Adi Da Up Close
Audio/Video Library

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.

Longtime devotee Aniello Panico tells a story from one of the happiest days of his life: the day Bhagavan Adi Da met and Blessed his mother (when she was 79 or 80 years old) at the Mountain Of Attention, during the Ten-Day Gathering of 1995-1996. This video tells the whole joyous story.

ANIELLO: "I like to share this story because it shows the human compassion and humor of the Guru."

The cookbook Aniello and Brenda helped create for Aniello's mother, Elodia Rigante's Italian Immigrant Cooking, and a New York Times article on the book, Recapturing the Flavors of an Era (August 27, 1995). Aniello, quoted in the article, "We all got heavier putting this cookbook together. . . I gained seven pounds."

For a photo of Adi Da with Aniello's mother, click here.

For a photo of Adi Da holding Aniello's mother's hand, click here.

For more stories and videos from Aniello, click here.

[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.]

"Non Si Puň Vedere La Stanza Come E'" ("You Do Not See The Room As It Is") is a video excerpt from an Avataric Discourse given by Adi Da at Adi Da Samrajashram, on January 21, 2005. The Avataric Discourse is available on the DVD, Beyond Sex, Science, and self.

In this Discourse, Adi Da explains why Liberation cannot ever be achieved through science or conventional religion.

Tags: Italian   DVD   Avataric Discourse  

[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.]

"Avete Imparato a Sentire Perfettamente?" ("Have You Learned to Feel Perfectly?") is a video excerpt from the longer talk, "The Fire Must Have Its Way". The full talk is available on the DVD, The Fire Must Have Its Way, on which this is track 1. It is also available as a CD. The talk also appears in written form in the book, My "Bright" Sight and online here.

The bottom line: If you want to feel good, you have to learn how to feel good!

ADI DA: Somehow in the midst of this round of existence you realize that you can feel a lot better than you now feel, that you can feel absolutely blissful, that you can love absolutely, that you can be absolutely free. But feeling blissful stands in contrast to your common state. You are addicted to reactive emotion, low levels of energy, gross fixations of attention, psycho-physical obstruction. You are addicted to countless programs that are less than love. In every moment your attention is moving toward one or another object, and your feeling in every moment is an expression of the program of mind into which you are locked in that moment.

Now, what have you learned in your whole life? Have you learned to feel perfectly? To feel absolutely? Did you ever go through a period of study in which you learned to feel to Infinity, to feel Absolute Divinity? No, you learned all the reactive patterns of life, all the desires for ordinary things. You knew them even before you became familiar with them again in this body. You cannot feel any better than you can feel, and you are addicted to feeling less than love, to being less than ecstasy.

Tags: Italian   DVD   CD  

Longtime devotee Aniello Panico tells of his son Alexander's suicide in 1994 (when Adi Da was at the Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary), and the story of Avatar Adi Da's Blessing Regard for Alexander and for Aniello.

For more stories and videos from Aniello, click here.

Longtime devotee Aniello Panico tells the story of his first encounter with Adi Da Samraj, in 1972, at the Melrose Ashram in Los Angeles.

For more stories and videos from Aniello, click here.

Longtime devotee Aniello Panico recounts some of his earliest times with Adi Da Samraj in 1972.

To learn more about the significance of the Vedanta Temple (in Hollywood, California) in Adi Da's life and work, click here.

For more stories and videos from Aniello, click here.

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  

[Contains Czech 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.]

Rozhovor, ve kterém nás Adi Da vede k velmi střízlivému pohledu na fakt, že to, kam dáváme pozornost během života, ovlivňuje naši pozornost a osud po smrti.

In this sobering video excerpt, "Co se děje po smrti závisí na tom, jak žijete" ("What happens after death depends on how you live"), Adi Da speaks of the condition after death in which mind determines one's circumstance, without the limitations of the body, brain and unconsciousness. He addresses the fact that where one's attention is fixed during life affects attention and destiny after life. He recommends that devotees direct their attention to sadhana so that the purification process gives one wisdom that frees one from karmic limitations.

This talk is published as "After Death, Mind Makes You", in the book, Easy Death.

Tags: Czech   death  

[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.]

"Il sé Separato č un'illusione" ("The separate self 'I' is an Illusion") is a video excerpt from an Avataric Discourse given by Adi Da on July 7, 2005 in Land Bridge Pavilion at The Mountain Of Attention.

Adi Da Samraj speaks about the action of self-contraction, which creates the sense of being a "separate self" - whereas, in Reality, no matter what arises, you are only and merely the Witness Consciousness.

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.

The complete Avataric Discourse is available on the DVD, Relinquish the Mummery of This World.

Tags: Avataric Discourse   Italian   DVD  

[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 tym humorystycznym i głęboko wnikliwym dyskursie Adi Da rozważa różnicę między samoświadomością a egotyzmem, odnosząc się zarówno do ludzi, jak i do nie-ludzi (w tym psów, mrówek i drzew).

"Czy mrówka to też ego?" ("Is an ant an ego?") is a video excerpt from a humorous and profoundly insightful Avataric Discourse (given by Adi Da on October 20, 2004 at Adi Da Samrajashram), Adi Da considers the difference between self-consciousness and egoity, referring to both humans and non-humans (including dogs, ants, and trees).

Tags: Avataric Discourse   Polish  

[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.]

Tässä puheessa vuodelta 2005 Adi Da Samraj käsittelee Vapautuksen mahdottomuutta tieteen tai tavanomaisen uskonnon kautta.

"Et Näe Huonetta Sellaisena Kuin Se On" ("You Do Not See the Room As It Is") is a video excerpt from an Avataric Discourse given by Adi Da at Adi Da Samrajashram, on January 21, 2005. The Avataric Discourse is available on the DVD, Beyond Sex, Science, and self.

In this Discourse, Adi Da explains why Liberation cannot ever be achieved through science or conventional religion.

Tags: Finnish   DVD   Avataric Discourse  

[Contains Czech 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.]

"Adidam není náboženství" ("Adidam is not a religious way") is a video excerpt from an Avataric Discourse given by Adi Da at Adi Da Samrajashram, on January 21, 2005. The Avataric Discourse is available on the DVD, Beyond Sex, Science, and self.

In this Discourse, Adi Da explains why Liberation cannot ever be achieved through science or conventional religion.

Tags: Czech   DVD   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.]

Adi Da Samraj w rozmowie z uczniem którego wnuk umarł z ogromnym współczuciem prezentuje radykalną prawdą o ludzkiej stracie i rozpaczy.

In "Strata i rozpacz" ("Loss and Despair"), Adi Da Samraj talks about the pain of loss, and about liberation. This is in response to a devotee's question about the Devotional Prayer Of Changes and the death of the devotee's grandchild.

This video excerpt is from the DVD, Easy Death.

Tags: Avataric Discourse   Polish   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.]

Adi Da Samraj risponde compassionevolmente, ma da un punto di vista radicale, ad un devoto che ha perso il nipote.

In "Perdita della Vita e Dolore Umani" ("Loss of Life and Human Suffering"), Adi Da Samraj talks about the pain of loss, and about liberation. This is in response to a devotee's question about the Devotional Prayer Of Changes and the death of the devotee's grandchild.

This video excerpt is from the DVD, Easy Death.

Tags: Avataric Discourse   Italian   DVD