FAQs about Adi Da & Adidam > Taking Up the Way of Adidam > Recognition > Part 4

4. Placing Recognition of Adi Da in
a Historical and Cultural Context

This is Part 4 of Chris Tong's five-part article, The Significance of Recognition in the Way of Adidam.

This Part has several subsections:

4.1. Moments of Recognition versus the Recognition Capability

If we look at the criteria listed in part 1 ("How to tell whether one is recognizing Adi Da"), some of us who are devotees can point to moments (particularly in Adi Da's physical Company) that appear to match criteria (1) through (4), even as fewer of us can fit ourselves to criterion (5): "The Revelation of recognition leads to a spontaneous unfolding of practice".

If we have had such a moment of recognition, would we be "recognizing Adi Da"? Not according to Adi Da Himself.[1] During the final years of His human lifetime, in referring to the majority of the sangha, He repeatedly communicated that nobody was "recognizing" Him, right up to His Divine Mahasamadhi in November, 2008. Here are just a few examples:

Now some devotees sometimes say things like: "Well, I think I am recognizing Adi Da as the Divine Person, but my recognition is 'weak'." When someone put it that way to Adi Da Himself (during one of the Avataric Discourses He gave from 2004 to 2005), He humorously replied: "You can't be half-pregnant."

We can't "sort of" recognize Adi Da (or "weakly" recognize Him) as the Divine Person. Adi Da continued in His response to the questioner by asking him: "Who would you be relating to?" In other words, the Way of Adidam is based on the relationship with the Divine Person — so if one is not recognizing Adi Da as the Divine Person (in every moment), then one can't be relating to Him on that basis, and one must be relating to Him either as an ordinary man, or, at most, as an extraordinary man or Spiritual Transmission Master (but not as the Very Divine).

Having crossed the threshhold of recognizing Adi Da as the Divine Person, it is true that recognition does deepen with practice:

So one can't be half-pregnant. However, once pregnant, there is a process that unfolds that makes one more and more pregnant, and that culminates in giving birth.

So how can we resolve the sense that we've perhaps had "moments of recognition" (perhaps even becoming a devotee on the basis of such a moment — a perfectly appropriate response to that Revelation), but that this apparently is not what Adi Da Himself means by recognition (or He wouldn't say "nobody is recognizing Me")? Here is the primary distinction (the bold is ours):

So by "recognition", Adi Da means "moment to moment" recognition, not "moments of recognition": an established capability, in other words. Everything we've been describing that follows from recognition — including the spontaneous unfolding of practice, the Way of Enchanted Divine Distraction, being Mastered, etc. — depends on this establishment of recognition as a moment-to-moment capability, through our personal responsibility for acting on what we are given. For example, one can't be Divinely Mastered without this moment-to-moment capability:

Just so, without recognizing Adi Da (in present time, moment to moment), the other aspects of the practice of Adidam are meaningless:

One cannot grow in the Way of Adidam without first establishing recognition as a capability. Thus, at the present time in the history of Adidam, even though many devotees have had "moments of recognition", only a few have the recognition capability (demonstrated by the spontaneous unfolding of, and advance in, their practice), and it is for that reason that Adi Da said repeatedly, "Nobody is recognizing Me."

Remembering experiences with Adi Da — including past moments of recognition — can serve as inspiration (that recognition of Adi Da as the Divine Person is real, that it is possible, etc.), but cannot take the place of present-time recognition:

If recognition is truly one's capability, then it not only can be practiced moment-to-moment in this lifetime, but it also persists as one's capability across lifetimes. Adi Da describes what is involved in enabling that multi-lifetime recognition to be the case. In particular: If we are truly recognizing Adi Da as the Divine Person, then the One we are recognizing is the Divine Person; and we can recognize the Divine Person in any other forms in which the Divine Person might appear (for example, in subtle realms beyond death), besides Adi Da's human form:

4.2. The Eternal Fire-Sacrifice: Fanning the Flame

What we can do that is fruitful are all the things Adi Da said to do to open ourselves to moments of recognition (or more moments of recognition) — we might call this "pre-Adidam practice", insofar as Adi Da says the Way of Adidam Ruchiradam does not begin until recognition is established:

And so all the various forms of practice, artfully applied throughout the day, serve to keep the flame alive, moment to moment, serve to magnify that flame, and serve to turn whatever one is engaged in into a form of God-Communion.

