Adi Da Up Close
Audio/Video Library

CHRIS: Happy Danavira Mela to everyone!

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. The karaoke arrangement is based on Michael Bublé's version.

Tags: Danavira Mela  

As part of His recitation of The Happenine Book in April, 2006, at Adi Da Samrajashram, Adi Da recites "The Five Reality-Teachings". A chanted version is available here.

Tags: Reality-Teachings  

As part of our commemoration of renowned actor Kenneth Welsh (who passed away on May 5, 2022), we have created this enjoyable "peek" inside Ken's process of preparing to play the role of narrator in the January, 2000 ten-hour long performance of The Mummery Book.

The video excerpt was edited (by Chris Tong) from a much longer, unreleased documentary (created by well-known film director, Terence Gross) about the making of The Mummery Book. (Consequently, the audio and visual quality are a little spotty in places.)

At a certain point in the process (3:02), Avatar Adi Da (“Beloved”) sits in at a rehearsal, and then begins to actively participate in making suggestions for the production. Finally (at 5:45), there is a brief glimpse of the end of the actual performance, after which Adi Da expresses His appreciation by coming up and embracing Ken.

You can learn more about Kenneth Welsh in our article, Kenneth Welsh: An Appreciation.

Tags: Mummery   Ken Welsh  

This is an excerpt from "The Fall of Happen's Text", Chapter 36 of The Happenine Book, recited by Adi Da on May 10, 2006 at Adi Da Samrajashram.

This excerpt is disc two, track 8, the final track of the double-CD, After My Lifetime, an exceptional collection of Adi Da’s Instruction covering the significance of His Divine Mahasamadhi (the passing of His physical Body), the ever-present Gift of the direct relationship to Him, and the never-ending Nature of His Work to Bless and Awaken all beings.

The album is available through iTunes and The Dawn Horse Press. For more about this double CD, read this special Adidam Revelation Magazine article.

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  

On April 22, 2006, Adi Da recited this passage from "The Happen of the 'Bright'", in Chapter Three of The Happenine Book.

This excerpt is disc one, track 1 of the double-CD, After My Lifetime, an exceptional collection of Adi Da’s Instruction covering the significance of His Divine Mahasamadhi (the passing of His physical Body), the ever-present Gift of the direct relationship to Him, and the never-ending Nature of His Work to Bless and Awaken all beings.

The album is available through iTunes and The Dawn Horse Press. For more about this double CD, read this special Adidam Revelation Magazine article.

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  

As part of the 2008 Inverno a Firenze (Winter in Florence), Adi Da's Image-Art was featured in the medieval church, the Cenacolo di Ognissanti, strikingly juxtaposed with Domenico Ghirlandaio's Last Supper (1480). More about this art exhibition here.

This video was a part of that exhibition. It is an animated work that combines art drawn from Adi Da's The Spectra Suites with new electronic music by Francesco Rampichini. It was conceived and directed by Valeria Patera, and edited by Valeria Spera.

The Spectra Suites. Between 1998 and 2006, Adi Da focused on camera-based imagery, creating a highly complex body of work (in both black-and-white and color) that now exceeds 60,000 images and a great many hours of videotape. The Spectra Suites is a consequence of His work from that great library. In these suites, Adi Da combines digitally generated imagery with images He created using still and video cameras. To achieve each finished work, He then meticulously crafted every detail by digital means. Each of the ten Spectra Suites is based on one or more of His fundamental images — many of which are a powerful visual and philosophical complexity.

Francesco Rampichini. Through his music, master guitarist and composer, Francesco Rampichini, has created a wide range of sound and image interconnections, composing for theater, dance, digital art and collaborating on important exhibitions and museum installations. He taught at the Civic Music Schools in Milan, Opera, Locate Triulzi and at the Ateneo della chitarra and the European Music Institute in Milan. He teaches at CPSM at the Conservatory of Milan (of which he has been vice president) and at the Civica Music School of Locate Triulzi (guitar, ensemble music, computer music). He is President of the Jury of Guitar Competition Rocco Peruggini, artistic director of the Lyric Competition Principessa Cristina Trivulzio di Belgiojoso, and was the first Italian President of the Jury of the Django d'Or International Award under the High Patronage of the Embassy of France in Rome (1999). More about Francesco at his website.

