Introduction
to the matter of Spiritual Recognition
Who is Adi Da? In His Talks and
Writings over the years, Adi Da has used various phrases to suggest something
about Who He is in spiritual terms, and the spiritual uniqueness of His appearance
here. The phrases have included: "Divine World-Teacher", "Promised God-Man", and
"first, last, and only seventh stage Adept".
Not all that surprisingly,
phrases like these often stir up strong reactions in people who hear them. A major
reason for the reactivity is that, through no fault of our own (but also generally
without our awareness or permission), those of us brought up in Western culture
have been culturally programmed to have a profoundly materialistic viewpoint that
automatically rejects (as nonsense) what is indicated by these phrases. If our
viewpoint is materialistic, who or what Adi Da is spiritually is not really the
point; our "doubt" is far broader. Anything non-material is in
doubt for us . . . let alone "God", a "God-Man", or a "Promised God-Man"! And
so a phrase like "Promised God-Man" is automatically presumed (by materialists)
to be the self-promotional communication of a megalomaniac; the possibility that
it could be an accurate, functional description of an extraordinarily rare event
in human, spiritual history isn't even considered.
In a real sense, if we are confined
to the materialistic viewpoint, we cannot recognize anything genuinely
spiritual, because we are spiritually "blind".[1] We
can be open to the possibility of a greater-than-material Reality; we can read
extensively; we can "believe" in something; but we cannot really know without
spiritual sensitivity.
Unlike some traditional cultures, nothing
in our cultural upbringing has trained us to be spiritually sensitive.
Quite the opposite! We Westerners are trained to be exclusively interested in
(and to exclusively put our attention on) the material dimension — particularly,
whatever will bring us material fulfillment. Our Western culture gives us the
means by which we can train our palates to recognize a fine wine; our ears to
recognize a musical masterpiece; our eyes to recognize a beautiful woman or handsome man. But
we are provided with no training that allows our heart to directly recognize a
great Spiritual Master, or a human incarnation of the Divine.
This section
explores the matter of spiritually recognizing a great Spiritual Being, by people
who are not confined to the materialistic viewpoint and who do have a greater
sensitivity. Fortunately for the rest of us, it is possible for those who
do not have any (or much) spiritual sensitivity to develop a sensitivity to the
Divine Itself through the tangible human form and Spiritual Transmission of Adi
Da, as many of His devotees can attest.
To have no greater sense of Reality than the physical
is to be like a trapped rat, trapped on all sides. You just cannot endure the
confinement of mere mortality — your heart cannot accept it, you see. To be in
that disposition, to have that sense of Reality, is obviously a disturbance. So,
obviously, the human being requires a Way — not merely a way out. A way out, yes
in some sense — but, for the integrity of your existence, you need direct access
to the Divine, even as a matter of ordinary sanity.
Spiritual
Recognition of Adi Da by the Sixteenth Karmapa
— In November 1980, two of Adi Da's devotees — James
Steinberg and Craig Lesser — visited the the Sixteenth
Karmapa, Ranchung Rigpa Dorje, in Boise, Idaho as
Adi Da's representatives. This is the story of what
happened next.
Adi
Da as First, Last, and Only Seventh Stage Adept —
Shortly after His Re-Awakening in September,
1970, Adi Da began a decades-long consideration (concluded
finally in 1993) about whether there had been any other seventh
stage Realizers among all the great Spiritual Masters throughout
history. In this article, we lay out Adi Da's search for a
historical precedent. This consideration would first lead
Him to a greatly clarified set of criteria for assessing whether
the teaching and life story of a great Realizer or Master
indicated that they were in the seventh stage of life. Ultimately,
it led Him to conclude that He was in fact the first such
Realizer; and further, that, for functional reasons, He was
the first, last, and only seventh stage Adept — His
appearance and work as seventh stage Adept has opened a "hole
in the universe" that now makes possible endless numbers of
seventh stage Realizers.