This matter of turning every moment into God-Communion, regardless of what one is doing, is something Adi Da would give us lessons about on occasion. Here's one example from my own experience with Adi Da. At many gatherings with Him, we would be dancing with each other in front of Him, while He sat in His chair and gave us all His Regard. Sometimes I'd "drop out" from the dancing to simply sit by His chair, and look up and contemplate Him. He'd let me do that for a while, but always, at some point, He'd turn to me and make a circular gesture with His index finger pointing downward that was like a spoon stirring in a bowl — which was His simple way of saying: okay, now get back to dancing! The point was that I should be able to contemplate Him even while dancing. (That was a major reason He had us dance in the first place.) It should not be the case that the only time we could contemplate Him successfully is in the quiet of the Communion Hall, or when one is sitting quietly next to His chair looking up at Him. We needed to free up enough energy and attention, and have sufficient self-understanding, to be remembering Him no matter what else is going on.

This metaphor of practice as a continual "fire puja" or a priestly "fanning of the flame" is one that Adi Da drew from the traditional image of the faithful priest in the temple, tending the fire and fanning the flame twenty-four hours a day.

It reflects the fact that the Way of Adidam Ruchiradam is based solely on recognition of Adi Da as the Divine Person, and cannot be practiced otherwise. Recognition is the flame. The Way of Adidam is not based on there being no flame, and then seeking for one or imagining one, or trying to use a "fan" (such as meditation) to bring a non-existent flame into existence.

The flame must already be there in order for practices whose purpose is to "fan the flame" to work. "Fanning the flame" magnifies what is already there. In this way, recognition and the Lesson of Life go hand in hand: "You can't become Happy. You can only be already Happy." When Adi Da admonishes, "Come to Me when you are already Happy", He is indicating that the Way of Adidam Ruchiradam can only truly begin when one has already received the Happy Revelation that is recognition of Him as the Divine.

Here are Adi Da's words again:

So the great secret and miracle of the Way of Adidam is that its real starting point in any moment is the Grace of God — God Revealing Himself to us, and, on that basis, His Acquiring us — not any qualification of our own.

It is God's Meditation, not our own, that is ultimately consequential. (Adi Da's talk, "The Divine Does the Yoga" is a good reference.)

The Horse Takes us . . . our "job" is to keep holding the tail of the Horse:

This is why, when any moment of recognition occurs, we do anything and everything to stay in that recognition, to perpetuate it, to magnify it, and finally, to establish it as a moment-to-moment practice. That "anything and everything" is not done in desperation or as a form of seeking. It is simply a matter of staying in (and magnifying the feeling-awareness of, and devotional response to) the Enchanted State, and not allowing anything else to distract us from That, or cause us to fall out of It. The means for staying in that Enchanted State include all the aspects of Adidam practice, of course, which we now can engage fruitfully, so long as we are staying in that moment-to-moment recognition. If we fall out of that, if we do lose "the thread of practice" despite everything, then it's back to "pre-Adidam practice" for us. If the car stalls, there's not much point in pressing down the accelerator pedal or turning the wheel — things that are only useful when the engine is running and the car is moving. One has to start the engine again first. And in the Way of Adidam Ruchiradam, recognition is the engine of practice.

Thus the recognition capability requires a personal responsibility that is profound but also ecstatic. Moments of recognition are Adi Da's Gift to us. But the recognition capability is our gift to Him.[3]

You have to do the discipline in the Divine Avataric Company of the Real-God-Realizer. You cannot avoid that. You cannot get Realized without going through the ordeal. It is not a believing matter. You do not get it for free, in that sense. You get the Grace for free, yes, but you Realize it by accepting the ordeal. In every heart, there is this disposition to Realize That. And there is no end to karma, no end to struggle, no end to life, until there is that Perfect Realization. Avatar Adi Da Samraj, December 31, 1994

