Empowered Places and Things > Sanctuaries > Da Love-Ananda Mahal

The Hermitages and Sanctuaries of Adidam:
Da Love-Ananda Mahal


Da Love-Ananda Mahal

Da Love-Ananda Mahal is located on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Nestled below the sacred Hawaiian mountain, Waialeale (pronounced "wy-ah-lay-AH-lay") — which is also the wettest place in the world — it was purchased in 1979 as a retreat Sanctuary for Adi Da Samraj, enabling Him to write and instruct in a quieter and more secluded setting. Da Love-Ananda Mahal was the principal site of Avatar Adi Da's Teaching Work in the early 1980's, and a principal Ruchira Sannyasin Sanctuary where Adi Da has considered esoteric spiritual practice and spiritual initiation with devotees.

Mt. Waialeale
Mt. Waialeale
(click to enlarge)

The Dome of Temple Adi Da with Mt. Waialeale in the background
The Dome of Temple Adi Da with Mt. Waialeale in the background
(click to enlarge)

Temple Adi Da with Mt. Waialeale in the background
Temple Adi Da with Mt. Waialeale in the background
(click to enlarge)

Aerial view of Da Love-Ananda Mahal
Aerial view of Da Love-Ananda Mahal
(click to enlarge)

This page contains the following sections:

  1. History of names for Da Love-Ananda Mahal
  2. Partial list of special periods of Adi Da's Work that occurred at Da Love-Ananda Mahal
  3. Partial list of Holy Sites and other locations
  4. Partial list of books created while Adi Da was living here
  5. More videos related to Da Love-Ananda Mahal
  6. Stories and historical events associated with Da Love-Ananda Mahal

1. History of Names for Da Love-Ananda Mahal

  • Da Love-Ananda Mahal (? - present)

  • Love-Ananda Mahal (March 20, 1997 - ?) — The word "Mahal" coincides with the construction of Temple Adi Da in the traditional Mogul style of architecture (that includes the Taj Mahal).

  • Quandramama Shikhara (April 13, 1996 - March 20, 1997) — A name that indicates the mastering of the Goddess Force. Like "Akua Mauna", the name includes a reference to Mt. Waialeale: "Shikhara" means "mountain peak" in Sanskrit.

  • Tumomama (November 4, 1982 - April 13, 1996) — The word is from the Tibetan tradition, meaning "the place, or seat, of the Fierce Mother Goddess".

  • Akua Mauna (1979 - November 4, 1982) — In Hawaiian, "akua" means "god" or "spirit" and "mauna" means "mountain". The longer more formal name was Akua mauna ma lalo pono o Waialeale, i ke ala akua, meaning, "the holy place at the very foot of Mt. Waialeale, in the holy spirit".


2. Partial list of special periods of Adi Da's Work that occurred at Da Love-Ananda Mahal

  • The Dreaded Gom Boo (late August, 1982 - January, 1983) - Focus on renunciate practice and the creation of a renunciate order of practitioners. See the 1983 book, The Dreaded Gom-Boo


  • The Overnight Revelation of Conscious Light (1998) — In early 1998, Avatar Adi Da spent a concentrated period of two months giving hundreds of hours of Instruction to a small group of devotees at Da Love-Ananda Mahal, His Ruchira Sannyasin Sanctuary in Hawaii. Central to the "consideration" of the Overnight Revelation of Conscious Light is Avatar Adi Da's Communication of the Indivisibility of Consciousness (or Being) and Light (or Energy).


3. Partial list of Holy Sites and other locations

Front Gate

Front Gate
the Front Gate of the Sanctuary
(click to enlarge)

Front Gate
the Front Gate of the Sanctuary

Entrance Sign
Entrance Sign
(click to enlarge)

Another Entrance Sign
Another Entrance Sign
(click to enlarge)

Free Standing Man — Bhagavan Adi Da’s residence at Da Love-Ananda Mahal. There are two meditation halls.

A lotus in bloom in front of Free Standing Man
A lotus in bloom in front of Free Standing Man
(click to enlarge)

Adi Da giving Darshan in Free Standing Man
Adi Da giving Darshan in Free Standing Man
(click to enlarge)

Temple Adi Da — Previously known as "the Dome Temple" because of the dome above it, crafted in the Mogul style of architecture (as was the Taj Mahal). Connected to Free Standing Man, which is behind it.

