In this talk, given at The Mountain Of Attention on July 3, 1988, Avatar Adi Da Samraj discourses on His Spiritual Transmission, which He describes as transcending space-time and occurring in the "True Realm of Reality". He Reveals the mystery of how it is "very easy" for Him to Spiritually Bless the entirety of the cosmos with His Transmission.
ADI DA: "If you walked into a room, and there were a light shining in the ceiling, it would be shining in all directions. You would see the light at one point, depending on your position in the room, and say 'It's shining on me', as if in some sense the lightbulb noticed you! But in fact the lightbulb is radiating in all directions indifferently. You are in a position to notice it.
Of course you had to come into the room to notice it. If you didn't come into the room, if you stood outside the room, in other words, if you stood apart from this Transmission, from My Company, through some barrier or other, of your own obstruction in mind and emotion and so on, then you wouldn't come in contact with Me, you wouldn't be able to receive this Transmission."
Adi Da recites "The Heart of Understanding", the Prologue to His autobiography, The Knee Of Listening. The recitation is accompanied by photos of Adi Da.
"The Heart of Understanding" is extraordinarily good news: death itself can be transcended! Death is not a problem, and is utterly acceptable, if one realizes and stands as Consciousness Itself, in which all mortal forms and limited worlds are arising.
In the final words of "The Heart of Understanding", Adi Da reveals that He is That: Consciousness Itself. Because this is so, He transmits that Revelation to all beings, and provides (and is) the means whereby all of us finally can be free of mortality and the mortal vision.
For the first time, on April 25, 1972, Avatar Adi Da Samraj invited people to approach Him as Spiritual Teacher at His new ashram center on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. That evening, Avatar Adi Da first sat in silence for perhaps an hour with those present, Transmitting to them the Sublimity of His Radiant State of Realization. Then, Adi Da spoke.
ADI DA: Are there any questions?
No one replied, so Avatar Adi Da Samraj spoke again.
ADI DA: Everyone has understood? QUESTIONER: I have not understood. Explain it to me. ADI DA: Very good. What have you not understood?
And so began Adi Da's Teaching Work.
Adi Da's Teaching as Transmission poster: AdiDaVideos speaker: Jonathan Condit length: 17:55 date added: January 25, 2016 event date: January 2016 language: English views: 6488; views this month: 62; views this week: 29
This video clip includes:
Commentary from Jonathan Condit (at 0:00) — Jonathan Condit was Adi Da's senior editorial assistant, and is Senior Editor for the Adidam Editorial Department. Jonathan talks about "The Function of the Spiritual Literature of Adi Da Samraj", and how Adi Da's Teaching works as Transmission of His Transcendental Spiritual State, and serves the Spiritual Realization of the reader.
Excerpt from an Avataric Discourse by Adi Da (at 5:35) — The Discourse is "My Teaching is a Direct Transmission of Me", from October 28, 2005. Adi Da talks about how His Teaching Word is a form of Spiritual Transmission, that enables Divine Communion with Him (if the devotee is in the right devotional disposition), in the same way that a Murti photograph does, or any of the other forms of Agency that Adi Da has created for this purpose.
Commentary from Megan Anderson (at 12:44) — Megan Anderson is an editor in the Adidam Editorial Department. Megan talks about Adi Da's great, final masterpiece, The Aletheon as the purest communication and Transmission of Adi Da Himself (among all His many, extraordinary books), and describes receiving the Revelation of Adi Da as she was proofreading The Aletheon before its publication.
Adi Da: "My Reality-Teaching is unparalleled Spiritual Transmission, occurring under the most extraordinary circumstances. It is not the product of an ordinary mind or a kind of scholarly commentary. It is a direct expression of Spiritual Transformation, of Spiritual Power, of Transcendental, Inherently Spiritual, and (necessarily) Divine Being, Consciousness, and Love-Bliss. It does not arise in Me or through Me in any ordinary fashion. It is an utterly spontaneous and Transcendental Spiritual Event."
poster: AdiDaVideos length: 13:37 date added: June 2, 2016 language: English views: 7646; views this month: 79; views this week: 42
Adi Da's entire human lifetime was a unique demonstration of His Eternal Form — the State He calls the "Bright", the Conscious Light that is Reality Itself.
