poster: CDBaby length: 11:10 date added: January 9, 2017 event date: February 1, 1985 language: English views: 3212; views this month: 23; views this week: 6 This is an excerpt from "The Secret of Suddenness", a talk given by Adi Da on February 1, 1985, at Adi Da Samrajashram. Adi Da discusses what happens after death, and how one can link up with a Greater Alternative (through Him) that transcends death and what happens after death, without needing to rely on beliefs about what happens after death or experience of greater-than-material dimensions.
This excerpt is track 5 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.
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: CDdeath
poster: CDBaby length: 10:08 date added: December 31, 2016 language: English views: 3191; views this month: 16; views this week: 2 Adi Da talks to a devotee whose mother is dying, and who wants to know how best to serve her mother's transition.
This excerpt is track 4 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.
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: CDdeath
poster: CDBaby length: 02:25 date added: December 30, 2016 language: English views: 3545; views this month: 25; views this week: 5 Adi Da recites "The Heart Of Understanding", the prologue to His autobiography, The Knee Of Listening.
This excerpt is track 1 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.
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: poemdeathCD
Adi Guru poster: CDBaby length: 08:02 date added: December 3, 2016 language: English views: 3584; views this month: 13; views this week: 4 Track 5 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. tags: musicCD
On this CD, Avatar Adi Da Samraj masterfully explores the relationship between experience, understanding, and Truth: Experience cannot ever lead to Truth -- but, in the context of the devotional relationship to Avatar Adi Da, experience can serve the crisis of understanding that makes a person available to His Transmission of Truth.
The CD includes Avatar Adi Da's lively recountings of two genuine conversion stories -- one from a modern Christian minister and the other His amusing free-rendering of the story of Ribhu and his disciple Nidhaga (from the Ribhu Gita, an epitome of traditional Non-dualist teachings).tags: CD
The Vision of Love poster: Gerald Sheinfeld speaker: Gerald Sheinfeld length: 05:41 date added: August 2, 2016 language: English listens: 5752; listens this month: 19; listens this week: 10 On his new downloadable album, At the Feet of the Spiritual Master, devotee Gerald Sheinfeld tells leelas — true stories of his life of over 45 years with Avatar Adi Da Samraj. These stories begin before the first ashram opened in 1972. They provide details of how Avatar Adi Da awakened ordinary people into devotees of Real God. These stories are based on the awakened recognition of the prior Unity of Divine Reality. They are full of lessons of self-understanding and brightening heart-joy in finding the truth about God, the truth about life and death. The truth of prior Happiness which is the true Condition of all, prior to the ego-I act of separation.
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!
Some of those stories are on this downloadable album. This audio excerpt is track 8, "The Vision Of Love", on Gerald's downloadable album.
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 SheinfeldCDDVD
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: CDAvataric Discourse
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: CDAvataric Discourse
Invocation poster: CDBaby length: 07:50 date added: April 2, 2016 language: English views: 2681; views this month: 17; views this week: 5 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.
poster: CDBaby length: 09:31 date added: February 27, 2016 language: English views: 3148; views this month: 14; views this week: 3 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.
poster: CDBaby length: 12:21 date added: February 17, 2016 event date: January 18, 1976 language: English views: 6383; views this month: 25; views this week: 10 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.
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.
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
poster: CDBaby length: 08:35 date added: February 16, 2016 event date: June 22, 1972 language: English views: 3226; views this month: 36; views this week: 24 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.
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: CDdeath
The Fire Must Have Its Way poster: DawnHorsePress length: 04:46 date added: November 27, 2015 event date: July 17, 1978 language: English listens: 3554; listens this month: 15; listens this week: 4 This clip is an excerpt from Adi Da's talk, "The Fire Must Have Its Way", which was given on July 17, 1978. In this talk, Adi Da clarifies that real Spiritual practice is not about "feeling good", but an intense purification of all limits on feeling. This fire of purification occurs by coming into contact with the Pure Radiance of the Spiritual Master. By persistently granting feeling-attention to Avatar Adi Da’s Living Divine Presence, all ego-patterns are "burned up" by His Grace—ultimately enabling egoless participation in the Perfect Ecstasy of Real God.
An additional (videoed) excerpt from this talk is available here.
The talk also appears in written form in the book, My "Bright" Sight.tags: CD
The Grace of Suffering poster: DawnHorsePress length: 03:48 date added: November 26, 2015 event date: January 18, 1976 language: English listens: 2732; listens this month: 15; listens this week: 6 This clip is an excerpt from Adi Da's talk, "The Grace of Suffering", which was given on January 18, 1976. In this talk, Adi Da describes how sensitivity to one's own suffering is the beginning of real ego-transcending practice. Such sensitivity moves an individual out of the usual life of effort and search, into inspection of the nature of existence and availability to Him as Divine Guru. Adi Da reveals the real nature of suffering—the action of ego—and draws the individual beyond egoic suffering into the True Source-Condition.
Additional (videoed) excerpts from this talk are available here and here.
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