Adi Da Samraj, or to his devotees, the Ruchira Avatar Adi Da Samraj, literally meaning "the radiant avatar, primordial giver, universal ruler" (born Franklin Albert Jones, November 3, 1939, in Jamaica, New York), is a contemporary and controversial guru or spiritual master, artist and writer, and founder of the new religious movement currently known as Adidam. He has also used names such as Bubba Free John, Da Free John, Dau Loloma, Da Love-Ananda, Da Avadhoota, Da Kalki, and Da Avabhasa.^[1] Adi Da states that he is an "Avataric Incarnation", the "Da Avatar", a uniquely full and complete manifestation of the Divine Person unprecedented in human form, and that his life and teaching fulfills and transcends the limitations what he terms the "Great Tradition" of human spirituality.^{[2][3] [4]} Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... An emperor is a (male) monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. ... The ten avatars of Vishnu, copyright BBT In Hindu philosophy, an avatar (also spelt as avatara) (Sanskrit: , ), most commonly refers to the incarnation (bodily manifestation) of a higher being (deva), or the Supreme Being (God) onto planet Earth. ... is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jamaica, now a neighborhood in Queens, New York City, was settled as a town by the English under Dutch rule in 1656 in New Netherland. ... For other uses, see Guru (disambiguation). ... A new religious movement or NRM is a term used to refer to a religious faith, or an ethical, spiritual or philosophical movement of recent origin that isnt part of an established denomination, church, or religious body. ... Look up incarnation, incarnate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Allegations by ex-members of what is now known as Adidam that Adi Da (then known as Da Free John) and some of his followers engaged in financial, sexual and emotional abuses were widely reported in American news media in 1985,^[5][6] including The Today Show.^[7] Adidam rejects these allegations ^[8], acknowledging only a period of "sexual experimentation". ^[9] Eventually the claims were settled out of court. ^[10] Today, commonly referred to as The Today Show to avoid ambiguity, is an American morning news and talk show airing weekday mornings on the NBC television network. ...

Life

The following is largely summarized from Adi Da's autobiography The Knee of Listening: Adi Da was born Franklin Albert Jones and raised in the New York City borough of Queens. He attended Columbia College, where he received a degree in philosophy, and Stanford University, where he completed his M.A. in English literature with a thesis on Gertrude Stein. In 1965, Adi Da became a disciple of Albert Rudolph, also known as Rudi or Swami Rudrananda. He describes that period as one of human maturation, extensive disciplining of the body, and his first acquaintance with "spiritual transmission" from a human teacher. Following Rudi's instruction, Adi Da married his girlfriend, Nina Davis. (They later divorced; she was then and has remained his devotee.) Adi Da described how he reached a point where he had exhausted what he could learn from Rudi, and in 1968, became a disciple of Rudi's Indian teacher Swami Muktananda, whom he first visited in India in early April of 1968, and who, he wrote, gave him extraordinary spiritual experiences and realization. For approximately one year, in 1968-1969, Adi Da was involved with Scientology (mention of which was omitted from subsequent versions of his autobiography, which say that during this period he did not meditate, but "simply listened"^[11]). He returned to India in August of 1969 to see Muktananda, who subsequently gave Adi Da a letter acknowledging his yogic realization and authorizing him to initiate others. After a period Adi Da describes as including visionary experiences wherein he was guided by both Muktananda's teacher, Bhagawan Nityananda, and "the Goddess", Adi Da wrote that he re-awakened (as a divine incarnation) to his original divine state of full enlightenment, on September 10, 1970. New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... For other uses, see Queens (disambiguation) and Queen. ... Columbia College is the main undergraduate college at Columbia University, situated on the universitys main campus of Morningside Heights in the Borough of Manhattan in the City of New York. ... “Stanford” redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The term English literature refers to literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; Joseph Conrad was Polish, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, Salman Rushdie is Indian, V.S... Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American writer who was a catalyst in the development of modern art and literature. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Swami Muktananda (स्‍वामी मुक्तानन्‍द) (1908-1982) is the monastic name of an Indian guru. ... Doctrine Practices Concepts People Public outreach Organization Controversy Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by American pulp fiction author L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 as an outgrowth of his earlier self-help system, Dianetics. ... Bhagavan Nityananda (November/December, 1897?[1] – August 8, 1961) was an Indian guru who is claimed by the Siddha Yoga organization as the first in their lineage of Siddha gurus. ...

