Adi Da Up Close
Audio/Video Library

In October of 1978, in Land Bridge Pavilion at the Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary in Northern California, devotees of Adi Da Samraj gathered with Him for an occasion in which He responded to their questions. At one point, a young boy stood up to ask a question. With quiet determination, he asked Avatar Adi Da if he could help him find a way to stop being self-righteous with other people. Avatar Adi Da gave the boy a radiant smile and began to speak to him with great gentleness and love. This is a video excerpt from that Talk. This is track 6 on the DVD, Surrender of self Is A Koan. It is also available in audio form as Track 3 of the free, downloadable CD, The Liberating Word of Avatar Adi Da Samraj, Volume 1.

[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.]

W 2009 roku, rok po odejściu Adi Da, wielu uczniów udało się do Sanktuarium Pustelni Adi Da na Naitauba na Fidżi, aby wziąć udział w dwudniowym hołdzie dla Adi Da. Megan Anderson, która wychowała się we Wspólnocie Adidam daje świadectwo o tym, jak została zachęcona przez Adi Da do podjęcia swojej służby dla niego jako jeden z kluczowych redaktorów jego Słowa.

Devotee Megan Anderson, who grew up in the Company of Adi Da, offers this testimonial to His life and work.

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: Polish   Megan Anderson   DVD  

Excerpt from an Avataric Discourse given by Adi Da Samraj on October 6, 2005, at the Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary.

In recent decades, yoga and meditation have become a regular part of the daily lives of millions of people around the world. Through these and other practices, people develop stronger bodies, more personal discipline, better health, more loving relationships, and a greater ability to manage the stresses of modern life.

In the last few months, however, it has suddenly become universally apparent that these benefits are not be enough. Life is not programmed to produce lasting satisfaction and immunity to the challenges, inherent suffering, and mortality of existence.

In this Avataric Discourse, Avatar Adi Da Samraj describes how "positive disillusionment" with ordinary life is a necessary prerequisite for entering into the truly liberating process of spiritual practice.

ADI DA: "I find people's sorrows and losses to be heartbreaking and terrible and an immense burden and I am sympathetic and bless people in their trouble. However you must understand that is the nature of this place. This is not utopia, it is not paradise. It is a place of death, endings, suffering, brief amusements. It is not enough and merely to react to your difficulties for overlong and try to make an entire life out of it is fruitless. You do have to move on beyond that reaction to any moment's suffering and loss. You must know the place you're in and live in accordance with that knowledge instead of being sympathetic with some false view of the world or self or trying to idealize some aspect of potential experience, indulging in what amounts to addictions, repetitions of experiences, in order to avoid the knowledge of what is inherent in life, as well as all the hell that is coming on earth and is here. You will not be fulfilled."

Tags: Avataric Discourse  

[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.]

Członek starszyzny wspólnoty mieszkańców Fidżi i długoletni wielbiciel Adi Da Samraj mieszkający w Adi Da Samrajashram, Naitauba, Fidżi, składa hołd Turanga Dau Loloma (tytuł i imię Adi Da Samraj w języku fidżi) po Jego odejściu jego Guru.

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: Polish   Leela   Solo   Mahasamadhi   tribute   DVD  

[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.]

"Questo Posto Non E' Utopia" ("This Place Is Not a Utopia") is an excerpt from an Avataric Discourse given by Adi Da Samraj on October 6, 2005, at the Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary.

ADI DA: "I find people's sorrows and losses to be heartbreaking and terrible and an immense burden and I am sympathetic and bless people in their trouble. However you must understand that is the nature of this place. This is not utopia, it is not paradise. It is a place of death, endings, suffering, brief amusements. It is not enough and merely to react to your difficulties for overlong and try to make an entire life out of it is fruitless. You do have to move on beyond that reaction to any moments suffering and loss. You must know the place you’re in and live in accordance with that knowledge instead of being sympathetic with some false view of the world or self or trying to idealize some aspect of potential experience, indulging in what amounts to addictions, repetitions of experiences, in order to avoid the knowledge of what is inherent in life, as well as all the hell that is coming on earth and is here. You will not be fulfilled.”

