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Adi Da and Holiday Music

Q: What kind of holiday music did Adi Da listen to at Danavira Mela?
A: All of it! But He especially enjoyed open-hearted performances.

Chris Tong: I played holiday songs for Avatar Adi Da (as the keyboardist and singer in a larger group of devotee singers and musicians) in The Manner of Flowers, at Great Food Dish, and at Adi Da Samrajashram. We covered the whole gamut, from traditional sacred songs, to contemporary secular songs.

Michael LaTorra: "Adeste Fideles" ("Oh Come All Ye Faithful"). There is an old video of Adi Da singing this. He bellowed out these words with special force: "Oh come let us adore him!"

Charles Syrett: When Adi Da was staying at Tat Sundaram during Danavira Mela in 2005, I often had to serve His House, and sometimes I was asked to make sure the Christmas CDs kept playing. He had all of it going. . . from English boy choirs to crooners (Bing Crosby, etc.) to chanting to pop holiday stuff. He took it all in!

Chris Tong: While He did appreciate all forms of holiday music, He particularly appreciated those performances that were open-hearted (and not "stiff"), regardless of musical style. Here's a leela about that.

On the night of December 23, 1995, at the Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary, in Great Food Dish (the primary kitchen facility on the Sanctuary, formerly known as "First People"), Adi Da Samraj made cookie portraits of devotees with Him in the kitchen. He was accompanied by more devotees singing holiday songs and playing instruments just outside the kitchen window next to Him. The Guru gave loving and humorous instructions to His devotees, inside and outside the kitchen, all night long. Here is just a taste. . . ADI DA (to Marie Masek): That choir sounds a little too "Methodist"! Pour some liquor down the keyboardist's throat! Marie relayed the Guru's instructions to Chris Tong, the keyboardist, who happily agreed to let Marie pour vodka down his throat while he continued playing carols. Five minutes later. . . ADI DA: "MUCH better!"

Chris Tong: Here's an excerpt from a video of the occasion. You can hear the choir singing AFTER I had vodka poured down my throat. (That's my head in the lower right of the choir scene, as I play the keyboard.)

Chris Tong: One of the songs I've sung and played for Adi Da on several Danavira Mela occasions was Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. I sing it here again for Beloved Adi Da (and everyone who finds it) in 2023, as a devotional offering, with my heart opened by Adi Da as I sing. The lyrics of this song can be understood to communicate an esoteric message, as described below.

Chris Tong: Another Adidam tradition has been to take the words to a traditional holiday piece and rewrite them for our context of Danavira Mela and Beloved Adi Da. My strong recommendation: if you choose to do this, do it well! Tacky lyrics detract. Here's my version of "Angels We Have Heard on High" — which has the same high, dramatic quality as Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" or Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus", so there is a kind of obligation to do it well, if one is going to do it at all.

Chris Tong: Yet another Adidam tradition has been to set Adi Da's Own Words to music. That is what I do here, in this sacred offering for Danavira Mela (in 1993) from the Adidam New England Choir.

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