Adi Da founded his own group in April of 1972, operating out of a bookstore in Los Angeles, California. Initially known as the Dawn Horse Communion, the movement founded by Adi Da has been through several name changes: previous names have included The Free Primitive Church of Divine Communion, The Johannine Daist Communion, and Free Daism. It is now known as Adidam, or The Way of the Heart. Adi Da permanently broke with Muktananda after a meeting in India in 1973 in which Adi Da and Muktananda engaged in a discussion wherein it became clear they each had very different notions of what the highest, or most enlightened, spiritual state is, and that Muktananda would not acknowledge his enlightenment.^[12] Adi Da would later say, however, that he still regularly "connected with" Muktananda (and Rudi) in subtle planes, and that he always held a great love for his former gurus.^[13] Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: , State County Settled 1781 Incorporated April 4, 1850 Government  - Type Mayor-Council  - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa  - City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo  - Governing body City Council Area  - City  498. ... For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ...

Adi Da has three biological daughters by three different women, and a fourth adopted daughter. (Feuerstein, 1991)

Teaching and community

Adi Da states that he is an "Avataric Incarnation",^[14] a uniquely full and complete manifestation of the "Divine" in human form, and that his life and teaching fulfills what he terms the "Great Tradition" of human spirituality. He describes his teaching as a "radical" (or most direct), original, and uniquely complete offering that, for the first time in history, has made the total way and wisdom of the "precosmic Divine Light", or the "Bright", available to human beings. The ten avatars of Vishnu, copyright BBT In Hindu philosophy, an avatar (also spelt as avatara) (Sanskrit: , ), most commonly refers to the incarnation (bodily manifestation) of a higher being (deva), or the Supreme Being (God) onto planet Earth. ... Look up incarnation, incarnate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Adi Da has described human life as unfolding in seven potential stages. While other religious teachers, such as Jesus and the Buddha, are said by Adi Da to have attained the status of "fifth" (or "sixth") "Stage Realizer"^[15], he maintains that he is the "first, last, and only seventh stage Adept-Realizer" ^[16] (cf. The Basket of Tolerance, 1991^[17][18][19]). Adi Da says his divine incarnation is the unique means for sentient beings to attain seventh stage realization now and for all future time. In 1984, Adi Da said "I am here in my lifetime to change the course of human history, and I want to see some evidence of it. No one on Earth compares to me...I believe that before this body dies, all mankind will acknowledge me."^[20] This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... Siddhartha and Gautama redirect here. ...

Adi Da teaches that, in reality, there is only God^[21] That is, that there is only a single, indivisible, all-pervading, self-existing and self-radiant "Source-Condition", "Nature" and "Substance" that is reality, in and of which everything and everyone arises as a spontaneous and unnecessary modification. Adi Da teaches the "One Divine Reality" is "always already" the human condition, and therefore the task is not to seek for God or realization but to become responsible for the action whereby one forgets, obscures and obstructs the prior state—which activity he generally describes as "self-contraction", "Narcissus", or the "avoidance of relationship" ^[22]. But Adi Da also teaches that one cannot realize the divine through one's own efforts, because all ego-based action cannot but fail to overcome its own original presumption of egoity itself. One must be awakened out of this "dream" by spiritual grace, appearing through the "Agency of the God-Realized Human Guru".^[23] Adi Da teaches that his grace must be accessed by devotional submission and obedience to him as Satguru via joining and taking up the formal practices of Adidam. Satguru or Sadguru means true guru (Sanskrit सदगुरू sat=true), literally: true teacher. ...

There are a number of Adidam communities around the world^[24]. According to Adidam, formal devotees of Adi Da can choose to perform disciplines including meditation, sacramental worship, financial contributions, study, service, diet, yoga and formal exercise, cooperative living, regular work, sexuality, and spiritual retreats. Adidam states degree to which the disciplines are engaged depends on the devotee's level of participation, and their careful consideration of the disciplines.^[25]

Hermitage Ashrams

Adi Da and his devotees have established five Hermitage Ashrams or places empowered by him as guru or spiritual teacher to be used principally for spiritual practice and meditation retreats and in Adidam philosophy to function as spiritual blessing points of influence. A hermitage is the retreat of a hermit. ... Ashrams in ancient India, were Hindu hermitages where sages used to live in peace and tranquility amidst nature. ...

