Topic: For the Love

[tangerine dream]

For the Love

A talk by Adi Da Samraj
November 26, 1984

On this day a remarkable dialogue took place between Adi Da Samraj and Aniello Panico, who, at that time, was serving in the kitchen at Adidam Samrajashram in Fiji. Aniello had discovered a large rat there—surrounded by the corpses of five mice, whose heads had been chewed off. Repelled, Aniello had asked Adi Da for one of the cats on the island to "take care" of this rat.
ANIELLO: Now, everybody here would call it a mouse, but I'm from New York, and I know it was a rat! He was easily six inches long. He was looking at us and thinking he was as cute as Mickey Mouse.

ADI DA SAMRAJ: They are cute, Aniello. I don't mind them.

ANIELLO: But, Master, he wasn't alone. There were four or five little mice with their heads eaten off! This killer was trying to look cute, as if he were at Disneyland, but that devil had eaten those little mice's heads off.

ADI DA SAMRAJ: Eating beings is always disturbing—not necessarily the eating, but the witnessing of the eating. There is nothing I can do about this, Aniello. This world is dreadful. Do you have any idea what is happening in conditional nature?

All beings are My own. Yet, you must sacrifice them in order to live. You beings, you humans here, require the murdering of living beings to eat and survive. You must come to terms with this fact. To do so you must come to terms with your own life and death and accept the fact that you are a sacrifice, and that conditionally manifested existence is not merely a jolly time. All of you could potentially die a painful death and live a painful lifetime. By entering into relationship with Me, I am Giving you another slice of possibility.

Do not become overly disgusted by the manifestations of non-human creatures, Aniello. Accept your own state and the fact that you, in a sense, eat heads and require the pain of beings to live. Beyond that, know that you must accept the pain of life and death. You are a sacrifice. To exist in this form is revolting, treacherous, and potentially painful. Some few may slide through with comparatively little pain and die in bed, but of the beings on this planet, how many do?

Human beings are not gods and goddesses here. All suffer the fate of animals. All must come to terms with this and, out of compassion, relieve as many as possible from that destiny.

Do you know how many dreadful deaths human beings have suffered compared to your mice? There have been much worse. And how many fear death? How many fear that kind of death? Everyone does. All are meat and can be eaten. Luckily for you, you get to Commune with Me and live the Truth and be Delighted and experience Ecstasy while manifest in mortal form.

So you have the potential to do something different, but you do not have the potential to not sacrifice. Conditionally manifested existence is participation in sacrifice, and there is no reason to be righteous about that fact. You should be humbled by the knowledge. You cannot even breathe without sacrificing self-conscious beings. You cannot walk or move, you cannot live from day to day, without taking life in some form. You may eat an orange or a bit of lettuce in your salad. Look at your plate. Look at the sacrifice. Do not be guilty about it. Know it. You are not yet so different from the rat. You eat heads, too. You are revolting. You are flesh. You are to be sacrificed. You are a sacrifice in your most precious form, that to which you would most dearly cling. You are! Be revolted, but be illumined by your knowledge. Make changes. Devote your sacrifice to changing existence. Do not be happy about it, but do not be righteous either. This is My advice, Aniello.

I love rats, Aniello. I Embrace them—rats, mice, walls, amoebas, frogs—I Embrace everybody. I Love everybody. I want to Wake Up every being into this Ecstasy in the midst of death. I have no righteousness in Me, no moral righteousness on any point. I am willing to become incredibly ridiculous to Wake you Up. I do everything! I have no moral righteousness in Me, no un-Love. I make no distinction between beings—humans, rats, amoebas—none.

All beings are suffering the obligation to be eaten. I want to Give you the alternative, even though you may be eaten and even though you eat in the meantime. I want to Give you the Vision of My Glory, Wake you Up, Give you Ecstasy, the Experience of Happiness and Fullness, even while you are dying, not to mention while you live. This is a real and very important matter. I am not here to deny you the knowledge of what you are experiencing and what other beings experience. I am here to sensitize you to what all other beings experience, what other forms—like these curtains and that fan—experience, even though they may not even appear to be conscious.

You think there is no consciousness in these so-called objects. There is nothing but Consciousness Itself, everything threatened by the fact of existing in conditional form. I have great Love, Compassion, Feeling. I do not look down on the rat, Aniello. That poor sucker breaks My Heart! And you should feel likewise, if you love Me. I am here to sensitize you to your own sacrifice and the sacrifice of others. I am here to Call you beyond it, not to deny it. A lifetime here is so short. The logic of existence itself, when you know Me, transcends these murders, this ugliness, these limits.

Where do you think you are? You deny the rat your love? I deny no one. I draw no lines around Me. I Love all!

[Taken from the book, See My Brightness Face to Face: A Celebration of Adi Da Samraj, and the First 25 Years of His Divine Revelation Work. This book is available from The Dawn Horse Press.]
 

[tangerine dream]

Nothing wrong with love, but Adi Da is...at least highly questionable.

Yes, I realize he is a bit controversial.  He does have some good messages, though.

[tangerine dream]

"See Right Visions"
by Stuart Camps --

A thousand years ago the inland plains of North America were home to immense herds of bison. Each year they would undertake their great migrations across the unfenced vastness of what today is called the United States of America. For centuries the lives of the people depended upon the movements of these animals. The large, woolly bison were the life-blood of the plains Indians. They were a great resource of material and spiritual abundance and were worshipped as Spirit-beings.

