Adi Da's devotees have
written many books that are either directly about Adi Da and the Way of Adidam,
or about a subject that resonates with or supports these primary subjects. We've
organized some of those books below, ordered by name of author. The authors with
the Facebook icon have Facebook pages/communities associated with their books.
Charmian
Anderson is a therapist whose work has been featured in USA Today
and Fortune Magazine. She is also the author of The Heart of Success, and Bridging
Heaven and Earth. Click
here to visit her website.
The
Heart Of Success: The impact of non-judgment and integrity in business
as told by men and women working throughout the world
This book contains over 20 short stories, each taken from
a different career field. The purpose of these true stories is to show that, no
matter where one works in the world, or what profession one is in, and no matter
what socio-economic class, age, gender, religion, or family background, Problems
give way, every sort of problem gives way, when one suspends his or her limited
opinions.
"I was moved by the inspiring stories and core values that are
mirrored in The Heart of Success. They are healing and magical."
Alise
Agar Director, Institute of Noetic Sciences
Michael
(Anthony) Costabile has been a devotee of Adi
Da Samraj since 1975. With an M.A. in Education, he has been
a professional school teacher and administrator. He is the
Director of the Adidam Midwest Center in Chicago. He has served
as a writer and lecturer, producing monographs, educational
materials, and numerous articles about Adi Da Samraj and the
Reality-Way of Adidam. He travels internationally, speaking
about Adi Da Samraj, introducing Adi Da's Wisdom-Teaching
to a variety of public audiences, and leading public retreats.
Avataric Revelation and
the Restoration of Spiritual Culture: On the Life,
Work, and Spiritual Legacy of Avatar Adi Da Samraj
The passing of a spiritual master and the questions of
succession, organizational continuity, and fidelity to
the master’s life, instruction, and work have often been
problematic and contentious. These challenges are not
specific to any tradition and have been met variously
throughout history, but they take on new dimensions in
the case of Avatar Adi Da Samraj (1939-2008), the spiritual
founder of Adidam Ruchiradam. The multi-tiered task of
establishing a new tradition, with all of its spiritual,
philosophical, aesthetic, cultural, legal, and organizational
expressions is monumental in scale — like the artistic
images created by Adi Da in the last decade of his life.
There is an untold story in Adi Da’s work to create this
new spiritual tradition and another in the maturing practice
and organizational life of Adidam members — both of which
have entered into a new chapter with Adi Da’s passing
in November 2008.
What a great book! Feels very accessible, honest and clarifying regarding Adi Da's Divine Avataric Spiritual Blessing Work. Ebooks are an excellent way to get Adi Da's Leela out to many, many people.
Colin B., England
Angelo
Druda has been a devotee of Adi Da for many
years. He is a certified practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine (see his
website for more), a member of the Australian Natural Therapist Association, and
a senior educator in Mate Moce — the Ministry established by Adi Da Samraj to
instruct human beings about the death process, and serve their transition. He
is the author of The
Tao of Rejuvenation and The Easy Death Workbook. Click
here to visit his website.
The
Tao of Rejuvenation: Fundamental Principles of Health, Longevity, and Essential
Well-Being
The Tao of Rejuvenation is an inspiring and very well-written
guide to the underlying principles and basic practices essential to our ability
to not only achieve longevity and bodily rejuvenation, but also to lead a vital,
balanced, and happy life. Written in a clear, rational, and highly readable style,
it is a book that speaks to all modern men and women ready and willing to assume
responsibility for their own destiny.
I
thoroughly enjoyed reading The Tao of Rejuvenation and strongly recommend it to
anyone in search of better health, rejuvenation and the spiritual joy of being
alive.
Druda’s book presents simple,
reliable, time-tested habits — what he explains as the Taoist 'Third Grade' practices
of 'right living' — for enjoying a long and healthy life.
Bill
Gottlieb former Editor in Chief, Rodale Books
The Tao of
Rejuvenation is a godsend for everyone who wants to live a long and healthy life.
Naamleela
Free Jones is Adi Da's youngest daughter. She produces a wide range
of sacred music from her home on Adi
Da Samrajashram in the Fiji Islands. Click
here to visit her website.
