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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)
Naitauba, 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 "self-contraction."[3] He said that all efforts or techniques to become happy from this already assumed separation were futile, and that only devotional meditation [4][5] on him as avatar and satguru could truly liberate one from this activity of separation.[6]

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,[7][8] 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.[9]

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.[10]

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.[11] 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.[12]

Beginning in 1964, Adi Da explored a series of spiritual traditions. His first teacher, based in New York City, was Swami Rudrananda, often known as simply Rudi, a disciple of Bhagawan Nityananda, who was at the time also affiliated with Swami Muktananda. At Rudi's request, Adi Da also studied at a Lutheran seminary in Philadelphia[13]. 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.[14] 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.[15] He returned to India in 1969, when Swami Muktananda formally authorized him to initiate others into the Siddha Yoga tradition.[16]

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.[17] 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."[18] 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.[19]

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."[20] 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.[21]

In 1983, Adi Da moved to the Fijian island of Naitauba (purchased by a devotee from actor Raymond Burr) and it became his principal residence. He continued to travel to the U.S. and Europe throughout the 80's and 90's, while more permanently residing on Naitauba during the final years of his life.[22][23][24][25]

Adi Da had four children, three biological daughters with three different women, and one adopted daughter.[26]

Adi Da died of a heart attack on November 27, 2008 at his home in 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.[27][28]

File:Sevenstagesalt2.jpg

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.":[29]

  • 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."[30] 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".

Adi Da further declared, "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 thus emphasized that the seventh stage of life could only be realized through devotion to him as a uniquely historic avatar.[31]

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

Adidam

Adidam refers to both the organization of Adi Da's devotees and the practice he taught. Following the religious principle that "you become what you meditate on," Adidam followers meditate on Adi Da.[25] Practitioners of Adidam believe that by devotional meditation on Adi Da as the sole means of realization, a follower can accelerate their spiritual development and eventually duplicate his realization.[32][33]

The practice of Adidam also consists of the observation of specific disciplines relative to diet, exercise, and sexuality. Adi Da wrote that practitioners of Adidam should eat a diet consisting entirely of raw foods, engage forms of exercise such as hatha yoga twice a day, and practice sexuality conservatively. Adi Da said that the observance of these disciplines balance and purify the body and support the devotional practice of meditation on him. Adi Da refers to these disciplines as the practice of "right life".[34]

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.[35] In a 2008 news article they reported 2,000 members worldwide.[36]

Spokesperson for the Naitauba Trust, owner of the island, Matt Wilson said Adi Da's followers range from many countries around the world and continue to maintain Naitauba as a center for quiet study and contemplation for those who come there year round, and also said that Adi Da encouraged his students to study the world's great religious traditions. Mr. Wilson also said that Adi Da was a legal renunciate, who owned no personal possessions.[37] Mr. Wilson commented that Naitauba is a significant contributor to the economy of the Lau Group saying, "It provides employment and contributes to many social and educational causes including scholarships for students in the Lau and Cakaudrove provinces."[37]

Works

Books

File:The Aletheon.gif
The Aletheon

Adi Da wrote over 60 books, creating the Dawn Horse Press to publish them.[38] Of these, Adi Da designated five books as being a complete summary of his teaching: The Aletheon, The Gnosticon, The Pneumaton, Transcendental Realism, and Not-Two Is Peace. Currently, only The Aletheon, Transcendental Realism, and Not-Two Is Peace have been published, with The Gnosticon and The Pneumaton available as pre-publications under different names.

Adi Da describes The Aletheon as being his "Full and Final Revelation" containing a complete treatise of his seventh stage teaching. It is Adi Da's largest book, which he designated to be his most significant written work. The Gnosticon contains renderings of and commentaries on what Adi Da considers the essential "sixth stage" non-dual texts of Buddhism and Hinduism in relationship to the "seventh stage" Way of Adidam.[39] Likewise, The Pneumaton is Adi Da's re-telling of the New Testament and other "fourth-to-fifth stage" texts of Christian Mysticism.[40] Transcendental Realism contains his essays on art, and Not-Two Is Peace his essays on achieving world peace.[41][42][43][44]

In addition to these five books, Adi Da wrote twenty-two other books detailing his spiritual teaching and the practice of Adidam. The central text of this series is titled The Dawn Horse Testament, which Adi Da described as being a complete summary of the Way of Adidam, with the twenty-two other books expanding its major themes.[45]

Other books feature topics including religious and spiritual traditions, science, art, death and dying, diet, exercise, sexuality, healing, cooperative living, and child rearing.[46]

Adi Da also wrote a philosophical novel titled, The Mummery Book, a novel that follows the life adventures of the hero, Raymond Darling, in an attempt to portray, in dramatic terms, the limitations of individual perspective and the ultimate freedom of what Adi Da calls “aperspectival” reality. Traditionally, a “mummery” was a masked pantomime intended to communicate to the audience that everyone is a “mummer,” an actor in a drama. Similarly, the novel of The Mummery Book has been performed as a theatrical enactment.[47][48]