A centuries-old sacred legend of the Lakota Sioux tells of two young hunters from the region we now call Dakota. They were out on a hunting trip. During their journey they encountered a pure white buffalo calf who shape-shifted into a beautiful woman, the legendary White Buffalo Calf Woman. She gave the young men instruction about how the Sioux should live, and prophesied her eventual return in the form of a white female buffalo calf. The reappearance of the White Buffalo Calf Woman was long expected by the Sioux, and other tribes, to initiate the restoration of their culture and that of all mankind to the Great Divine Spirit.

"Miracle" is the name given to a tiny bison calf born on a small farm in Janesville, Wisconsin, on August 20, 1994. Miracle was female, and pure white.

To the Native Americans, the appearance of Miracle was the Divine manifestation they had been waiting for. Word of her birth spread rapidly and the pilgrimages began. Native Americans traveled to Janesville from all over the United States to pay homage to this buffalo calf. They brought gifts with them -- dream-catchers, medicine wheels, sweet grass, turquoise, cedar berries, alabaster. They came to perform ceremonies and offer prayers and gifts.

On the other side of the world, in Fiji, Avatar Adi Da Samraj came to hear of the birth of Miracle. Immediately prior to receiving news about the calf's birth Adi Da had been looking at some books and videos about Native American culture (including the White Buffalo Calf prophecy). Then after hearing about the birth of Miracle He asked a question about the prophecy.

Avatar Adi Da Samraj: As I remember, the source of the legend of the White Buffalo Woman is the tradition of the sacred pipe described by Black Elk. I have the impression that the return of this Spirit is regarded to be a sign of the end of the world and of the restoration of Native Americans to their integrity, which inherently has something to do with their lands. The prophecy contains both suggestions. What are they actually presuming? Does the appearance of this white buffalo signal the restoration of the Native Americans, or is it associated with the end of the world--a judgment day, a holocaust, or some such event? (November 8, 1994)

 
Since the Sioux are the keepers of the Sacred Pipe of the prophecy of the White Buffalo Calf Woman, I contacted two men of the Lakota Sioux Nation in Rapid City, South Dakota: Joseph Chasing Horse, one of the Sioux leaders, and Floyd Hand, a shaman of high degree. Both men were receptive to our inquiry.

In phone conversations with them I learned that the Sioux regarded the white calf as a sign of the purification of the Nations of Native Americans and of the world, and that, with Miracle's birth, they predict the regeneration of humanity through an ordeal of difficulty, suffering, and hardship. This ordeal will bring people back to their roots, to the source of the Great Mystery. The Sioux regard the prophecy about the "end of the world" as a signal of the completion of the so-called white man's present civilization, thereby simultaneously initiating the restoration of spiritual integrity for all people.

Both Joseph Chasing Horse and Floyd Hand asked me to give respective messages to Adi Da. Joseph Chasing Horse wanted Adi Da to know about a large gathering of Native Americans at Big Mountain, Arizona, in June of 1995. The purpose of this four-day ceremony was to inspire the Native American people to return to their roots, to the "Buffalo". With the state of the world as it is Native American leaders feel urgent that all cultures return to their roots, to the spiritual source of existence.

Floyd Hand spoke to me about visions he had received in relation to the white calf prophecy. He mentioned that during the predicted period of restoration, many white animals would be born, the sign of the reappearance of purity and goodness. He also said that many black animals would be born, the sign of the ending of old ways. As my conversation with Floyd Hand was about to end, he asked me to pass on a message to Adi Da Samraj about a vision he experienced while we were talking on the phone.

Floyd said, "Tell Him to watch the left side of his body and his left hand, for a serpent is crawling, and the serpent is not a snake. He goes to a small hill, with trees, where he meditates. A person will approach him from his left side, and it will be a female. Tell him to watch, to be careful."

When I asked Floyd to explain the vision to me he said I did not need to know anything about it. He said that Adi Da would know what the vision means and that I should just pass on the message.

Avatar Adi Da received a report of these conversations and the personal messages from the two men the next morning.

On only a handful of occasions has Adi Da hand-written a letter to someone. On the morning of November 16, 1994, Avatar Adi Da sat at His desk in His house in Fiji and wrote a brief reply to Floyd Hand's verbal message. This letter was placed in Adi Da's Blessing Temple, the "Sukra Kendra" for a time, and was then passed on for us to communicate it to Floyd Hand.

The letter is a confession to Floyd Hand, to all Native Americans and to men and women everywhere, of Adi Da's Intimacy with all beings and of His Divine Purpose in the world. He also invited Floyd Hand to a fuller understanding of the vision he had received, which Adi Da said was an authentic one. Floyd Hand is a traditional shaman of the Lakota Sioux. He had never heard of Adi Da until our phone conversation.