The
Danavira Mela Book: The Season Of "Light-In-Everybody" As Celebrated In The
Company Of Bhagavan Adi Da Samraj
In this special holiday book, Naamleela Free Jones shares
the unique seasonal traditions that Bhagavan Adi Da, her
father and Guru, has developed on this basis. She writes:
"Throughout my life, I have had the good fortune
to witness and participate in Bhagavan Adi Da’s enjoyment
of this holiday season, along with His detailed care in
making it a truly sacred celebration for His devotees
— and a time filled with universal love and positiveness
for people of all faiths and places. It is my hope that
this book helps you to share in the love and delight of
the wonderfully rich traditions of this season in Bhagavan
Adi Da’s Company, with your friends and family, young
and old."
Bill
Gottlieb is the former editor-in-chief of Rodale Books and Prevention
Magazine Health Books, and the author of five books on health and healing, including
the 1.5 million-copy bestseller, Alternative
Cures (Rodale, 2000). Click
here to visit his website.
Love
and Blessings: The Divine Compassionate Miracles of Avatar Adi Da Samraj
In Love and Blessings, twenty-five
of His devotees tell heart-breaking stories of human need and Divine Response.
A soldier in Iraq, a woman going blind in Holland, a son with his dying father
in Australia, a woman with cancer in America — these and others tell how they
asked Adi Da Samraj for His Blessing-Regard and the miraculous process that ensued.
These stories are are also about Adi Da's Liberating Blessing-Grace, which He
offers as a Gift for the sake of Awakening all beings beyond any suffering of
the body and mind to the Prior Condition of Eternal Freedom and Happiness.
Alternative Cures:
More than 1,000 of the Most Effective Natural Home Remedies
Alternative Cures is the most complete and effective
compendium of natural remedies ever collected in one resource. Unlike most books
on alternative healing, which feature the perspective of just one expert and discuss
just one problem, Alternative Cures features the expertise of 300 practitioners
of alternative care and provides natural home remedies for 160 health problems.
Enjoy it in good health!
Alternative Cures is a valuable
resource of alternative and integrated medicines — a great mixture of therapies
from excellent expert clinicians makes it an essential book for your health library.
Breakthroughs in Drug-Free Healing will end any doubts
you may harbor about the superiority of natural remedies. Here’s the research
that gives you the complete confidence to “just say no” to risky pharmaceutical
drugs and dangerous medical procedures. Show your doctor the clinical proof about
what really works best to bring better health to your family and friend. The myth-smashing
book also debunks today’s utterly mistaken health advice — about red meat, alcohol,
sweets, caffeine, weight loss, exercise, and more — that has us terrified to “eat,
drink and be merry,” lest we suffer some horrible fate.
Mei-Ling
Israelholds a degree in Modern Thought
and Literature from Stanford University. Her research essay,
Seeking the Phoenix: Artistic Consciousness in the Nuclear Age, is in the collection
of the Museum of Modern Art library in New York City. She is a working glass artist
and a published poet and playwright. From 2001 to 2004, she witnessed Adi Da's
artistic process as an assistant and sometimes a photographic subject as well.
The World As Light:
An Introduction to the Art of Adi Da Samraj
Carolyn
Leereceived her B.A. in 1970 from Sydney University. After being awarded
the Sydney Moss Travelling Scholarship, she was awarded her Ph.D. at London University
in musicology. She was subsequently appointed St Leonard's Research Fellow at
the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and senior lecturer in Music in the National
University of Ireland (University College, Cork). She has been a devotee of Avatar
Adi Da Samraj since 1985. She has been serving the publication of Adi Da's Teaching
and chronicling His life and work.
Adi Da: The Promised
God-Man Is Here
By Carolyn Lee, Ph.D. (written under the
direction of the Ruchira Sannyasin Order of Adidam Ruchiradam)
A shortened
and updated version of the 1998 edition.
The
profound and miraculous Story of the Divine Life and Spiritual Revelation of Avatar
Adi Da Samraj — including excerpts from His written and spoken Word and stories
told by His devotees.
A
summary overview of Avatar Adi Da’s Life and Work — from the foretelling of His
Birth, though His years of "Learning humankind", the more than thirty-five years
of His unique Avataric Teaching-Work, to His current Compassionate Blessing-Work,
this is the extraordinary story of Adi Da’s Divine Intervention in the world.
