Finding Adi Da > Dennis Regan

His Blessing Intrusion

Dennis Regan

Dennis Regan lives in Sydney, Australia and has been a devotee of Adi Da since 1984.

Since childhood, I have been driven to know what is going on here. . . Where is the Truth? What is our purpose?

In my late teens, I considered entering Catholic seminary. I finally chose science as a way of knowing, and engineering as a way of making a living and making life better.

I obtained a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and a Ph.D in biotechnology from the University of New South Wales and conducted post-doctoral research at University College London before joining the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Melbourne.

One paper that I co-authored (Regan DL, Gartside G, 1983, "Liquid Fuels from Microalgae", CSIRO, Melbourne) caught the attention of the mainstream media in early 1984. And one entrepreneur who read the article was unusual in his urgency to meet me, demanding that we meet that day. It was a kind of intrusion that I found unusual, so I agreed to meet him that night at a local cafe.

We talked about the technical stuff, and then he suddenly paused and said: "Have you ever heard of Da Free John? He's the Real Thing."

I had not heard of him. I thought his name sounded ridiculous, and I was not interested in gurus.

I already had chosen my path of knowledge and it was scientific research.

However, I didn't forget that name. A few months later, while browsing in a Melbourne bookstore, a book by "Da Free John" with an equally mind-boggling title, Scientific Proof of the Existence of God Will Soon Be Announced by the White House!, fell into my lap.

It was a strange coincidence. So I bought the book and took it home. I left it unopened on my coffee table for months, until the first Tuesday in November, 1984, Melbourne Cup Day, a public holiday in Victoria.

I opened the book, randomly, at some place in the middle. I read a few lines.

Everything went Bright. There was no doubt. This was the Truth. It was not a matter of knowledge or intellect; it was a Revelation. Da Free John — Adi Da — was the Truth, Love-Bliss, Conscious-Light. He was the Real Thing.

I had been found by Him.

I had come home.

I put on my coat. I caught the tram to the Adidam Centre in Russell Street, only to be confronted by a fire that had been lit by kids at the doorway as a bit of holiday mischief. Undaunted, I walked in and was met by Glen Johannes, a devotee who had been sent to Australia by Adi Da to welcome His devotees here.

I was 38 years of age. On the spot, Adi Da became my Ishta, my chosen Guru, my Heart-Master, the Giver of Happiness, Da.

I resigned from the CSIRO. I abandoned scientific materialism as my way of knowing.

I began to study the Way that Adi Da Teaches, and began to understand and realise What had been paradoxically Revealed in a moment, upon opening His book. That process of understanding and realisation continues to this day — many years later.

Thank You, Beloved Bhagavan Adi Da, for Your Blessing Intrusion in my life.

I did not find You. You found me.

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For a related story by the author, read There Is No "Other".