Avatar Adi Da's letter (excerpted, November 16, 1994): If you see right visions, then See Who I Am. I Am Adi Da, the Expected One, Named John by Birth. The Woman you see on My left Is Not here to do harm. I have Husbanded Her, So That the coming events May Be Made "Bright". She Is the One you see Appearing As the White Animals, but She Is Only My Own "Bright" Spirit-Power. What you see as the serpent of harm Is Only the Rising of My Own Spiritual Energy, to Purify and Control the earth and the ego. The white tribes, and every tribe, of every color, must be Purified at heart, or all will suffer. I Am the Sun of the Heart. I Stand At the right-hand side of every one. Therefore, do not meditate on harm, or on what you see to the left. Keep your eye to the right, and only meditate on Me. Every one must meditate only on Me, for the Sake of "Brightness". Ask Her, and She will also Tell you This of Me. (end of letter)

=====================


Adi Da Samraj, 2007   
Below, from James Steinberg, is a brief explanation of the esoteric meanings in Adi Da's letter to Floyd Hand.

When Adi Da points to His Name, "John by Birth", He is referring to auspicious Native American prophecies of the appearance of a white-skinned God-Man named "John" who would come for the spiritual benefit of the world. At birth, Adi Da's given name was "Franklin Jones", and for many years during His Teaching Work He was known as "Bubba (or 'Da') Free John". "Free John" is a rendering of "Franklin Jones", which means literally "a free man (Franklin) through whom God is Gracious (Jones is a variation of John)".

The "Woman" on the left whom Adi Da says He has Husbanded is the Divine Goddess, or the very force of cosmic nature and all conditional manifestation. When the Goddess is un-Husbanded and independent, she is out of control, birthing and deathing living beings indiscriminately. In the Hindu Tantric traditions, the woman on a man's right is independent, un-husbanded, therefore randomly available to others. When a woman submits to be husbanded by a man, she stands on the man's left and he stands at her right. Thus He says that the Great Woman Stands at His left, which is what Floyd saw in the vision.

The "serpent" in Floyd's vision indicates, in traditional imagery, Adi Da's Divine Spirit-Power. In the Yogic traditions of the East, the spiritual energy, or "Kundalini", that is said to rise in the body-mind is likened to a serpent. Thus, Floyd Hand rightly saw the "serpent" of Adi Da's Divine Spiritual Energy.

The cultures of mankind in all times have contained prophecies expressing the hopes of all humans for a Divine Intervention to restore the world to Happiness. Such is the prayer expressed by Native Americans in their prophecy of "John" and in the legend of the white buffalo.

Avatar Adi Da concludes His letter by speaking to Floyd Hand, a shaman who is in touch with greater energies and powers that the ordinary man is not normally available to... He invites Floyd to, "Ask Her, and She will also Tell you This of Me."

=====================

It was early in the evening of November 16th in South Dakota when Floyd Hand was reached by telephone. The letter from Adi Da was read to him by Crane Kirkbride.

Sioux elders are typically well considered in their speech, saying only what is useful or necessary for the moment. Floyd Hand listened quietly to Adi Da's communication to him. He was quiet for a while. Then he said, "This is a good letter. This is a letter for the whole world to hear."

(Postscript: Floyd Hand is a Lakota Sioux medicine man. His tribal name is "Looks For Buffalo". Floyd is not a devotee of Adi Da's. He lives his traditional ways within his ancient traditional culture, and within its changing context in the modern world.)

[tangerine dream]

He's no less than cult leader who longs for submission of his followers. He twists the path of love and to love.

 Religions are cults... and religious leaders are cult leaders.   

I still like his messages.  And though he's no longer with us, there's a certain something that shines through, even in his words, it's a spark.  It's what I like to see in this world.

[tangerine dream]

1) he creates the illusion of shortcut; he impersonates somebody taking care of the whole world, healing it in a moment, being the only 'seventh stage realizer'.
2) as he demands a total submission, he creates a second illusion: that of saviour; one only needs to give up his power and personal responsibility and he'll be 'saved' by that wonder-realizer.

That is all very attractive, but thoroughly false.

I don't know the man at all, just enjoying a few of his articles.

 

[Jahn]

Wikipeda says:
Born Franklin Albert Jones and raised in the New York City borough of Queens, he graduated from Columbia University in 1961, with a BA in philosophy, and from Stanford University in 1966 with an MA in English literature. In 1965, Franklin Jones became a disciple of Albert Rudolph, also known as Rudi or Swami Rudrananda. In 1968, Jones became a disciple of Rudi's Indian teacher Swami Muktananda, whom he visited in India, and, he wrote, gave him extraordinary spiritual experiences.

For approximately one year, in 1968–1969, Adi Da was involved with Scientology[7] (mention of which was omitted from subsequent versions of his autobiography, which say that during this period he did not meditate, but "simply listened"[8]). He returned to India in 1969 to see Muktananda, who subsequently gave Adi Da a letter acknowledging his yogic realization and authorizing him to initiate others into the Siddha Yoga tradition of meditation (this letter can be read here: [8] and a photograph of this hand-written letter can be viewed here: [9].