Meg Fortune
McDonnell has worked as a writer and editor, international speaker, stage
and film producer, schoolteacher, priest, war-time vigil correspondent, fine art
photographic subject, event manager, dance teacher, personal assistant, legal
aide, book indexer, caterer, and street performer.
Tasting
the Moon: Adventures in the Meaning of Life
This is the story of a "no holds barred” pathway through
life — from the author’s eccentric childhood, through the tumult of the 1960’s,
to the ashram of Adi Da Samraj, the spiritual teacher she encountered in the 70’s.
With disarming and raw candor, Meg Fortune McDonnell recounts the ego-deaths and
transformations she went through as she followed her unorthodox teacher around
the globe — and to uncharted spiritual dimensions not located on the map. To connect
her riveting confessions to current events, McDonnell draws on references from
“Vanity Fair” to “The Buddhist Bible” and Alanis Morisette to Ramana Maharshi,
deftly tracing the recent epoch of our collective spiritual quest along with her
personal adventures. The three decades McDonnell spent under the tutelage of her
enigmatic teacher were filled with sometimes hair-raising, sometimes hilarious,
ultimately uplifting explorations of everything, including: what vampires tell
us about the taboo against the spirit and what it really means to be “sexually
liberated,” healing debilitating Oedipal wounds and thawing the icy character
that freezes out love, uncovering new gender roles and empowering female strengths,
dancing as tribal prayer for world peace, recurring and mysterious synchronicities,
what true beauty is — in art, friends, & avatars, and blessing meant for everyone.
A fascinating life, masterfully told. More here.
This
book excels on many levels. Having been a lifelong, voracious reader of books
(especially spiritual journeys), I have had my appetite fulfilled on many levels
by Tasting the Moon . . . literally!!!
The author brings you into
the room with her teacher, a 20th century holy man and crazy-wisdom adept. More
astonishing to me, she writes her amazing story with her father as her editor
and includes a moving chapter "Finding the Lost Treasure" about a deep healing
with her mother.
Meg demonstrates a candid understanding of her flaws and
expresses her lessons with Irish humor. She describes spiritual experiences that,
to me, are astounding in any age but particularly in the 21st century. This book
is a credit to her and honors the spiritual giant that she has devoted her life
to.
This book is an extraordinary feat of storytelling and oedipal healing
for a child raised in an Irish Catholic family of eight children. Read this book
and be instructed, helped and supported in your own healing and spiritual exploration.
Hermes
I
laughed and cried and was swept away in wonder . . . this will surely rank as
one of the all-time great tributes to any spiritual teacher and to the process
of transformation. . . a great gift to humanity.
—Hugh O’Doherty,
Harvard JFK School of Government
Going
well beyond the bestselling Eat
Pray Love, Tasting The Moon tells the story of a “no holds barred”
pathway through life — from the author’s eccentric childhood, through the tumultuous
60's, to the ashram of Adi Da Samraj, her spiritual Guru whom she discovered in
the 70's.
To connect her riveting confessions to current events, McDonnell
draws on diverse references from “Vanity Fair” to “The Buddhist Bible” and Alanis
Morisette to Ramana Maharshi, deftly tracing the recent epoch of our collective
spiritual quest along with her personal adventures.
The three decades McDonnell
spent under the tutelage of her enigmatic master were filled with sometimes hair-raising,
sometimes hilarious, ultimately uplifting explorations of everything, including:
what vampires tell us about the taboo against the spirit and what it really means
to be “sexually liberated,” healing debilitating Oedipal wounds and thawing the
icy character that freezes out love, uncovering new gender roles and empowering
female strengths, dancing as tribal prayer for world peace, recurring and mysterious
synchronicities, what true beauty is — in art, friends, & avatars, and blessing
meant for everyone.
Meg talks about her book in three series of video clips:
Leonard
Mehlmauer is a retired Naturopath,
in clinical practice since 1972. He now teaches classes, writes books and does
research in the Eyology sciences. He has been a devotee of Adi Da Samraj since
April, 1979.
The
GREAT Liquid Diet
by Leonard Mehlmauer, N.D.
3rd
(expanded) edition Grand Medicine Books order
here
The GREAT
Liquid Diet is perfect for anti-aging, gentle weight loss, rejuvenation,
& almost every disease circumstance you can name. No harsh fasting. No crunching
raw veggies for hours at a time. It's a diet and health regime you and your patients
can live with-and use safely in almost every difficult case. It's designed to
sell to your clients/patients and also to use as a primer to teach them this way
of life. It is the easiest known way to take hi-raw or all raw foods in the most
efficient and tasty ways.