Temple Adi Da
Temple Adi Da
(click to enlarge)

Temple Adi Da, Da Love-Ananda Mahal
Temple Adi Da at night
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Temple Adi Da, Da Love-Ananda Mahal
Temple Adi Da at night
(click to enlarge)

inside Temple Adi Da, Da Love-Ananda Mahal
inside Temple Adi Da
(click to enlarge)

Temple Adi Da - side view
Temple Adi Da - side view
(click to enlarge)

Another view of Temple Adi Da's Dome
Another view of Temple Adi Da's Dome
(click to enlarge)

Temple Adi Da with a rainbow above it
Temple Adi Da with a rainbow above it
(click to enlarge)

Curious visitors
Curious visitors
[Photo courtesy of Naamleela Free Jones]
(click to enlarge)

Temple Adi Da with a rainbow above it
Temple Adi Da with a rainbow above it
(click to enlarge)

Temple Adi Da's Dome at night
Temple Adi Da's Dome at night
(click to enlarge)

Garden
(click to enlarge)

Sukra Kendra — Out of all the holy places and temples He has established at each of His Hermitage Sanctuaries, the Sukra Kendra is the most sacred of all the temples, set apart for Adi Da's (often daily) use in His Work of World-Blessing, during His human lifetime. As Adi Da described it, "I Am eternally seated in each and every one of My directly-by-Me Transcendentally-Spiritually-Empowered Sapta-Na Sannyasin Hermitages and Ruchira Sannyasin Sanctuaries — and most potently in each and every one of the Sukra Kendras I have established in those Hermitages and Sanctuaries."

Grace Straightens — The sacred banyan tree that Adi Da originally named "Grace Leans", and then later, "Grace Straightens". This tree marks the highest point on the Sanctuary. The tree was planted in 1981, and Adi Da Himself Empowered it by placing holy ash and flowers beneath its roots.

Grace Straightens
Grace Straightens
(click to enlarge)

Adi Da reclining in front of the tree, Grace Straightens
Adi Da reclining in front of
the tree, Grace Straightens
(click to enlarge)

Sanctuary grounds near Grace Straightens
Sanctuary grounds near Grace Straightens

Adi Da walking on the Sanctuary grounds, 1982
Adi Da walking on the Sanctuary grounds, 1982
(click to enlarge)

Fire Keeper — Fire pujas occur here. "This Sacrifice is to be performed constantly, as if sitting eternally before the Fire" (Adi Da).

the Fire Keeper Holy Site
the Fire Keeper Holy Site
(click to enlarge)

the Fire Keeper Holy Site
the Fire Keeper Holy Site
(click to enlarge)

the Fire Keeper Holy Site
the Fire Keeper Holy Site
(click to enlarge)

Each [holy site at Da Love-Ananda Mahal] is uniquely different in how it functions in its Invocation of Spiritual Blessing and how it not only serves a person's spiritual practice but serves to magnify World Blessings that mitigates negative situations.

One of these sites is called Fire Keeper. It is where fire pujas are performed. A puja is a ceremonial form of devotional attention, or worship and invocation. A fire puja is very elemental, purifying in nature, and a potent means of releasing obstructions, freeing attention and magnifying sensitivity to that which is Unconditional.

Da Love-Ananda Mahal is surrounded on two sides by dense jungle and by the wild Wailua River. Fire Keeper is in a corner of the Sanctuary where the jungle is immediately on one side and, fifty feet away on the other side, the land drops away sharply to the river below. It is profoundly elemental, elegantly primitive. Being there, you most certainly do not feel that you are at the top of the food chain! You are humbled, you are part of the whole, you are not the one in charge.

One full moon evening, around 2:00 am, I was offering a fire puja. I was alone. It was a clear night. The river was roaring, arising in a stillness greatly magnified by the time of night. In our tradition, prior to the start of a puja or any occasion, we offer an invocation. We also offer a second invocation to formally end the event. Everything was prepared, and I was standing in front of the fire pit, ready to sit down and start the puja. Suddenly, the hairs stood up on the back of my head. In the perimeter of the jungle, where the cut lawn of the Sanctuary grounds meets the jungle, I strongly felt I was being watched. It felt like a number of beings had come to the edge of the jungle and were standing there, gazing at me. My first reaction was fear. I took a breath – their presence was not menacing. Good. Re-directing my attention from the movement towards fear and turning it instead into the Presence of my Spiritual Master, I spontaneously said out loud, "Now let us offer the First Great Invocation."

Then an amazing thing happened. The spirits (who I could not see, but could definitely feel) glided out of the jungle. There was literally a slight breeze as they went past me, three to my right, three to my left, and took their seats behind me. I was breathing quite deeply at that point, believe me. Very grounding so as not to run type breaths.

They sat down. I sat down. I began the puja. Once the puja formally started, the fire lit, I could not sense them any longer and forgot they had even been there. The puja was done in forty minutes or so. I sat longer in deep meditation, overwhelmed by the down pouring of Blessing that was occurring. Afterwards I realized the spirits were being very formal.

They were waiting to be invited to join the puja. The invitation to offer the invocation was what they were waiting for. Spiritual Sanctuaries are special places. Especially Da Love-Ananda Mahal. It is Sacred Ground. The Hawaiian spirits knew that. And respected it.

