Crazy Wisdom > The Call To Be Love > Part 2: The Context of "Consideration"

2. The Context of “Consideration”
Between Adi Da and His Devotees


This is Part 2 of Michael Costabile's seven-part article, The Call To Be Love (And To Live As Love In All Relations).

We have just noted that Adi Da’s “consideration” of emotion and sexuality (which extended to every aspect of ordinary life) was never a “thing” in itself. As we shall see in greater detail, it was a root-lesson about the ego’s search for self-fulfillment, which — even in the most outwardly benign and loving individuals — is loveless and aggressive at its core. Adi Da’s emotional-sexual consideration was also part of His Self-Submitted means to establish the preparatory groundwork for spiritual life in His Company. To quote Him directly about this:


In the only-by-Me revealed and Given Reality-Way of Adidam, the emotional-sexual ego (and, indeed, the ego of “money, food, and sex” altogether) must be really and truly gone beyond — and this must, in real and significant terms, begin in the foundation stages of the practice of the Way of Adidam, as part of the ongoing basis for real and true growth into and in the by-Me-Transcendentally-Spiritually-Awakened stages of the Way of Adidam. Therefore, My devotees must deal with “money, food, and sex” first — before there can be any true advancement into by-Me-Transcendentally- Spiritually-Awakened stages of the Reality-Way of Adidam. This is an essential part of My Message and My Revelation: Human beings must deal with the money-food-and-sex ego first.

“My Word To All Who Would Find Heart-Breaking Freedom”
from The Complete Yoga of Human Emotional-Sexual Life, pp. 27-28 [2]


But Why Sex?

That said, anyone attempting to understand Adi Da Samraj and His intimate association with devotees confronts some obvious questions: What would prompt a Spiritual Master of His stature to so openly explore sex and emotion with those who gathered around Him? [1] What was the nature and effect of such exploration? Furthermore, knowing that such an undertaking might well provoke a backlash in the broader culture — especially in light of the common prejudices against Spiritual Masters and the double-minded attitudes about sex in our time — why would Adi Da bother in the first place? These are legitimate questions that go to the heart of the challenges some have made about Him. To answer them requires that we first look more closely at His rationale for this undertaking, beginning with His own remarkable observations about sexuality — its enormous influence over the human psyche and its relationship to the spiritual process:


I Have Observed That sex — or, More Accurately, emotional-sexual life — Is The Primary Obsession Of human beings, Especially In The Earlier Stages Of Life. Human beings Are self-Driven To Fulfill their emotional-sexual Motivations — To The Extent That their Urge To emotional-sexual Fulfillment Has The Force Of a philosophy. Their Involvement In emotional-sexual life Is, In Effect, A philosophical Commitment (Expressed At The personal Level) To Find Perfect self-Fulfillment In The Purposes Of ordinary human life.

This emotional-sexual Search Is, Therefore, a kind of utopian philosophy — a philosophy About Being Finally Fulfilled and Perfectly pleasurized In life. But the philosophy Of The emotional-sexual Search Allows human beings To Ignore Both their mortality and The Ultimate (Non-conditional, Indivisible, Divine, and Spiritual) Condition Of Reality Itself. Therefore, that philosophy Is False. . . . [T]he philosophy Of Ultimate emotional-sexual self-Fulfillment Is Based On A Misinterpretation Of Reality, A False Presumption About Reality.

There Are all kinds of conventional social rules For Controlling sexual behavior — but they Are Designed To Serve The Purposes Of the social ego, and (Therefore) Have Nothing To Do With ego-Transcendence or Spiritual Realization. Merely To Become a "well-behaved" social ego Is Not A Sufficient Basis For Entering Into The Real Spiritual Process.


From the outset of His Work with the dynamic patterns of human sexuality, Adi Da Samraj knew that He was embarking on a precipitous course. Interpersonal relationships — their quality, tenor, and mood — are the primary context of human life. The potential for reactivity in every relationship is immense — always threatening misunderstanding, conflict, betrayal, and, in the most intimate context, the collapse of all sympathy for those we otherwise love and hold dear. In undertaking this Work with devotees Adi Da was clearly risking such reactivity and overt hostility. But He was also compelled by an overwhelming compassion to address the confusion and suffering inherent in emotional-sexual immaturity and thereby serve a greater understanding and disposition in His devotees — again, as the necessary foundation for His Spiritual Work with them.


FOOTNOTES

[1] If you are unfamiliar with this aspect of Adi Da's Work, please see Chapter 7 of Adi Da: The Promised God-Man Is Here.
 
[2] An Open Letter To All Who Would Find Heart-Breaking Freedom (available on this site) is a slightly older version of this essay

Quotations from and/or photographs of Avatar Adi Da Samraj used by permission of the copyright owner:
© Copyrighted materials used with the permission of The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam Pty Ltd, as trustee for The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam. All rights reserved. None of these materials may be disseminated or otherwise used for any non-personal purpose without the prior agreement of the copyright owner. ADIDAM is a trademark of The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam Pty Ltd, as Trustee for the Avataric Samrajya of Adidam.

Technical problems with our site? Let our webmaster know.