Sclerology is an absolute “must-have” for
Iridologists. The immediate and current data in the whites of the eyes effectively
doubles, enhances, and verifies what can be seen in the irises. This important
contribution to Eyology science, now referred to fondly as “the Manual” is a textbook
for the serious student of Sclerology in particular and Eyology science in general.
Professionally acclaimed (Jensen, Miles, Pesek, etc.), it comes fully and beautifully
illustrated with color Eyology images (from digital and film photos), maps, charts,
clear graphics, practice aides, plus herb and supplement protocols. Helps make
the most of client evaluations.
Roger
Savoie is a philosopher, writer, and
translator. He is the author of La Vipère et le Lion and Le Philosophe Chat, and
has written for such prominent magazines as La Revue 3e millénaire. Click
here to visit his website.
La
Vipère et le Lion: La Voie Radicale de la Spiritualité
L'auteur décrit le processus spirituel en trois étapes fondamentales:
la vigilance, la prise en charge et le lâcher-prise. Il propose aussi de remettre
en valeur dans tous les secteurs de notre vie, la science première, la métaphysique
radicale, qui s'appuie sur l'enseignement des grands sages.
Daniel
Sleeth has been a devotee of Adi Da since 1983. He has worked
for many years in the field of human services as a mental health provider. Dan
earned a MA in general psychology and in counseling. After receiving his Ph.D.
in Clinical Psychology, he wrote The Integral Ego as a vehicle for considering
the non-dual perspective possible in the clinical therapeutic setting. Dan has
served Adi Da in many different capacities, including public outreach, regional
manager, and ashram manager, as well as through his writing and advocacy.
The
Integral Ego: A New Understanding of the Whole Person That Includes All Ideas
on the Nature of God
by D. B. Sleeth
October,
2008 University Press of America order
here
The Integral Ego provides a plausible account of
the operation of the human psyche. The author distinguishes eclectic therapy which
"simply accumulates therapeutic interventions" as if on a tool belt, whereas integral
therapy organizes interventions into a systematic and interrelated clinical practice
related to the underlying structure of the whole person. The author achieves an
impressive synthesis of heretofore disparate accounts of the whole person into
an "owner's manual of the human psyche" which would be useful for every human
being to understand.
After
decades of neglect, spirituality is being taken seriously by an increasing number
of psychotherapists and clinicians. For me its main contribution is its suggested
resolution of the Ego and the Ultimate. Those who read this book will never think
or feel the same about God, Reality, or Self again.
James
Steinberg has been a devotee of Avatar Adi Da since the
early 1970's. He has been a principal presenter of Adi Da's communications to
the gathering of devotees. In the '70s and '80s, James was the librarian for the
Laughing Man Library. He has been a principal spokesperson for Adi Da to other
religious and spiritual groups and prominment individuals. James has also continually
served Adi Da Samraj's sacred projects in India. James is one of Adidam's principal
educators and public representatives. He has written the comprehensive Love
of the God-Man, and its more abbreviated version, Divine
Distraction, about the Guru-devotee relationship.
Divine
Distraction: A Guide to the Guru-Devotee Relationship
This book is both moving and
detailed, providing all the essentials of the Guru-devotee relationship. We often
think of great Spiritual Masters and the religious traditions that formed around
them in terms of teachings, rituals, and disciplines. This book makes crystal
clear that, in fact, the heart of the relationship between the disciple and master
has always been the reception by the disciple of a tangible, ego-dissolving Spiritual
Transmission from the Master. Words alone (and even merely human charisma) could
not account for fisherman walking away from their families and professions to
follow a man who said only, "Come, follow me." Nor could the merely visible account
for the gopi women instantly leaving their cattle to follow Krishna. Rather, these
ordinary people were overwhelmed and utterly distracted by tangible Spiritual
love. The possibility of such a genuine Spiritual Master being accessible today
— the primary communication of this remarkable book — is enough to make one's
hair stand on end!
Love
of the God-Man: A Comprehensive Guide to the Traditional and Time-Honored
Guru-Devotee Relationship, the Supreme Means of God-Realization, As Fully Revealed
for the First Time by Adi Da Samraj.