Adi Da (then still Franklin Jones) founded his own group in April 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.[9]Adi Da formally left Muktananda after a meeting in India in 1973, where Adi Da and Muktananda differed irrevocably on the nature of full enlightenment, which Jones claimed he'd achieved while Muktananda had not.[citation needed]

In 1974, Adi Da and his followers established a residential community in Northern California called Persimmon, which became the center of their organization. In 1983, the group purchased an estate on the island of Naitauba, Fiji, which became the center of Adidam's activities as well as Adi Da's residence.[10]

Adi Da frequently changed his name, which he asserted reflected changes in his teaching. As a student of Muktananda, he was given the name Dhyanananda. Shortly after declaring himself an independent teacher, he adopted the name Bubba Free John. In 1978, he changed this to Da Free John. Subsequent names included Da Love-Ananda, Da Kalki, Da Avabhasa, and finally the Ruchira Avatar, Adi Da Samraj, literally "the radiant avatar, primordial giver, universal ruler". His followers frequently refer to him simply as "Beloved".[11]

Notes
7 Jones, Franklin Albert, The Knee of Listening, (1972) Pg. 84 CSA Press, GA. ISBN 0-87707-093-8 [2]
8 The Knee of Listening: The Early-Life Ordeal and the Radical Spiritual Realization of the Divine World-Teacher, Adi Da (The Da Avatar). New Standard Edition, popular format: 9/95). ISBN 1-57097-023-8
9 Lewis, 2001, pg. 215
10 Lewis, 2001, pg. 217
11 Feuerstein, Remembrance Of The Divine Names of Da, 1982

[tangerine dream]

Da Free John can be distinguished from great individuals like Christ and Buddha, and more recently Ramana Maharshi, Nityananda, and Sri Aurobindo and the Mother in that they really are - even in their psychophysical personalities - great Realisers, who have integrally realised the Supreme, and serve as pure expressions and Incarnations (avatars) of the Supreme, whereas Da himself, although attaininga high state of realisation and enlightenment, at the same time retains his lower passions and addictions, and so (it would seem, but again I would emphasise I am only presenting one point of view, and otehrs are equally valid) never made the Psychic (evolutionary Higher Self) conversion. He is like a high voltage current flowing through a wire that isn't strong enough to contain it, and in the end the tiny little Franklin Jones, that insignificant speck (and in identifying with our egos we are all insignificant specks!!!) in the vast cosmos, claimed to be the one and only revelation, the Supreme Godhead. There is a useful word in psychology that describes this. It is "inflation". Inflation occurs whenever the tiny insignificant speck that is the ego identifies with a being or consciousness or force much greater than itself - an entity of the Intermediate Zone for example, or the Light of Spiritualisation (and there is a big overlap between these two latter in any case)

But Franklin Jones also has a real power, a power that flows through him. I refer to this power as the attractor. and it seems to be a characteristic of many charismatic gurus, something that is highly potent in, and perhaps indigenous to, the Intermediate zone. One finds it in Sai Baba, in Osho, Muktananda, Ken Wilber, it is a very common phenomenon. Even so, one needs to distinguish between the small human personality on the one hand, the intermediate zone attractor or occult charisma which is the source of the Spiritual Light that it itself distorts, on the other

Those who have met Da in person attest to his magnificent, magnetic presence. Even when he is drinking and smoking and screwing the wives of his male devotees, they still refer to that magnetic presence. This is the attractor. There are forces that seek to play with people or inflict suffering for their own amusement; there are foirces that lift up and inspire and help in spiritual development, and their are forces that, paradoxically, involve both contrary aspects, together, at the same time, without contradiction. And these latter are the most beguiling of all.

Here is the problem, the real danger, with the path of the Guru. It is the true path of bhakti, of absolute devotion. The guru takes the role of God, because the Guru - the True Guru - is God, as in the immortal tale of Krishna and Arjuna in the Gita. Thus the Guru is a gateway for the devotee to become one with the Supreme, the same Supreme, in the form of Light and Power and Infinite Love, that manifests through the Guru.

But when the Guru has not yet purified his or her personal nature, as is most often the case, the Light, even if genuine (as it often may be), is distorted through the Intermediate zone. Then things can be very dangerous, because the lower heavy passions and greeds bring in negative occult forces, and people - sincere devotees trusting and dedicating their all - are emotionally and even physically destroyed. The human wreckage in the trail of ambiguous gurus who try to appropriate this Light for themself (but are themselves enslaved by it), the so called crazy wisdom adepts with genuine powers and realisations but incomplete enlightenment and uncontrolled desires, attests to how dangerous it can be to get close to people like this.

As always in these matters, it is upto the seeker to listen with sincerity and humility to the still small voice within, and let themself be guided by that. Then they will know the true guru, and if they need an authentic guru they will be led to one. And if it is necessary for their spiritual development to have an IZ Guru, they will led to one, and will benefit from the positive and good things the Intermediate zone has to offer. But make sure that you don't listen to your ego or neuroses or superficuial pull of your surface nature towards the atrtractor behind an ambigious guru.

http://www.kheper.net/topics/gurus/Da.htm


Funny, how much he resembles Yoda.  Or is it that Yoda resembles Adi Da??

[Jahn]

But when the Guru has not yet purified his or her personal nature, as is most often the case, the Light, even if genuine (as it often may be), is distorted through the Intermediate zone. Then things can be very dangerous, because the lower heavy passions and greeds bring in negative occult forces, and people - sincere devotees trusting and dedicating their all - are emotionally and even physically destroyed. The human wreckage in the trail of ambiguous gurus who try to appropriate this Light for themself (but are themselves enslaved by it), the so called crazy wisdom adepts with genuine powers and realisations but incomplete enlightenment and uncontrolled desires, attests to how dangerous it can be to get close to people like this.

Yes this mix of genuine light and unresolved personal wounds are common among newbies and in New Age occultism. They have a little amplifier but when turning it on it plays the wrong tracks. With the aim to seek the light many turn in the door of the School when they realize that it is all about their work on their selves, and no "feeling good guru" around.

