At
Last This Community Must "Be Me" and Assume All My Life-FunctionsAvatar
Adi Da Samraj This
is an excerpt from a talk, "During My Life and After My Death", given
by Adi Da in the early 1970's. It is one of the earliest descriptions Adi Da provided
for how His "Immense Mandala of Spiritual Transmission" would function after His
human lifetime. It is remarkably similar, in many details, to His final vision. Note:
This historically significant talk yields further valuable insights about Adi
Da's Vision of what altogether will functionally replace His bodily human form
after His human lifetime. While reading, however, keep in mind that both the ways
in which Adi Da refers to Himself and His description of the practice of Adidam
have changed dramatically since the time this talk was given: - His
references to Himself and His Function shifted in the late 1980's, because the
existence of a body of devotees (who could confirm to the public what He was confessing
based on what He had revealed directly and Spiritually to them) allowed Him to
speak more openly and directly of the true nature of His Divine
Incarnation. Thus, more cautious self-references like "one with the Divine
Guru" were replaced by more direct references to Himself as the Divine Person.
- His seventh-stage process continually unfolded in dramatic
ways after His Re-Awakening in 1970 (and after this talk was given). The milestones
of that process (including the Divine Emergence event in 1986 and the Ruchira
Dham event in 2000) transformed the way He (the Divine Person) was integrated
with His human bodily form, and therefore changed the nature of devotees' practice
accordingly.
After
my death my devotees should gather together in groups and, as much as is practically
possible, maintain constant contact with one another until they feel the Siddhi
of the Divine Presence communicated to them and felt by them all. During this
period they should gather in any of the principal Satsang Halls I have set aside,
and at the site of my burial, as well as in the places of my former residence.
During a brief period shortly after my death all that I have always shown to them
will be newly confirmed, independent of my bodily and personal presence. Thereafter,
the Community as a whole should accept responsibility for this work. The Satsang
Halls, my former places of residence, and my burial place should be kept as special
places of contact for all who enter and live in this Community. But my devotees
themselves will be the special instruments of this work beyond my lifetime. It
is my expectation that I will not leave behind me a special individual who can
assume conscious responsibility for my work as a whole. Rather, the total Community
will share my complex functions at the level of life, and the spiritual functions
will be performed through the Community as a whole by the action of the Divine
Siddhi which I have regenerated here. Thus, the practical work should be shared
by many, and organized much as it will have been during my lifetime. The sources
of the Teaching should remain in the form of my books, other collected writings,
and recordings of my talks. Devotees who have the responsibility for instruction
should make use of these sources and keep them always available in published forms.
My biography, recorded Teachings, photographs, and the like will remain
a source of contact with the function of Teacher after my death. And the persons
and places I knew in life will also remain as agents of this contact. But I will
not remain personally in contact with the Community or any devotee after my death.
Even in death I will yield utterly to the condition of the Siddhi and Person of
God, and, therefore, I will remain only Perfectly Present. This Siddhi and Person
is the same I have always shown, through and independent of my personal form.
Therefore, what will remain behind me will be a Community, not a cult. The Divine
will remain immediately and directly Present through the agency of my total Community
of devotees. Among all future devotees I may be acknowledged as Teacher,
one with the Divine Guru, and recollected along with the body of Teaching. But
no cultic relationship to my possibly continued personal presence after death
will be necessary or appropriate in order for devotees to enjoy the Siddhi and
Person of the Divine which will always remain in the Satsang of this Community.
(They should meditate on me outwardly as Teacher, and inwardly, when appropriate,
as identical to Amrita Nadi.) Instead, after my death, all should acknowledge
me and enjoy the maturing of the Teaching as I have described it. But in order
to enjoy the Siddhi and Person of the Divine which I have always shown you while
alive, simply gather in groups and sit in Satsang. The Siddhi and Person of the
Divine will at first be felt with special potency in the Satsang Halls I created,
at my burial site, and in my former places of residence. And at first these gatherings
should include as many of my long-time devotees as possible. But, gradually,
many new devotees will be created by the Siddhi and Person of God. And the Community
will create new centers and places for Satsang that will become potent through
proper use. In these Satsang Halls, as well as in your private and household places
for Satsang-meditation, do not turn to any individual or group among you as the
Source of this Divine Siddhi and Person. Rather, all should turn to Satsang itself,
as I have always taught, and the Divine will, as always, do the work. Keep
my photograph and a chair or couch in the front of the Hall, and all sit before
me thus, as during my lifetime. But, as during my lifetime, always remember that
you are always only turning to God through me, in me, and as me. And after my
death there will be nothing left of my personal influence in the present, but
only God. My personal influence will remain only a recollected one, in the form
of what I have written and spoken and done. The memory of my visual appearance
will only serve as an agent for Divine Communion. Even the evidence of Power that
will remain in my Satsang Halls, my burial place, and the places of my former
residence, will not be personal, for even while alive I have only been an empty
agent of the Lord. I am always working to yield all responsibilities to
devotees and to make all my devotees perfectly available to the Divine Work. Therefore,
know that your responsibility must at last be perfect. At last this Community
must "be me" and assume all my life-functions. For this reason I have
asked for your lives in total, so that you may be assumed by me totally and live
only in God to one another. If you accept my demands truly and with humor, then
the Siddhi and Person of the very Divine will remain Active and Present in and
through this Community throughout the coming age and more.
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