My name is Megan Van Niekerk. I am a 24 year old Youth Fellowship devotee of Avatar Adi Da Samraj. I am a South African, and am currently living in Cape Town studying a Eurythmy BA degree at the Centre for Creative Education. I am currently in my third year of study.
I have been a formal devotee in the Youth Fellowship for over a year now and I would like to make my transition into the Second Congregation this year. I have been invited to travel up to the European Danda to meet the community living there and to make my transition. I would like to travel up at the end of June 2024 as this is the best time to do so during my college holidays.
It my heart’s desire to travel to a space that has been Empowered by Adi Da, and to experience the living quality of a community devoted to Him. There are only five South African devotees and we are scattered across the country, far away from each other. So I have not yet experienced Guruvaras or Celebrations with other devotees, despite having taken part online. I would love to experience what it is love to collectively invoke and praise Adi Da!
Unfortunately, I am not earning an income at the moment due to my studies and am living on a simple student allowance. And due to the short amount of time between now and June, it does not feel possible for me to save up the amount that I need to make this journey happen.
In this first volume of The Universal Tradition Video Series, Avatar Adi Da invites His listeners to participate in a study and consideration of the traditions of humankind (which He describes as collectively forming a single “Great Tradition”). Such consideration, He says, is an essential foundation for questioning the perceptions and beliefs that have been unconsciously inherited from these traditions. He Reveals the Unity from which all traditions arise—the Truth that is Prior to every “point of view”—and urges everyone to transcend all presumptions of non-unity, which give rise to conflict (both individually and collectively).
Carolyn Lee Interview poster: MitchellRabin speakers: Mitchell Rabin, Carolyn Lee length: 29:11 date added: January 14, 2024 language: English Mitchell Rabin, host of the New York City-based community cable TV show, A Better World, interviews Carolyn Lee, Ph.D, the author of several books on Adi Da Samraj. The focus of this interview is Carolyn’s book, The Promised God-Man is Here.
Note: The audio and video are slightly out of synch for much of this video.tags: Carolyn Lee
I’ve sung Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas to Beloved Adi Da many times over the years — at the Manner of Flowers, at Adi Da Samrajashram, at First People / Great Food Dish, etc. (as one of a small group of singers, and usually also as the keyboardist) — and I’m singing it to Him again (and all of you!) here. It is one of my favorite songs at this time of year.
For me (starting with Judy Garland's original film version), it has always been an emotion-filled song, by turns joyful, playful, nostalgic, and wistful — so that is how I sing it here.
This song as a bridge to God. In Beloved Adi Da’s Company, everything (from Mickey Mouse to cookie-making) becomes “a bridge to God”.
ADI DA: “You must Awaken and discover the Divine World wherein everything is a bridge to the Infinite, One Being.”
And so for me, the words of this song have always taken on a significance beyond the usual secular understanding of the song. They lead me through a consideration that I’ll share with you here.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas Let your heart be light From now on our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas Make the Yuletide gay From now on our troubles will be miles away.
Here we are as in olden days Happy golden days of yore Faithful friends who are dear to us Gather near to us once more
Through the years we all will be together If the fates allow Hang a shining star upon the highest bough And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
That wistfulness: Raymond’s problem. On the surface, the words of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas are purely joyful — "faithful friends" coming together each year in a joyous Christmas celebration. And yet, one of the emotions I feel when I sing this song is wistfulness. So where is the wistfulness coming from? It's that big "IF" in the song: "if the fates allow". In fact, as every one of us knows (more and more, with each passing year), fate (conditional existence) only allows such reunions for a limited number of years. As I sing, I have a vision of a photograph of a gathering of friends, from a Christmas or Danavira Mela many years ago, and, in this vision, each face in the photograph — one by one over the years — turns "ghostly", either through our circumstances (high school, college, living near each other) no longer being shared, or life paths that have moved in different directions, or the passing on of that person. My awareness of that inevitable reality is the source of the wistfulness and nostalgia. The inevitable disappearance of the (mortal) loved one is “Raymond’s problem”, a phrase Adi Da uses, based on the central character of The Mummery Book.
Danavira Mela: A Divine Celebration in the midst of a conditional universe. The joy and playfulness of the song comes from the celebration we can still have together, even in the midst of an ever-changing, conditional universe. One of my (and many other devotees’) favorite quotes of Beloved Adi Da has always been this extraordinary prayer, from “Death is a Perfect Insult” in The Enlightenment of the Whole Body:
“Let us surrender into Infinity with all our friends and hold on to no thing or condition that ever appears. Let us forget all things in present Happiness, and so forgive the universe for all its playful changes. Let us always love one another, and so forgive one another for appearing, for changing, and for passing out of present sight. So be it.”
When I sing this song, I hear it giving further guidance for just how to do this.