The main Hermitage Ashram is called Adi Da Samrajashram and covers the Fijian Island of Naitauba. Others are The Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary, Love's Point Hermitage and Tat Sundaram Hermitage, all in Northern California and Da Love-Ananda Mahal in Kauai, Hawaii.^[26]

Controversies

In 1985 Adi Da and his church were sued by an ex-member for (among other things) fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, and assault and battery; the suit sought $5 million in damages^[27] (San Francisco Chronicle, Thursday April 4, 1985^[28]). The church, claiming extortion, counter-sued for $20 million.^[29]In November 1985 a Marin County judge ruled that the plaintiff had no legal basis for bringing the original lawsuit.^[30] In 1986, Adi Da was again sued for fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress.^[31] for a sum of 20 million in punitive damages. 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.'^[32] No negative reports have appeared in the news media since the mid-1980s. Intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) is a common law tort claim for intentional conduct that results in extreme emotional distress. ... False imprisonment is a tort, and possibly a crime, wherein a person is intentionally confined without legal authority. ... Assault and battery is the combination of two violent crimes: assault (the threat of violence) and battery (actual physical violence). ... ... Aylsworth Crawford Greene III (born December 21, 1952) is an American attorney from San Anselmo specializing in litigation against cults. ...

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.^[7] There, and in other media reports, former devotees were quoted as saying that Adi Da exhibited a pattern of abusive, and self-serving behavior (San Francisco Examiner, April 5, 1985^[33]). Today, commonly referred to as The Today Show to avoid ambiguity, is an American morning news and talk show airing weekday mornings on the NBC television network. ...

Around that same time, local media reported that a church 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 ^[34] In the same article Adidam responded with a letter stating: "We understand our way of life is an ongoing spiritual experiment in which we constantly consider and discover what will best serve our spiritual evolution. For this reason we value the period of liberal experimentation with various lifestyles in the early years of our existence. It was a time full of learning, growth, and spiritual celebration. It was a happy and foolish time." ^[35].

In his 1989 book , Saniel Bonder (at the time a leading spokesman for Adidam) wrote "Much of which was alleged in the media was sheerly preposterous and much of the rest was twisted and distorted...the representatives of our institution learned the hard way there is no way to achieve a fair hearing in the sensation-mongering elements of public reporting."^[36] Saniel Bonder has been described by philosopher Ken Wilber as one in whom the Conscious Principle is awakened. ...

Criticism

Indologist Georg Feuerstein, a former student of Adi Da, has become highly critical of Adi Da's so-called crazy-wisdom behavior and his extravagant lifestyle, as is clear from the second edition of Feuerstein's book Holy Madness. Indologist is a derivative of the word indology, which refers to study of India, particulary ancient India. ... Dr. Georg Feuerstein (born 1947) is a well-known German-Canadian Indologist, and a Western authority on Yoga. ...

Popular author Ken Wilber has repeatedly commented on Adi Da, both positively and negatively.^[37] In 1998, in his last written comment on the subject, he wrote: "...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, unequalled in many ways; yet step into his community at your own risk."^[38] Wilber has never been actively involved as a formal member of Adidam. Ken Wilber Kenneth Earl Wilber Jr. ...

Teaching literature

Adi Da has authored over 70 books on spirituality and the process of God-Realization. Since the late 1990s, he has been working on a series of definitive volumes commonly referred to as the "23 Source Texts." Not all of the 23 source texts have appeared as of mid-2006. The culmination of these "Source Texts" is a massive volume entitled "The Dawn Horse Testament," which summarizes his teachings.^[39] Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Eohippus (dawn horse) is the earliest known horse. ...

The texts comprising this body of work—the Dharma (or Scripture) of the Way of the Heart—are distinct from other general or introductory Adidam books. It should be noted that over the decades the books in the canon have changed, with many receiving editorial changes making them into new books, while older books that were once in the canon have been removed or incorporated into later books. The current structure of this canon is listed at adidam.org.^[40] For other uses, see Dharma (disambiguation). ... Many religions and spiritual movements hold certain written texts (or series of spoken legends not traditionally written down) to be sacred. ...