Leroy
Stilwell has been a formal devotee of Adi Da since 1976. He is one
of the founders of this website. You can read his biographical information in
the About Us
section.
Love's
Sacrifice and the Ordeal to Become Human: 30 Years with my Spiritual Master,
Adi Da
In
1975, Dennis Leroy saw the film, A
Difficult Man. On the spot he knew he had found his Spiritual Master.
His next thirty years were filled with lessons —rarely told — in spirituality,
humanity, and love. Love's Sacrifice and the Ordeal to Become Human is
the extraordinary story of the relationship between Master and devotee; of the
Master's instruction in the highest Spiritual Teaching of non-dualism and the
devotee's struggle to bring that instruction into life. It is a story about the
breaking down of religious idealism and the rise of the Spiritual reality; and
about human loss and human growth. Love's Sacrifice is a powerful recounting
of heartbreak, mystery, miracles, and truth.
Wow.
What an amazing story. And I think you have done a beautiful job of telling it.
Thank you SO much for giving me the honor of reading it.
D.E. Texas, USA
I
started reading this book on the recommendation of a friend, and quickly found
myself caught up in this extraordinary story. The most striking feature was the
author's honesty. I've spent a fair amount of time in encounter groups and such,
and heard a lot of people speaking with an emotional depth that goes way beyond
what is found in the workplace or even in close friendships much of the time.
But I still found Dennis Stilwell's self-awareness and willingness to reveal the
unvarnished truth surprising — even shocking at times. I was reminded of
reading Nietzsche in my late teens, except that this was from a contemporary whose
life was much more similar to my own.
So Mr. Stilwell had built up some
credibility with me before he got into the "supernormal" events of his life with
his Spiritual Master, Adi Da. But I didn't feel this "spirituality" as something
that had just happened to him; his transformed life affected my own awareness
as I was reading this book and afterwards. I felt my own life as miraculous —
noticing the subtle intelligence of coincidences and the appropriateness of events
unfolding, I could enjoy the play more and participate with more humor and freedom.
This book is an initiation.
Paul Major
For
more about this book, click
here. For an Adi Da Up Close update on the book from Leroy, click
here.
Chris
Tong has been a devotee of Adi Da Samraj since 1989. He
is one of the founders of this website. You can read his biographical information
in the About Us
section.
Beyond Believing Book
1 of The Practical Spirituality Series
By Chris Tong, Ph.D.
April, 2000 Practical Spirituality Press order
here
A recent Gallup poll reported that 86% of all American adults believed
in God. "Belief in God" is the primary way many of us describe our relationship
to the Greater Reality. But why settle for believing in God, or even for some
"spiritual experiences" now and then, when the tangible, ego-melting, suffering-dissolving
Revelation of Real God, pervading, washing, and dissolving "you" again and again
(through a lifetime of Spiritual practice), would utterly transform your life,
and fulfill your heart's otherwise unendingly unsatisfied desire for perfect happiness?
Speaking
from my own religious experience, the occasional, personal knowing of God, in
itself, does not confer staying power and retrieval of that ecstasy. The memories
wear away with time. However, the practice of the Revelation of God in the presence
of a Realized Master confers depth of insight and Divine Transmission beyond one’s
own limited capacity. This is the practice that makes consequential the age-old
belief in help from higher realms. Thank you for this labor of love!
The impulse to change springs out of dissatisfaction and unhappiness.
But what change is actually possible? And what bearing do approaches for change
actually have on our happiness? In this book we will examine a variety of approaches
to transformation, from Sigmund Freud’s psychotherapy, to Stephen Covey’s “7
Habits”, to the self-transcending God-Realization of the great Spiritual Masters.
We will see how how such approaches vary in their presumptions about the full
depth of the human being (from animal-like to Divine); the faculties available
to a human being (including “higher” faculties); the natural (or Divine) laws
or principles with which human beings must be aligned; how the heat that arises
in the friction between old and new habits is managed or endured; and what agents
of transformation are available to assist in the process of transformation (from
therapists to Spiritual Masters).
Tong
is terrific! He debunks the buzz around popular self-help authors, claiming that
the self cannot be the agent of change on its own behalf. Since it is the soul
that experiences profound change, the self is but a step-child; it may be the
last to know things are different. However, the soul cannot change on its own.
