Adi Da Up Close
Audio/Video Library

Gerald Sheinfeld, a devotee of Avatar Adi Da since the early 1970's, tells a wonderful story about how he found his Guru, Adi Da Samraj and his immediate recognition of Adi Da's unique state of Freedom, Happiness, and Liberation. Gerald speaks about how that recognition of Adi Da has the capacity to awaken others to that state of Prior Unity.

This is an excerpt from the DVD, Locate What Is Real, an Avataric Discourse given by Adi Da on October 10, 2004.

In this excerpt, Adi Da explains how all the beings and things we tend to presume have an independent existence are in fact only apparitions arising in a single, universal Consciousness and are modifications of a single, underlying Divine Reality. Adi Da notes that the presumption that we are generating our actual thinking process is a part of this apparition. He says that even thoughts themselves are only an activity arising in Consciousness, and, if we truly examined this activity, we would notice that we are not generating the thinking process.

On the full DVD:
* Adi Da describes how Reality is the true “first experience” for everyone — more fundamental to existence than identification with the apparently “born” being.
* He speaks about how music and other arts can function as extensions of Spirituality.
* He talks about Ramana Maharshi and the sixth stage orientation, in contrast to His seventh stage Reality-Way.
* He addresses a devotee’s experience of emotional trauma, and how such events can affect one’s life.
* He describes His own Submission, in His early life, to the process of Christian mystical experience.

Tags: Avataric Discourse   DVD   sixth stage traditions  

In this excerpt from an Avataric Discourse given on September 1, 2004, Adi Da addresses the fact that people tend to value good experiences and shun the bad ones. Adi Da reveals that all experience — positive or negative — is inherently binding (which may come as a surprise to many).

This video clip is an excerpt from the DVD, Beyond The Trap of Experience.

Tags: Avataric Discourse   DVD  

Antonina Randazzo's CD, Fall Into My Heart, contains ten tracks of devotional music — including live chanting occasions from Adi Da Samrajashram, Fiji, and new, original musical settings of Avatar Adi Da's Ecstatic Words.

This excerpt from her album is track 6, "Parama Sapta-Na".

You can listen to (or purchase) the individual tracks here. The CD can be purchased here.

For Antonina's story of how Adi Da taught her the sacred art of devotional singing, click here.

For more about the meaning and significance of "Parama Sapta-Na", click here.

Tags: music  

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  

Adi Da's entire human lifetime was a unique demonstration of His Eternal Form — the State He calls the "Bright", the Conscious Light that is Reality Itself.

From His birth on November 3, 1939 on Long Island in New York, to His passing from the body on November 27, 2008, on the Island of Naitauba, Fiji, His Life is the story of the Intervention of the "Bright" in human time.

The fruits of Avatar Adi Da's Lifetime are the establishment of a new and unique possibility for the transformation of all beings and the world itself. His Revelation is of the Divine Reality, which is always Shining — like the sun — as the Prior Condition of every one and every thing.

An audio excerpt from the CD, Your Real Condition Is Prior To Waking, Dreaming, and Sleeping.

In this excerpt (from September 4, 2004), Adi Da Adi Da speaks to a questioner about her mother’s suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and the transcending of attention that becomes possible with maturing spiritual practice.

Adi Da points to the depth of existence that is always the case regardless of the changing states of awareness (waking, dreaming, and sleeping). And He Calls for ego-transcending practice (sadhana) to be engaged at this depth—so that What Is Prior to all conditional states can be Realized.

Tags: CD   Avataric Discourse  

An audio excerpt from the CD, Your Real Condition Is Prior To Waking, Dreaming, and Sleeping.

In this excerpt (from August 26, 2004), Adi Da responds to a questioner who asks how she can practice devotion in her dream state.

Adi Da indicates the necessity of self-understanding, in order for devotees to grow in practice. He points to the depth of existence that is always the case regardless of the changing states of awareness (waking, dreaming, and sleeping). And He Calls for ego-transcending practice (sadhana) to be engaged at this depth—so that What Is Prior to all conditional states can be Realized.

Tags: CD   Avataric Discourse  

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 CD and on a new DVD, The Location Of Happiness.

Track 2 from Sally Jamila's CD of devotional music, Invocation.

Intended to create a rich soundscape through meditative invocation, Invocation weaves together eclectic world music with the tradition of a spiritual practice. The result is an album that creates contemplative calm and an invitation to feel That Which Is All-Pervading. Bhagavan Adi Da Samraj asked that this album be placed on the "Favorites" list of His personal iPods.

Also available as downloadable MP3s from iTunes.

Sally Jamila: Vocals, Keyboards
Robert Mignault: Bass, Voice, Harmonies
Basant Madhur: Tabla
John Wubbenhorst: Bansuri Flute
Jamie Gabriel: Guitar
Gerry Howe: Flute
Janusz: Yidaki
Sharon Lye: Harmonies
Philip Saffery: Harmonies, Voice

Tags: CD  

[Show actually begins at 00:56, after a commercial and a brief excerpt from Mozart's Symphony No. 40.]

In this episode of the radio show, A Better World, host Mitchell Rabin conducts a Round Table discussion on the relationship between diet and climate change. He raises the tremendous possibility for both personal-planetary transformation and spiritual growth.

Joining Mitchell are Abel Slater and Dina Lautman. Abel and Dina have been devotees of Adi Da for over 25 years, and have spent significant time in Naitauba, Fiji at Adi Da’s principal Hermitage Sanctuary, Adi Da Samrajashram, where they received direct guidance from Adi Da, both in practical life wisdom and esoteric spiritual practice. Now based in New York, they also travel extensively throughout the world presenting Adi Da's spiritual teachings about right life, including diet, sexuality, meditation and conductivity. Recently, they have been focused on raising awareness about the benefits of the raw vegan diet by promoting Green Gorilla raw treats across the U.S. and around the world.