Tags: Italian   Avataric Discourse  

"Om Sri Turaga Dau Loloma Vunirarama" is by Felix Woldenberg. It is track 5 from Disc One of the double CD, May You Ever Dwell In Our Hearts.

"Turaga Dau Loloma Vunirarama" is a title given to Avatar Adi Da by the native Fijians of Naitauba: "The Great Lord [Turaga] Who Is The Divine Adept [Dau] Of The Divine Love [Loloma] and The Self-Radiant Divine Source and Substance [Vu] Of [ni] The Divine 'Brightness' [Rarama]".

May You Ever Dwell In Our Hearts is a deeply moving, sacred, contemplative CD that celebrates Adi Da's Life of Love and Blessing. This tribute to Adi Da Samraj includes music from many different genres, ranging from Indian classical to jazz to world music and other contemporary styles.

With over two hours of devotional songs filling this double CD, you can listen to pieces composed and performed by many devotee artists, including Naamleela Free Jones, Tamarind Free Jones, Ray Lynch, John Wubbenhorst, John Mackay, Sally Howe, Crane Kirkbride, Antonina Randazzo, Katya Grineva and many others.

Some of the twenty-five pieces on May You Ever Dwell In Our Hearts were written and offered in the days immediately following Adi Da's Passing on November 27, 2008, or in the year-long period of formal mourning that followed. Other songs were offered to Him in person during His Lifetime. This CD also contains new songs never released before by Naamleela, Tamarind, and other musicians.

Tags: music   CD  

"Guru Bandana" is by Tamarind Free Jones. It is track 3 from Disc One of the double CD, May You Ever Dwell In Our Hearts. It was originally released on her 2012 album, Hansa. It sets to music a traditional Indian prayer.

May You Ever Dwell In Our Hearts is a deeply moving, sacred, contemplative CD that celebrates Adi Da's Life of Love and Blessing. This tribute to Adi Da Samraj includes music from many different genres, ranging from Indian classical to jazz to world music and other contemporary styles.

With over two hours of devotional songs filling this double CD, you can listen to pieces composed and performed by many devotee artists, including Naamleela Free Jones, Tamarind Free Jones, Ray Lynch, John Wubbenhorst, John Mackay, Sally Howe, Crane Kirkbride, Antonina Randazzo, Katya Grineva and many others.

Some of the twenty-five pieces on May You Ever Dwell In Our Hearts were written and offered in the days immediately following Adi Da's Passing on November 27, 2008, or in the year-long period of formal mourning that followed. Other songs were offered to Him in person during His Lifetime. This CD also contains new songs never released before by Naamleela, Tamarind, and other musicians.

Tags: music   CD  

"Facing Beloved / No One Like Me" is by John Wubbenhorst. It is track 2 from Disc One of the double CD, May You Ever Dwell In Our Hearts. John Wubbenhorst plays bansuri, drum master Subash Chandran plays ghatam and konnokol, and drum master Ganesh Kumar plays kanjira.

May You Ever Dwell In Our Hearts is a deeply moving, sacred, contemplative CD that celebrates Adi Da's Life of Love and Blessing. This tribute to Adi Da Samraj includes music from many different genres, ranging from Indian classical to jazz to world music and other contemporary styles.

With over two hours of devotional songs filling this double CD, you can listen to pieces composed and performed by many devotee artists, including Naamleela Free Jones, Tamarind Free Jones, Ray Lynch, John Wubbenhorst, John Mackay, Sally Howe, Crane Kirkbride, Antonina Randazzo, Katya Grineva and many others.