Adi Da also undertook a large examination of the world's religious traditions based on his model of the seven stages of life, which culminated in an annotated bibliography of what he considered the world's greatest religious texts. He called this bibliography The Basket Of Tolerance.[49] Adi Da stated that his purpose for creating The Basket Of Tolerance was to create a study and respect for all the world's great religious traditions.[50]

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),[51] Florence (Italy),[52] Los Angeles (California),[53] and at the Scope/New York art fair.[54]

The Spectra Suites,[55] a book of Adi Da's art, has an introduction by American art historian and critic Donald Kuspit.[56]

Reception

Controversies

Adi Da's spiritual teaching and the activities undertaken by his organization have attracted controversy in the public. 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.[8] 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.[9]

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.[57] 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.[9] Adidam said that the former members, (some of whom appeared on the Today show report)[57] "met several times to discuss, conspire and scheme to obtain extraordinary sums of money from Adidam under the threat of destroying the church".[9] 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.[9]

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.[58] An Adidam official said that no illegal acts took place and the movement had a right to continue experiments in lifestyles.[59]

In all there were just two lawsuits.[25] The first was brought by a former member of Adidam in the midst of a difficult divorce. In November 1985, a Marin County judge ruled that she had no legal basis for filing the lawsuit and the Marin County Superior Court dismissed the case.[25][60]

In 2005, the Washington Post reported that the other lawsuit was "settled with payments and confidentiality agreements", says a California lawyer, Ford Greene, who handled three such cases.'[7] According to Adidam's attorney, both of the lawsuits were eventually dropped and said the accusations all stemmed from a bitter divorce between a member and former member.[25]

Influence

Ken Wilber

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."[61] 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."[62]

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]."[63][64] 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."[65]

Others

Early in his career, the yoga and religious scholar Georg Feuerstein was an admirer of Adi Da. He later amended 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.[66]

Ed Kowalczyk, lead singer of the band Live, revealed in press materials for a 1997 album that he was a devotee of Adi Da. He was ridiculed in the press.[67][68]

Gabriel Cousens wrote of Adi Da's The Promised God-Man Is Here, "This extraordinary book creates a powerful experience of the Reality and Truth of Ruchira Avatar Adi Da Samraj. Because it so poignantly quotes and clarifies His Teaching and His Life, it has deepened my experience of Him as the Divine Gift established in the cosmic domain."[69] He also mentions Adi Da in his books Spiritual Nutrition and Tachyon Energy.[70]

In 2003, religious scholar Jeffrey Kripal wrote a foreword to Adi Da's autobiography The Knee of Listening. Referring to Adi Da's writings he wrote, "In my opinion, the total corpus of his twenty-three Source-Texts, including The Knee Of Listening, constitutes the most doctrinally thorough, the most philosophically sophisticated, the most culturally challenging, and the most creatively original literature on radical nonduality currently available in the English language."[71]