There are some moments in My Company in which it just happens. You do not know how it happens. You did not do anything. You did not especially make a gesture of submission — at least it was no greater than on any other day. It was given to you for free, you see. That is good, because that is the Blessing, the instant granting of God-Realization. But with that Gift comes the demand of the Law. You must practice self-submission to stay one with that Realization. Grace will always be available. That Blessing will be given to you again and again, but you must fulfill the Law. You cannot bypass that obligation, and that obligation is the sadhana. . . . This Blessed Realization is given to you for free, and you are in a state of total Ignorance, immersed in Mystery, and at the same time absolute certainty. Wisdom without limits can grow in you if you remain established in the Living Divine. You will tend not to do that. Everyone who has gathered for this celebration will tend not to do this next week. It is not that they will not do it at all but that they will be tending not to do it. They may become depressed or despair or think that they must go on and look for something else now, whereas what they must do is simply practice. They must know what that practice is, however, and they must become sensitive to the symptoms of egoity and how it turns them from Ecstasy and Intoxication to self-contraction, self-bondage, and all the complications of ordinary life. Avatar Adi Da Samraj "What I Look For", Crazy Wisdom, April, 1984

4.3. The Ancient Walk-About Way

One thing that may be confusing to some readers is that Adi Da often writes about recognition (including in very recent books like The Aletheon) in a way that can sound like He is saying there is a single, utterly profound moment of recognition, and then that's it: an Enchanted practice of Divine Distraction spontaneously unfolds from there.

This is indeed the traditional model, the one Adi Da calls "the Ancient Walk-About Way".

The pivotal moment in Adi Da's Ruchira Avatara Gita is that in which a devotee finally actually recognizes Him as the Divine. (The Ruchira Avatara Gita is Adi Da's free adaptation of the Guru Gita, a traditional epitome in song of the Guru-devotee relationship, in which Parvati asks her husband, Shiva, to teach her about the devotional relationship between devotee and Guru. The specific passage below is based on an actual moment that occurred with one of Adi Da's devotees, who takes the place of Parvati in Adi Da's "Gita" or Song.) His description of this moment — of Who is being recognized, and what follows from recognition of the Divine appearing in human form — is astounding, and accurately and forcefully conveys (even through the limitation of human language) what the moment of recognition of the Divine in human form is truly like. He begins by describing the Divine in human form, about to be recognized by a devotee for the very first time:

The Ruchira Avatara Gita then goes on to describe in detail this "Secret of all secrets" that is practice based on recognition of the Divine in human form, in every moment. But the key to it all is that first, utterly profound moment.

4.4. The Ancient Walk-About Way in the Modern Godless World

Thus, much of the writing in The Aletheon describes a sequence of this kind: a moment of recognition, followed by the spontaneous unfolding of the Way of Adidam. For example:

What astonished Adi Da, in observing His devotees, was that such a profound moment of recognition of the Divine (and even many later moments of recognition) did not spontaneously translate (via His devotees' response) into a moment-to-moment capability for recognizing Him. It was like turning the car key, cranking the engine, but then the engine not starting. Or it starting, and the car driving for a little while, but then stalling. This was not the traditional model of the "Ancient Walk-About Way"! (Perhaps we could call it the "Modern Sputtering Way".) What Adi Da expected was for recognition to be a one time, life-transforming event, like the moment He portrayed in the Ruchira Avatara Gita. His expectation that this would be so was even greater after the Ruchira Dham Event in April, 2000, which brought the Divine State as close as possible to ordinary human beings, via Adi Da's bodily form. To the extent that Adi Da Himself could make sense of why recognition was still not becoming established in most of His devotees [4], He wrote in The Aletheon:

Devotee Theo Cedar Jones gives a good description of how recognition can occur, but still be simultaneously accompanied by an incredible egoic resistance to the implications of that recognition:

Adi Da discusses this kind of "self-sabotage" at length:

The "refusal" that Adi Da refers to (in the above quote from The Aletheon) need not be overt, sudden, defiant, dramatic, or even conscious. It can be a refusal that stems from a lack of self-understanding, with the consequence that the profundity of a moment of recognition slowly fades over the following days, weeks, or months, as egoic patterning re-exerts its control.

For example, one may (largely unconsciously) engage (because of the force of lifetimes of addiction) in one's usual (egoic) habits, "certain" that the Love-Bliss one still feels from that moment of recognition will overpower any negative effects . . . and only discover, over time, that the Love-Bliss is fading away, and one is back to being an ego. Here is one example from my relationship with Adi Da.