The essay "First Word"^[41] appears at the beginning of each Source Text, according to Adi Da, as a way of orienting the reader to the "right understanding" of the "point of view" expressed in the text, and to counter what Adi Da says is the inevitable cultic mind-set that most "unenlightened seekers" bring to their approach.

Adi Da's written work has been at times praised by scholars on textual and conceptual grounds. For example, Jeffrey J. Kripal describes "this English idiom has been enriched by a kind of hybridized English-Sanskrit, and that a new type of mystical grammar has been created, embodied most dramatically (and, to the ego, jarringly) in Adi Da’s anti-ego capitalization practice, in which just about every grammatical move is nondualistically endowed with the status once imperially preserved in English for the non-existent “I”. Such a reading experience constantly calls upon one’s ability to think and feel beyond the socially constructed ego " ^[42] Jeffrey J. Kripal (Ph. ...

Adi Da's teaching about his avataric function has evolved over time. In a 1971 preface to the original version of his autobiography, Adi Da wrote: "It has taken me at least thirty-one years to produce this book. If I were an Avatar or one of the eternal Siddhas I would have made it for you as soon as my faculties were fit to write. But I had to learn it all instead according to the condition of our usual birth...I promise that none of this will lead to me but always to reality, which is conscious and unqualified joy." ^[43] Many years later as he evolved further in his realization and his understanding he wrote: "I Am the Da Avatar, the all-Completing Adept, the First, Last, and Only Adept-Revealer (or Siddha) of the seventh stage of life" ^[44], and "I Am The Perfectly Subjective Divine Person, Self-Manifested As The Ruchira Avatar—Who Is The First, The Last, and The Only Adept-Realizer, Adept-Revealer, and Adept-Revelation of The Seventh Stage of Life". ^[45].

Name changes

Adi Da is noted for his frequent name changes, which devotees believe are associated with changes to his teaching work.^[46] As a student of Muktananda, he was given the name Dhyanananda. Shortly after becoming an independent teacher, during the 1973 visit to India where he broke with Muktananda, he took the name Bubba Free John, "Bubba" being a colloquialism for "brother" and "Free John" a loose translation of "Franklin Jones". In 1978, he began calling himself Da Free John, "Da" meaning in Sanskrit, "the giver". From 1986 to 1990, he was known primarily as Da Love-Ananda, "Ananda" meaning, in Sanskrit, "bliss". From 1990 to 1991, he was known as Da Kalki, in reference to the Hindu avatar Kalki, the 10th and final incarnation of Vishnu, and from 1991 to 1994 as Da Avabhasa, "Avabhasa" meaning "brightness". The title his devotees currently use for him is the Ruchira Avatar, Adi Da Samraj, literally "the radiant avatar, primordial giver, universal ruler". They also frequently refer to him simply as "Beloved". Swami Muktananda (स्‍वामी मुक्तानन्‍द) (1908-1982) is the monastic name of an Indian guru. ... Bubba is a relationship nickname formed from brother, given to boys to indicate their role in the family, especially the oldest male sibling. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... Sanskrit ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... In Hindu traditions, Kalki (Sanskrit: कल्कि; also rendered by some as Kalkin and Kalaki) is the tenth and final Maha Avatara (great incarnation) of Vishnu the Preserver, who will come to end the Kali Yuga, (The Age of Darkness and Destruction). ... Vishnu (IAST , Devanagari ), (honorific: Sri Vishnu) also known as Narayana is the Supreme Being (i. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... The ten avatars of Vishnu, copyright BBT In Hindu philosophy, an avatar (also spelt as avatara) (Sanskrit: , ), most commonly refers to the incarnation (bodily manifestation) of a higher being (deva), or the Supreme Being (God) onto planet Earth. ... An emperor is a (male) monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. ... The ten avatars of Vishnu, copyright BBT In Hindu philosophy, an avatar (also spelt as avatara) (Sanskrit: , ), most commonly refers to the incarnation (bodily manifestation) of a higher being (deva), or the Supreme Being (God) onto planet Earth. ...

See also

• Shawnee Free Jones, a daughter

Shawnee Free Jones (b. ...

