Adi Da Up Close
Audio/Video Library

From July, 2015 through May, 2016, longtime devotee Gerald Sheinfeld embarked on a worldwide "Leela Tour" spanning 50 locations in 10 countries. (The tour stops are listed below.) The tour was in anticipation of the release of Gerald's forthcoming book, At The Feet of the Spiritual Master: Stories from My Life with Avatar Adi Da Samraj.

In April, 2016 (close to the end of his tour), Gerald hosted several events at The Mountain Of Attention. This hour-long audio clip contains excerpts from those events — so if you were unable to attend any of Gerald's events. . . here is a taste!

Gerald has been a devotee of Adi Da since the beginning of Adi Da's work with devotees. He accompanied Adi Da on His 1973 trip to India, and has participated in countless sacred occasions and events in the company of Adi Da in the intervening years — so he has many stories to tell.

Tags: Gerald Sheinfeld   CD   DVD  

This video begins with longtime devotee, Anthony Costabile, describing how the relationship to Adi Da is manifesting after the end of Adi Da's human lifetime.

Then at 2:29, Adi Da also speaks on this subject. This is an excerpt from a talk He gave on April 16, 1995, "Love is How I Got To Here". You can read a transcript of much more of this talk here. The talk is also available as a CD here.

At 6:43, another longtime devotee, Dennis Coccaro, talks about the direct relationship to Adi Da after His lifetime.

For much more about Adi Da's human passing and Eternal Presence, visit our section, Adi Da's Divine Mahasamadhi and Adidam In Perpetuity.

This video appreciation of Adi Da's Image-Art begins with a testimonial from devotee Stanley Hastings, who grew up in the Adidam community and is the Co-Director of Da Plastique (the group that presents Avatar Adi Da's Art to the public), and who worked with Adi Da on His Divine Image-Art.

Then, at 9:34, we hear various art professionals express their appreciation of Adi Da's Image-Art.

This is followed (at 13:14) by a slideshow of photos drawn from some the Exhibitions of Adi Da's Image-Art, from 2001-2009.

The video concludes (at 18:58) with a slideshow of photos of Adi Da creating His Image-Art from 1998-2008. Background music is Naamleela Free Jones, "I Served to Priest the Pharaohs", from her album, Eyes In Other Worlds.

Tags: image-art   Stanley Hastings   Mahasamadhi   Tribute   DVD  

Devotees describe the beneficial impact of sacred music on their practice of the Way of Adidam, during the Celebration of Da Purnima on Adi Da Samrajashram, in July, 2014. The music was performed by John Wubbenhorst and Peter Van Gelder (sitar), on many different occasions.

John writes: "It was a very full Celebration of Da Purnima at Adi Da Samrajashram in Fiji. Peter Van Gelder (sitar) and myself (bansuri flute) came for music service and we were very busy every day. Each morning we would sit for several hours practicing the most refined compositions from Peter's music guru Ali Akbar Khan and we would chose what we felt would be the best gifts for our Guru, Adi Da, that day. Almost every day there would be offerings and also many chanting occasions. It is very tangible the difference between playing at Adi Da Samrajashram and playing music anywhere else. The island is so full of Beloved Adi Da that as soon as we would start to play, we would feel the music coming from a deeper place and that would in turn help everyone to drop into deeper communion with Beloved, which would then allow the music to be deeper — and on and on."

Tags: music  

Devotee Ben Grisso, who grew up in the Adidam community, and who worked with Adi Da on His Divine Image-Art, offers this testimonial to Adi Da's life and work.

Excerpt from Second Evening: Track 11 on the DVD, A Tribute to the Life and Work of His Divine Presence, Adi Da Samraj. More than 7 hours long, this Tribute DVD was filmed on the occasion of the first Anniversary of Adi Da's Divine Mahasamadhi, when devotees, family, and friends of Adi Da Samraj gathered at Adi Da Samrajashram, Fiji (Adi Da's principal Hermitage), to acknowledge Adi Da as the Divine in human form, to praise His Greatness, and to express their heart-felt gratitude for the Blessings they have received from Him.

A list of all the tracks on this DVD can be found here.

To watch more excerpts from the Tribute DVD, click here.

Tags: image-art   Ben Grisso   Mahasamadhi   Tribute   DVD  

Devotee Ben Grisso talks about growing up in the community of Adi Da's devotees and the joy of being with Adi Da as a child. He describes how he later lived on Naitauba and served Adi Da's Image-Art work for many years. He tells a humorous story of the Crazy-Wise play Adi Da engaged in, to reflect to Ben his tendency to be "analytic".

Ben was in the room with Adi Da at the time of His Divine Mahasamadhi (on November 27, 2008), and he talks about that moment, and its significance.

Tags: Image-art   mahasamadhi  

Longtime devotee, James Steinberg, tells the story of how he found Adi Da. He offers this testimonial to the life and work of Adi Da Samraj.