* * *

In late 1995, Adi Da made Frans Bakker and myself the co-directors of the Adidam Mission. We were both living at The Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary in Northern California. He invited us to be with Him at Adi Da Samrajashram (in Fiji), in time for the evening of Danavira Mela (Christmas Eve). It was clear that He wanted to directly work with the heads of His Mission in the most wonderful way (at the most wonderful time of the year!), for the sake of their practice, and for the sake of His Mission.

We arrived in Adi Da Samrajashram, and gave Adi Da our gift. (It was a beautiful globe of the world, signifying our intent to bring Him the world, so He could liberate all beings — which He then placed in His most sacred temple, the Sukra Kendra.) He then had Frans and I sit at His feet all evening, even as He was receiving gifts from His other devotees, and embracing each of them, one by one. It was a wonderfully happy evening.

At some point, I spontaneously took hold of both His feet. Now this is not something I or any devotee ever would do in their "right mind"! But I was not in my "right mind" — Adi Da's Spiritual Transmission had shifted me into a completely different state, in which I was profoundly drawn to Him, even to the point where my mind was dissolving and my body was animating itself to be closer to Him in this way. In fact, I barely noticed that I was holding His feet in my hands, so entranced was I by the Brightness radiating from Him and out all around His body. As it would turn out, Adi Da gracefully let me continue to hold His Feet for the next half hour or so. And at the same time, He and the room got Brighter and Brighter — with Him as the obvious Center and Source of that Brightness — until it became directly obvious that Beloved Adi Da, the room, and everything were all a Unity in this Brightness. It was a sustained moment of clear recognition of Adi Da as the Divine Person. And in that moment of recognition, the Brightness enveloped me as well, and "I" disappeared in It. The next thing "I" knew, I was outside the gathering hall, in the open air, after some unknown time had passed. I have no recollection of the time between when I disappeared, and when I "reappeared" — to discover I was being supported on either side by friends who were taking me to lie down. Mind you, I hadn't passed out — I had passed in . . . to God knows where.

Adi Da has always said that, whenever we gather with Him (as we did that night), He works to bring us to a point in the evening where we "disappear", and lose a period of time in our memory; He has said that if we could only allow that to happen, we would never be the same again. It happened for me . . . I was in a state of continual bliss for the next three months. And I can vouch for it: I haven't been the same since.

While that evening with Adi Da was a moment of recognition that changed me profoundly, it did not lead to the recognition capability. I was engaging the practice intensively the whole time, but — looking back — I can see that I would have needed greater self-understanding to sustain that recognition as a permanent capability. Without being aware of it, I was automatically (and unconsciously) engaging in egoic patterns that were not supportive of sustained recognition. Even though I was carrying out all the basic disciplines that all devotees take on as beginners (as well as additional ones that were specific to my patterning), there were still less obvious areas of egoity specific to me that my disciplines at the time were not yet covering. All the "loopholes" must be plugged — the "whole guy" must be covered — in order to sustain recognition moment to moment. (The same requirement is necessary for hearing to occur.)

* * *

For any devotee who has had something like this occur (and who has yet to establish the recognition capability), the lesson to take into this present moment is that "right life" (and all the counter-egoic disciplines that comprise it [5]) and great self-understanding (the fruit of all those counter-egoic disciplines) is absolutely essential as a support for maintaining recognition, and for staying in the Enchanted State. One must not only fan the flame; one must also keep the wind from blowing out the flame. As we mentioned in Part 1, it is only after Divine Self-Realization that one's behavior no longer can affect one's State. In the meantime, in every moment there must be both recognition of the Divine and the responsive practice that expresses, sustains, and magnifies recognition:

Another example: People have confessed recognition of God with absolute certainty in the presence of Adi Da, but then have left His Company and never returned. One was a well-known Hollywood movie star. One day, he received Adi Da's Darshan. I was sitting next to him, as we both sat before Adi Da in front of Paduka Mandir, one of the temples at The Mountain Of Attention. As we were walking away from the occasion, one of us asked him, "So what was it like for you?" He was silent for a moment, and then exclaimed, "What can I say when I have just seen God?" But then he returned to his life in Hollywood, and eventually was talked out of that Divine Revelation by caring but spiritually ignorant friends who mocked his "gullibility" around what they were certain was a "cult" and a "cult master". For this reason, Adi Da places great emphasis on maintaining "good company": people (ideally, devotees of Adi Da) who can support one's practice and one's recognition.

