Over the course of His life and work with devotees,
Adi Da has taken on a number of different names. Adi Da has explained how His
changing names reflects the progressive changes in His Spiritual Work and His
Revelation. This page is a very brief guide to those name changes.
Franklin Jones (1939 - 1973)
Adi
Da's born name. Esoteric translation: "A Free Man [Franklin] through whom God
is Gracious [Jones]."
More detail: Adi Da's full birth name was Franklin Albert Jones. "Albert" is from the Germanic name Adalbert, which is composed of the elements "adal" ("noble") and "beraht" ("bright"). So altogether, the esoteric meaning of the name, "Franklin Albert Jones", is "A Free Man Who is the 'Bright', through Whom God is Gracious".
Bubba Free John (1973 - 1979)
"Bubba"
was an affectionate nick-name from Avatar Adi Da's childhood, meaning "brother".
"Free John" is a rendering of His born name, "Franklin Jones". Adi Da has said
that "Bubba Free John" was a name that came to Him spontaneously. He needed to
become for a period of time a "Friend", or "Brother", to His devotees in order
to grow them into the practice of the Way of Adidam.
The
Sanskrit symbol, "Da"
click image to enlarge
Da Free John (1979 - 1986)
The Name "Da" has been Adi Da's principal Name since 1979.
Adi Da revealed His Divine Nature as "Da" (Sanskrit: "the Giver"), the One Who Gives Divine Blessings of every kind.
"Da" is an ancient Divine mantric sound or syllable that is culturally universal. It was particularly revered in the ancient Hindu and Tibetan traditions.
The Name "Da" is hidden in The Upanishads,
the venerable scriptures of India, in which "Da" is the syllable uttered by the
Divine Voice in thunder, and is also the central syllable of "hr-da-yam", which means
"the Heart", "the Divine Condition of all". The Name "Da" also appears in the
Tibetan Buddhist tradition, where it is defined as "the one who bestows great
charity", "the very personification of the great Way of Liberation".
"Da" is the Name for the Only and Living Person, Who, as Adi Da has written, "Is Manifest As all worlds and forms and beings, and Who Is Present As The Spiritual Current Of Divine Life In the body Of Man". The Name "Da" was Revealed to Adi Da in Vision.
When He revealed
the Name "Da" to His devotees in 1979, a new period of Avatar Adi Da's Work began.
He no longer related to devotees socially as "Bubba", or Divine Friend. He began
to be acknowledged by His devotees in a more traditional and sacred manner.
Dau Loloma (1983 - present)
Fijian
name given to Adi Da by the Fijian residents of Adi Da Samrajashram. It means
"the Adept of Love" and is an acknowledgement of their recognition of Him.
Da Love-Ananda (primarily
1986 - 1990)
During this period, Adi Da called His devotees to renounce
everything but "Love-Ananda", the Love-Bliss that is Being Itself and that He
Is. "Love-Ananda" was a name that Swami Muktananda (one of Avatar Adi Da's Spiritual
teachers) had given Adi Da in 1969, but He had not chosen to use it until 1986.
Da Avadhoota (primarily
1987 - 1988)
A primary reference to Adi
Da during this period. "Avadhoota" traditionally refers to a God-Realized being,
who, by virtue of his or her Realization, has shaken off the bondage of ordinary
social expectations and may thus act freely, spontaneously, and sometimes unconventionally.
Da Kalki (1990
- 1991)
In the Krishna tradition of Hinduism, it is said that cosmic history
has already witnessed the appearance of nine Avatars, but the tenth and completing
Avatar remains to come. He is named "Kalki" and will appear, according to tradition,
in the terrible era of the Kali Yuga, when God has been forgotten, heroically
conquering the forces of darkness and restoring all to the Divine Condition. Adi
Da assumed this name for a time based on a devotee's feeling that Adi Da was the
10th Avatar; but He later felt that the association of His Name with another spiritual
tradition could be confusing, and so He stopped using the name, "Da Kalki".
Da Avabhasa
(primarily 1991 - 1994)
Adi
Da takes this new name on April 29, 1991. "Avabhasa" is Sanskrit for "Brightness".
Devotees spontaneously celebrated the Free Divine "Brightness" Radiating as and
through His bodily Form.
Avatar Adi Da Samraj
(1996 - present)
Adi Da's principal name, "Adi Da", was Revealed to Him on
October 7, 1994. "Adi" is a Sanskrit word that means "first", "primordial", "source".
Avatar Adi Da's devotees recognize Him as the Primordial Being, the Source of
all, the Original Divine Person, Da; and He is the Avatar, the bodily Revelation
of that One. "Samraj" is a title for Avatar Adi Da, which He was offered by His
devotees in 1996, as "Samraj", the Divine "King", the Master of Reality, serving
all by the Transmission of His Heart-Awakening Grace.
Parama-Sapta-Na
(2007 - present)
"Sapta
Na" is a combination of the Sanskrit for "seven" ("Sapta"), referring to the seventh
stage of life, and "Na" being a short form of reference for "Naitauba". So, altogether,
it refers to a seventh-stage Sannyasin. Adi Da created this reference on May 18,
2007. Since "Sapta Na" is a reference that will be used for seventh stage devotees
who are most profoundly involved in the Divine Indifference stage of the seventh
stage of life, a special form of the term was created for using in reference to
Bhagavan Himself - "Parama-Sapta-Na" ("Supreme seventh stage Sannyasin").
Note:
"Parama-Sapta-Na" does not replace "Avatar Adi Da Samraj"; it simply is
an additional reference.
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