The "real" guru then of course has a huge amplifier and even a little dissonance in the system will be heard all over the place.

[tangerine dream]

The "real" guru then of course has a huge amplifier and even a little dissonance in the system will be heard all over the place.

 

As always in these matters, it is upto the seeker to listen with sincerity and humility to the still small voice within, and let themself be guided by that. Then they will know the true guru, and if they need an authentic guru they will be led to one. 

[Firestarter]

Lori, hate to do this but I gotta agree with them on this per adi da. He has huge controversies surrounding him. Also, I'd be concerned with anyone who had ties to any scientology (cause of the mind-control and hypnosis element).

wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Da#Controversies

"There are allegations of abuse (financial, psychological, physical, and sexual) among former followers. In 1985 Adi Da and his movement were sued by a former member for (among other things) fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, and assault and battery; the suit sought $5 million in damages.[6] Adidam then filed its own suit naming the former member and five others for abuse of process, extortion, breach of fiduciary duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The suit further charged that the six former members tried to deprive the movement of its "constitutionally protected rights to freedom of religion". Adidam sought $20 million in damages. [7]

Around the time of these lawsuits, Adi Da and Adidam (then known as Da Free John and The Johannine Daist Communion) were subjects of a report on The Today Show.[21] There, and in other media reports, ex-members were quoted as saying that Adi Da exhibited a pattern of psychologically, sexually and physically abusive behavior.

Adidam charged that these public allegations were part of a conspiracy to extort large sums of money from the movement. [7] Adidam said that the former members, (some of whom appeared on the Today show report)[21] "met several times to discuss, conspire and scheme to obtain extraordinary sums of money from Adidam under the threat of destroying the church".[7]

Local media also reported that an Adidam spokesman disclosed that despite previous denials, controversial sexual practices involving the guru had continued after 1976 but had been hidden from some members and the general public. [22] An Adidam official said that no illegal acts took place and the movement had a right to continue experiments in lifestyles. [23]

In 2005, the Washington Post reported: '"The lawsuits and threatened suits that dogged the group in the mid-1980s were settled with payments and confidentiality agreements", says a California lawyer, Ford Greene, who handled three such cases.'[5]"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Theres also a crapload on here about sexual allegations:

http://www.adidaarchives.org/sex_violence_women.htm

"Adi Da (Da Free John) - sex with devotees, sexual abuse and assault, violence against women, and sexual issues in general in the Adidam cult

Editor's note:  some of the items described below, and similar types of activity were discussed during live, in-person interviews with the media in 1985 by the individuals who personally participated in or observed these things.  Please see the "'Media coverage of Da" page on this website for further information, in particular this post which cross references Adi Da incidents to news articles where they were discussed. "

That section has many links of interviews with women heres one of them:

http://www.adidaarchives.org/adi_da_sexual_consent.htm

Adi Da Samraj (Da Free John) and sex with devotees – was it consensual?

Posted by former devotee in 2007

What’s missing from your assessment of what Adi Da did with and to women is an appreciation of the context in which it occurred.  And that context varied dramatically from case to case.

There were obviously sexual encounters between Adi Da and his devotees that were consensual, out of the hundreds that have occurred.  Among those consensual couplings one would surely find examples of every kind of motivation imaginable on both the woman’s part and Adi Da’s as well. Some women were attracted by Adi Da’s power, others sought the attention, acknowledgment, and bump in status within the Adidam community that sex with Adi Da would bring, and others sought spiritual initiation or an opportunity to overcome neurosis or dysfunction through sex with the God-Man.  Probably, some women just wanted to have sex.  As for Adi Da, his obsessive quest for more and different kinds of sexual gratification knew no boundaries over the years.  As both a voyeur and participant, there seems to have been little ground he didn’t cover in the sexual arena, with a ready supply of new female members streaming into Adidam just ripe for the pickin’.

To accept the idea that all of these activities were a form of Adi Da’s selfless spiritual teaching for the sake of devotees would be naïve and absurd in the extreme.  However, that’s exactly what he claims.  According to him, in all of this he was merely reflecting his devotees’ weaknesses and obsessions back to them in order to help free them from the egoic patterns and attachments that were holding them back from growing spiritually.

However, it should be very obvious to anyone not entangled in Adi Da’s mythology that more likely he has just been exploiting his status as an “enlightened God Man” to seduce large numbers of women that were otherwise out of his league. This might not be criminal in most cases, but I would say it’s incredibly irresponsible and completely inappropriate for one who claims to be a spiritual teacher. It is deceitful.  It is also inconsistent with any claim by Adi Da to have himself “transcended” obsessive sexual fixation as the first perfectly enlightened human being in the history of this planet.  His endless search for sexual adventure, just like his obsessive personal use of poppers (amyl nitrate) doesn’t square up with his teachings about regenerative sex practice or with the idea that he was doing anything different than just getting himself off and in the process using sex to establish his dominance over everyone.

Apart from the cases of consensual sex with the motivations described above, there were many situations (perhaps most) where any so-called “consent” for sex was coerced or obtained under false pretenses.  There are two slightly different aspects of this coercion that are worth mentioning. One is the exploitation of the implicit imbalance in power and influence that Adi Da had over devotees, akin to what a therapist has over a patient or a parent over a child, except all the more exaggerated since he was God Incarnate.  Secondly, many women performed the sexual acts Adi Da commanded them to perform only because they believed that doing so was a requirement of their spiritual practice, or a means to transcend egoic attachments or neuroses, or perhaps an opportunity for tantric initiation.  When many of the women later figured out that they were misled, of course many of them became extremely upset.