Through examples like these, one begins to get a sense for why it is so hard to establish recognition of the Divine — when one has been brought up in (and is surrounded by, and indeed, bombarded by) the "modern", materialistic, Godless world! Not only is God (or even anything spiritual) doubted, and the value of genuine spiritual practice and genuine Spiritual Masters questioned, but people who are interested in genuine spiritual life are discouraged in that interest by virtually everyone and everything.

So not only must one fan the flame moment to moment (through devotional practices); not only must one keep the wind from blowing it out (through disciplines and increasing self-understanding); one must also do one's best to stay away from windy areas in the first place (through the principle of "good company", that chooses the most stable, practice-supportive arrangements for life and work). All this is part of what Adi Da refers to as "right life", serving the establishment of moment-to-moment recognition.

4.5. Recognition in the History of Esoteric Traditions and in This Moment of Adidam

The establishment of any esoteric tradition has always depended upon a critical moment occurring when sufficient numbers of people around the the Spiritual Master finally recognize Him or Her, and in this sense finally become His or Her devotee in a true (and truly consequential) sense, through the response that follows (which includes shouldering the responsibility for the survival of the esoteric tradition or spiritual community that the Master has created). For example, Adi Da describes Ramana Maharshi's rather dramatic situation before He had any devotees who recognized Him:

A very similar story is told about the disciples of Jesus. While it is hard to say what of the New Testament accounts is historically accurate, the metaphor communicated is certainly spiritually accurate. In a real sense, prior to Jesus's death, His disciples were not yet His true devotees. Indeed, they showed all the signs of weak human beings, particularly in their betrayal of their Master in the moments just before His arrest and death. But prior to His death, a crucial exchange occurred between Jesus and the inner circle of His disciples, over exactly this matter of recognition:

So in the New Testament story, recognition of Jesus as the Divine was the foundation for the Christian esoteric tradition. The story continues: Jesus dies, and after His death, all His disciples recognize Him as the Divine. On that basis, they are able to be "possessed by the Holy Spirit", and are transformed from weak men and women into extraordinary men and women, able to bring about the flourishing of the Christian church, and ultimately able to endure horrific deaths brought on them by their advocacy of Jesus and His Way.

* * *

I can never think about that story of Jesus without remembering a particular moment in my relationship with Adi Da. It was 1996, and Adi Da was visiting the European community of Adidam at the time. The devotees taking primary responsibility for the success of His Work (the work of liberating all beings) were all gathered in a room at The Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary in California. We were on the phone with Adi Da, and it was an extremely difficult and fiery conversation, because we were having to report to Him our lack of success. On the one hand, it was not too surprising: A seventh stage Way appears on earth for the first time in human history, during a period when civilization is at its most materialistic, and anything greater-than-material is in doubt, let alone an Incarnation of the Divine! And those of us gathered in the room had no special spiritual maturity or special abilities or influence in the world — like the disciples of Jesus (who were fishermen, tax collectors, and so on). So apart from our devotion to our Spiritual Master, we were eminently unqualified for being responsible for Adi Da's Great Work. And yet the necessity for that Work to succeed was absolutely clear to all of us, as was our responsibility to make it happen, both in our identification with Adi Da's Own Purpose for incarnating, and in our gratitude for all the Gifts He had given to us.

The conversation was so fiery that devotees began leaving the room, burnt out. Finally, only two of us (James Steinberg and myself) were left. We took turns trying to tell our Spiritual Master what good news we did have to tell, but we knew — and He knew — it wasn't nearly enough. What Adi Da was trying to accomplish here (in the short span of a single human lifetime) was an extraordinary Vision for the world (and the creation of a corresponding Vehicle of liberation for all beings), but there were key elements of that Vision which had yet to manifest (I felt this very personally and painfully), over and against the shortness of the time remaining. I reached a point of complete despair, and stopped talking on the phone. Suddenly, I felt Him Spiritually descend into the room with overwhelming Force. An instantaneous recognition of Him overcame and overpowered me, and I raised my hands, and began mindlessly and spontaneously confessing that recognition to Him: "You are the very Divine, here and alive in human form!" There was absolute silence on the other end of the phone. And then something completely unexpected occurred: Adi Da began making plans to come to The Mountain Of Attention! His "mood" had completely changed. All the fieriness had disappeared. He was now completely expansive. He completely changed the subject — it was as though the previous difficult conversation had never taken place! — and He instead went into detail after detail about the upcoming trip to California, about creating His "Dasya Mandala", etc.

