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Overview
of Adi Da's Crazy Wisdom and
"The Way That I Teach"Chris
Tong, Ph.D.
 1.
Introduction — The "Crazy" in "Crazy Wisdom" refers to the unconventional
means — also traditionally referred to as "skillful means" in the Mahayana
Buddhist tradition — employed by the Master to serve the Spiritual liberation
of His or Her devotee. For the purpose of this site, we will be using the term
"Crazy Wisdom" to refer to any kind of "unconventional" behavior or viewpoint
used by the Spiritual Master to serve the greater purpose of Spiritual liberation.
 2.
A Simple but Powerful Example of Crazy Wisdom: The Call to Surrender at the Feet
of a Spiritual Transmitter — Some kinds of "unconventional behavior"
may be a normal part of a particular Spiritual tradition, but may seem odd to
one who does not practice that tradition until he or she better understands its
basis — ideally through a firsthand account from practitioners who are in position
to fully understand and appreciate its purpose. The call to surrender at the Master's
feet — the feet of someone who is a genuine Spiritual Transmission Master — is
a simple but powerful example.
 3.
The "Evil Superman" Form of Misunderstanding Genuine Crazy Wisdom —
Without the context of understanding that Adi Da is a genuine Spiritual Transmitter,
misunderstanding occurs. As often as not, some "Crazy-Wise" behavior gets miscommunicated
to the conventional world as: "There's this cult leader named Adi Da, who is on
a 'power trip' and making His devotees do X (like surrender at His feet). What
an ego! What a megolomaniac!" An uncommon, higher virtue gets mistakenly reinterpreted
as a common lower vice. And so when those of us who have had much experience with
Adi Da over the years read these kinds of misconceptions, it is something like
entering the "evil Superman" parallel universe of the Superman cartoons.
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4. Comparison with Encounter Group Work
— Adi Da's "Teaching Work" with
devotees — the modality He used that focused on teaching through incident rather
than verbal instruction — has many similarities with the exercises that can occur
in encounter groups. We'll now explore the similarities in more detail, also noting
two crucial differences: God-Realization as the purpose behind Adi Da's Teaching
Work; and Divine Consciousness as the "creator" of the incidents used
in the experiential teaching. |
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5. Voluntary Participation in Crazy Wisdom
— The entire Way of Adidam is,
without exception, completely voluntary. This doesn't mean that, as Adi Da's devotee, I casually do
whatever I please from day to day: "No, I just don't feel like doing that part
of the practice today." Or, if I am in Adi Da's company: "I don't feel like doing
what He just asked me to do." Although that superficial approach to practice and
the relationship to Adi Da does indeed happen, and no one is forced to do anything,
that kind of casualness is not what I mean by "voluntary"! Rather, if it really
is something that I cannot bring myself to do, even after very serious consideration
— and never losing touch with the profound respect for my Spiritual Master (which
was the basis for my becoming a devotee) — then it would be right to say "No".
Indeed, more often than not, such a situation is one where I agree with
what Adi Da is asking me to do — I clearly see
the virtue behind what He is asking me to do —
but I still don't feel I can do it. |
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6. Crazy Wisdom and "the Way That I Teach"
— Adi Da's use of Crazy Wisdom took a very specific form: He used it for the
specific purpose of reflecting devotees to themselves. This was necessary
because His devotees simply didn't have the free energy and attention necessary
to recognize and meditate on the Divine State that He was Transmitting. They were
completely preoccupied with money, food, and sex, but so suppressed that they
hardly were aware of their preoccupations. And until they became conscious of
their preoccupation, they would have no conscious ability to turn their energy
and attention to the Guru instead. In order to reflect devotees to themselves,
Adi Da made use of an extraordinary means unique to His Divine Incarnation: He
literally became His devotees — taking on their state, acting out their
unconscous tendencies, etc. — so that His own human form became a mirror for His
devotees. |
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The Ancient Walk-About Way, Crazy Wisdom, and the "Teaching Years" — In
some sense, Adi Da's Work with devotees from 1972 through the present could be
viewed as an ordeal of transforming profoundly worldly people (by means of reflecting
them to themselves) into a "culture of recognition", true spiritual practitioners
of the "Ancient Walk-About Way", whose practice would be based on their direct
sensitivity to Adi Da's Transmission. The "Teaching Years" is a term we generally
use to formally delineate a period of Adi Da's Work with devotees (1973 - 1986)
that necessarily included much reflection of devotees to themselves. Nonetheless,
you will still see more recent examples (on our site and in the literature of
Adidam) of Adi Da's "Crazy Wisdom" or "Teaching" Work. Over time, these instances
became increasingly less frequent, and increasingly less active or dramatic
in form. In the last few years of His life, Adi Da continued to serve as a "reflector", by virtue
of His State — but without any effort, or attention required on His Part. |
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The Fruitful Question Is Not "Did He or Didn't He?" But Rather, "Is
He or Isn't He?" — Spiritual seekers exploring the possibility
of becoming Adi Da's devotee often encounter an obstacle course in the form of
websites that accuse Adi Da of having done various things they consider inappropriate,
that lampoon His manner of speaking and writing, etc. When such seekers arrive
at our doorstep, they generally are quite confused. They are impressed and often
deeply moved by Adi Da's obvious wisdom; they are often also deeply moved by seeing
His pictures or videos, or hearing the extraordinary stories of Revelation by
His devotees; but they are then confounded by the negative rumors going round.
And so generally, they come to us with questions of the form, "Did He or didn't
He?" (Or, "If He did, then can you account for it in Spiritual terms?"). We do
address a lot of these questions (some on this site), and will be addressing more
over time. But it is important for all inquirers to understand that asking or
receiving answers to such questions is never the basis for becoming a devotee.
Receiving Adi Da's Revelation that He is the Divine Person is the only basis for
becoming a devotee. So what I'd like to recommend is that potential devotees focus
on a different consideration, which resonates better with the possibility of receiving
Adi Da's Revelation. And once you truly receive that Revelation, you will find
that all those "Did He or Didn't He?" questions are besides the point. |
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