poster: CDBaby length: 12:21 date added: February 17, 2016 event date: January 18, 1976 language: English views: 6415; views this month: 31; views this week: 16 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
The Mummery Book poster: firstroom length: 02:44 date added: February 5, 2009 language: English views: 6397; views this month: 19; views this week: 8 The true enactment of The Mummery Book by Adi Da Samraj takes place in an extraordinary theater. That extraordinary theater is the theater of our own mind — not just the thinking mind, but mind in its coincidence with all of reality, internal and external.
Kenneth Welsh: "Just as I find fresh knowledge with each re-reading of Shakespeare's plays, no matter which work, each time I return to The Mummery Book and its masterful boldness, the way its words startle and surprise and cry out from the heart of its Creator, I feel blessed by its beauty and I am moved by the truth that pulses through its every image."tags: Mummery Booktheatertheatresacred artFirst RoomOrpheum
poster: sacredwalk-about speaker: Ruchiradama Nadikanta length: 13:37 date added: January 3, 2013 language: English listens: 6388; listens this month: 18; listens this week: 11 Ruchiradama Nadikanta has created a series of seven recitations from Adi Da's book, Not-Two Is Peace, accompanied by the bansuri flute music of John Wubbenhorst.
Ruchiradama Nadikanta is offering these recitations as a New Year's gift to everyone. Feel free to share these recitations. For more recitations from Not-Two Is Peace, click here.
INVOCATION offered by Ruchiradama Nadikanta
Dearly Beloved Bhagavan, Adi Da Samraj, we surrender at Your Blessed Feet in deepest devotion to You, the Divine Avatar of Conscious Light.
We pray to fulfill Your Urgent Calling to fully serve the establishment of Your Divine Avataric Work in this world, so that all may feel Your Touch of Divine Love and receive Your Perfect Wisdom and Divine Grace
May we collectively incarnate (and, thereby, inspire all to heed) Your Great Admonition, Cooperation + Tolerance = Peace.
May we embrace all beings everywhere, always making available to everyone the Gift of Divine Compassion and all-Embracing Love You have Brought to here.
The Giving Tree poster: adidam23 length: 06:45 date added: May 21, 2010 language: English views: 6385; views this month: 19; views this week: 10 An artistic offering about the "Divine Spirit-Tree of Light", an expression of happiness that is part of Adidam's annual celebration of the Season of "Light-In-Everybody".
Accompanied by Naamleela's musical version (from her album, Eyes In Other Worlds) of Adi Da's poem, "I served to priest the pharoahs", from Crazy Da Must Sing.
3WBC Radio Interview of James Steinberg poster: AdiDaUpClose speakers: James Steinberg, Jan Bucknell length: 53:05 date added: October 16, 2014 event date: October 16, 2014 language: English listens: 6319; listens this month: 25; listens this week: 16 Devotee James Steinberg is interviewed about Adi Da and Adidam on 3WBC 94.1 FM, Melbourne, Australia on October 16, 2014, for the program, "Jazz and Spiritual", hosted by Bill Livingston, Minister at Unity of Melbourne. Australian devotee Jan Bucknell also joins in the conversation every now and then.
The program ends (at 47:14) with a recording of Adi Da reciting from The Spiritual Gospel of Jesus of Galilee, Adi Da's rendition of "The New Testament" (available on CD).
poster: TheBeezone length: 04:06 date added: September 21, 2012 event date: January 6, 2006 language: English views: 6308; views this month: 17; views this week: 7 Part of an Avataric Revelation Discourse given at the Mountain of Attention Sanctuary, later published in Reality Is All The God There Is.
Adi Da offers His unique renderings of the Dharma of the great sages of Advaita Vedanta and Buddhism, including Gotama Sakyamuni, Nagarjuna, Shankara, and Ribhu. Rather than simply translate their teachings from available source texts, Avatar Adi Da respeaks them as one who has personally realized their truth. He reveals that the Buddhist “Nirvana” and the Advaitic “Brahman” point to the same Transcendental Condition. Avatar Adi Da’s rendering restores to these texts the profundity intended by the Spiritual Masters who created them.tags: Avataric DiscourseMountain of AttentionFree RenderingBuddhismAdvaita Vedanta
poster: TheBeezone length: 02:08 date added: September 21, 2012 event date: January 6, 2006 language: English views: 6305; views this month: 18; views this week: 5 Part of an Avataric Revelation Discourse given at the Mountain of Attention Sanctuary, later published in Reality Is All The God There Is.