Some of the twenty-five pieces on May You Ever Dwell In Our Hearts were written and offered in the days immediately following Adi Da's Passing on November 27, 2008, or in the year-long period of formal mourning that followed. Other songs were offered to Him in person during His Lifetime. This CD also contains new songs never released before by Naamleela, Tamarind, and other musicians.

Tags: music   CD  

"5:05" is by Naamleela Free Jones. It is track 1 from Disc One of the double CD, May You Ever Dwell In Our Hearts.

The title is a reference to the time of Avatar Adi Da's Divine Mahasamadhi at 5:05pm (Fiji time) on November 27, 2008.

May You Ever Dwell In Our Hearts is a deeply moving, sacred, contemplative CD that celebrates Adi Da's Life of Love and Blessing. This tribute to Adi Da Samraj includes music from many different genres, ranging from Indian classical to jazz to world music and other contemporary styles.

With over two hours of devotional songs filling this double CD, you can listen to pieces composed and performed by many devotee artists, including Naamleela Free Jones, Tamarind Free Jones, Ray Lynch, John Wubbenhorst, John Mackay, Sally Howe, Crane Kirkbride, Antonina Randazzo, Katya Grineva and many others.

Some of the twenty-five pieces on May You Ever Dwell In Our Hearts were written and offered in the days immediately following Adi Da's Passing on November 27, 2008, or in the year-long period of formal mourning that followed. Other songs were offered to Him in person during His Lifetime. This CD also contains new songs never released before by Naamleela, Tamarind, and other musicians.

Tags: music   CD  

Author and longtime devotee James Steinberg gave a talk and video presentation at the Westside Tower Salon on August 24, 2019, on his personally close relationship to Adi Da Samraj and on reactions from people raised in Western civilization to the Guru-devotee relationship. James also described how, later in His life, Adi Da became a prolific, internationally recognized contemporary artist.

Westside Tower Salon is something of an intimate think tank — a social gathering networking venue, modeled in the spirit of the artistic and literary salons of the 17th and 18th centuries. Artist Frederick Abrams started the salon in Abrams' Tower, his new multimedia arts building in West Los Angeles.

[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 paikka ei ole utopia" ("This Place Is Not a Utopia") is an excerpt from an Avataric Discourse given by Adi Da Samraj on October 6, 2005, at the Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary.

ADI DA: "I find people's sorrows and losses to be heartbreaking and terrible and an immense burden and I am sympathetic and bless people in their trouble. However you must understand that is the nature of this place. This is not utopia, it is not paradise. It is a place of death, endings, suffering, brief amusements. It is not enough and merely to react to your difficulties for overlong and try to make an entire life out of it is fruitless. You do have to move on beyond that reaction to any moments suffering and loss. You must know the place you’re in and live in accordance with that knowledge instead of being sympathetic with some false view of the world or self or trying to idealize some aspect of potential experience, indulging in what amounts to addictions, repetitions of experiences, in order to avoid the knowledge of what is inherent in life, as well as all the hell that is coming on earth and is here. You will not be fulfilled.”

Tags: Finnish   Avataric Discourse  

Slides from a Darshan occasion of Avatar Adi Da at Adi Da Samrajashram.

The audio recording is an excerpt from a recitation of Adi Da's essay, "Freedom Is The Only Law and Happiness Is The Only Reality". This is the Epilogue from Adi Da's book, The Truly Human New World-Culture of Unbroken Real-God-Man, which was originally written in 2001, and updated on November 13, 2019. The essay is read by a student of Adi Da. In the secular world, words like "freedom" and " love" are given a very limited definition. In this essay, Adi Da expands the true meaning of both of these words.

ADI DA: I Am here to Divinely Liberate all beings.

I Am here to Grant True Freedom to every one.

“Freedom” is one of the principal words associated with the politics of this “late-time”. The general trend toward the democratization of the entire world carries with it an intensified interest in the concept of freedom and in the pursuit of freedom. However, in the context and circumstance of this “late-time”, the word “freedom” is used in such a way that the true import of the word is lost, and its meaning is transformed, and even vulgarized.

