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Crazy
Wisdom > The Call To Be Love > Part 2: The
Context of "Consideration"2.
The Context of “Consideration” Between Adi Da and His Devotees
This
is Part 2 of Michael Costabile's seven-part article, The
Call To Be Love (And To Live As Love In All Relations).
We
have just noted that Adi Da’s “consideration” of emotion and sexuality (which
extended to every aspect of ordinary life) was never a “thing” in itself. As we
shall see in greater detail, it was a root-lesson about the ego’s search for self-fulfillment,
which — even in the most outwardly benign and loving individuals — is loveless
and aggressive at its core. Adi Da’s emotional-sexual consideration was also part
of His Self-Submitted means to establish the preparatory groundwork for spiritual
life in His Company. To quote Him directly about this:
In
the only-by-Me revealed and Given Reality-Way of Adidam, the emotional-sexual
ego (and, indeed, the ego of “money, food, and sex” altogether) must be really
and truly gone beyond — and this must, in real and significant terms, begin in
the foundation stages of the practice of the Way of Adidam, as part of the ongoing
basis for real and true growth into and in the by-Me-Transcendentally-Spiritually-Awakened
stages of the Way of Adidam. Therefore, My devotees must deal with “money, food,
and sex” first — before there can be any true advancement into by-Me-Transcendentally-
Spiritually-Awakened stages of the Reality-Way of Adidam. This is an essential
part of My Message and My Revelation: Human beings must deal with the money-food-and-sex
ego first.
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But Why Sex?
That said, anyone attempting to understand
Adi Da Samraj and His intimate association with devotees confronts some obvious
questions: What would prompt a Spiritual Master of His stature to so openly explore
sex and emotion with those who gathered around Him? [1]
What was the nature and effect of such exploration? Furthermore, knowing that
such an undertaking might well provoke a backlash in the broader culture — especially
in light of the common prejudices against Spiritual Masters and the double-minded
attitudes about sex in our time — why would Adi Da bother in the first place?
These are legitimate questions that go to the heart of the challenges some have
made about Him. To answer them requires that we first look more closely at His
rationale for this undertaking, beginning with His own remarkable observations
about sexuality — its enormous influence over the human psyche and its relationship
to the spiritual process:
I
Have Observed That sex — or, More Accurately, emotional-sexual life — Is
The Primary Obsession Of human beings, Especially In The Earlier Stages Of Life.
Human beings Are self-Driven To Fulfill their emotional-sexual Motivations
— To The Extent That their Urge To emotional-sexual Fulfillment Has The Force
Of a philosophy. Their Involvement In emotional-sexual life Is, In Effect, A philosophical
Commitment (Expressed At The personal Level) To Find Perfect self-Fulfillment
In The Purposes Of ordinary human life. This emotional-sexual
Search Is, Therefore, a kind of utopian philosophy — a philosophy About Being
Finally Fulfilled and Perfectly pleasurized In life. But the philosophy Of The
emotional-sexual Search Allows human beings To Ignore Both their mortality and
The Ultimate (Non-conditional, Indivisible, Divine, and Spiritual) Condition Of
Reality Itself. Therefore, that philosophy Is False. . . . [T]he philosophy Of
Ultimate emotional-sexual self-Fulfillment Is Based On A Misinterpretation Of
Reality, A False Presumption About Reality. There Are all kinds
of conventional social rules For Controlling sexual behavior — but they Are Designed
To Serve The Purposes Of the social ego, and (Therefore) Have Nothing To Do With
ego-Transcendence or Spiritual Realization. Merely To Become a "well-behaved"
social ego Is Not A Sufficient Basis For Entering Into The Real Spiritual Process. |
From
the outset of His Work with the dynamic patterns of human sexuality, Adi Da Samraj
knew that He was embarking on a precipitous course. Interpersonal relationships
— their quality, tenor, and mood — are the primary context of human life. The
potential for reactivity in every relationship is immense — always threatening
misunderstanding, conflict, betrayal, and, in the most intimate context, the collapse
of all sympathy for those we otherwise love and hold dear. In undertaking this
Work with devotees Adi Da was clearly risking such reactivity and overt hostility.
But He was also compelled by an overwhelming compassion to address the confusion
and suffering inherent in emotional-sexual immaturity and thereby serve a greater
understanding and disposition in His devotees — again, as the necessary foundation
for His Spiritual Work with them.
FOOTNOTES
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