The account by Connie Shaw of her friend’s surprise anal sex with Adi Da that was posted to the Lightmind website is a good example of this. That post does an excellent job capturing the typical mind-set of a devotee living a rigid and disciplined life who has been idolizing an idealized image of the “enlightened Master” from a distance and is completely in awe of him.  Suddenly the devotee is pulled into an unexpected and dissonant situation that is exploited by Adi Da, who has sex with her on the spot. That example is demonstrative of coercion or deceit when considered in the context in which it occurred, and I hardly consider the encounter “consensual” in the fullest sense of the word.  You need to look at the mind-set of the devotee in this and all similar situations to evaluate what was going on.  You also need to consider the time period of the event and what peoples’ expectations about Adi Da and the nature of the practice were, since all of this changed and went through extreme cycles over the years.

Adi Da was clearly abusive in some of these encounters, and at a minimum extremely insensitive in others.  Once again, there is a full spectrum of behavior by Adi Da and all kinds of varying results experienced by the devotee.  I can tell you that for some of my women friends, the results of Adi Da’s “teaching work” on their private parts have been confusion, injury, and disturbance that clearly did not serve them well.  And let’s not forget the diseases that Adi Da spread, either.

In addition to the scenarios where the victim's "consent" was obtained because they bought into Adi Da’s deceptive mythology, he also used plenty of good old-fashioned bullying, yelling and brute force to have his way with women. Did the women Adi Da raped or beat up or whose hair he ripped out of their heads give their "consent"? Yes, I said raped.  Read the posts by Conrad Goehausen, who talked in depth to a guy who together with Adi Da raped a woman who was begging and screaming at them to stop, and who also talked to the victim, who is still in Adidam.  So, Conrad confirmed the event with both the victim and with Adi Da’s co-perpetrator. There is no way I can accept these as consensual activities. What's really sick, though, is that some of the women who were treated this way have blamed themselves, saying that they “deserved” the treatment they got, or even that it benefitted them as a form of spiritual instruction.  For those who still worship Adi Da as God, how else can they interpret what happened?  The mental virus of the Adi Da mythology runs very deep for the people who are closest to him.  Then again, they would not the first battered women in the world to defend their abusers.

If you look at the history of Adi Da's sexual theater (or any other dimension of interaction) with his followers, a couple of other observations about his so-called crazy wisdom approach become apparent.  First, it is obvious that he generally lacks skill and sensitivity in his teaching interactions with followers.  He does not typically exhibit "skillful means" in dealing with others. Therefore, he gets bad results and hurts people, generating all kinds of negative fallout in the form of disillusioned former devotees and a huge fallout rate for membership in Adidam. So much of what he has done in the name of spiritual teaching is just foolish and ineffective, regardless of whatever else one might say about him.

Secondly, Da displays a pattern of reckless or careless indifference to the impact of his actions on those he claims to be teaching.  He is all too willing to create disastrous effects in the lives and emotions of others, and then rarely attempts to help people work through the resulting mess he made for them. If his actions were really intended as a form of teaching, rather than a reflection of his own tendencies, he would at a minimum want to know what kind of effects he was creating for people.  Even if he were utterly inept at teaching, but was in fact teaching, this would be true.  However, his obvious indifference in most cases, or perverse pleasure in the suffering of others on some occasions, shows that most of his activities have nothing to do with teaching at all.   They are just an expression of his own personality, wrapped up in the business of playing God, and an exaggeration of all that is good and bad in him.

A good example of this was the situation many of us know about when Adi Da told D.G. to perform oral sex on three of his friends.  She was uptight about oral sex due to having been forced to perform it on an adult neighbor when still a child.  After the three blowjobs in a row were performed, Adi Da himself had sex with D.G. and told her to leave his house. She had to sleep in a car in a parking lot and cried all night, and Adi Da never followed up with her to see what the impact of his actions were.  How is it teaching to have sex with a scared and trembling woman, then throw her out of the house and never speak to her again?  Adi Da was not failing at teaching people in situations like these, he wasn’t even trying to teach them.  He was just entertaining and gratifying himself and enjoying the immense power over others than only God-Man status could bring.

Perhaps the most important question that can be asked about Adi Da's crazy wisdom activities is how effective has it been in transforming the lives of devotees and the world as a whole? Has it produced the intended effects in terms of spiritual growth and enlightenment for those involved? Where are the enlightened and transformed devotees who have benefited from 30 plus years of association with this powerful God-Man and what are they doing now? After all this time we still don't see boatloads of radically transformed beings, or even any at all -- at least none that are visible to an observer on the outside. People in Adi Da's group have just aged and mellowed a bit, stuck in a dependent relationship to a man who has limited them, rather than liberated them.

What is the rationale whereby the "shock therapy" of crazy wisdom produces self-transcending wisdom and awakening to the Consciousness that lives and breathes everyone and everything? Can one really "force" another out of identification with the ego by disrupting their life, causing them to indulge themselves in sex, alcohol, and drugs, and berating and humiliating them? Where do we draw the line on what is acceptable behavior to impart upon others "for their own good?" If beating up a woman and bruising her face helps to enlighten her, then what about breaking her legs? Where does it stop, and who decides this? And how does Adi Da's own self-indulgent and neurotic behavior, carried out in private, serve to awaken others to Truth, even when this behavior is hidden from them? This is something I’ve never heard him or anyone else address.

