Adi Da Samraj (born Franklin Albert Jones, November 3, 1939 in Jamaica, New York) is a highly controversial modern spiritual teacher and religious guru and the founder of the new religious movement known as Adidam. At various times, Adi Da has also used names such as Bubba Free John, Da Free John, and Da Love-Ananda, to correspond with changes in his work as a spiritual teacher (see the section on name changes below). For clarity, in this article he is referred to simply as Adi Da, as this is the name he is currently known by.

Life

Adi Da was born and raised in Queens, New York. He attended Columbia College, where he received a degree in philosophy, and Stanford University, where he completed his M.A. in English literature with a thesis on Gertrude Stein. In 1965, Adi Da (then still Franklin Jones) became a disciple of Swami Rudrananda, also known as Rudi, and, later, in 1968, a disciple of the Indian teacher Swami Muktananda, who gave Jones a letter which acknowledged his experiences and gave him the right to teach. Adi Da was also involved with Scientology for approximately one year, ending in mid-1969 . Adi Da permanently broke with Muktananda after a meeting in India in 1973. He founded his own group in April of 1972, operating out of a bookstore in Los Angeles, California. Initially known as the Dawn Horse Communion, the movement founded by Adi Da has been through several name changes: previous names have included The Free Primitive Church of Divine Communion, The Johannine Daist Communion, and Free Daism. It is now known as Adidam, or The Way of the Heart.

Jones was married in the late 1960s, and his wife was his first student. In later years, Adi Da insisted on a legal divorce. Da has three children, by three different women.

Teaching

While Adi Da's teaching bears strong affinities with Hinduism and Buddhism, Adi Da describes his "Way of the Heart " or "Way of Adidam" as a "radical" (or most direct), original, and uniquely complete (or "All-Completing") offering that, for the first time in universal and cosmic history, has made the total way and wisdom of the precosmic Divine Light, or the "Bright", available to human beings. Adi Da also proclaims that he has, through an "Avataric Divine Descent", brought the "Bright" into all planes or dimensions of the cosmos via a new and unprecedented spiritual transmission ("samadhi") that he has since childhood named "the Thumbs". Adi Da proclaims that his Divine Incarnation is the unique means for sentient beings to attain such realization now and for all future time. Adi Da has described himself as a Seventh Stage Realizer. While other teachers, such as Jesus Christ, have attained the status of Fifth (or Sixth) Stage Realizer, Adi Da maintains that he is the only teacher to have become a Seventh Stage Realizer--and even that he will be the only teacher for all time to reach Seventh Stage Realizer status.

Adi Da teaches that, in reality, there is Only God. That is, that there is only a single, Indivisible, All-Pervading, Self-Existing and Self-Radiant "Source-Condition", "Nature", and "Substance" that is Reality, in and of which everything and everyone arises as a spontaneous and unnecessary modification. This portion of his thought closely resembles the concept of Brahman in the Advaita Vedanta school of Hinduism and of Nirvana in Buddhism, the two traditions that he views as most closely paralleling his own teaching (see Nirvanasara: Radical Transcendentalism and the Introduction of Advaitayana Buddhism ). Adi Da teaches the One Divine Reality is "always already" our Condition, and therefore our task is not to seek for God or Realization but to become responsible for the action whereby we forget, obscure, and obstruct the prior State—which activity he generally describes as self-contraction, or the "avoidance of relationship". But Adi Da also teaches that one cannot Realize the Divine through one's own efforts, because all ego-based action cannot but fail to overcome its own original presumption of egoity itself. One must be awakened out of this "dream" by tangible Divine Spiritual Grace itself, appearing through the Agency of the God-Realized Human Guru.