It needs guidance.
Gabby Hyman editor, MightyWords / Fatbrain
Habits of Highly Spiritual
People Book 3 of The Practical Spirituality Series
By
Chris Tong, Ph.D.
June, 2000 Practical Spirituality Press order
here
Perfect Happiness is possible through Spiritual Awakening from
the dream of ordinary life. We provide a picture of the Spiritual practice for
Waking Up, in the form of seven habits:
Be Real.
Locate, recognize,
and commune with God.
Surrender “self” to God and let God do the transforming.
Understand self in God.
Free energy and attention in the individual
sphere.
Free energy and attention in the larger sphere.
Realize
God by engaging the Perfect Practice.
The key to the practice is
the Spiritual Master, who is the “guise” taken by the Awakened State in the dream,
and who transmits the Morning Light into the dream to Wake us Up.
Wake
up! This third installment in this author's spirituality series helps you break
the trance of daily routine, surrender and allow God to transform your life.
Spirituality
Editor, Fatbrain / MightyWords
You CAN'T Take It With
You Book 4 of The Practical Spirituality Series
By
Chris Tong, Ph.D.
July, 2000 Practical Spirituality Press order
here
Does your life have a purpose? If so, is it one that isn't going
to get instantly ripped off when you die? Many of us spend our lives denying death,
allowing ourselves to be completely consumed and distracted by our responsibilities,
our indulgences, and our search for things we cannot take with us after death
in any overt form (knowledge, accomplishment, fame, or friendship). But death
is still coming. We get little support from culture, society, biology, or even
conventional religion for becoming adequately prepared; indeed, we are actively
discouraged from even considering the matter. In Western society, the “dying business”
at best tends to help us come to the point of acceptance of death (which already
should be true for us right now). And the “death business” tends to assist the
living go on living rather than assist the dead in their transition, as more informed
cultures do. This book sensitizes us to our mortality, and encourages us to start
preparing now. (This book is intended to be read along with Books 5
and 6.)
Neither
money, property nor prestige will follow you to the afterlife, but you can take
riches in the form of love, says Chris Tong in this book. His spirituality series
for MightyWords continues with this essay on connecting with God to get honest
about your life and death.
Spirituality Editor, Fatbrain /
MightyWords
You WILL Take It With
You Book 5 of The Practical Spirituality Series
By
Chris Tong, Ph.D.
August, 2000 Practical Spirituality Press order
here
What will occur after we die? This question can be
answered, on the basis of a large body of reports across the centuries — on near-death
experiences, after-life experiences, reincarnation experiences, paranormal phenomena,
and the direct awareness of Spiritual Masters — as well as by studying the laws
of the psyche as we observe it in life, to predict its destiny after death. The
report is not all roses, though. In fact, its conclusion is that there is life
after death, and re-birth, but it is also likely that we are going to suffer greatly
during the period between lives, unless we develop, during our lifetime, a powerful
Spiritual practice that truly links up with God. (This book is intended to be
read along with Books 4 and 6.)
You CAN Take It With
You Book 6 of The Practical Spirituality Series
By
Chris Tong, Ph.D.
October, 2000 Practical Spirituality Press order
here
What can we take with us after we die? True wisdom takes into account
both the fact of our mortality and what we are likely to carry with us after death,
and uses the course of a lifetime proactively, for the purpose of understanding
our limits, and linking up now with That which is greater than life and death.
We focus on three key issues of the after-life, and the means for addressing
these issues: psychic attractors, which have the power to draw us out of the Presence
of God after death; psychic bullies, from which we are constantly on the run while
alive, and which can form the stuff of “hells” after death; and our nonrecognition
of all that arises after death as our own mind-forms (as in a dream). In the Spiritual
practice we describe, psychic attractors are outshined by Divine Distraction;
psychic bullies are “stood up to” and disempowered by unlimited feeling; and the
nonrecognition of conditional reality as a dream is dealt with by progressive
Waking Up, first by absorption in God, and then by identification with God. (This
book is intended to be read along with Books 4 and 5.)
Beyond Spiritual Correctness Book
7 of The Practical Spirituality Series
By Chris Tong, Ph.D.