Adi Da offers His unique renderings of the Dharma of the great sages of Advaita Vedanta and Buddhism, including Gotama Sakyamuni, Nagarjuna, Shankara, and Ribhu. Rather than simply translate their teachings from available source texts, Avatar Adi Da respeaks them as one who has personally realized their truth. He reveals that the Buddhist “Nirvana” and the Advaitic “Brahman” point to the same Transcendental Condition. Avatar Adi Da’s rendering restores to these texts the profundity intended by the Spiritual Masters who created them.tags: Avataric DiscourseMountain of AttentionFree RenderingBuddhismAdvaita Vedanta
Love Comes To Here In Time poster: FloMorrissey length: 03:36 date added: December 9, 2012 language: English listens: 6290; listens this month: 17; listens this week: 8 Flo Morrissey's cover of "Love Comes To Here In Time", which she recorded as a tribute to Adi Da. (For more music from Flo, click here.)
A New Way poster: globalpeacecentral length: 02:20 date added: February 13, 2009 language: English views: 6270; views this month: 10; views this week: 6 A new kind of human consciousness is required.
Beyond Sex, Science, and self poster: AdiDaVideos length: 09:59 date added: December 16, 2013 event date: January 21, 2005 language: English views: 6269; views this month: 25; views this week: 15 Adi Da: "Sex is fundamental ego-identity, lived. And generally speaking, it is a problem for everyone. . . The social pattern of 'self' and 'other' is founded upon emotional-sexual patterning to a very great degree. . . So it certainly is an important dimension of bondage, and therefore an important aspect of sadhana. The Perfect Practice is not based on any reference to the body-mind, or any method of the body-mind."
In this Avataric Discourse (from January 21, 2005), Adi Da explains why the Perfect Practice (the most advanced development of the Way of Adidam) has nothing to do with sex (or the ego-"I" altogether), and is not a "method" of the body-mind or something to be applied to the body-mind. The Self-Condition prior to the body-mind is the domain of the Perfect Practice. The Self-Condition is not a separate "self", but the Nirvanic Condition that is always already the case, and that inherently transcends the body-mind.
Testimonial from a Fijian Elder: Solomone Finau poster: AdiDaVideos length: 05:08 date added: November 3, 2012 event date: November 28, 2009 language: English views: 6245; views this month: 14; views this week: 6 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.
The Bright poster: Chandirah length: 06:27 date added: January 28, 2009 language: English views: 6239; views this month: 10; views this week: 7 A beautiful compilation, with photographs and Darshan video footage of Adi Da Samraj. The Darshan occasion is at The Mountain Of Attention in the summer of 2005. The photos are from Adi Da's early years and from the 1970's.
poster: TheBeezone length: 01:52 date added: September 21, 2012 event date: January 6, 2006 language: English views: 6238; views this month: 11; views this week: 3 Part of an Avataric Revelation Discourse given at the Mountain of Attention Sanctuary, later published in Reality Is All The God There Is.
Adi Da offers His unique renderings of the Dharma of the great sages of Advaita Vedanta and Buddhism, including Gotama Sakyamuni, Nagarjuna, Shankara, and Ribhu. Rather than simply translate their teachings from available source texts, Avatar Adi Da respeaks them as one who has personally realized their truth. He reveals that the Buddhist “Nirvana” and the Advaitic “Brahman” point to the same Transcendental Condition. Avatar Adi Da’s rendering restores to these texts the profundity intended by the Spiritual Masters who created them.tags: Avataric DiscourseMountain of AttentionFree RenderingBuddhismAdvaita Vedanta
poster: TheBeezone length: 02:47 date added: September 21, 2012 event date: January 6, 2006 language: English views: 6235; views this month: 14; views this week: 3 Part of an Avataric Revelation Discourse given at the Mountain of Attention Sanctuary, later published in Reality Is All The God There Is.
Adi Da offers His unique renderings of the Dharma of the great sages of Advaita Vedanta and Buddhism, including Gotama Sakyamuni, Nagarjuna, Shankara, and Ribhu. Rather than simply translate their teachings from available source texts, Avatar Adi Da respeaks them as one who has personally realized their truth. He reveals that the Buddhist “Nirvana” and the Advaitic “Brahman” point to the same Transcendental Condition. Avatar Adi Da’s rendering restores to these texts the profundity intended by the Spiritual Masters who created them.tags: Avataric DiscourseMountain of AttentionFree RenderingBuddhismAdvaita Vedanta
Our multimedia library currently contains 1205
YouTube video clips and audio clips about (or related to) Adi Da and Adidam.[1]
Enjoy! indicates
a video, and
an audio. Special categories of interest include:
Thanks to the many videographers who took the footage, to the many editors who
created these videos and audios, and to the 132
people and organizations who posted these videos and audios on YouTube and other places on the
Web. Special thanks to Lynne
Thompson, who did a lot of the data entry for our audio/video database.