This is a video excerpt from Adi Da's classic talk, "The Bodily Location of Happiness", which He gave on November 28, 1981. This talk was originally published in the book, The Bodily Location Of Happiness. The full talk is available on DVD and on CD, and as an online transcript.
ADI DA: Life is foolishness. This is no time, in any case, to be tolerant of foolishness. The world is mad, and these are dreadful times. Things are not going to be easier in the years ahead. The spiritual process has always been lived in difficult times. Therefore, the spiritual process tolerates no fool. The spiritual process itself will spit you out. It is not an easy attainment, but a profoundly difficult affair. Even what you have listened to today has been heard by only a fraction of the human race in all of history. The opportunity to practice is extremely rare, and the fulfillment of practice is practically unknown.
In some sense you could say this life is hell. . . The nature of this hell is that we are self-possessed. We are born in un-Happiness and we do not transcend it readily. We constantly pursue Happiness through all kinds of incredibly complex means, and we never attain It. . .
If Spiritual Realizers did not turn about and Teach, this would truly be a hell instead of being like a hell. It would truly be a hell if there were no possibility of Enlightenment, if there were no Teaching, no Spiritual Masters, no sacred Way, no sacred community, no capacity for understanding or self-transcendence.tags: SpanishCDDVD
La Ubicación Corporal de la Felicidad poster: Videos de Adi Da - Español length: 12:23 date added: May 16, 2022 event date: November 28, 1981 language: Spanish Contains Spanish subtitles. If the CC icon ("Subtitles/closed captions") has a red line under it, the subtitles should appear. If you don't see them, just press the CC icon to turn them on.]
Un discurso clásico dado por Avatar Adi Da en 1981 sobre la naturaleza de la Verdadera Felicidad y cómo puede ser Realizada momento a momento, pero no a través de su búsqueda.
This is a video excerpt from Adi Da's classic talk, "The Bodily Location of Happiness", which He gave on November 28, 1981. This talk was originally published in the book, The Bodily Location Of Happiness. The full talk is available on DVD and on CD, and as an online transcript.
ADI DA: Life is foolishness. This is no time, in any case, to be tolerant of foolishness. The world is mad, and these are dreadful times. Things are not going to be easier in the years ahead. The spiritual process has always been lived in difficult times. Therefore, the spiritual process tolerates no fool. The spiritual process itself will spit you out. It is not an easy attainment, but a profoundly difficult affair. Even what you have listened to today has been heard by only a fraction of the human race in all of history. The opportunity to practice is extremely rare, and the fulfillment of practice is practically unknown.
In some sense you could say this life is hell. . . The nature of this hell is that we are self-possessed. We are born in un-Happiness and we do not transcend it readily. We constantly pursue Happiness through all kinds of incredibly complex means, and we never attain It. . .
If Spiritual Realizers did not turn about and Teach, this would truly be a hell instead of being like a hell. It would truly be a hell if there were no possibility of Enlightenment, if there were no Teaching, no Spiritual Masters, no sacred Way, no sacred community, no capacity for understanding or self-transcendence.tags: CDDVDSpanish
¿Qué es la duda? poster: Videos de Adi Da - Español length: 13:25 date added: March 17, 2022 event date: July 20, 1986 language: Spanish [Contains Spanish subtitles. If the CC icon ("Subtitles/closed captions") has a red line under it, the subtitles should appear. If you don't see them, just press the CC icon to turn them on.]
In 1986, Adi Da made His first visit to the European community of His devotees. He travelled through England, France and Holland. In the South of Holland, in the village of Maria Hoop close to the German border, a former Catholic monastery was found which could be rented for a few weeks. Devotees swiftly cleaned buildings and the grounds. Adi Da stayed in a specially prepared wing of the monastery for several days. During this time, He granted Darshan and held "Question and Answer" occasions in the chapel (now called Adi Da Kapel) with German, English, Dutch, French and American devotees. The former monastery has since been acquired by the European community of Adidam and is now known as The European Danda.
In "¿Qué es la duda?" ("What Is Doubt?"), a rare excerpt from one of the "Question and Answer" occasions, Adi Da addresses the primal human emotion of doubt in a most direct and simple manner. He describes how doubt is not ultimately a sign that we have been "betrayed" in some way. The radical solution to doubt is to identify with the Divine Itself, beyond the temporary cycles of the body and mind and beyond the sense of being a separate self.tags: Spanish
Ihmiskunnan Yhtenäisyys poster: Adi Da Videot Suomi length: 09:45 date added: January 31, 2022 event date: August 22, 2004 language: Finnish [Contains Finnish subtitles. If the CC icon ("Subtitles/closed captions") has a red line under it, the subtitles should appear. If you don't see them, just press the CC icon to turn them on.]
