Introduction
> Adi Da as Spiritual Master
For
Visiting Professionals:
Adi Da as Spiritual Master
When we write, "visiting professionals", we have in mind
readers from the art world, the literary world, the world of theater, the political
and social circles dedicated to advancing world peace, etc. . . . in short, any
of the areas in which Adi Da has made artistic contributions, or in which He has
communicated wisdom that can have a beneficial impact for others working in that
area. You may perhaps be more familiar with Adi Da in the capacity of artist,
writer, etc. This introduction serves as an orientation to Adi Da's additional
function as Spiritual Master, which is the focus of most of this site.
About the biography, Adi Da, one journalist recently wrote:
Adi Da will rank as a classic in the spiritual field, telling the remarkable story of an extraordinary Being — a writer, a playwright, artist, visionary, philosopher, photographer, and most important of all, a Spiritual Master of the highest order.
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| image from The Virgin Suite by Adi Da |
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| painting by Hakuin |
These artistic contributions are matched in creative expression by the profound principles He formulated in the area of social wisdom. His desire to "save the world" (as He put it to His family and friends when He was a teenager) was later articulated as an absolute passion for helping to keep a downward-spiralling world from destroying itself. Describing Himself as "World-Friend", He summarized His wisdom for a sane and peaceful world re-organization in His book, Not-Two Is Peace: The Ordinary People's Way of Global Cooperative Order.
What is in common to all of these expressive forms is their basis in Adi Da's Spiritual Realization. It is common knowledge that what artists and innovators express reflects their own human (and spiritual) maturity. Just so, their expression is limited to the same extent that their own human (and spiritual) maturity is limited. This reality extends to writers as well, and similarly, to those who labor on the world stage to bring the world to a more harmonious state. When someone of great Spiritual Realization enters into all these various modalities of communication and expression, the opportunity for a radically new expression arises — whether that expression is artistic, theatrical, literary, or social wisdom.
| It has always also been Adi Da's intent that His
creative expression in each of these areas not only move people aesthetically,
but that it should also stir the spiritual impulse in the human heart, and serve
the higher purpose of Spiritual Awakening. Thus, His art gives others a direct glimpse into how He "sees" Reality in truth. His art is designed to work on (and communicate to) the root cognitive mechanisms that govern how human beings visually perceive Reality. His literary works use words in innovative and startling conjunctions that can dissolve the conventional mind, allowing an opening to Something Greater. His plays introduce archetypes that characterize and caricature the human condition and the source of human bondage, even as other archetypes point to the very means of freedom from all bondage. His inspired communications about world peace instruct
all players on the world stage working for world peace
to presume "prior unity", and change their behavior
accordingly. This admonition is aimed at putting politicians
and other social movers and shakers directly in touch
with the non-separate nature of Reality. If intuited
for real, this completely undermines all one's aggressive
tendencies toward the illusory "other" (whether "individual"
or "nation-state"), and allows one to be a
completely different, more benign, more collaborative,
and more constructive presence on the world stage. |  Adi Da at the United Nations building in Geneva, 1996 |
As in all religious and spiritual traditions, those of us who are practitioners of the Way of Adidam have a particular understanding of who Adi Da is, and our references to Adi Da reflect that understanding. Thus, here and there you will see us refer to Him using titles such as "Divine World-Teacher", "His Divine Presence", "Adi Da Samraj", "Ruchira Avatar Adi Da Samraj", etc. Just as Catholics refer to the pope as "His Holiness" and Tibetan Buddhists refer to their leader as "the Dalai Lama", we too have names and titles for Adi Da that reflect our love, respect, and devotion for Him as a great Spiritual Realizer. And as in these traditions, we ask that you extend Him the same courtesy, respect, and understanding as you read the materials on this site.
Our references to Adi Da go even further than the respectful titles accorded to a spiritual leader. Our capitalization of words like "He", "His", "in His Company", "Teaching", "Life", reflect our further recognition of Adi Da as a fully Enlightened, human Incarnation of the Divine And that recognition of Him as the Divine extends beyond His names to how we write about Him altogether.
One extraordinary advantage we have is that we have been alive during (or only shortly after) the human lifetime of the founder of our Spiritual Way. Christians sometimes imagine what it would have been like to have been alive when Jesus walked the planet; so too with Buddhists and Gautama Buddha. As practitioners of the Way of Adidam, we don't have to imagine — our Founder has been right here with us, and has only recently passed away, and His entire life and work has been documented in detail via many media.
And so when we say we recognize Adi Da to be a "fully Enlightened human Incarnation of the Divine", this is based on our direct experience, which is extensively reported on this site. As you might imagine, we feel fortunate beyond words! And this site is filled with the personal accounts of our direct and living relationship with Adi Da, and the Spiritual Revelation we have received in His Company.
So it is our hope that the personal accounts you read here of Adi Da functioning in the capacity of Spiritual Master, purposed toward the Spiritual Liberation of all beings, will supplement and enrich what you already know about Adi Da (as an artist, an author, a playwright, a social commentator, etc.), and will provide greater insight into the Spiritual Wisdom and Realization that both informs and inspires all other modalities of His creative expression.