From His birth on November 3, 1939 on Long Island in New York, to His passing from the body on November 27, 2008, on the Island of Naitauba, Fiji, His Life is the story of the Intervention of the "Bright" in human time.
The fruits of Avatar Adi Da's Lifetime are the establishment of a new and unique possibility for the transformation of all beings and the world itself. His Revelation is of the Divine Reality, which is always Shining — like the sun — as the Prior Condition of every one and every thing.
Adi Da has always said that the Way He Teaches is an ego-transcending relationship, rather than an ego-serving technique. The Way is founded on devotional recognition and response to Him. It is a silent, wordless intuition in the heart of one’s being—not a matter of mere belief, ideas, or techniques to seek for fulfillment (whether material or spiritual). To all who respond to Him with devotion and self-discipline, Adi Da Reveals the Very Divine Condition—the Love-Bliss-Light of Consciousness Itself.
This video provides a brief overview of Avatar Adi Da's life and work, and is an invitation to enter into Spiritual relationship to Him for the sake of Divine Realization.
Adi Da: "I Demonstrate Totality to here. I Reveal Reality Itself, Which Is Divine in Its Totality—not fractioned by humankind, not changed or limited by humankind. I Function in an egoless Transcendental Spiritual (and, Thus, Super-normal) Manner. I am not here limited as a gross (physical) phenomenon. When I am Really 'Located', My Transcendental Spiritual Self-Transmission is literal and undeniable. My Transcendental Spiritual Self-Transmission Is the 'Proof' that Reality—and the 'world' altogether—is of an entirely different Nature than people otherwise suppose."
Conscious Light poster: AdiDaVideos speakers: Ruchiradama Nadikanta, James Steinberg, Jonathan Condit, Marchelle Deranleau, June Mori, Lisa Lurie, Greg Wells, Elze Wit length: 02:25 date added: October 6, 2018 language: English views: 2512; views this month: 47; views this week: 22
The trailer for Conscious Light, an award-winning documentary on the life of Adi Da Samraj.
In every time and place, human beings have sought to grasp the ultimate mysteries of life and death. From time to time, great spiritual realizers have appeared in the world to reveal and transmit the secrets of reality and truth to all. Avatar Adi Da Samraj (1939-2008) is one of the rarest of such beings. His entire life was devoted to the discovery, demonstration, and spiritual revelation of the highest truth.
Conscious Light offers a penetrating glimpse into the remarkable life and enlightened teachings of Avatar Adi Da and His work to create an enduring legacy of potential spiritual realization for everyone.
Drawing on an extensive archival collection of film, photography, and audio recordings, as well as interviews with students who lived with Adi Da and practice His teachings, this intimate documentary takes the viewer on a journey of spiritual awakening in the company of one of the great spiritual masters of all time.
On July 2, 1988, in Land Bridge Pavilion at The Mountain Of Attention, Adi Da gives the talk, "Contemplation, Satsang, Sadhana", which would appear in the May/June 1988 issue of Crazy Wisdom Magazine.
In this excerpt ("Devote Your Life To God-Realization"), Adi Da speaks about the necessity for "sadhana", or spiritual practice, in relationship to the God-Realized Spiritual Master.
"All there is is a mechanism to be dealt with. You're not uniquely born. It's the same mechanism as in all other cases. And, in all cases it requires a tremendous ordeal."