Having laid out (in this article) Adi Da's criteria for assessing
whether a Realizer is a seventh Stage Realizer or whether
a seventh stage Realizer is also a seventh stage Adept, any
readers of this article who fully understand these criteria
can duplicate Adi Da's consideration. They can go through
the thousands of Spiritual Realizers in the Great Tradition,
apply these criteria to the teaching and life story of each
Realizer, and confirm Adi Da's conclusions for themselves.
The
Significance of Recognition in the Way of Adidam
— In The
Aletheon, Adi Da speaks extensively of recognition
of Him as the Divine Person being the key to growth
in the Way of Adidam. This article explores many issues,
including: recognition as a Revelation, not a belief;
moments of recognition vs. the recognition capability;
and the "recognition consideration" for prospective
devotees, whose successful conclusion (the Revelation
Itself) dissolves all questions or doubts they may
have about becoming Adi Da's devotee.
Spiritual
recognition of Adi Da: Stories from His devotees
Whatever
any individual may ultimately think, feel, or spiritually recognize about Adi
Da Samraj, the recognition that Adi Da Samraj is a uniquely powerful Spiritual
Transmitter is undisputed among His devotees. It is their direct and often
repeated experience, as well as the experience of many who are not Adi Da's
devotees. Most people who take the time to get to know something about
Adi Da also acknowledge Him to be an unequalled Spiritual Genius, both in the
profundity and breadth of His Written Teaching, and in all the many other modalities
through which He creatively communicates that same Message: from art to theater
to social wisdom. When taken altogether, the thousands of stories of devotees’
relationship to Adi Da Samraj, weave a rich, mysterious tapestry of Who Adi Da
Is, and of His Undifferentiated Unity with all beings.
A major part of Adi Da's Work with His devotees — spiritual beginners by and large — is to draw us beyond the beginning stage (of recognizing Him as a great Spiritual Transmitter) into recognition of Him in even more profound terms: as the Incarnation of the very Divine. Many of us have had glimpses of that in one or another moment, especially in Adi Da's physical Company:
I felt Beloved Adi Da's Spiritual Transmission thick in
the room. I saw Him as the center of a field of visible,
Love-Blissful, Conscious, breathable Light. He was simply
Divine Love-Bliss. There was no longer a sense of being
a separate self — just the profound peace of realizing there
is nothing to seek, nowhere to go, nothing to attain. This
was Reality Itself, and it was not separate from "me". I
had no sense of my usual persona or contracted self. It
was sort of like waiting all your life for a package to
arrive, and then when it comes you aren't there — but you
are so happy that you don't mind at all!
I didn't have any expectations when I first saw Him. But
as Avatar Adi Da walked toward His seat, I looked at Him
and felt He was only Love, walking around in a human body.
I began to weep and weep, because I was literally seeing
the Vision of God. And I was overwhelmed with gratitude.
Raewyn Bowmar
And for a few of us, not surprisingly the most advanced practitioners, their recognition of Him as the Divine Incarnate is more profound — it is a continuous, unbroken recognition of Adi Da as the Divine in every moment, not just in a few rare moments. It also is the very basis for their more advanced practice — recognition of Adi Da as the Divine ultimately enables the recognition of everything as the Divine: the seventh stage Realization, “there is only God.”
The Qualities of the Divine Person. As Adi Da has clarified, the Divine is not merely a nebulous "soup" or abstract "ground of being"; the Divine is a tangible Person with describable qualities. And Adi Da, as human incarnation of that Divine Person, manifested those qualities in His human person and life:
Do you see the way I Am? You see My Manner,
My Disposition, My Humor, My sometimes Sympathetic Sorrow, My Quickness, My Disposition
to Intervene, My Gentleness, My Hardness, My Power-Foot, My Beauty-Foot? You see
all these Qualities. These Are the Qualities of My Omni-Presence also, My Eternal
Presence. So I am Exhibiting My Eternal Personality to you, by Showing It, in
some basic terms, in your likeness, through a human Form. . . . I Am Who
I Am, the Very Person. Therefore, by All I Do, by All My Appearance here,
I Am Showing you the Qualities of the Divine Person. . . . And they will continue
after My physical Lifetime. I will Be Present exactly as I Am now.