Valeria Patera Valeria Patera studied philosophy of science at Università degli Studi di Milano, and graduated in dramaturgy from the Civic School of Art.e Dramatic Paolo Grassi. She is a playwright, director, actress and scholar of the relationship between art, science, and philosophy. She collaborates with prestigious universities, research centers and European foundations including University of Sheffield, State University of Milan, ROME THREE, La Sapienza, La Sorbonne, University of Leeds and Portland, Gulbenkian Foundation, Sigma Tau Foundation. Since 2002, she has written, published and staged live work shows and life stories that have radically altered our way of seeing the world, including "Alan's Apple" about Alan Turing, the inventor of the computer; and "I, Charles Darwin: Traces and voices of my life", on the father of the theory of evolution.

Valeria Spera. Valeria Spera has a degree in "Communication Sciences and Technologies" and a specialized degree in "Television, Cinema, and Multimedia Production" from the University of Milan. She currently works with the Feltrinelli Group's La Effe TV in creating new formats for their autumn television season.

Tags: Image-Art   music  

Adi Da reads an excerpt from His short story, "The Killers", in 2006. "The Killers" is a chapter in Adi Da's The Happenine Book (Book Three of The Orpheum Trilogy), and was also the first literary work ever written by Adi Da.

For more on "The Killers", click here.

This extraordinary poem, “The Mummery-cult Of Pairs Set Free”, was spoken completely extemporaneously (in the style of William Shakespeare) by Avatar Adi Da Samraj, in a gathering with devotees in 1998, in response to the suffering of the world. The text being recited here was only slightly edited by Adi Da from His original spontaneous Outpouring, and appears in Adi Da’s Happenine Book. The metaphors, Liberated Proclamations, and wisdom about our desperate search for the object-other flowed from Adi Da’s Heart in an astounding soliloquy that left the devotees at the gathering in awe.

Devotee Steve Brown is reciting. He stands before the River Avon in Stratford, Shakespeare's hometown.

Videographer: Matt Braithwaite

Tags: poem   Steve Brown   Orpheum  

An excerpt from a longer interview with Ed Reither interviewing Frank Marrero (author of The View from Delphi) on the history of theater and its origins in Eleutherios, Orpheus, the Greek mysteries, and The Upanishads. This leads to deeper understanding of the connection to Adi Da Samraj's Literature, Theater, and Image Art.

Tags: Frank Marrero   Aletheon   Orpheus   Eleutherios   Upanishads   Beezone   Ed Reither  

Beezone's Ed Reither talks to Frank Marrero (author of The View from Delphi) on the origins of theater, and discusses the topics of Eleutherios, Orpheus, Greek mysteries, The Upanishads and the connection to the Greeks. The discussion revolves around the transition from mythology, rhapsodies and prosaic thought and communication and its relationship to Truth (Aletheon) and the connection to Adi Da Samraj's Literature, Theater and Image Art.

Tags: Frank Marrero   Aletheon   Orpheus   Eleutherios   Upanishads   Beezone   Ed Reither  

Devotee Meg Fortune McDonnell reads from her book, Tasting the Moon: Adventures in the Meaning of Life. This story is excerpted from the chapter titled "On the Road," which goes on to describe the ferment of the sexual revolution, beat poetry, living theater, and alternative lifestyles of the early 1970's.

Music courtesy of Naamleela Free Jones, from her CD, Eyes In Other Worlds.

Tags: Meg Fortune McDonnell   Tasting the Moon   On the Road   devotee book  

An excerpt from the talk, Relinquish The Mummery Of This World.

This talk is from the first occasion in many years in which Avatar Adi Da spoke directly to a gathering of His devotees in California. Questions from devotees about intimate, familial, and social issues are met with Avatar Adi Da's Compassion and Humor, as well as His Liberating Wisdom.

From considering the "seed theme" of His Mummery Book, to describing His mindless and Indivisible State, Avatar Adi Da weaves a masterful tapestry of Instruction and Blessing. He Calls for and Transmits the most profound understanding possible of human life and sacred practice.

The complete talk is available as a DVD from The Dawn Horse Press.

Tags: Avataric Discourse   mummery   DVD  

Separative vs. transcendental existence. Performed for the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Featuring the Irish Company, Fidget Feet, with Jym Daly, Chantal McCormick, Jenny, Lee, Steve, and the voice and wisdom of Adi Da Samraj.

Tags: theater   Fidget Feet  

One of Adi Da's favorite cartoons, "The Sunshine Makers" is a classic from the golden age of animation. Released on January 11, 1935 (an auspicious day of the year, in the sacred calendar of Adidam), the cartoon was directed by Ted Eshbaugh, the first artist/technician to figure out how to create animated cartoons in color. This restored print is the highest quality available, and is from the DVD, Toddle Tales & Rainbow Parade Cartoons.

Tags: cartoon   animation   danavira mela