Excerpt from First Evening: Track 4 on the DVD, A Tribute to the Life and Work of His Divine Presence, Adi Da Samraj. More than 7 hours long, this Tribute DVD was filmed on the occasion of the first Anniversary of Adi Da's Divine Mahasamadhi, when devotees, family, and friends of Adi Da Samraj gathered at Adi Da Samrajashram, Fiji (Adi Da's principal Hermitage), to acknowledge Adi Da as the Divine in human form, to praise His Greatness, and to express their heart-felt gratitude for the Blessings they have received from Him.

Tags: DVD   James Steinberg  

Dr. Sally Taylor serves the Adidam culture by helping devotees with their practice of the Way of Adidam.

In this video, she talks about her voluntary participation in Adi Da's considerations about the emotional-sexual dimension of life. She describes the instructions she received, and the profound benefit she has derived by being "grown up" beyond childish patterns of self-suppression, shutting down of the life force, promiscuity, and limitations on love.

For more about Adi Da's wisdom on the emotional-sexual dimension of life, visit our Crazy Wisdom section.

Tags: emotional   sex  

An hour-long interview with Meg McDonnell, author of Tasting the Moon: Adventures in the Meaning of Life, the story of her life, in which the focus is the 33 years she spent in Adi Da's Company.

Interviewer: Ed Reither of Beezone.

Tags: leela   Meg McDonnell  

A mini-documentary about the extraordinary life lived by Antonia (Toni) Vidor, the daughter of famous, old-Hollywood director King Vidor. Antonia was born into privilege, enduring her parents' stormy marriage and "spectacle" life. Ultimately, she would come to choose a radically different life, coming to rest with her Spiritual Teacher, Adi Da Samraj.

This is her story. For the full version, read Antonia's new book, Beyond The Illusion.

Tags: Antonia Vidor   leela  

Devotee Frank Marrero shares a leela of his time in Adi Da's Company. Many years later, he has come to see that Adi Da was teaching him about self-understanding and samadarshan: "The vision of sameness - a vision that penetrates beyond the apparent differences between beings to their transcendental nature."

Tags: Frank Marrero   leela  

Solomone Finau, a longtime Fijian devotee, who lives at Adi Da Samrajashram in Fiji, pays tribute to Adi Da in a heartfelt communication.

Excerpt from First Evening: Track 9 on the DVD, A Tribute to the Life and Work of His Divine Presence, Adi Da Samraj. More than 7 hours long, this Tribute DVD was filmed on the occasion of the first Anniversary of Adi Da's Divine Mahasamadhi, when devotees, family, and friends of Adi Da Samraj gathered at Adi Da Samrajashram, Fiji (Adi Da's principal Hermitage), to acknowledge Adi Da as the Divine in human form, to praise His Greatness, and to express their heart-felt gratitude for the Blessings they have received from Him.

A list of all the tracks on this DVD can be found here.

Tags: Leela   Solo   Mahasamadhi   tribute   DVD  

An overview of Adi Da's life and work by Ruchiradama Nadikanta, a long-time devotee. She is a member of the Ruchira Sannyasin Order, the order of fully renunciate practitioners in Adidam.

Excerpt from First Evening: Track 2 on the DVD, A Tribute to the Life and Work of His Divine Presence, Adi Da Samraj. More than 7 hours long, this Tribute DVD was filmed on the occasion of the first Anniversary of Adi Da's Divine Mahasamadhi, when devotees, family, and friends of Adi Da Samraj gathered at Adi Da Samrajashram, Fiji (Adi Da's principal Hermitage), to acknowledge Adi Da as the Divine in human form, to praise His Greatness, and to express their heart-felt gratitude for the Blessings they have received from Him.

A list of all the tracks on this DVD can be found here.

Tags: Leela   Ruchiradama Nadikanta   Mahasamadhi   tribute   DVD  

Devotee Rachel Kuhn, who grew up in Adi Da's community, gives her testimony about her relationship to Him.

Excerpt from Second Evening: Track 7 on the DVD, A Tribute to the Life and Work of His Divine Presence, Adi Da Samraj. More than 7 hours long, this Tribute DVD was filmed on the occasion of the first Anniversary of Adi Da's Divine Mahasamadhi, when devotees, family, and friends of Adi Da Samraj gathered at Adi Da Samrajashram, Fiji (Adi Da's principal Hermitage), to acknowledge Adi Da as the Divine in human form, to praise His Greatness, and to express their heart-felt gratitude for the Blessings they have received from Him.

A list of all the tracks on this DVD can be found here.

Tags: Leela   Rachel Kuhn   Mahasamadhi   tribute   DVD  

Steve Alexander describes his experiences of Huichol shamanism (while in his twenties), and his aspiration to become a shaman. Then, while on a Huichol pilgrimage in Mexico, "everything that could possible go wrong, did". For a "suburban kid from Los Angeles" it was like "trying to put on someone else's shoe".

Steve returned to focus on his university education in fine art. All the while, an awareness of a Divine Presence in his heart was growing. He describes how he cultivated his relationship with that Presence, even as he became increasingly aware of his own egoity and the ways it would tend to shut down that Presence.

Steve describes how his formal relinquishment of Huichol shamanism opened the door to the intensification of that Presence, and ultimately, to his devotional relationship with the human form of that Presence: Adi Da.

Tags: leela