jones) adopted the name "Bubba Free John" initiating the first in a series of personal name changes, which he said reflected changes in his teaching method. Subsequent names included Da Free John, Da Love-Ananda, Da Kalki, Da Avabhasa, and finally Adi Da Samraj.[19]

Adi Da wrote over 60 books describing his teachings.[20]

Adi Da died of a heart attack on November 27, 2008 at his home on Naitauba Island, Fiji.[1]

Teachings

Adi Da taught that ego is an activity, not an entity, and that it is the source of all dissatisfaction. He called this activity "self-contraction" and said that all efforts to unite with the divine from the point of view of a separate self were futile, and only devotion to him as a uniquely spiritually accomplished being was able to make the activity of self-contraction fully transparent and unnecessary.[21][22]

Central to Adi Da's teaching is his model of the seven stages of life. It details his conception of the spiritual development of the human being: the first six stages are defined as forms of self-contraction, with only the seventh stage representing the fully enlightened state, a condition he called "The Bright.":[23]

File:Sevenstagesalt2.jpg
Illustrative chart of Adi Da's seven stages of life (Click to enlarge)
  • First Stage--individuation/physical development
  • Second Stage--socialization
  • Third Stage--integration/mental development
  • Fourth Stage--spiritualization/Divine Communion
  • Fifth Stage--spiritual ascent
  • Sixth Stage--abiding in consciousness
  • Seventh Stage--Divine Enlightenment: awakening from all egoic limitations

Declaration of Unique Realization

Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary in Cobb, California

Adi Da wrote, "I Am the first (and the only one) to realize and to demonstrate...seventh stage realization...which (now, and forever hereafter) I alone, and uniquely, reveal and transmit to all my formally practicing true devotees and thus potentially to all beings."[24] Adi Da said that those who realized the fourth stage of life (including St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross) should be considered "saints"; fifth stage realizers (including Jesus and Swami Muktananda) "yogis"; and sixth stage realizers (including Gautama Buddha and Ramana Maharshi) "sages".

In an early book, Adi Da wrote "The world is the Avatar ... It is humanity as a whole that is the Avatar in human form, not some specific human individual. No apparent or exclusive manifestation is in itself the Avatar."[25] However, later he stated, "Distinct from even all yogis, saints, and sages (or even all realizers in the context of the first six stages of life), I am uniquely, and avatarically born." Adi Da emphasized that the seventh stage of life could exclusively be realized through devotion to him as the uniquely historic avatar.[26] "Those who do not heart-recognize me and heart-respond to me - and who (therefore) are without faith in me - do not (and cannot) realize me. Therefore, they (by means of their own self-contraction from me) remain ego-bound to the realm of cosmic nature, and to the ever-changing round of conditional knowledge and temporary experience, and to the ceaselessly repetitive cycles of birth and search and loss and death."[27]

Adidam

File:Da Love-Ananda Mahal.jpg
Da Love-Ananda Mahal in Kauai, Hawaii

Adidam is based on the belief that the guru is able to accelerate the spiritual development of the follower through their own spiritual power, by letting go of the ego in the practice of devotion to Adi Da as satguru. He said that by meditating on him, a follower can duplicate his realization.[28][29][30] While apparently similar to other forms of guru yoga, Adidam is distinguished by Adi Da's declaration of "avatarhood," by which Adi Da defined himself as the sole means of realization.[31]

While based on Naitauba Island, Fiji, there are five officially designated ashrams or sanctuaries belonging to Adidam, three of which are located in North America.[32] In a 1999 news article they claimed 1,800 members worldwide.[33]

Books

Adi Da wrote over 60 books, creating the Dawn Horse Press to publish them.[34] Adidam describes the book The Dawn Horse Testament as "a complete summary of the entire Way of Adidam,"[35] with twenty-two other books expanding it's major themes.

Other books feature topics including art, death and dying, diet, exercise, sexuality, healing, cooperative living, and child rearing.[36] He also wrote a novel, The Mummery Book, which has been adapted for theatrical performance.[37]

Art

Orpheus and Eurydice

In the last decade of his life, Adi Da produced visual art which he called "Transcendental Realism." These works were primarily photographic and digital-image based. In 2007 and 2008, his art was included in exhibitions in Venice (Italy),[38] Florence (Italy),[39] Los Angeles (California),[40] and at the Scope/New York art fair.[41]

The Spectra Suites,[42] a book of Adi Da's art, has an introduction by American art historian and critic Donald Kuspit.[43]

Reception

Controversies

In 1985, Adi Da and his movement were sued by a former member for (among other things) fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, and assault and battery; the suit sought $5 million in damages.[6] Adidam then filed its own suit naming the former member and five others for abuse of process, extortion, breach of fiduciary duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The suit further charged that the six former members tried to deprive the movement of its "constitutionally protected rights to freedom of religion". Adidam sought $20 million in damages. [7]

Around the time of these lawsuits, Adi Da and Adidam (then known as Da Free John and The Johannine Daist Communion) were subjects of a report on The Today Show.[44] There, and in other media reports, ex-members alleged that Adi Da engaged in psychologically, sexually and physically abusive behavior.