Touching
the Body of the Divine Being describes the complete absence
of the usual egoic, emotional (and physical) armoring in the human body of the
Divine Incarnation.
A conversation with
Adi Da Samraj about His uniqueness as a seventh stage
Adept Realizer — Don Webley was the first
devotee to speak extensively to Adi Da Samraj about
the Uniqueness of His Teaching and His Realization.
Don recounts that 1993 conversation with Adi Da Samraj,
when He openly Confirms that
He is the "first, last, and only" seventh stage
Adept.
length: 03:32 views: 4175 Adi Da's senior editorial assistant, Jonathan Condit, tells the story of the moment when Adi Da "captured his heart", while he was an ordained Buddhist monk. At the time, Jonathan had an immediate recognition of Adi Da as "Maitreya Buddha". He describes how his recognition deepened over time: "All the premonitions of a 'great being to come' [Maitreya] are unbelievably pale in comparison to the actuality of Avatar Adi Da."
[Note: Jonathan refers to 23 key books written by Adi Da. Since the time of this recording, Adi Da expanded His Vision for His primary literature to 23 "courses", each of which can be associated with many particular Texts.]
The
Divine Force That Brings an End To "me"— Daniela Morena:
"It took me about two steps into the room. .
. then IT hit me full frontal. My mind shattered.
My knees gave way. My body started shaking and my
teeth were clattering. What I saw was Adi Da's fiery,
'Shiva the Destroyer' Form. I was in a state of absolute
Shock."
I Was Not Looking For Any Sort of Divine Revelation—Pamela Hart: Some people search their whole lives and never find What Is Real and True. I just became curious. I was not looking for or expecting to be given any sort of Divine Revelation. I knew nothing about such things! Nevertheless. . . it happened.
A
State of Absolute Freedom
— Anne Henderson: "I was sitting at the dining
room table in the late morning, breathing consciously
to try to relax a little bit before giving a presentation.
. . Suddenly, there was what Bhagavan Adi Da would call
a 'transformation of view'."
"And
Who Is a Master?" — a conversation between
Crane Kirkbride and Adi Da Samraj about the difference
between the Divine Self-Realizer and God.
"Open
Yourself to Become My Instrument"
— a story about Adi Da Samraj talking with a devotee
(also a United Nations diplomat) about His Influence
in the world and His relationship to devotees (and
others) who come to Him for His Blessing in their
service to the world.
Adi Da Samraj: I Work on the pattern
that is prior to the pattern that seems, or the
pattern that is concrete at the moment. I Work
on the pattern that is invisible, prior, not yet
observed. And then I Breathe it down into the
world. And the more people there are who know
Me and know this is What I am Doing, and who enter
into devotional Communion with Me, the more means
I have in the concrete field.
Suffering
the Pain of Mankind — a story
of devotee Stanley Hastings touching Avatar Adi Da Samraj's
body and being given a vision of His vulnerable non-separation
from the world of universal human suffering.
Touching
the Body of the Divine Being
— Licensed osteopathic physician, Ross Keen, DO, describes
the utterly unique experience of doing "body work" on
Adi Da.
The
Heart Hears and Sees the Truth — "It
was beyond anything that I had ever dreamed possible.
I had asked God for a teacher — and He had come Himself!"
The
Graceful Key to Recognition of Adi Da
— Moving beyond the mind and the search to "get it".
From the consideration period known as "The
Overnight Revelation of Conscious Light."
Going
to the Source— The story from a
Chi Gong master, devotee Jane Yang, of how she came
to acknowledge Avatar Adi Da Samraj as the ultimate
source of power and healing central to all of Chi-Gong.