Adi Da has updated his autobiography, The Knee of

Response

Adi Da's formal devotees number close to two thousand worldwide. There are a number of Adidam communities around the world. In order to support the growth of Adidam in the world, devotees are generally expected to tithe at between 5% and 15% of their gross income, and are asked to pay additional fees, although exceptions based on financial need are allowed. Devotees also frequently take part in fundraisers, the purpose of which is to provide Adi Da with various gifts that he requests. Adi Da has stated that "(t)he first responsibility of My devotee is financial service to ". Most people who become formal devotees eventually leave the group; the number of ex-devotees has been estimated on the order of 10,000 or more. The number of people who appreciate Adi Da's teaching but have not made the decision to become his formal devotee is estimated to be about the same. Adi Da has sometimes complained about the smallness of the response to his ministry: "Why have people been so unresponsive to me? Why is there such destruction of my work? After thirty years there still aren't any missionary results. So what is the source of this non-event? What is defeating it? Why are there no signs of this resistance changing?" (July 25, 2000).

Adidam has been the target of numerous critical allegations, primarily by disaffected former students , and secondarily by journalists and anti-cult activists. (Readers will find the dynamics of interactions between members and ex-members is similar to that of other guru-based groups enmeshed in controversy, and should evaluate claims from both sides carefully.) The substance of these allegations is that Adi Da and/or the organization deceitfully engage in financial exploitation, casual violence, and sexual abuse of members , , . One of his female devotees has posed nude on the Internet for money and does nude massage and nude cooking in the San Francisco Bay Area . Critics also point to certain of Adi Da's behaviors that appear unconventional, exploitative or self-serving: e.g., Adi Da had nine "wives" or consorts at one point, and more recently has reportedly created a formal process wherein female devotees may apply to be his consorts, with one stage of that process being posing for photographs while clad in lingerie . Adi Da has said that he requires such attention in order to keep himself "favorably disposed to embodiment".

In 1985 Adi Da and his church were the target of a lawsuit alleging (among other things) fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, and assault and battery; and seeking $5 million in damages . The church, claiming extortion, counter-sued for $20 million , and eventually withdrew that suit and settled out of court with the plaintiff for an undisclosed sum. In 1986, Adi Da was again sued for fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress , and again an out-of-court settlement was reached. The advent of the internet has seen an increase in public, sometimes anonymous, and frequently heated debate regarding Adidam and Adi Da . Supporters perceive underlying spiritual import behind Adi Da's conduct, and point to such "crazy-wise" figures as Marpa and Drukpa Kunley as precedents. Such supporters, both within Adi Da and other controversial groups, also tend to draw a distinction between the material world and the spiritual world. They hold that even if the teacher acts in a controversial manner in the material world, it does not detract from the value of the teaching on the spiritual level--and

Popular author Ken Wilber has repeatedly and enthusiastically endorsed Adi Da's realization and spiritual importance. However, after the allegations against Adidam were made public, and Wilber "received an enormous amount of grief, from personal and professional quarters, for my endorsements" , he then made a point of adding many cautions and caveats to his endorsements for his reading public , even while in private letters to his Adidam friends, he confessed "I have not, and have never, renounced Da as Realizer, nor have I in any way abandoned my love and devotion for Him. . . I hope my work will continue to bring students to the Way of the Heart." When his private letters became public, he explained the contradiction in the following way: "Contradictory? Perhaps, but only because Da is contradictory. Contradictory and problematic—deeply problematic. This is why, as a blanket statement, I can no longer—and do no longer—recommend Da’s community for the typical spiritual aspirant, and I have asked his community to cease using my name in this regard. Nonetheless, for those individuals who realize full well the extremely risky nature of the adventure, but who feel a strong pull toward complete and total surrender of their lives to a spiritual Master, I can certainly recommend Adi Da—with all the caveats of which I have written." Wilber himself has never at any point in his life been involved as a formal member of Adidam.