December, 2000 Practical Spirituality Press order
here
In this book we consider two tendencies that we inherit simply
by virtue of living in Western culture: spiritual correctness and spiritual
anti-authoritarianism. Spiritual correctness is an analog of political correctness
that goes something like: "all paths to the Divine or ultimate liberation are
equal"; and anyone who suggests otherwise risks seriously offending or insulting
whomever they are speaking with. Spiritual anti-authoritarianism began with the
Protestant Reformation, in righteous reaction to the corruption of the Church
theocracy, eliminating potentially corrupt “priests” as necessary mediators between
man and God. We come to understand the liabilities they represent, relative to
our own Spiritual happiness and liberation.
Three Views of Reality
and Human Potential Book 8 of The Practical Spirituality Series
By Chris Tong, Ph.D.
February, 2001 Practical Spirituality
Press order
here
Taken together, all the great wisdom traditions around the world
and throughout history offer a wide variety of views on (and experiences of) the
nature of the Greater Reality and human potential in the context of the Greater
Reality. In this book, we make sense of and compare the differing views. We place
particular emphasis on the views of materialism, esoteric spirituality, and exoteric
religion. Materialism, the view that what you see (or hear, or touch, or
taste, or smell) is what you get (or all that is real), is seen to have many limitations,
including its tendency to insist on reducing everything to its own materialistic
terms; and its inability to adequately account for human consciousness and hence,
human death. Esoteric spirituality deepens human potential by acknowledging
the Greater Reality, and providing the means for experientially embracing It.
We briefly touch on four different dimensions of the greater Reality — psycho-physical,
Spiritual, Transcendental, and Divine — and we will elaborate upon these dimensions,
their Realization, and the means for Realizing them, in Books 9
and 10. Exoteric religion is understood to derive from an originally esoteric
source (such as a great Spiritual Master or a shaman). The practitioner of a legitimate
exoteric religion — one that is still in touch with its esoteric roots — engages
disciplines aimed at bringing him or her to full human maturity, in preparation
for taking up the esoteric practices of his or her tradition. When an exoteric
religion loses touch with its esoteric roots (e.g., by being “re-shaped” for the
sake of political and social survival), it can devolve into an illegitimate exoteric
religion that may be socially and politically influential, but is spiritually
bankrupt.
In Book 8, we identified four different
dimensions of the Greater Reality — animistic/psycho-physical, Spiritual, Transcendental,
and Divine. In this book, we study those dimensions — the etheric and the lower
astral dimensions — associated with the animistic / psycho-physical view, along
with the practices for Realizing these dimensions. We base our study on the understanding
that we, ourselves, are a multi-dimensional composite of elements from these different
dimensions (matter, spirit, and Consciousness), but are primarily only conscious
as the “material part” of ourselves, and hence, primarily only conscious of the
material reality.
In the animistic / psycho-physical experience (aspects
of which are shared by shamans, medicine men, and psychics), it is obvious that
we arise as a psycho-physical being within Nature, which has not only a “body”
(the “objective reality” of the materialists) but also a “soul”, or psyche. This
Sacred Earth is a seamless, psychic unity, populated by all manner of etheric
and psychic forces and entities beyond the merely physical, with which we are
intimately inter-connected (in a way that is not discernable from the purely materialistic
view) and to which we can learn to be rightly, magically related (and, in so doing,
allow to be revelatory). We conclude by studying the limitations of the purely
animistic / psycho-physical view, relative to the ultimate human potential of
Complete Awakening from the dream of changes, material or subtle. We lay out what
developments in the etheric and lower astral dimensions of our being are necessary
and useful for supporting and quickening our Complete Awakening.
As
the eldest child of film director King Vidor and actress Eleanor Boardman, Toni
Vidor grew up amidst the glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Era. After college, she
rejected the life offered by her parents’ wealth and fame. From the late 1940's
to the early seventies, she was an equestrian, healer, as well as a pioneer of
alternative living. During this time, a process awakened in her that triggered
a steady stream of psychic phenomena, some ecstatic, others terrifying. She became
a spiritual seeker and met a dazzling array of teachers, none of whom satisfied
her thirst for spiritual truth.
By 1974, her children were grown and her
tumultuous search had exhausted itself. Just as her inner crisis peaked, Toni
met the American-born spiritual master, Adi Da Samraj. She spent the next thirty-five
years as his devotee, on the wild ride of his dramatic, revelatory teaching work
until his passing in 2008.