The
Hole in the Universe: The Sacred Empowerment of
Red Sitting Man Fire Site — In 1979, Avatar
Adi Da created and consecrated a holy site at the
Mountain Of Attention called Red Sitting Man.
It was there, in July of that year, that He Initiated
devotees into sacramental worship of Him in the
form of fire. Fire is one of the most powerful elemental
symbols of the Divine — a sign of Spirit, Light,
and purification. Ann Rogers recalls the potency
of the occasion in initiating her recognition of
Avatar Adi Da as the Divine Person.
Extraordinary
Eyes — Emily Grinnell describes how Adi Da used
the circumstance of His own dancing to reveal Himself
as the Divine Person to her.
I
Felt Adi Da's Divine Power Immediately — Ashoka
Dhar is India's first female dhrupad singer. She
describes her spiritual recognition of Adi Da Samraj
and her visits to Naitauba to sing for Him.
He
is Here!— After years of searching and
practicing world religions, Dennis Coccaro discovered
Adi Da Samraj when he heard a radio broadcast-interview
which featured some of Adi Da's early devotees.
Dennis describes an occasion where Adi Da self-evidently
manifested His Divinity to Dennis.
Beyond
All Doubt
—Donald
Webley: "I
saw, in person, the living demonstration of that
for which I had longed all my life. . . . Ever since
then, I can freely confess from my own experience
that the Divine Being, the inmost Heart of all beings
and of all manifestation, does exist, and was, beyond
all comprehension, and human understanding, shown
alive in the Person of Avatar Adi Da Samraj. That
certainty was imparted directly to my heart, beyond
the possibility of doubt."
No
Feeling Feels Like Adi Da — Devotee Michael
Gabriele describes why he loves Adi Da with all
his heart and has faith in Him.
The
Secret
— Timothy describes a secret he wants to share with
everyone.
I
Knew He Was the Divine Being in Human Bodily Form —Catherine Dames: "At
a certain point into the video I felt a strange
but very pleasant feeling between my eyebrows, as
if an electric charge was plugged into that spot.
When I looked at the Guru, I felt completely overwhelmed
with Joy. His bodily expression of total Happiness
and Freedom were such as I had never seen before
in any man or woman."
God
In Person Was Loving Me— Nahshon Nahumi:
"Suddenly, there was no limitation, no self-contraction
— only Divine Freedom. . . I felt like God in Person
was loving me. I tacitly knew that Avatar Adi Da
was my Master and had been my Master before all
time. His Presence was so familiar and so personal
that there was no way I could deny it. I felt liberated
from the seeking and dilemma of my life and reunited
with my Beloved. And I knew that this moment was
the true beginning of my Spiritual life."
He
Is the Heart, Infinite and Blissful —Daniela
Morena: "As I focused on the right side
of the heart, I 'saw' a space apparently very tiny,
but also limitless, which looked extremely bright.
Something in me instinctively recognised it as "the
heart on the right", that Adi Da had often spoken
about. And there I saw, to my utter amazement, my
Beloved Guru, seated in all His Glory. He was magnificent!
He was Supremely Attractive. He was the Heart, Infinite
and Blissful."
part 1 of Initiation at the Day of the Heart length: 10:55 views: 3280 Here Frank Marrero describes his struggle with Adi Da's claims of Divinity and the revelation he received at the Initiation after the Day of the Heart, in 1981.
In
a real sense, if we were "highly spiritual" — i.e., if we had
Realized any of the greater-than-material dimensions of Reality — we would
not have been born here in the first place! The very fact of our incarnation here
in this material dimension is a reflection of where our actual "center of
gravity" is (regardless of whatever spiritual aspirations we feel we may
have) — with the exception of the great Spiritual Masters who deliberately
make the sacrifice of incarnating here from a greater-than-material dimension,
for the sake of helping us Realize what they have Realized.
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