I think that all devotees and former devotees need to realize that this consideration of Adi Da’s motivations and effectiveness is really more universal and general than just examining incidents involving sex.  Those of us who were sincere in our approach and who became deeply involved with Adi Da were just like Connie’s friend in one way or another.  Even though we didn’t all have sex with him, the basic interaction was the same.  We were all exploited in one way or another.  The innocent hope and great awe that we approached Adi Da with was twisted and stolen by this self-centered sociopath to serve his own interests.

[Firestarter]

Ex wife story:

http://www.adidaarchives.org/ex_wife_abusive_sex.htm

Ex-wife's description of Adi Da's Abusive and Voyeuristic Sex, Porno films, Coke bottle dildo, violence against women
 

Posted by "Alice", an ex-"wife" of Adi Da  on 9-12-1999 to the Lightgate Daism Forum

I was a so-called "ex-wife" of Franklin Jones. I have provided proof of who I am and irrefutable photographic evidence of my person as also found on published cult records. I prefer anonymity as do male and female victims of rape and sex crimes. Under strict confidentiality, I have fully disclosed all details of my identity with the webmaster at Impermanence (Elias) including an earlier meeting with him in person. If there will be any legal question as to the veracity of my statement, I will provide written sworn testimony in a court of law to protect the owner of this web-site and possibly bring in corroborating witness if called for. These witnesses would be other "ex-wives" whose true stories have been denied by the Franklin Jones cult. I speak so others may learn the facts and not waste years of being deceived.

I spoke to members of the cult before leaving. People who were supposedly my friends for years turned their backs on me. I brought out the dichotomy between what Franklin Jones said and what he did. I told people I was there at the center and saw everything. People, who had no real contact of their own, said that he had his own reasons and ascribed everything to "crazy wisdom" or "theater."  Their reaction made me see more of his scientology like manipulation and brain washing. People seemed to be in a trance. I found it amazing that people would not hear from somebody who was there and not be emotionally struck. They did not question anything. They tried to deny what I was saying, stories that had happened to me. They were deaf. They had learned to hear what they wanted to hear. There are much worse stories than mine.

I found it interesting that Franklin Jones' background is in the areas of Scientology, acting, Christian Seminary and Hinduism. He mystifies people with his charisma and acting skills. He manipulates people with his Scientology background. He lays guilt on people with his Christianity and entices the New Age mind with Hinduism. He is a Scorpio who has gone sour.. The downfall of that sign is sex and power. Franklin Jones is neurotically involved with greed for sex and power. He weeds out everyone that is not a yes person. There are many channels along the line. There are many gates to go through to make sure you are a yes person. He wants you to relate to one aspect of him only. As a writer and an actor, he gets to relate to many aspects of who you are.

I have seen women humiliated emotionally and sexually including having their genitals wounded. I saw him put a coke bottle in a woman's vagina and the bottle broke. He made another woman take a vodka enema. I have also seen him pull handfuls of hair out of Nina Jones' head. Whatever he does is called a teaching even giving Nina a black eye. Da is a user. He is abusive and manipulative.

In summary, he cares for his own pleasure and amusement and is full of humiliation and inconsideration. All this is observable up close.

For myself and other "ex-wives", we directly experienced this humiliation which served as amusement and entertainment for Franklin Jones’ pleasure. I had to give him blow-jobs while he was orchestrating and producing porno films being made of other people having sex with one another. Franklin Jones would also arrange or order different people to have sex with each other. This could be one of his "wives" who he accused of having feelings for someone else. He would have them make sex and pull me in to perform oral sex on him while he watched. Franklin Jones would not want me to watch at all. He would roughly pull my head down on him. He was a rough lover. He would rip into you without lubrication. He was inconsiderate and unfeeling. You didn’t matter. Franklin Jones in relationship was more cruel than apathetic.

I do not say that he was always this way with every one of his "ex-wives". There may have been some exceptions. As a rule, Franklin Jones behavior was generally cruel and often sadistic with many of the women in his cult. There is no question of this. He treated women like chattel. I was involved and personally witnessed these things at parties and in his home. Franklin Jones is not as he appears to be.

 

Posted by "Alice", an ex-wife of Adi Da on 9-12-1999 to Lightgate Daism Forum

(Editor:  This post below is a follow-up to the original post that appears above. Some posters had asked if the sexual experiences with Adi Da were a form of spiritual initiation, and others wanted more extensive details of the incidents.)

Please understand that I do not intend to further dialogue on my report.

I wish to add that there were no magical powers or "siddhi" involved in the (see above) account. I can further state that Franklin Jones as a sex partner was mechanical and lacked feeling.

I have seen examples of magical yogic siddhi in other ways. These are elsewhere reported. They can be discussed in different ways. I am addressing something different.

In my report, I think it is important for others to see that his motives are narcissistic. Franklin Jones is self-serving. He attends to his voyeuristic neuroses. He lacks compassion for others in blindly serving his needs.  I see Franklin Jones as a magician. I do not see him as a selfless spiritual master.