The same process of vulgarization has also occurred in the case of other words, such as (for example) the word “love”. The word “love” represents a profound concept and reality, but the word itself tends to be used very casually. People commonly say that they “love” this or that, meaning something quite different from what the word “love” rightly and truly signifies.

“Love” is a word that rightly refers to the universal Sacrifice of ego-“self”. Real love is a matter of transcending “self” (or going beyond your limitations in relation to others)—but, in the “late-time” circumstance of vulgarized culture, the word “love” has come to be used in relation to whatever satisfies your inclinations, or fulfills your desires, or (otherwise) somehow compensates for limitations in your life by pleasing you and (thereby) supporting your egoic disposition. None of that has anything to do with real love.

So it also is with the word “freedom”, and the notion of freedom. The world-culture of this “late-time” is essentially an ego-culture associated with complications in the first three stages of life. It is essentially an adolescent culture. And it is in the context of that culture that great words like “love” and “freedom” become vulgarized. In the adolescent disposition, the word “freedom”, like the word “love”, is reduced to an egoic meaning. People say they want to be “free”, or want to act “freely”, or want to be “free” to do this or that—but what they actually mean is that they want to be able to fulfill their desires without limitation. An adolescent reacting to parental authority or parental expectations regards any such authority or expectations to be oppressive or limiting. Therefore, such adolescents say that they want to be “free” to do whatever they please. And that is, in general, what is meant in this “late-time” by the word “freedom”. Even in the larger political sphere, the word “freedom” is used to express the (personal, and also collective) intent to be able to fulfill desires—and those desires are (necessarily) fundamentally ego-based.

What does the fulfillment of desires have to do with true freedom? Rightly, the word “freedom” is synonymous with the word “liberation”. To “be free”, or to “be liberated”, means to “go beyond bondage”. The opposite of “freedom” is “bondage”. If one is truly moved to be truly free, one is moved to relinquish (and go beyond) bondage. Such is the true Wisdom-understanding of freedom.

Neither true freedom, nor real love, nor any other great concept is rightly understood via the words and concepts of adolescents. There must be human maturity (and, therefore, growth in Wisdom) for the great meanings underlying these concepts to be understood and actually lived.

Be moved toward real love, without limit. Be moved toward real happiness, without limit.

Be moved toward true freedom, without limit. You should (and, ultimately, must) be so moved. But to actually realize love (or real happiness, or true freedom) without limit, you must deal with yourself most profoundly. You cannot merely be reactive, like an adolescent or a worldly person.

If you want to be truly free, you must first understand that you are bound, and you must understand how you are bound, and then you must do something about that. If, on the other hand, you are merely reactively inclined to fulfill desires, and you want to be (so-called) “free” to do so, then you are not examining your bondage—what its roots are, what its signs are, what its characteristics are—and, if you are not examining your bondage with real discriminative intelligence, you are also not doing what you must do in order to be truly free.

[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.]

To nagranie jest fragmentem eseju "Prawdziwie ludzka kultura nowego świata" (2001; aktualizacja 13 listopada 2019 r.). Tekst jest czytany przez studenta Adi Da Samraj. Jestem tu, by wyzwolić wszystkie istoty.

Darshan occasion of Avatar Adi Da at Adi Da Samrajashram.

The audio recording is an excerpt from a recitation of Adi Da's essay, "Freedom Is The Only Law and Happiness Is The Only Reality". This is the Epilogue from Adi Da's book, The Truly Human New World-Culture of Unbroken Real-God-Man, which was originally written in 2001, and updated on November 13, 2019. The essay is read by a student of Adi Da.

ADI DA: Jestem tu, by wyzwolić wszystkie istoty.

Jestem tu po to, by każdemu dać prawdziwą wolność.