What occurs at the micro level of each individual's diet is effectively magnified at the macro level of the collective global ecosystem. Today, over 70 billion land animals are killed annually to support human meat consumption. A recent United Nations environmental impact study determined that livestock is the source of 18% of global greenhouse gases, now exceeding emissions from all transportation sources globally, which account for 17% of global greenhouse gases. Meat consumption is growing exponentially and is increasingly jeopardizing the health of the planet. Today’s Round Table will address these issues in depth. This conversation and the information we consider is vital to our personal health and to the collective survival of our species and all sentient life.

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.

Adi Da: "The world is not physical in nature; the world is psycho-physical."

This talk excerpt is track 1 of the CD, Science and the Myth of Materialism, a collection of talks from throughout the 30 years of Avatar Adi Da’s formal Teaching-Work that brings together samples from His vast Divine Instruction relative to the psycho-physical nature of the world, the limits of scientific materialism, and the Inherent Unity of Existence.

The album is available through iTunes, Microsoft, and The Dawn Horse Press.

Note: This video may not be available or viewable in every country.

Tags: CD  

An excerpt from the talk, "The Grace of Suffering", given by Adi Da on January 18, 1976.

This excerpt is track 1 of the CD, The Impulse to God-Realization, a collection of talks focusing on Adi Da's clarifying Wisdom on the Impulse to Realize God that is inherent in all beings, and His Divine Offering and Instruction on the Ultimate Means to cultivate this heart-Impulse, thereby allowing it to become the guiding force of one's entire life.

The album is available through iTunes and The Dawn Horse Press.

This selection of Talks by Avatar Adi Da Samraj focuses on His clarifying Wisdom on the Impulse (inherent in all beings) to Realize God, and His Divine Offering and Instruction on the Ultimate Means to cultivate this heart-Impulse, thereby allowing it be the guiding force of one's entire life. As Avatar Adi Da points out, the real Spiritual Process cannot be truly initiated until and unless one’s Impulse to God-Realization becomes the governing principle of one's life.

The full talk, "The Grace of Suffering", is available on the CD, The Grace of Suffering, and on DVD as Volume 2 of the 25th Anniversary DVD Series.

Note: Due to distribution policies set by CDBaby (and beyond the control of this website and Adidam), this video may not be playable in every country. However, sometimes, even when you can't play it on this page, you may be able to play it on YouTube: click here.

"The Grace of Suffering" is a beautiful talk by Adi Da. But it IS very compressed, making quite a few points in a short space, and depending to a significant degree on a familiarity with Adi Da's spiritual teaching. Here are some notes that may help.

Throughout the talk, the technical term, "sadhana" (spiritual practice), is used.

Genuine spiritual practice is not about belief systems, mere rituals, or a little "peace of mind", but rather about actually locating the Divine, through the tangible Transmission of the Spiritual Master.

After a recent illness, a devotee mentions to Adi Da that he notices how the physical suffering of illness was distracting enough that he was not "able" to find Adi Da's Transmission when he is ill.

Adi Da acknowledges this, and responds with three more general points.

1. The illness didn't "make" the devotee lose the thread of practice; rather, he allowed himself to be distracted from God by the illness. When the devotee gets this, and sees how he himself is "doing" the turning away, he'll be able to "do better next time" by not turning away even when ill.

2. Until Divine Enlightenment — in other words, until there is no limit on one's spiritual practice — sadhana (spiritual practice) is always only reflecting back to devotees the remaining limits in their practice: where they are still turning away from the Divine, where they still need to become responsible for not turning away.

In the beginning, the "turning away" is very "crude": even mere physical suffering is enough to distract one from God. (If we find ourselves saying, "what do you mean, MERE physical suffering?" that definitely identifies us as spiritual beginners! :-) ) But as one grows in practice, and ceases to turn away in such a crude manner (as one becomes a "saint", "yogi", "sage", etc.), one discovers that one is still turning from the Divine at an even subtler level of the being (in the mind, the psyche, etc.)

It is only when that "turning away" has been inspected, understood, and transcended in every dimension of the being that Divine Realization occurs.

In this sense, for the genuine spiritual practitioner, physical suffering — along with every other circumstance that reveals to us our turning away from the Divine — is truly a Grace, enabling us to grow in our practice.

3. Where we are turning away is a reflection of what we are identifying with: the body, the mind, the soul, etc. (For example, if physical illness is enough to distract us from God, then the physical body is what we currently are identified with.) God-Realization only occurs when all "identities" less than God are understood and transcended.

In this sense, "there are no winners in God" — the Way is not about seeking, accomplishment, or winning, but rather about surrender to God, sacrifice of self, and ego-death. There's no "one" left to "win"! But the One Who Remains is perfectly, eternally happy.

Tags: CD  

An excerpt from the talk, "The Gorilla Sermon", given by Adi Da on June 22, 1972.

This excerpt is track 2 of the CD, Death and the Purpose of Existence, a collection of talks and recitations that exemplify Avatar Adi Da's essential Wisdom-Teaching on death and dying.

The album is available through iTunes, Microsoft, and The Dawn Horse Press.

Note: Due to distribution policies set by CDBaby (and beyond the control of this website and Adidam), this video may not be playable in every country. However, sometimes, even when you can't play it on this page, you may be able to play it on YouTube: click here.

Tags: CD   death