A Franklin Jones student responded by declaring my account to be superficial. I have little interest in discussing it in depth. That is how it is. The account is intended to show an essence of a man. Here is a man who commands his wives to have sex with his pals while he makes pornographic movies of the event. He is voyeuristically stimulated by watching others engaged in sexual activity. He calls in other women to stimulate him while he watches. I am not supplying more information. Ask Franklin Jones.

[Firestarter]

Damn all I can say to that is good riddance, im glad his ass is dead.

[tangerine dream]

Damn all I can say to that is good riddance, im glad his ass is dead.

 

I do know he is controversial.  But  as for the allegations, nobody can ever know for sure. Hearsay and all that.

What I do know is that I have been reading some of his stuff and have found some great insights.   I do like his ideas and energy.  Sure some of his messages are self important.   Many religious leaders are if you ask me.  However, his personal life is of no interest to me.  Also what he does in his bedroom  is none of my business, coke bottle dildos included.   

And, no worries, y'all.  I am not planning on joining any cult of Adi Da, JC or anyone else for that matter.

[Firestarter]

Oh I know - I know you're not looking at following him or anything like that. It might even be good timing per things - spawn a difft topic - just cause we all have to be careful esp in this day and age of false gurus and the like. Unfortunately they're everywhere - and of course Lori, they'll give these good messages as a hook - but seriously, when you see that many allegations - they cant all be lying. I could see one or two disgruntles, but several like that? something wrong. eek.

Well, I dunno as for the allegations, nobody can ever know for sure. 

What I do know is that I have been reading some of his stuff and have found some great insights.   I do like his ideas and energy.  Sure some of his messages are self important.   Many religious leaders are if you ask me.  However, his personal life is of no interest to me.  Also what he does in his bedroom really is none of my business, coke bottle dildos included.   

And, no worries, y'all.  I am not planning on joining any cult of Adi Da, JC or anyone else for that matter.

[Firestarter]

And even kids:

http://www.adidaarchives.org/mv_record_4-10-85.htm

Mill Valley Record

Sexual experiments continued after '76,
JDC officiaIs admit

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10,1985
by Peter Seidman
 

Officials of the San Rafael based religious sect led by Da Free John told local followers Sunday that "sexual experimentation" within the church did not end in 1976, as the church had previously maintained.

The admission came during a meeting of about 300 members of the Johannine Daist Communion. Sources close to the church told The Record that at least some members were shocked by the news.

Until Sunday, the church had said that during a short period in 1976 some church members had engaged in "sexual experiments" as part of their religious teachings.

Reports of sexual abuse within the church first appeared in The Record last week. In response to those reports the church prepared an open letter that was delivered late Monday.

According to the statement:
 

"We understand our way of life is an ongoing spiritual experiment in which we constantly consider and discover what will best serve our spiritual evolution. For this reason we value the period of liberal experimentation with various lifestyles in the early years of our existence. It was a time full of learning, growth, and spiritual celebration. It was a happy and foolish time."

The statement also says that the period of experimentation "occurred within the context of self­understanding and with a view of developing life conducive to spiritual growth as individuals and as a community."

During interviews with The Record, church officials had resolutely maintained that the sexual experimentation ended in 1976.
 

At least some disaffected former members, however, said that drug use and sexual assaults allegedly have taken place within the church community as late as 1984.

The admission Sunday by church officials corroborates at least in part some of the allegations The Record printed last week.

Crane Kirkbride, speaking for the church, said Monday that there "have been incidents up to the fairly recent past." Kirkbride also said that no illegal acts took place and the church has a right to continue experiments in lifestyles.

In the course of a lengthy investigation, many former members of the church told The Record that part of the experimentation included humiliating sexual activities they were asked to perform in front of Da Free John and some of his "inner circle."

Church officials have said they withheld information about the sexual activities because lower­level members and the general public would misunderstand the relationship between the activities and the church's teaching.

Members of the religious sect call the sexual experimentation "spiritual theater." The purpose of the program, church officials said, is to shock people out of everyday complacency and into a higher spiritual state.

But some former members allege that the "spiritual theater" was and continues to be a form of sexual coercion for the benefit of some individual church members.

Until the announcement Sunday that the sexual practices had continued after 1976, most members of the sect, whose guru lives on a Fijian island, knew little or nothing about the activities in the higher­levels of the organization.

One former member alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Da Free John while some followers watched. She also alleged that he told another women to sexually assault her while she was held down by three women.

She said she left the church shortly after the incident.

But other, loyal followers have told The Record that they experienced no such incidents during their years in the church.

One former member, who identified himself as "Richard," said he was a member for about four years. "My experience was quite positive," he said.

Another former member, Dennis Nagel, said he never experienced any of the alleged sexual abuse that has come to light in recent reports.

An example of the church's "spiritual theater" was revealed to The Record last week by a former member who said she had suffered emotional pain during one of the church­sanctioned "sexual experiments."

The woman told a Record reporter that, as a child, she had been sexually abused by a neighbor. The incident left deep emotional wounds, she said. While at the church's 600 acre retreat in Lake County in 1976, Da Free John told her to perform oral sex with three men, she said. She was then told to have sex with the guru himself, which she did.

"I was traumatized," she said.

According to sources close to the church, the incident was used Sunday by church officials to explain the benefit of "spiritual theater. "

The officials told their assembled flock that the woman had benefited from the experience.