"Wolność" jest jednym z głównych słów związanych z polityką tego "późnych czasów". Ogólny trend demokratyzacji całego świata niesie ze sobą wzmożone zainteresowanie koncepcją wolności i dążeniem do wolności. Jednak w kontekście i uwarunkowaniach tego "późnego czasu" słowo "wolność" jest używane w taki sposób, że prawdziwe znaczenie tego słowa zostaje utracone, a jego znaczenie zmienione, a nawet wulgaryzowane.

Ten sam proces wulgaryzowania ma miejsce również w przypadku innych słów, takich jak (na przykład) słowo "miłość". Słowo "miłość" reprezentuje głęboką ideę w realiach życia, ale samo słowo jest używane bardzo swobodnie. Ludzie często mówią, że "kochają" to czy tamto, mając na myśli coś zupełnie innego niż właściwie znaczenie słowa "miłość".

"Miłość" to słowo, które słusznie sugeruje powszechne poświęcenie ego-"ja". Prawdziwa miłość jest kwestią transcendencji "ja" (lub wykraczania poza twoje ograniczenia w stosunku do innych) - ale w realiach wulgaryzowanej kultury "późnych czasów" słowo "miłość" zaczęło być używane w odniesieniu do tego, co zaspokaja twoje skłonności, spełnia twoje pragnienia, albo w jakiś sposób rekompensuje ograniczenia w twoim życiu, zadowalając cię i (tym samym) wspierając twoje egoistyczne usposobienie. To nie ma nic wspólnego z prawdziwą miłością.

Tak samo jest ze słowem "wolność" i pojęciem wolności. Kultura światowa tych "późnych czasów" jest zasadniczo kulturą egoistyczną związaną z komplikacjami w pierwszych trzech etapach życia. Jest to kultura nastolatków. I to właśnie w kontekście tej kultury wielkie słowa takie jak "miłość" i "wolność" są wulgaryzowane. W usposobieniu nastolatków słowo "wolność", podobnie jak słowo "miłość", sprowadza się do znaczenia egoistycznego. Ludzie mówią, że chcą być "wolni", chcą mieć "swobodę" działamia, lub chcą być "wolni" do robienia tego czy owego, ale właściwie chodzi im o to, że chcą być w stanie spełniać swoje pragnienia bez ograniczeń. Młodzież reagująca na opiekę rodzicielską lub oczekiwania rodziców uważa, że każdy taki autorytet lub oczekiwania mają charakter represyjny lub ograniczający. Dlatego tacy nastolatkowie mówią, że chcą być "wolni" aby robić to, co im się podoba. I ogólnie rzecz biorąc, w tym "późnym czasie" takie jest znaczenie słowa "wolność". Nawet w szerszej sferze politycznej słowo "wolność" jest używane do wyrażenia (osobistego, a także zbiorowego) zamiaru, aby możliwości spełniania pragnień, a pragnienia te (z konieczności) są zasadniczo egoistyczne.

ADI DA: I Am here to Divinely Liberate all beings.

I Am here to Grant True Freedom to every one.

“Freedom” is one of the principal words associated with the politics of this “late-time”. The general trend toward the democratization of the entire world carries with it an intensified interest in the concept of freedom and in the pursuit of freedom. However, in the context and circumstance of this “late-time”, the word “freedom” is used in such a way that the true import of the word is lost, and its meaning is transformed, and even vulgarized.

The same process of vulgarization has also occurred in the case of other words, such as (for example) the word “love”. The word “love” represents a profound concept and reality, but the word itself tends to be used very casually. People commonly say that they “love” this or that, meaning something quite different from what the word “love” rightly and truly signifies.

“Love” is a word that rightly refers to the universal Sacrifice of ego-“self”. Real love is a matter of transcending “self” (or going beyond your limitations in relation to others)—but, in the “late-time” circumstance of vulgarized culture, the word “love” has come to be used in relation to whatever satisfies your inclinations, or fulfills your desires, or (otherwise) somehow compensates for limitations in your life by pleasing you and (thereby) supporting your egoic disposition. None of that has anything to do with real love.