Adi Da huomioi, että jokainen meistä kuuluu ihmislajiin, emmekä ole erillä toisistamme.
"Ihmiskunnan Yhtenäisyys" ("The Unity of Humankind") is an excerpt from the Avataric Discourse of August 22, 2004.
Adi Da describes how humankind is a single family, a single species in "diaspora" — dispersed across the earth as the result of migrations from a single point of origin (in Africa) thousands of years ago. Making much of superficial differences due to race, nation, religion, language, tribe, political system, etc. obscures this more fundamental, deeper reality of the unity of humankind. For the sake of everyone's survival, humankind must begin to live on the basis of its unity, and establish a global cooperative order that includes and serves everyone.tags: FinnishAvataric Discourse
Divine Spirit Tree of Light poster: k3tH6fqKscY length: 04:05 date added: December 23, 2021 event date: December 2021 language: English A video tour of the Adidam Melbourne community's Danavira Mela Celebration decorations and tree, December, 2021.
music: Pentatonix, "How Great Thou Art"tags: Danavira Mela
Mitä on epäilys? poster: Adi Da Videot Suomi length: 13:25 date added: November 1, 2021 event date: July 20, 1986 language: Finnish [Contains Finnish subtitles. If the CC icon ("Subtitles/closed captions") has a red line under it, the subtitles should appear. If you don't see them, just press the CC icon to turn them on.]
Harvinainen ja julkaisematon Puhe heinäkuun 20. päivältä 1986 Hollannissa. Adi Da käsittelee epäilystä, tuota alkukantaista ihmistunnetta, suoraan ja yksinkertaiseen tapaan.
In 1986, Adi Da made His first visit to the European community of His devotees. He travelled through England, France and Holland. In the South of Holland, in the village of Maria Hoop close to the German border, a former Catholic monastery was found which could be rented for a few weeks. Devotees swiftly cleaned buildings and the grounds. Adi Da stayed in a specially prepared wing of the monastery for several days. During this time, He granted Darshan and held "Question and Answer" occasions in the chapel (now called Adi Da Kapel) with German, English, Dutch, French and American devotees. The former monastery has since been acquired by the European community of Adidam and is now known as The European Danda.
In "Mitä on epäilys?" ("What Is Doubt?"), a rare excerpt from one of the "Question and Answer" occasions, Adi Da addresses the primal human emotion of doubt in a most direct and simple manner. He describes how doubt is not ultimately a sign that we have been "betrayed" in some way. The radical solution to doubt is to identify with the Divine Itself, beyond the temporary cycles of the body and mind and beyond the sense of being a separate self.tags: Finnish
Hengellistä prosessia on aina eletty vaikeina aikoina poster: Adi Da Videot Suomi length: 10:16 date added: August 3, 2021 event date: November 28, 1981 language: Finnish [Contains Finnish subtitles. If the CC icon ("Subtitles/closed captions") has a red line under it, the subtitles should appear. If you don't see them, just press the CC icon to turn them on.]
Tämä on ote Adi Dan puheesta "Ilon ruumiillinen sijainti", jonka Hän antoi 28. marraskuuta 1981.
This is a video excerpt from Adi Da's classic talk, "The Bodily Location of Happiness", which He gave on November 28, 1981. This talk was originally published in the book, The Bodily Location Of Happiness. The full talk is available on DVD and on CD, and as an online transcript.
ADI DA: Elämä on typeryyttä. Nyt ei ole muutenkaan aika suvaita typeryyttä. Maailma on hullu, ja nämä ovat karmeita aikoja. Asiat eivät helpotu tulevina vuosina. Hengellistä prosessia on aina eletty vaikeina aikoina. Hengellinen prosessi ei siis suvaitse typerystä. Hengellinen prosessi sylkäisee sinut ulos. Se ei ole helppo saavutus, vaan syvästi vaikea koettamus. Jopa se, mitä tänään kuulitte on vain ihmiskunnan murto-osan kuulemaa kautta historian. Mahdollisuus harjoittaa hengellistä prosessia on erittäin harvinainen, ja sen täyttymys on\Nkäytännössä tuntematon.
Jossain mielessä voisi sanoa, että tämä on elämä on helvettiä. Uskonnollisella kielellämme puhumme siitä, mitä voi tapahtua kuoleman jälkeen. Voit joko nousta taivaaseen tai joutua puhdistautumaan kiirastuleen, tai voit joutua helvettiin. Ja sitten ehkä joudut kiirastuleen tai tilapäiseen helvettiin, mutta ehkä sinulla on riittävästi hyvää onnea syntyä ihmiseksi, jotta voit omistautua hengelliselle prosessille. Tämän helvetin luonne on, että olemme itseemme käpertyneitä. Synnymme ilottomuudessa emmekä helposti pääse tämän ilottomuuden yli. Tavoittelemme iloa jatkuvasti kaikenlaisin uskomattoman monimutkaisin keinoin emmekä ikinä saavuta sitä.