Bruce Czopek, Of Spirits and Sanctuaries


the Fire Keeper Holy Site
the Fire Keeper Holy Site
(click to enlarge)


The Guardian Site

Garden
the Guardian Site
(click to enlarge)


At Da Love-Ananda Mahal, there has always been a history of active spirits. In the Hawaiian culture, that is certainly the case — so it is natural for there to be occasions of spirits making themselves known.

There is one particular site on the Sanctuary — the Guardian Site — that has been set aside for the spirits. Many years ago, devotees who lived in Frog Mound (one of the few buildings on the property) reported being visited by several spirits. No one could hear footsteps, yet devotees who were asleep in the end room could hear each door opening and closing in the middle of the night, as if someone was poking their head in looking for someone. And indeed that is what happened. The door to the last room finally opened and a Hawaiian Kahuna and his female partner came in, looked around, and left. There had been no footsteps because they floated slightly above the ground.

Needless to say, there were a few freaked-out devotees! No one felt threatened. But spirits are spirits, and simply not human — so they tend to be unnerving in their unfamiliarity. There is a reason the hair stands up on the back of your head. . .

Adi Da was informed of the visitations. He said He was aware of them, that the spirits had been associated with the land there for a very long time. He informed us that they were looking for the current chief (or Tui) of the land — which would be Him, Adi Da. In older times, in the Hawaiian custom, it was inappropriate for someone to approach the Tui directly. What was proper was to go through certain channels and be formally introduced. Adi Da said this is what those spirits were doing when visiting Frog Mound. They were looking for someone to introduce them.

So we were instructed to establish a holy site, where spirits who wished to make contact with Adi Da and continue their own spiritual practice could do so. It wasn't for devotees who lived or visited there, but specifically for the spirits. It was for them — but it was also instruction to us in how a True Spiritual Master teaches and Blesses and moves beings in all dimensions and planes. Particular instructions were given as to how to serve this site, and devotees continue to serve the site to this day.

Bruce Czopek, Of Spirits and Sanctuaries



Wailua River

the Sacred Wailua River during the biggest rains ever recorded (11/14/09)
the Sacred Wailua River during the biggest rains ever recorded (11/14/09)
(click to enlarge)

Garden

Garden
the Sanctuary Garden
(click to enlarge)

Garden
the Sanctuary Garden
(click to enlarge)

Garden
the Sanctuary Garden
(click to enlarge)


4. Partial list of books compiled from Adi Da's Instruction to devotees while He was living here


5. More videos related to Da Love-Ananda Mahal


6. Stories and historical events associated with Da Love-Ananda Mahal


Hurricane Iwa — Adi Da's Divine Play with the spirit-forces in Hawaii, particularly the "Goddess"-Power, which manifested in the form of Hurricane Iwa in 1982. Also documented in The Dreaded Gom-Boo.

Hurricane Iwa
Frans Bakker

The Fierce Woman — Frans Bakker, M.D., tells the story of Avatar Adi Da’s Instruction to him at Da Love-Ananda Mahal, and the lessons he learned from a visitation by the Goddess Kali, a few weeks after Hurricane Iwa passed through.
Lay Renunciate Order — Adi Da's original Establishment (at Muliwai, on the Island of Oahu) of the Lay Renunciate Order of devotees. (See The Promised God-Man Is Here.) Much of Adi Da's work with devotees at Da Love-Ananda Mahal would continue this focus on renunciation.
Quandra Loka — The creation of Quandra Loka, Bhagavan Adi Da’s extraordinary, five-part suite of underwater Image-Art, photographed during His last stay at Da Love-Ananda Mahal (2002-2003). See The Quandra Loka Suite: 52 Views. See also this video clip of Adi Da creating the Quandra Loka Suite.

Quandra Loka

It Is All the Same Distraction: Ghosts, Goddesses, and Gratitude — "I became aware of a figure approaching the site. It was a blue woman who was obviously endowed with great power. I felt this woman was Kali, and I became afraid. She then began to show me her power: the sun changed position in the sky and changes were happening everywhere in nature. She was rearranging the universe. This is actually what I saw. I felt how I could be snuffed out by the power of nature, her power, at any moment."

The Fulfillment of My Heart-Longing, and the Fulfillment of an Indian Prophesy — Sonia describes receiving Adi Da Samraj's Darshan at Da Love-Ananda Mahal in March of 2003.

Da-vid Forsythe

"Try the Suppository" — Much of the Work Adi Da does with His devotees involves their emotional character alone (without involving their sexuality). Da-vid Forysthe's story is a beautiful illustration of how Adi Da works with some common male character liabilities that negatively impact Spiritual growth.
Under Clear Blue Skies — While residing at Da Love-Ananda Mahal, Adi Da talks with devotees about the esoteric significance of the Sanctuary, and how His Divine Presence and is associated with the element of water, and the weather responds accordingly.

Under Clear Blue Skies


Adi Da standing in front of Temple Adi Da
Adi Da in front of Free Standing Man
(click to enlarge)




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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.

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