Beginning at 17:30 (and continuing to the end of this video), a formal Darshan occasion is shown.
poster: AdiDaVideos speaker: Gerald Sheinfeld length: 10:53 date added: October 23, 2016 event date: 2016 language: English views: 4528; views this month: 53; views this week: 19
Gerald Sheinfeld, a devotee of Avatar Adi Da since the early 1970's, tells a wonderful story about how he found his Guru, Adi Da Samraj and his immediate recognition of Adi Da's unique state of Freedom, Happiness, and Liberation. Gerald speaks about how that recognition of Adi Da has the capacity to awaken others to that state of Prior Unity.
I Am Your Real State poster: AdiDaVideos length: 01:21 date added: November 13, 2019 language: English views: 999; views this month: 19; views this week: 8
A simple, direct confession from Adi Da about the fact that His State of Perfect, Eternal Happiness is our own True Condition and State. Accompanied by pictures of Adi Da.
ADI DA: I am your Real State — Real Condition — speaking to you, being present with you through a form like your own. I'm not merely suggesting all this is so, logically so, communicating this as a metaphor. I am this. This is My Realization. This is My State. I am telling this to you because it is also your State. I am here in this form to make this communication to you and this Transmission to you so that you will realize that State.
A devotee confesses to Adi Da that, when he reads Adi Da's Teaching, he feels a direct Transmission from Adi Da Himself. Adi Da then talks about how His Teaching Word is a form of Spiritual Transmission, that enables Divine Communion with Him (if the devotee is in the right devotional disposition), in the same way that a Murti photograph does, or any of the other forms of Agency that Adi Da has created for this purpose.
Adi Da talks about how His Teaching Word is a form of Spiritual Transmission, that enables Divine Communion with Him (if the devotee is in the right devotional disposition), in the same way that a Murti photograph does, or any of the other forms of Agency that Adi Da has created for this purpose.
Recognizing Adi Da as the Divine: Stories from Devotees poster: AdiDaVideos speakers: Miki Malinka, Greg Wells, Claire Murdoch, David Rosen, Nara Wood, Evelyn Selig, Lisa Lurie length: 16:32 date added: August 12, 2021 language: English views: 633; views this month: 106; views this week: 7
This video features leelas (stories) from several devotees about their awakened recognition of Adi Da's Divine State of Being and of their reception of His Divine Spiritual Blessing Presence. Leelas from: Miki Malinka, Greg Wells, Claire Murdoch, David Rosen, Nara Wood, Evelyn Selig, and Lisa Lurie.
ADI DA: "I am your Real State, Real Condition speaking to you, being present with you through a form like your own. That is the mystery of the Spiritual Master. I'm not really suggesting all this is so or think it's logically so or communicating it to you as a metaphor. I am this. This is My Realization. This is My State. I am telling this to you because it is also your state.
I am here in this form to make this communication to you and this Transmission to you so that you will realize that state. The Transmission of Spirit Blessing is the Transmission of Light. What you taste is Light, what you smell is Light, what you hear is Light, what you see is Light what you feel is Light what you sense altogether is Light. The body is Light. What is Light then? It is nothing but the self-radiant bliss of the Divine Self.”
The Bodily Location of Happiness poster: AdiDaVideos length: 13:12 date added: May 4, 2016 event date: November 28, 1981 language: English views: 7850; views this month: 90; views this week: 42
This is a video excerpt from Adi Da's classic talk, "The Bodily Location of Happiness", which He gave on November 28, 1981. This talk was originally published in the book, The Bodily Location Of Happiness. The full talk is available on CD and on a new DVD, The Location Of Happiness.
The talk communicates several core insights:
1. Everybody is intuitively familiar with happiness. You don't have to be a devotee of Adi Da! This was part of the reason Adi Da chose "happiness" as the focus of this Teaching period: because the subject was so accessible. Everyone knows what it's like to be happy (at least a little). It's just that most people are not aware that Perfect, Eternal Happiness is possible and Realizable. (And it certainly isn't, through ordinary human means.) Adi Da: "All beings are always already Happy. You always know, at this very moment you know exactly, what it would be to look and feel and be and act completely Happy." The esoteric reason everyone is familiar with happiness is because everyone is always, already happy. And the esoteric reason everyone yearns for complete happiness is because complete happiness is realizable — and everyone's heart knows that.