Adidam charged that these public allegations were part of a conspiracy to extort large sums of money from the movement.[7] Adidam said that the former members, (some of whom appeared on the Today show report)[44] "met several times to discuss, conspire and scheme to obtain extraordinary sums of money from Adidam under the threat of destroying the church".[7] Adidam stated that before the media campaign had occurred they had received a letter from the former members demanding $5.2 million dollars. In the letter the former members said if their demands were not met, they might undertake to destroy the movement.[7]

Local media also reported that an Adidam spokesman disclosed that despite previous denials, controversial sexual practices involving the guru had continued after 1976 but had been hidden from some members and the general public. [45] An Adidam official said that no illegal acts took place and the movement had a right to continue experiments in lifestyles.[46]

In 2005, the Washington Post reported: '"The lawsuits and threatened suits that dogged the group in the mid-1980s were settled with payments and confidentiality agreements", says a California lawyer, Ford Greene, who handled three such cases.'[5]

Influence

In his published endorsement for Adi Da's The Dawn Horse Testament, author and theorist Ken Wilber wrote, "This is not merely my personal opinion; this is a perfectly obvious fact, available to anyone of intelligence, sensitivity, and integrity: [this book] is the most ecstatic, most profound, most complete, most radical, and most comprehensive single spiritual text ever to be penned and confessed by the Human Transcendental Spirit."[47][48] He went on to recommend Adi Da as a spiritual teacher to those interested in his own writings.

Later, Wilber qualified this endorsement of Adi Da in a statement on his publisher's website, stating "Da is capable of some truly exquisite insights, but in other areas, he has fared less well, and this has increasingly verged on the catastrophic."[49]

He then seemed to reverse this qualification in a letter sent to the Adidam community in 1998, and subsequently available on the internet: "Many people have made their way to Master Da because of my own writings. I am completely happy about that...I do not regret those endorsements, nor do I retract them...I affirm my own love and devotion to [Adi Da], and I hope my work will continue to bring students to [Adidam]."[50][51]

Acknowledging this letter, Wilber then wrote a final statement, again on his publisher's website: "I affirm all of the extremes of my statements about Da: he is one of the greatest spiritual Realizers of all time, in my opinion, and yet other aspects of his personality lag far behind those extraordinary heights. By all means look to him for utterly profound revelations, unequaled in many ways; yet step into his community at your own risk."[52]

Early in his career, the yoga and religious scholar Georg Feuerstein was an admirer of Adi Da. Later he came to amend his position, becoming publicly critical of Adi Da and the community surrounding him in Fiji. Feuerstein devoted a full chapter to Adi Da in his book Holy Madness: Spirituality, Crazy-Wise Teachers, and Enlightenment. In the introduction to a later edition, Feuerstein describes having edited the sections devoted to Adi Da to reflect these changes in opinion.[53]

In 2003, religious scholar Jeffrey Kripal wrote a foreword to Adi Da's autobiography The Knee of Listening. In it Kripal said, referring to Adi Da's writings:

In my opinion, this latter total corpus constitutes the most doctrinally thorough, the most philosophically sophisticated, the most culturally challenging, and the most creatively original literature currently available in the English language.[54]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Spiritual leader passes on, Fiji Times, November 28, 2008.
  2. ^ Adidam home page
  3. ^ Samraj (2005) pp. 57-58
  4. ^ Samraj (2005) p. 434
  5. ^ a b Deep Throat's Daughter, The Kindred Free Spirit, Washington Post, June 12, 2005.
  6. ^ a b Sex Slave Sues Guru: Pacific Isle Orgies Charged San Francisco Chronicle, April 4, 1985.
  7. ^ a b c d e Da Free John Sect Sues 6 Ex-Members On Extortion Charge, The Mill Valley Record, April 17, 1985.
  8. ^ Samraj (2004) pp. 26-27.
  9. ^ Jones (1972) pp. 11-17.
  10. ^ Samraj (2004) pp. 75-78.
  11. ^ Bubba Free John, The Knee of Listening", pp.59-60
  12. ^ Jones (1972) pp. 70-83.
  13. ^ Jones (1972) pp. 84-86.
  14. ^ Jones (1972) p. 97.
  15. ^ Samraj (2004) pp. 230-245.
  16. ^ Jones (1972) pp. 9-11, 135-160.
  17. ^ Jones (1972) pp. 122-130.
  18. ^ Lewis (2001) p. 215
  19. ^ Feuerstein, Georg and Feuerstein, Patricia (1982) Remembrance Of The Divine Names of Da, ISBN 0913922722
  20. ^ http://www.adidam.org/adi-da/mahasamadhi.aspx
  21. ^ Samraj (2005a) pp. 57-58
  22. ^ Samraj (2005a) pp. 271-273
  23. ^ Samraj (2005b) pp. 59-71
  24. ^ Samraj (2005b) p. 162
  25. ^ John, Bubba Free "The Garbage and the Goddess", 1974, p. 335 ISBN 0913922102
  26. ^ Samraj (2005b) p. 93
  27. ^ Adi Da, "Aham Da Asmi", p. 77
  28. ^ Samraj (2004) p 198
  29. ^ The Heart of the Path: Seeing the Guru as Buddha, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, Boston, 2009.
  30. ^ Play of Consciousness (Chitshakti Vilas), A Spiritual Autobiography, Swami Muktananda, SYDA Foundation, New York, 1994
  31. ^ Samraj (2009) pp. 123-124
  32. ^ The Adidam Global Community of Websites
  33. ^ Adidam Comes to the North Coast North Coast Journal, 14 January 1999.
  34. ^ The Divine Mahasamadhi of Avatar Adi Da Samraj Adidam website. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  35. ^ The Dawn Horse Testament Adidam website. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  36. ^ Books by Adi Da Samraj The Dawn Horse Press. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  37. ^ The Mummery Book: A Parable of the Divine True Love Amazon.com. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  38. ^ The art of Adi Da Samraj: Venice Biennale
  39. ^ The art of Adi Da Samraj: Winter in Florence
  40. ^ Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions: Adi Da Samraj
  41. ^ Scope Art Show: New York
  42. ^ Samraj (2007)
  43. ^ Kuspit, Donald (2007) Introduction to The Spectra Suites
  44. ^ a b Transcript of NBC Today Show report on Da Free John, Transcript by Steve Hassan, 2000; retrieved November 2, 2006.
  45. ^ Sex Practices Did Not Cease, Marin Cult Officials Admit The San Francisco Chronicle, April 9, 1985.
  46. ^ Sexual Experiments Continued after '76, JDC Officials Admit The Mill Valley Record, April 10, 1985.
  47. ^ Wilber, Ken (1985) Review of Adi Da's The Dawn Horse Testament - www.adidawilber.com
  48. ^ Insert footnote text here
  49. ^ The Case of Adi Da Ken Wilber Online. October 11, 1996.
  50. ^ Ken Wilber, Ken (1997) "Private" letter to the Adidam community - www.adidawilber.com
  51. ^ http://wilber.shambhala.com/html/misc/adida_update.cfm/
  52. ^ An Update on the Case of Adi Da Ken Wilber Online. August 28, 1998.
  53. ^ Feuerstein (2006) chapter 4.
  54. ^ Foreword by Jeffrey Kripal

References

  • Feuerstein, Georg (2006). Holy Madness: Spirituality, Crazy-Wise Teachers, And Enlightenment, Hohm Press. ISBN 1-890772-54-2
  • Jones, Franklin. (1972). The Knee Of Listening, CSA Press. ISBN 978-0-87707-093-1
  • Kripal, Jeffrey J. (2004). Foreword to 'The Knee Of Listening', Dawn Horse Press. ISBN 1-57097-167-6
  • Lewis, James R. (2001). Odd Gods: New Religions and the Cult Controversy Book, Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-842-9
  • Samraj, Adi Da. (1998). Aham Da Asmi, Dawn Horse Press. ISBN 1-57097-049-1
  • Samraj, Adi Da. (2000). The Seven Stages Of Life, Dawn Horse Press. ISBN 1-57097-105-6
  • Samraj, Adi Da. (2004). The Knee Of Listening, Dawn Horse Press. ISBN 1-57097-167-6
  • Samraj, Adi Da. (2005a). My 'Bright' Word, Dawn Horse Press. ISBN 1-57097-205-2
  • Samraj, Adi Da. (2005b). Eleutherios, Dawn Horse Press. ISBN 1-57097-187-0
  • Samraj, Adi Da. (2005c). Da Love-Ananda Gita, Dawn Horse Press. ISBN 978-1-57097-166-2
  • Samraj, Adi Da. (2007). The Spectra Suites, New York: Welcome Books. ISBN 978-1-59962-031-2
  • Samraj, Adi Da. (2009). The Boundless Self-Confession, Dawn Horse Press. ISBN 978-1-57097-260-7
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