Jos Hengelliset Mestarit eivät olisi alkaneet opettamaan, tämä todellakin olisi helvetti eikä vain helvetin kaltainen. Tämä todellakin olisi helvetti jos täällä ei olisi Valaistuksen mahdollisuutta, jos täällä ei olisi Opetusta, ei Hengellisiä Mestareita, ei Pyhää Tietä, ei Pyhää yhteisöä, ei kykyä ymmärtää tai ylittää itseään.
ADI DA: Life is foolishness. This is no time, in any case, to be tolerant of foolishness. The world is mad, and these are dreadful times. Things are not going to be easier in the years ahead. The spiritual process has always been lived in difficult times. Therefore, the spiritual process tolerates no fool. The spiritual process itself will spit you out. It is not an easy attainment, but a profoundly difficult affair. Even what you have listened to today has been heard by only a fraction of the human race in all of history. The opportunity to practice is extremely rare, and the fulfillment of practice is practically unknown.
In some sense you could say this life is hell. . . The nature of this hell is that we are self-possessed. We are born in un-Happiness and we do not transcend it readily. We constantly pursue Happiness through all kinds of incredibly complex means, and we never attain It. . .
If Spiritual Realizers did not turn about and Teach, this would truly be a hell instead of being like a hell. It would truly be a hell if there were no possibility of Enlightenment, if there were no Teaching, no Spiritual Masters, no sacred Way, no sacred community, no capacity for understanding or self-transcendence.tags: FinnishCDDVD
Testimonianze di devoti di Adi Da poster: Video di Adi Da, Canale italiano speaker: Stanley Hastings length: 11:18 date added: July 15, 2021 language: Italian [Contains Italian subtitles. If the CC icon ("Subtitles/closed captions") has a red line under it, the subtitles should appear. If you don't see them, just press the CC icon to turn them on.]
Stanley Hastings talks about his childhood and adolescence growing up in the Adidam community. Like many other young people, as a teenager, he decided to see for himself what the world had to offer. After several years of experimenting, he decided to return to Adi Da and the Way of life He offered — to fully participate again in the life of the community and to serve Adi Da directly.tags: Italian
Ben Grisso on Adi Da's Art Creation Process poster: Video di Adi Da, Canale italiano speaker: Ben Grisso length: 08:30 date added: June 28, 2021 event date: November 29, 2009 language: Italian [Contains Italian subtitles. If the CC icon ("Subtitles/closed captions") has a red line under it, the subtitles should appear. If you don't see them, just press the CC icon to turn them on.]
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.
Adi Dan yhteisössä kasvanut omistautuja kertoo nuoruudestaan, jolloin hän päätti tutkia, mitä maailmalla on tarjottavana, kuten monet teini-ikäiset tekevät. Muutaman vuoden jälkeen hän kuitenkin tunsi vahvempaa vetoa Adi Data sekä Hänen tarjoamaansa elämäntapaa kohtaan, ja teki tietoisen päätöksen osallistua elämään Adidamin parissa ja palvella Adi Data henkilökohtaisesti.
Stanley Hastings talks about his childhood and adolescence growing up in the Adidam community. Like many other young people, as a teenager, he decided to see for himself what the world had to offer. After several years of experimenting, he decided to return to Adi Da and the Way of life He offered — to fully participate again in the life of the community and to serve Adi Da directly.tags: Finnish
Adi Da Samraj, Wspomnienia ucznia - Dorastałem we wspólnocie Adidam poster: Adi Da Video Polska speaker: Stanley Hastings length: 11:18 date added: February 5, 2021 language: Polish [Contains Polish subtitles. If the CC icon ("Subtitles/closed captions") has a red line under it, the subtitles should appear. If you don't see them, just press the CC icon to turn them on.]
Dorastając we wspólnocie Adi Da, Stanley opowiada o swoim dzieciństwie i dojrzewaniu w Adidam, opowiada o tym, jak jako nastolatka, podobnie jak wielu innych młodych osób, postanowił na własnej skórze przekonać się, co świat ma do zaoferowania. Po kilku latach eksperymentowania postanowił wrócić do Adi Da i oferowanego przez niego stylu życia, aby ponownie w pełni uczestniczyć w życiu wspólnoty i bezpośrednio służyć Adi Da.
Stanley Hastings talks about his childhood and adolescence growing up in the Adidam community. Like many other young people, as a teenager, he decided to see for himself what the world had to offer. After several years of experimenting, he decided to return to Adi Da and the Way of life He offered — to fully participate again in the life of the community and to serve Adi Da directly.tags: Polish
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