In 1998, another controversial spiritual teacher, Rama/Dr. Frederick Lenz, passed away under mysterious circumstances . Many of the former students of Rama went on to study with Adi Da , , . This event was presented by Adi Da as a reaching out to the mourning members of another spiritual community, and as being indicative of his success as a teacher. However, an alternative explanation of this episode, provided by Adi Da's critics, is that Adi Da simply wanted the money of the former Rama students, who were able to tithe large sums of money to Adi Da. Many of the Rama students were young women who may have been seen as attractive to Adi Da. The episode caused a great deal of tension within Adi Da's community, because the new Rama students were provided immediate access to Adi Da to an extent that established devotees of Adi Da could not expect to achieve without years of loyalty. Adi Da's critics suggested that this phase of Adi Da's teaching also served to underscore a certain level of weakness: if a relatively small number of potential new devotees (the former Rama students) could generate such interest in Adi Da, it seemed plausible that his worldwide recruiting efforts were lagging.

Complete Teaching Literature

Although Adi Da has authored over 70 books on spirituality and the process of God-Realization over the last 35 years, his full and complete teaching argument is now contained in a 23 book canon, known as his "Source Texts". The texts comprising this body of work—the Dharma (or Scripture) of the Way of the Heart—are distinct from other general or introductory Adidam books. While such introductory books are merely about the process of Adidam, the Source Texts, in their study, are a necessary component of that process. Although these texts may be beneficially studied by anyone, they are primarily directed to formal students of Adi Da.

The structure of this canon is as follows:

The Dawn Horse Testament

The Dawn Horse Testament Of The Ruchira Avatar - The "Testament Of Secrets" Of The Divine World-Teacher, Ruchira Avatar Adi Da Samraj

This is the core text providing full instruction for the entire process of the Way of Adidam.

The Five Books Of The Heart Of The Adidam Revelation

1. Aham Da Asmi (Beloved, I Am Da) - The "Late-Time" Avataric Revelation Of The True and Spiritual Divine Person (The egoless Personal Presence Of Reality and Truth, Which Is The Only Real God)

2. Ruchira Avatara Gita (The Way Of The Divine Heart-Master) - The "Late-Time" Avataric Revelation Of The Great Secret Of The Divinely Self-Revealed Way That Most Perfectly Realizes The True and Spiritual Divine Person (The egoless Personal Presence Of Reality and Truth, Which Is The Only Real God)

3. Da Love-Ananda Gita (The Free Gift Of The Divine Love-Bliss) - The "Late-Time" Avataric Revelation Of The Great Means To Worship and To Realize The True and Spiritual Divine Person (The egoless Personal Presence Of Reality and Truth, Which Is The Only Real God)

4. Hridaya Rosary (Four Thorns Of Heart-Instruction) - The "Late-Time" Avataric Revelation Of The Universally Tangible Divine Spiritual Body, Which Is The Supreme Agent Of The Great Means To Worship and To Realize The True and Spiritual Divine Person (The egoless Personal Presence Of Reality and Truth, Which Is The Only Real God)

5. Eleutherios (The Only Truth That Sets The Heart Free) - The "Late-Time" Avataric Revelation Of The "Perfect Practice" Of The Great Means To Worship and To Realize The True and Spiritual Divine Person (The egoless Personal Presence Of Reality and Truth, Which Is The Only Real God)

These 5 texts summarise the essential process of the Way of the Heart.

The Seventeen Companions Of The True Dawn Horse

Paradigms of Reality: The Real Nature of God, Cosmos and Realization

1. Real God Is The Indivisible Oneness Of Unbroken Light - Reality, Truth, and The "Non-Creator" God In The True World-Religion Of Adidam

2. The Truly Human New World-Culture Of Unbroken Real-God-Man - The Eastern Versus The Western Traditional Cultures Of Mankind, and The Unique New Non-Dual Culture Of The True World-Religion Of Adidam

3. The Only Complete Way To Realize The Unbroken Light Of Real God - An Introductory Overview Of The "Radical" Divine Way Of The True World-Religion Of Adidam

Original Writings and Talks

4. The Knee Of Listening - The Divine Ordeal Of The Avataric Incarnation Of Conscious Light--The Spiritual Autobiography Of The Divine World-Teacher, Ruchira Avatar Adi Da Samraj