So it also is with the word “freedom”, and the notion of freedom. The world-culture of this “late-time” is essentially an ego-culture associated with complications in the first three stages of life. It is essentially an adolescent culture. And it is in the context of that culture that great words like “love” and “freedom” become vulgarized. In the adolescent disposition, the word “freedom”, like the word “love”, is reduced to an egoic meaning. People say they want to be “free”, or want to act “freely”, or want to be “free” to do this or that—but what they actually mean is that they want to be able to fulfill their desires without limitation. An adolescent reacting to parental authority or parental expectations regards any such authority or expectations to be oppressive or limiting. Therefore, such adolescents say that they want to be “free” to do whatever they please. And that is, in general, what is meant in this “late-time” by the word “freedom”. Even in the larger political sphere, the word “freedom” is used to express the (personal, and also collective) intent to be able to fulfill desires—and those desires are (necessarily) fundamentally ego-based.

What does the fulfillment of desires have to do with true freedom? Rightly, the word “freedom” is synonymous with the word “liberation”. To “be free”, or to “be liberated”, means to “go beyond bondage”. The opposite of “freedom” is “bondage”. If one is truly moved to be truly free, one is moved to relinquish (and go beyond) bondage. Such is the true Wisdom-understanding of freedom.

Neither true freedom, nor real love, nor any other great concept is rightly understood via the words and concepts of adolescents. There must be human maturity (and, therefore, growth in Wisdom) for the great meanings underlying these concepts to be understood and actually lived.

Be moved toward real love, without limit. Be moved toward real happiness, without limit.

Be moved toward true freedom, without limit. You should (and, ultimately, must) be so moved. But to actually realize love (or real happiness, or true freedom) without limit, you must deal with yourself most profoundly. You cannot merely be reactive, like an adolescent or a worldly person.

If you want to be truly free, you must first understand that you are bound, and you must understand how you are bound, and then you must do something about that. If, on the other hand, you are merely reactively inclined to fulfill desires, and you want to be (so-called) “free” to do so, then you are not examining your bondage—what its roots are, what its signs are, what its characteristics are—and, if you are not examining your bondage with real discriminative intelligence, you are also not doing what you must do in order to be truly free.

Tags: Polish  

The Sun of the Heart is a chanting CD made by devotee Simon Pritchard, with musical partners Rosa Guilfoyle and James Edward Clarke, and the assistance of several additional devotee musicians and singers. The eight chants on this CD were recorded, engineered and mastered by James Edward Clarke at Ty Cerdd Wales Millennium Centre – Cardiff – Wales in 2014 and 2015. The CD comes with a sixteen-page booklet of artworks and sacred text. It is available as a CD from the Dawn Horse Press.

This audio excerpt is track 6, "Da Bhagavan".

The CD is inspired by and dedicated to Ruchira Avatar Adi Da Samraj. The lyrics are all Sacred Names and Mantras given by Avatar Adi Da Samraj to His devotees for the sake of their invocation of His Divine Spiritual Presence and State.

"The Sun of the Heart is just wonderful. . . . full of the Spirit of the Happiness of God in Everyone." —Angelo Druda

"This sound is not only highly professional but also Angelic! Like too beautiful to be true. . ." —Jovana Ugolkov

Tags: music  

Danavira Mela, celebrated at Adi Da Samrajashram. A slideshow containing festive scenes from Qaravi, Lion's Lap, Picture Perfect, Cow Catcher, and the Inner Courtyard of the Matrix. The video clip ends with pictures of Beloved Adi Da granting Darshan while sitting in front of the window of His bedroom (which is decorated for the season).

The soundtrack includes holiday music, and devotee John Mackay's "There Is Only Light" (from the album, Danavira), which draws on the Qawwali tradition of Sufi devotional music, and resonates with the celebration of Light-In-Everybody.

Tags: Danavira Mela