At the university blackboard in 1989 (click image to enlarge)

When I became a devotee of Adi Da in 1989, it was immediately clear to me that the service that drew my passion, that was where my "genius" lay, and that could make greatest use of my skills was the Adidam Mission. I had a lifelong skill as a communicator, which I first became aware of when, in sixth grade, I came in third place in a New England-wide public speaking contest. I would more specifically hone those communication skills as an educator, when I became a university professor in 1984. I loved teaching, and would go on to win an award for excellence in teaching in 1990.[2] As a leader in my field of "Artificial Intelligence and Design", I regularly gave talks and workshops at major AI conferences. In my professional writing (published papers, books, etc.) I had edited a three-volume set of books [1] capturing the state of the art in my field (in 1994) that is still being used in graduate AI courses.[3] I have a facility for taking complex subjects and making them accessible to non-experts.

So my skills were a very good match to the needs of the Adidam Mission. And, as Adi Da makes clear in the above quote, once you discover your "genius", you are required to put it to good use — as He confirmed to me when I moved to the Mountain Of Attention in 1994 to serve His Work full time:

From 1989 to the present, I have served the Adidam Mission in many different positions. I was the head missionary for the Adidam New England region; I created the first Adidam website and began the Adidam Web Mission; I was the head of the Worldwide Adidam Mission; I was production manager at the Dawn Horse Press (where I managed the publication of the mass market editions of Adi Da's books, The Knee of Listening and The Method of the Siddhas); and I have served on numerous Mission projects over the years.

So the Adidam Mission, my service to the Adidam Mission, and the numerous insights I've gained from all that experience, will be the focus of the six chapters in PART III.

The first three chapters summarize my work and explorations to date (from 1989 to the present):

1. Lessons From the Face-To-Face Mission (1989-1994) — I'll describe my face-to-face missionary work up and down the East Coast of the United States from 1989 to 1994, as head missionary for the Adidam New England region.
   
   
2. Creating the Adidam Web Mission (1994-1997) — I'll write about my service to the early Adidam Web Mission, from 1994 to 1997, including creating the first Adidam website in 1994 at the very start of the Web, and introducing Adi Da to the Web.
   
   
3. New Doors Open (1997-present) — I'll write about my more recent service to the Adidam Web Mission, from 1997 to the present.

Then in the remaining three chapters, I'll explore the future of the Adidam Mission:

4. "Tell Everyone I'm Here": Re-Educating the Eight Billion — One major way to actually fulfill Adi Da's Calling, "Tell everyone I am here", focuses on education: Adi Da's Personal Calling to me "to educate the (eight) billion". This chapter is largely based on a four-hour conversation I had with Adi Da in 1995 about the future of the Adidam Mission, when I first introduced Him to the Web. I explore what an effective Adidam Preparatory School might look like.
   
   
5. The Miraculous Mission and the Divine Emergence — In this chapter, I write about the unique, miraculous nature of the Adidam Mission, carefully laying out what kind of "magic" it is and what kind of "magic" it is not. Understanding that the picture I am painting here is just a snapshot in a moment of time — at the very beginning of the history of the Adidam Mission — I'll take a peek into the future, and consider how much more magical the Mission may become as the Divine Emerges ever more fully in this conditional universe — as devotees grow in practice to where they can serve as Instrumentality, enabling many more non-devotees to feel Adi Da; and to where they can make far more effective use of the Power of the Divine through the Devotional Prayer of Changes (like I illustrated in Part II of this book).
   
   
6. Something New Must Emerge: The Next Stage of Human Civilization — In the current "Kali Yuga" civilization, in which materialism is on top, the message of Adidam is considered "taboo". As I just mentioned, one way to reach large numbers of people is to take them through a profound re-education process (e.g., in the form of an Adidam Preparatory School), a conversion process that allows them to see and appreciate how what they thought was "taboo" is, in fact, an extraordinary Offering and Opportunity. I have also mentioned how the same conversion can occur if we make more widely available experiential evidence of the Reality of our offering, through (among other things) devotees functioning as Instrumentality and greater incidence of miracles based on Divine Power. In this final chapter of PART III, I consider a third alternative: one where the civilization around us undergoes a radical "inversion", and what was on the bottom rises to the top, and what was in ascendency (materialism) loses its value. The form of the next stage of human civilization is one in which science and spirituality share responsibility for revealing truth. I will explore how Adidam can play a leading role in the transition to and development of this next stage.

I should emphasize that I am recounting only my personal experience with the Adidam Mission, the lessons I learned, and the insights I've gathered regarding the future of the Adidam Mission. As it turns out, that covers a lot of ground! Even so, much more can (and should) be added by others, regarding the Adidam Mission and how to fulfill the Calling of the Adidam Mission to reach everyone on the planet.

Part III, Chapter 1

FOOTNOTES

[1]		The books were entitled, "Artificial Intelligence in Engineering Design: Volumes 1, 2, and 3". I dedicated them to Adi Da, and sent Him a copy while I was on retreat at Adi Da Samrajashram. That evening, we gathered with Adi Da, and He mentioned receiving the books to the gathering. "My Tongue gave me some Artificial Intelligence books he had edited, and he had dedicated to Me. So after reading the dedication, I flipped through the pages. . . and couldn't understand a single word!" He laughed uproariously.
[2]		It was for a graduate class in Artificial Intelligence that I had developed, where the term project was to build an AI program that would compose a pop song (something I have a personal connection with). On the last day of classes, we played all the songs the programs had created! It was a very enjoyable way to learn a relatively challenging subject.
[3]		like this "AI & Design" course supplement in the Computer Science Department at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Part III, Chapter 1