2. Adi Da's "Lesson of Life":"You can't become happy; you can only be (already) happy." People are always seeking for happiness. The "pursuit of happiness" (not happiness itself!) is even enshrined as an "unalienable right" (alongside life and liberty) in the preamble of the United States Declaration of Independence. Its author, Thomas Jefferson, knew better than to think a government could guarantee happiness itself — hence only the guarantee of "pursuing happiness". Only a Divine Incarnation can guarantee Happiness Itself.
Adi Da reveals that happiness is the native state of beings. It is already the case. Every attempt to seek for it (or mis-identify the source of happiness as some object or other) in fact serves to dissociate one from it. Adi Da: "You think that you can seek Happiness and find it. Your search for Happiness is itself a confession of un-Happiness. You cannot realize Happiness by persisting in un-Happiness, persisting in the method of un-Happiness. All seeking is an expression of un-Happiness, all seeking is the method of un-Happiness, the practice of un-Happiness. This must be understood. It is not merely true — it must be understood."
Self-understanding allows one to get this point. Based on self-understanding, one can devote oneself to Happiness rather than to seeking for It and settling for the little bit of Infinite Happiness that "bleeds through" the clench of ego into conditions. This ultimately enables the Eternal Realization of Infinite, Perfect Happiness. Adi Da: "Understand your un-Happiness. Then you will be capable of locating Happiness, and, having located Happiness, you will be capable of practicing the Way of Adidam, which is nothing but the devotion of life to Happiness."
3. The Transmission of the Divine Guru is How One Locates Happiness. The subtitle of the book, The Bodily Location Of Happiness, is: "On the Incarnation of the Divine Person and the Transmission of Love-Bliss". In other words, you can't apply "The Lesson of Life" by somehow "locating" happiness directly, by yourself (or in yourself). Happiness is our native state, but that doesn't mean it can be located by an egoic, "do it yourself" process. We locate happiness directly as a Grace-given Gift, through devotion to the Transcendental Spiritual Transmission of Adi Da. Adi Da: "Happiness is presently the case. In this moment you are already Happy. Sitting with Me, locate this Happiness." We locate our "Native State" by recognizing and submitting to our "Native Person" — our Very Self appearing here in bodily (human) form.
4. It is a Process of Whole Bodily Location. "The bodily location of Happiness" is not primarily a reference to some place where Happiness resides in the body (although Adi Da teases His listeners with this idea: "Look for it in your toes, in your fingers, in your shirt, in your head"). It refers to a process ("the bodily location of Happiness" = "the locating of Happiness with the whole body-mind") that involves the surrender and transformation of every aspect of the body-mind, immersed in the Perfectly Happy State of the Divine Guru, through recognition of Him as the Divine in every moment. Then the secondary and supportive practices of the Way of Adidam become means for staying immersed in that Divine State in every moment: "Having located Happiness [having recognized Adi Da as the Divine], you will be capable of practicing the Way of Adidam, which is nothing but the devotion of life to Happiness [Adi Da, recognized as the Divine]. The practices of this Way are not methods for attaining Happiness, but they are the expressions of Happiness. The disciplines of money, food, and sex are not a way to become Happy. Discipline is difficult enough — why should we also burden it with the obligation to make us Happy!"
The Essence of the Way of Adidam poster: AdiDaVideos length: 05:39 date added: October 30, 2012 event date: April 12, 2004 language: English views: 8805; views this month: 68; views this week: 29
Adi Da describes why conventional religious and spiritual approaches fail to fully realize the Divine. He then summarizes, in a simple way, the practice He offers: the Reality-Way of Adidam.
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