5. The Divine Siddha-Method Of The Ruchira Avatar - The Divine Way Of Adidam Is An ego-Transcending Relationship, Not An ego-Centric Technique

6. The Mummery Book - A Parable Of The Divine True Love, Told By A Self-Illuminated Illustration Of The Totality Of Mind

Esoteric Principles and Practices

7. He-and-She Is Me - The Indivisibility Of Consciousness and Light In The Divine Body Of The Ruchira Avatar

8. Ruchira Shaktipat Yoga - The Divine (and Not Merely Cosmic) Spiritual Baptism In The Divine Way Of Adidam

9. Ruchira Tantra Yoga - The Physical-Spiritual (and Truly Religious) Method Of Mental, Emotional, Sexual, and Whole Bodily Health and Enlightenment In The Divine Way Of Adidam

Stages of Life: The six potential stages of ego-based life, and the Divine seventh stage of life

10. The Seven Stages Of Life - Transcending The Six Stages Of egoic Life, and Realizing The ego-Transcending Seventh Stage Of Life, In The Divine Way Of Adidam

11. The All-Completing and Final Divine Revelation To Mankind - A Summary Description Of The Supreme Yoga Of The Seventh Stage Of Life In The Divine Way Of Adidam

Process of Adidam: Five Comprehensive Views of the Practice of Adidam

12. What, Where, When, How, Why, and Who To Remember To Be Happy - A Simple Explanation Of The Divine Way Of Adidam (For Children, and Everyone Else)

13. No Seeking—Mere Beholding - The Always Primary Practice Of The Divine Way Of Adidam

14. Santosha Adidam - The Essential Summary Of The Divine Way Of Adidam

15. The Lion Sutra - The "Perfect Practice" Teachings In The Divine Way Of Adidam

16. The Overnight Revelation Of Conscious Light - The "My House" Discourses On The Indivisible Tantra Of Adidam

Great Tradition: The Total Spiritual "Effort" of Humanity as a Unified (and Progressive) Process

17. Basket Of Tolerance - The Perfect Guide To Perfectly Unified Understanding Of The One and Great Tradition Of Mankind, and Of The Divine Way Of Adidam As The Perfect Completing Of The One and Great Tradition Of Mankind

These 17 texts either elaborate and refine key aspects of the Dawn Horse Testament, or else provide additional information to serve the overall practice of the Way of the Heart.

The essay "First Word" appears at the beginning of each Source Text as a way of orienting the reader to the right understanding of the "point of view" expressed in the text, and to counter the inevitable cultic mind-set that most "unenlightened seekers" bring to their approach.

Name changes

Adi Da is noted for his frequent name changes in the past . As a student of Muktananda, he was given the name Dhyanananda. Shortly after becoming an independent teacher, he took the name Bubba Free John, "Bubba" being a colloquialism for "brother" and "Free John" a loose translation of "Franklin Jones". In 1979, he began calling himself Da Free John, "Da" meaning, in Sanskrit, "the giver". From 1986 to 1990, he was known primarily as Da Love-Ananda, "Ananda" meaning, in Sanskrit, "bliss". From 1990 to 1991, he was known as Da Kalki, in reference to the Hindu avatar Kalki, the 10th and final incarnation of Vishnu, and from 1991 to 1994 as Da Avabhasa, "Avabhasa" meaning "brightness". The title his devotees currently use for him is the Ruchira Avatar, Adi Da Samraj, literally "the radiant avatar, primordial giver, universal ruler". They also frequently refer to him simply as "Beloved".

See also

Shawnee Free Jones, a daughter

Books by other authors

• Georg Feuerstein, Holy Madness: The Shock Tactics and Radical Teachings of Crazy-Wise Adepts, Holy Fools, and Rascal Gurus, Paragon House, 1991, ISBN 1557782504
• Edward Plotkin, (2002) ISBN 0972087907.