With remarkable honesty and insight, Toni tells
of her life as the devotee of an indescribably potent spiritual master. She recounts
in vivid terms the miraculous phenomena in Adi Da’s company, as well the ordeals
of the beginning spiritual practitioner. Versed in the traditions of esotericism,
she describes the inner workings of the relationship between the disciple and
a true adept-realizer — the hard realities and personal trials as well as the
ecstasies and profound revelations that come with a life dedicated to the genuine
spiritual process.
TONI: "Although I may never in this lifetime as Antonia Vidor surrender the ego to the point of permanent enlightenment, the realities of old age and the prospect of death have lost their sting for me. I accept my inevitable death with contentment. How great is the threat of losing the life, losing the mind, losing all relations, when one has a daily practice of drowning in the mindless ecstasy of Divine Love and knowing its eternal presence?
. . . I know for certain that the long dream of my life has mysteriously moved me through a thirty-five-year love affair with Bhagavan Adi Da so that I might learn the ecstasy of surrender to a Divine Being, the One beyond birth and death. Prior to meeting Bhagavan, I had no possibility of attaining such real happiness, which sometimes causes me to break out in dance with abandon and joy — at the age of 82."
I
highly recommend it. The title is perfect. Toni was born into fame and riches
but felt the need to go beyond the illusion of that life to find real and lasting
happiness and fulfillment. She became a serious spiritual practitioner under the
guidance and blessing of her guru and is very honest about the struggles with
her egoic tendencies. Her transformation over time is very impressive. Her life
is a fascinating story as well as very inspiring.
Judy Wendling
This
book could have been solely about the glitz and glamour of life as a child of
two powerful pioneers of Hollywood, but instead (thankfully), most of the book
is about Antonia's spiritual journey with her spiritual master. When I first started
reading, I was thinking, "what relevance is this old biddy going to have
with my life?" — but that is one of the charms of the book. Even though many
of the ordeals that the author goes through are personal, they are also universal,
part of the human condition. No magic tricks are offered, no secret formulas,
no ancient prayers to help through life's ordeals except for one: resort the the
spiritual master, give everything to him. Antonia is an amazing person with more
energy in her 70's than I have in my 40's. Any serious spiritual seeker, anyone
on their own spiritual journey, must read this book at least once.
A.B.
Why
does any Westerner look for a Guru and stay with Him for 35 years when she has
had just about anything one could imagine in the way of glamour, riches, adventure
and different lifestyles? What could have been lacking? That is the question Toni
Vidor asked herself. Her father was a director, King Vidor, her mother a silent
film star. Although she seemed never to lack for anything, deep inside she knew
something was missing. Like many of us, she searched here and there, trying different
Teachers, different Teachings, but they all ended at some point. She was still
alone. And then she found Adi Da Samraj, an American-born God Realized Teacher.
She had prepared for this meeting, longed for it, and after she discovered His
Teaching, she struck the match and was with Him to the end of His life on earth.
You have to be "there" to understand, and Toni has given us
a complete picture of her ordeal and difficulties and her utter happiness and
wonder and joy, and the acceptance that this was where she belonged. The only
place she belonged.
I think we want our spiritual teacher
to be "beautiful" and "benign", only bestowing "love"
as we imagine it should be. In truth, growth in our life is about getting rid
of the barriers we have built to protect ourselves. Toni's journey so honestly
teaches us that the journey is anything but easy or even always happy. She went
through many challenges and difficulties that tore down her barriers to happiness.
We spend our lives distracting ourselves from our pain. Without a Teacher like
Adi Da Samraj, we continue to suffer in ignorance. Two of the important things
she learned were that we become what we meditate upon; and we are already happy.
This sounds so simple but it is not.
She meditated upon her
Teacher, did service of so many kinds, including travel to India, to London. At
the end of her life, she finally surrendered to the Gift Adi Da offered her in
every moment. I recommend this book to anyone, who finds that "something" is missing
in their lives, even though they have "everything" — read this book and
understand what is actually missing, and how to uncover it though the Teachings
of Adi Da Samraj. Toni's book leads the way. Her truth and the generous sharing
of it is a true gift to us. And even if you are not looking for spiritual guidance,
it is great reading!