I came away from this moment with a very personal understanding of the importance of recognition of Adi Da as the Divine — not only for one's own growth in the Way of Adidam but as the foundation for the success of Adi Da's Work altogether. It was "on this rock" alone that He would build His Church. I also learned that moments of recognition are unearned gifts from Adi Da. It was the Force of God descending on me in that moment — out of God's Own Urgency for the sake of His Work — that granted that Revelation, not any qualification of my own. Indeed, all I had presented to Him the moment before was failure! (And more importantly, complete surrender, stemming from that failure.) As it turned out, I would not be able to sustain that moment of recognition forever. But I now understood its significance.

* * *

Recognition of the Master (in His Realization, whatever that may be for the particular Master) thus is not only the critical foundation for growth in one's individual practice in the Way of the Master; it is also the critical foundation for ensuring the survival and flourishing of the Way Itself down through history.

Adidam is at just such a "make or break" moment in its history right now. In some sense, because we are at the very start of a seventh stage Way appearing on earth for the first time in history, it shouldn't be too surprising that it is very challenging, and might take some time, for such a radically distinct Way to "take root". If sufficient numbers of devotees make the breakthrough of establishing the recognition capability in the next few years, then Adidam will survive [7], and even flourish.

The first small group of devotees established in recognition came into being on the basis of the major breakthrough of (and magnification in) the Force of the Divine represented by the event of January 11, 1986 (marking the beginning of Adi Da's "Divine Emergence"). The further breakthrough of the Force of the Divine initiated by the Ruchira Dham event in April, 2000, now provides sufficient Grace for all devotees to be established in recognizing Adi Da as the Divine, and for all beings to recognize Him as the Divine:

For the sake of the liberation of all beings, may it be so!

4.6. Adidam History: From "The Way of Radical Understanding" to "The Way of Me"

From the start of Adi Da's Teaching Work to now, the Way of Adidam has taken a variety of forms, but it has always been a seventh stage Way, characterized by the following two competences, to be exercised simultaneously in every moment of practice, as egoless Communion with the Divine:

[1]	It is important to distinguish Adi Da's published books from the Notes He would give to devotees every day. We can make an analogy with science's distinction between "theory" and "observation". Scientists create theories, then they test a theory by observing reality and seeing whether it matches the theory. If it does not, they revise the theory accordingly. Adi Da's books were something like His "theories", while His Notes were based on His actual daily observations of devotees. So His "theory" (in the form of The Aletheon, etc.) can present what recognition is and what will follow for those who are established in that recognition (in abstract, "summary" form); while the "Notes" will communicate the "data": how many (and which) devotees are actually established in recognition of Him (as assessed by Him). As in science, one only gets a complete picture by looking at both the theory and the data: both Adi Da's published texts and His Notes. The data confirms the theory: the few who are recognizing Adi Da have indeed experienced a "spontaneous unfolding" of their practice as a result. What the theory doesn't specifically predict is how many or few will recognize Adi Da in any given period of history: I have Come at a particular time. My Avataric Divine Self-Revelation Appears in many forms in the world. My verbal Wisdom-Teaching will become part of all the communication in the world, and (as such) may influence many people. But there are other aspects of My Avataric Divine Wisdom-Teaching that are more immediate to My Own Unique (Avataric Divine) Life and Work. Those include the forms of My Wisdom- Teaching that pertain to the devotional (and, in due course, Spiritual) relationship to Me during the Lifetime of This Body. But there are only a finite number of those who are alive in the world who are likely to devotionally recognize Me and devotionally respond to Me during the Lifetime of My Avatarically-Born bodily (human) Divine Form — because every being in the world is active in a different stage of experience, a different stage of understanding. It is, of course, true that I have Entered the world for the sake of those whom I can Contact (while I am physically alive) and Draw to My Own Divine Person. However, even though I have Come for such devotees, My Avataric Divine Spiritual Work is (ultimately) for the sake of the entire world — and (thus) even all beings, in all possible times and places. Whenever beings heart-recognize Me, they are (simply and directly) “locating” the Truth That I Am and That is Manifesting As My Avataric Divine Life and Work. . . . There is truly no limit to the Flood of My Divine Light That is Descending into this gross dimension. Therefore, there is no limit to the Force of Satsang with Me. The limits are only in those who receive My Transmission of Light. The greater the number of functions made available to the Light and the Truth, the more Light and Truth Appear. Light and Truth Appear Spontaneously wherever They have Use. And Light and Truth Appear Perfectly wherever They have Perfect Use. Avatar Adi Da Samraj, "The Heaven-Born Gospel of The Ruchira Avatar" My "Bright" Word
[2]	For more on the purpose of puja in the Way of Adidam, listen to Adi Da's talk, The Primal Space.
[3]	Read our article, The Way of the Bone, for an in-depth exploration of how many of us have created a kind of "addict's revision" of the Way of Adidam that is focused on receiving all of Adi Da's Gifts (including moments of recognition), but not on giving back to Him — the other half of the Guru-devotee relationship — in the form of response altogether, and responsibility for practice and self-transcendence in particular. In this revision of the Way, the Gifts received are converted by the ego into temporary (pleasurable) effects in the body-mind that don't bear fruit in the form of actual growth or Realization.
[4]	But it should also be noted that there are very few passages like this — describing the refusal of the Divine after recognition of the Divine — in the nearly two thousand pages of The Aletheon, perhaps reflecting Adi Da's continuing astonishment at the possibility of the refusal of the Divine in the transparent and potent Form He made available to all, especially after April, 2000.
[5]	For a good introduction to Adi Da's wisdom and instructions on "right life", read Part 9 ("What is Radical, Right, and Perfect?" about the three elements of practice: radical devotion, right life and Perfect Knowledge) — particularly the essay, "The Necessary Foundation Of Right Life" — in Volume III of The Aletheon, or read the books, Right Life Is Free Participation In Unlimited Radiance and The Sacred Space of Finding Me.
[6]	"Peter" ("Petros") is Greek for "rock" or "stone". From it come English words like "petrified" ("turned into stone") and "petroleum" ("rock oil").
[7]	For an extended consideration of what must be established in order to ensure the survival of Adidam in perpetuity, click here.
[8]	There is at least one occurence: in "The Perfect Practice of Perfect Knowledge Is The Avatarically Given Divine Reality-Way of Adidam", in Part 16 of The Aletheon.
[9]	That is essentially the current function of the Second Congregation of Adidam, as described in the most recent detailed Notes Adi Da gave on the subject (in July, 2008), whereas the First Congregation requires recognition to be established as a moment-to-moment capability (providing the backbone for the renunciate disposition and life which is the primary characteristic of all First Congregation members). What I have done is identify this Lay Congregationist culture of practice as a whole culture, a complete culture of practice. Not an end in itself, as I said; there is practice beyond it for those who mature in it, but it is a complete life of practice, whole and complete, and it is as much as most people are going to do. If you're talking about the total population on earth, how many are going to be seriously preparing for formal renunciation? [But] they could all become devotees of Mine, and they should. . . . So, you have to have that whole culture of the Lay Congregationist practice — the Second Congregation. . . You have to make it feasible and possible for everybody by having a full spectrum of kinds of agreements that will fit to everybody's real potential, and still have real requirements about it. . . . When they're at that point of maturity in the Second Congregation, and when they are prepared to make the choice to move seriously toward an eventual formal renunciate life and practice, they can enter the Forward Lay Congregationist Order of the First Congregation. Avatar Adi Da Samraj, May 15, 2007 The First Congregation is characterized by a culture that is mastered by the Divine, whereas the "world" is characterized by insubordination. Even though the "world" may be, in many cases, full of words about "God", the ego-"world" is God-less. It is subordinating That Which Is Divine to itself, and is, therefore, insubordinate, and indulges in desecration, falseness, illusion, and dark-mindedness. Out-growing the insubordinate character of the ego is not merely about petty rightness or the conventions of ego-based obedience, which are simply a kind of egoically "self"-deluded uptightness and righteousness. It is not about that. It is about surrender and being rightened, and being Drawn into the Transcendental Spiritual Sphere of the Divine egolessness of Reality Itself. It is a great profundity. Avatar Adi Da Samraj, July 9, 2008