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. ^ The Heart of the Path: Seeing the Guru as Buddha, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, Boston, 2009.
  5. ^ Play of Consciousness (Chitshakti Vilas), A Spiritual Autobiography, Swami Muktananda, SYDA Foundation, New York, 1994
  6. ^ Samraj (2005) p. 434
  7. ^ a b Deep Throat's Daughter, The Kindred Free Spirit, Washington Post, June 12, 2005.
  8. ^ a b Sex Slave Sues Guru: Pacific Isle Orgies Charged San Francisco Chronicle, April 4, 1985.
  9. ^ a b c d e Da Free John Sect Sues 6 Ex-Members On Extortion Charge, The Mill Valley Record, April 17, 1985.
  10. ^ Samraj (2004) pp. 26-27.
  11. ^ Jones (1972) pp. 11-17.
  12. ^ Samraj (2004) pp. 75-78.
  13. ^ Bubba Free John, The Knee of Listening", pp.59-60
  14. ^ Jones (1972) pp. 70-83.
  15. ^ Jones (1972) pp. 84-86.
  16. ^ Jones (1972) p. 97.
  17. ^ Samraj (2004) pp. 230-245.
  18. ^ Jones (1972) pp. 9-11, 135-160.
  19. ^ Jones (1972) pp. 122-130.
  20. ^ Lewis (2001) p. 215
  21. ^ Feuerstein, Georg and Feuerstein, Patricia (1982) Remembrance Of The Divine Names of Da, ISBN 0913922722
  22. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/11/AR2005061100724.html
  23. ^ http://www.adidaupclose.org/Empowered_Places/sanctuaries.html
  24. ^ http://www.adidam.org/adi-da/biography-5.aspx
  25. ^ a b c d e http://www.northcoastjournal.com/011499/cover0114.html
  26. ^ Feuerstein, 2006, p. 169
  27. ^ Samraj (2005a) pp. 57-58
  28. ^ Samraj (2005a) pp. 271-273
  29. ^ Samraj (2005b) pp. 59-71
  30. ^ Samraj (2005b) p. 162
  31. ^ Samraj (2005b) p. 93
  32. ^ http://www.adidaupclose.com/introduction/index.html
  33. ^ Samraj (2004) pp 188-198.
  34. ^ Samraj, Adi Da. (2008). "Green Gorilla". pp 27-28, 55-61, 75-87. Dawn Horse Press. ISBN 978-1-57097-256-0
  35. ^ The Adidam Global Community of Websites
  36. ^ [1] Followers mourn death of spiritual leader] Lake County News, California, 16 December 2008.
  37. ^ a b http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=107501
  38. ^ The Divine Mahasamadhi of Avatar Adi Da Samraj Adidam website. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  39. ^ Samraj, Adi Da "The Ancient Reality-Teachings" (2007) p. 107. Dawn Horse Press. ISBN 1-57097-198-6
  40. ^ Samraj, Adi Da. "Up?" (2007) p. xii=xiii. Dawn Horse Press. Pre-Publication.
  41. ^ Samraj, Adi Da. (2007). "Transcendental Realism" pp. 11-15. Dawn Horse Press. ISBN 978-1-57097-227-0
  42. ^ Samraj, Adi Da. (2009). "Not-Two Is Peace" pp. 22-26. Dawn Horse Press. 978-1-57097-262-1
  43. ^ http://lakeconews.com/content/view/6664/764/ Lake County News, California. December 16, 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
  44. ^ http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/News/Adi-Da-Samraj-Passes-from-the-Body/articleshow/3813695.cms
  45. ^ The Dawn Horse Testament Adidam website. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  46. ^ Books by Adi Da Samraj The Dawn Horse Press. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  47. ^ The Mummery Book: A Parable of the Divine True Love Amazon.com. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  48. ^ http://www.mummerybook.org/story_and_characters.html
  49. ^ Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America: History and...By Eugene V. Gallagher, W. Michael Ashcraft[Media:http://books.google.com/books?id=ClaySHbUEogC&pg=RA3-PA108&dq=%22basket+of+tolerance%22#v=onepage&q=%22basket%20of%20tolerance%22&f=false]
  50. ^ "McKinleyville Press 2008, page 9"
  51. ^ The art of Adi Da Samraj: Venice Biennale
  52. ^ The art of Adi Da Samraj: Winter in Florence
  53. ^ Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions: Adi Da Samraj
  54. ^ Scope Art Show: New York
  55. ^ Samraj (2007)
  56. ^ Kuspit, Donald (2007) Introduction to The Spectra Suites
  57. ^ a b Transcript of NBC Today Show report on Da Free John, Transcript by Steve Hassan, 2000; retrieved November 2, 2006.
  58. ^ Sex Practices Did Not Cease, Marin Cult Officials Admit The San Francisco Chronicle, April 9, 1985.
  59. ^ Sexual Experiments Continued after '76, JDC Officials Admit The Mill Valley Record, April 10, 1985.
  60. ^ BEVERLY JACOBS O'MAHONY, and individual, vs. FRANKLIN JONES, aka DA FREE JOHN, CIV121999, Superior Court of California, County of Marin,3/4/86
  61. ^ Wilber, Ken (1985) Review of Adi Da's The Dawn Horse Testament - www.adidawilber.com
  62. ^ The Case of Adi Da Ken Wilber Online. October 11, 1996.
  63. ^ Ken Wilber, Ken (1997) "Private" letter to the Adidam community - www.adidawilber.com
  64. ^ http://wilber.shambhala.com/html/misc/adida_update.cfm/
  65. ^ An Update on the Case of Adi Da Ken Wilber Online. August 28, 1998.
  66. ^ Feuerstein (2006) chapter 4.
  67. ^ http://www.timeoff.com.au/html/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3330:eddie-kowalcyzk&catid=11:features&Itemid=29 In the press that went along with 1997’s Secret Samadhi he revealed that he was a recent devotee to Adi Da, a guru that he first came into contact with via the internet. Kowalczyk was ridiculed. In spite of this reaction he continues to be open about his spirituality in the media and in his lyrics.
  68. ^ http://freespace.virgin.net/c.wood/livepage/inter.htm In the interviews that accompanied it. Kowalczyk announced he'd become immersed in the teachings of Adi Da, a guru he'd first discovered via the Internet. How people laughed.
  69. ^ http://www.adidam.tv/further-reading.html
  70. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=ZAA5Mxo2jZoC&pg=PT204&lpg=PT204&dq=gabriel+cousens+adi+da&source=bl&ots=QivhkYs5uf&sig=VIoDqQpAfO3e1zO68Dkmmwv1OaU&hl=en&ei=rb-uSqmcIImIsgPagpjJCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#v=onepage&q=gabriel%20cousens%20adi%20da&f=false
  71. ^ 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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