References

Bibliography

(incomplete list)

• The Dawn Horse Testament
• The Knee Of Listening
• Not-Two Is Peace
• Up?
• Is
• Aham Da Asmi (Beloved, I Am Da)
• Ruchira Avatara Gita (The Way Of The Divine Heart-Master)
• Da Love-Ananda Gita
• Hridaya Rosary (Four Thorns Of Heart-Instruction)
• Eleutherios (The Only Truth That Sets The Heart Free)
• The Truly Human New World-Culture Of Unbroken Real-God-Man
• The Only Complete Way To Realize The Unbroken Light Of Real God
• The Divine Siddha-Method Of The Ruchira Avatar
• The Mummery Book - A Parable Of The Divine True Love, Told By A Self-Illuminated Illustration Of The Totality Of Mind
• He-and-She Is Me
• Ruchira Shaktipat Yoga
• Ruchira Tantra Yoga
• The Seven Stages Of Life
• The All-Completing and Final Divine Revelation To Mankind
• What, Where, When, How, Why, and Who To Remember To Be Happy
• No Seeking—Mere Beholding
• Santosha Adidam
• The Lion Sutra
• The Overnight Revelation Of Conscious Light
• Basket Of Tolerance
• Easy Death
• My Bright Word
• The Transmission of Doubt
• Love of The Two Armed Form
• The Enlightenment of The Whole Body

Books written about Adi Da

• The Divine Emergence of The World Teacher- Bonder Saniel 1989
• Drifted in a Deeper Land -James Steinberg
• The Promised God-Man is Here- Lee. C 1998
• The Innocence of Her Form: The Divine Revelation of She Is - Santosha Tantra 1996

Further reading

• Georg Feuerstein, Holy Madness: The Shock Tactics and Radical Teachings of Crazy-Wise Adepts, Holy Fools, and Rascal Gurus, Paragon House, 1991, ISBN 1-55778-250-4; Hohm Press; Rev & Expand edition Holy Madness: Spirituality, Crazy-Wise Teachers, And Enlightenment, (June 15, 2006) ISBN 1-890772-54-2
• David C. Lane and Scott Lowe, Da: The Strange Case of Franklin Jones, Mt. San Antonio College Philosophy group, 1996, ISBN 1-56543-054-9. online:
  • Part One: The Paradox of Da Free John: Distinguishing the Message from the Medium by David C. Lane
  • Part Two: The Strange Case of Franklin Jones by Scott Lowe
• Edward Plotkin, The Four Yogas Of Enlightenment: Guide To Don Juan's Nagualism & Esoteric Buddhism (2002) ISBN 0-9720879-0-7.

Dr. Georg Feuerstein (born 1947) is a well-known German-Canadian Indologist, and a Western authority on Yoga. ... David Christopher Lane (born April 29, 1956 in Burbank, California) is a professor of philosophy and sociology at Mount San Antonio College, USA and lecturer in religious studies at California State University, Long Beach, California. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Adi Da

Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is one of a family of wiki-based projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation, running on MediaWiki software. ...

Advocacy

• Adidam.org: official website of Adidam
• The Dawn Horse Press: publisher of the literature of Adidam
• DaPlastique: Adi Da's "Transcendental Realism" Art
• Fear no more zoo Zoo established by Adi Da
• DAbase: unofficial advocacy site (includes mirrored Adidam publications)
• Beezone: unofficial advocacy site (includes mirrored Adidam publications)
• Adidaupclose: Personal accounts of current devotees of Adi Da Samraj

Criticism

• The Daism Seminar, a critical site (includes mirrored news articles)
• Holy Madness: The Dangerous and Disillusioning Example of Da Free John, by Georg Feuerstein, 1996 (follower in early 1980s)
• The Case of Adi Da by Ken Wilber
• Rick Ross Institute page on Adi Da/Adidam: material compiled by anti-cult activist Rick Ross (includes mirrored news articles)
• A Room With A Guru, by Dennis Trunk, 1999 (follower in early 1970s)

Dr. Georg Feuerstein (born 1947) is a well-known German-Canadian Indologist, and a Western authority on Yoga. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... Ken Wilber Kenneth Earl Wilber Jr. ... It has been suggested that Opposition to cults and new religious movements be merged into this article or section. ... Rick Alan Ross (born 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States and later named Ricky Alan Ross) is a consultant and lecturer in the area of cults. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ...

Other sites

• Profile of Adidam from the Religious Movements Homepage Project

• Adi Da/Adidam from the Kheper Site by M. Alan Kazlev