poster: AdidamVideos length: 08:49 date added: January 28, 2009 language: English views: 7655; views this month: 51; views this week: 26
Bhagavan Adi Da Samraj discusses the unattainability of Divine Self-Realization by effort of the individual body-mind, and the necessity of Grace, by which an individual is able to spontaneously respond to His Free Gift.
This talk excerpt is followed by a clip of Darshan of Adi Da (at 6:48).
poster: AdidamVideos length: 07:36 date added: January 28, 2009 language: English views: 9876; views this month: 82; views this week: 22
In this discourse, Adi Da Samraj suggests that the Way He offers is not based on this assumption of separate self, but rather identification with that that is transcendent from the body-mind, the Divine Self-Condition.
The devotee asking the question of Adi Da was a former student of Zen Buddhism, so in this discourse Adi Da refers to some metaphors that are part of the Zen Buddhism Tradition.
The excerpt is from the DVD, Human History Is One Great Tradition. Subtitles in English, Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Finnish, Polish, Czech, Chinese, Japanese, and Hebrew. A CD version is also available.
This talk excerpt is followed by a clip of Darshan of Adi Da (at 6:21).
poster: adidatribute speaker: Crane Kirkbride length: 13:28 date added: July 6, 2011 event date: November 28, 2009 language: English
Longtime devotee, Crane Kirkbride, offers this testimonial to the life and work of Adi Da Samraj, in which he describes singing for, and with, Adi Da. Includes a clip of Adi Da singing opera with Crane; and a slideshow of stunning pictures of Adi Da from 1972 through 2008, accompanied by Crane singing "I Am Who You Are".
This video clip is an excerpt from First Evening: Tracks 16 and 17 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.
A list of all the tracks on this DVD can be found here.
Adi Da Beloved poster: AdiDaUpClose speaker: Chris Tong length: 03:04 date added: December 23, 2020 language: English
Problems with the audio player? Try the MP3 download link below. ---------------------------------------------------- Chris Tong sings "Adi Da Beloved" — a devotional version of the traditional Christmas carol, "Angels We Have Heard On High".
Words, musical arrangement, and performance by Chris Tong, in the manner of other ecstatic, dramatic, immersive musical pieces like the “Hallelujah Chorus” (the finale of Handel's Messiah) and “Ode To Joy” (the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony).
Thanks to my dear friend, Crane Kirkbride, whose own beautiful singing of music like this inspired me to create Adi Da Beloved. Crane also gave me some very helpful singing tips after listening to an earlier version.
Adi Da Samraj at a cookie-making occasion in First People (now called "Great Food Dish") at the Mountain of Attention Sanctuary on December 23, 1995, as part of the Celebration of Danavira Mela. Outside, devotees sing holiday songs for Him, as He looks out the window, listens to the music, and sings a few notes Himself. Inside, devotees attend Him as He turns cooking-making into an art form.
poster: AdiDaUpClose length: 00:25 date added: October 5, 2010 event date: 2010 language: English views: 3551; views this month: 17; views this week: 11
A brief clip of Cyclone Tomas in action on Naitauba, in mid-March, 2010, wreaking unprecedented destruction to this sacred island.
James Steinberg is interviewed on the podcast, Vajra Body Vajra Mind. Vajra Body Vajra Mind is a provocative podcast that explores the outer limits of spiritual practice and human development. James Steinberg is a longtime devotee of Adi Da, and the author of Divine Distraction and Love of the God-Man.
In this episode of Vajra Body Vajra Mind, we discuss James' life with Adi Da. We talk about the practice of Guru Yoga, challenges in reading Adi Da's Teaching, anti-Guru sentiment in contemporary culture, sexuality in spirituality, the importance of discipline in the Way of Adidam, the unique Transmission of Adi Da's Revelation and Presence (through photographs, videos, Image-Art, etc), resistance to the Guru by the ego, positive disillusionment (aka "the Lesson of Life"), and more.
My name is Megan Van Niekerk. I am a 24 year old Youth Fellowship devotee of Avatar Adi Da Samraj. I am a South African, and am currently living in Cape Town studying a Eurythmy BA degree at the Centre for Creative Education. I am currently in my third year of study.
I have been a formal devotee in the Youth Fellowship for over a year now and I would like to make my transition into the Second Congregation this year. I have been invited to travel up to the European Danda to meet the community living there and to make my transition. I would like to travel up at the end of June 2024 as this is the best time to do so during my college holidays.
It my heart’s desire to travel to a space that has been Empowered by Adi Da, and to experience the living quality of a community devoted to Him. There are only five South African devotees and we are scattered across the country, far away from each other. So I have not yet experienced Guruvaras or Celebrations with other devotees, despite having taken part online. I would love to experience what it is love to collectively invoke and praise Adi Da!
Unfortunately, I am not earning an income at the moment due to my studies and am living on a simple student allowance. And due to the short amount of time between now and June, it does not feel possible for me to save up the amount that I need to make this journey happen.
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.
This song as a bridge to God. In Beloved Adi Da’s Company, everything (from Mickey Mouse to cookie-making) becomes “a bridge to God”.
ADI DA: “You must Awaken and discover the Divine World wherein everything is a bridge to the Infinite, One Being.”
And so for me, the words of this song have always taken on a significance beyond the usual secular understanding of the song. They lead me through a consideration that I’ll share with you here.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas Let your heart be light From now on our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas Make the Yuletide gay From now on our troubles will be miles away.
Here we are as in olden days Happy golden days of yore Faithful friends who are dear to us Gather near to us once more
Through the years we all will be together If the fates allow Hang a shining star upon the highest bough And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
That wistfulness: Raymond’s problem. On the surface, the words of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas are purely joyful — "faithful friends" coming together each year in a joyous Christmas celebration. And yet, one of the emotions I feel when I sing this song is wistfulness. So where is the wistfulness coming from? It's that big "IF" in the song: "if the fates allow". In fact, as every one of us knows (more and more, with each passing year), fate (conditional existence) only allows such reunions for a limited number of years. As I sing, I have a vision of a photograph of a gathering of friends, from a Christmas or Danavira Mela many years ago, and, in this vision, each face in the photograph — one by one over the years — turns "ghostly", either through our circumstances (high school, college, living near each other) no longer being shared, or life paths that have moved in different directions, or the passing on of that person. My awareness of that inevitable reality is the source of the wistfulness and nostalgia. The inevitable disappearance of the (mortal) loved one is “Raymond’s problem”, a phrase Adi Da uses, based on the central character of The Mummery Book.
Danavira Mela: A Divine Celebration in the midst of a conditional universe. The joy and playfulness of the song comes from the celebration we can still have together, even in the midst of an ever-changing, conditional universe. One of my (and many other devotees’) favorite quotes of Beloved Adi Da has always been this extraordinary prayer, from “Death is a Perfect Insult” in The Enlightenment of the Whole Body:
“Let us surrender into Infinity with all our friends and hold on to no thing or condition that ever appears. Let us forget all things in present Happiness, and so forgive the universe for all its playful changes. Let us always love one another, and so forgive one another for appearing, for changing, and for passing out of present sight. So be it.”
When I sing this song, I hear it giving further guidance for just how to do this.
poster: AdiDaUpClose speaker: Steve Alexander length: 13:17 date added: July 8, 2012 language: English
Steve Alexander describes his experiences of Huichol shamanism (while in his twenties), and his aspiration to become a shaman. Then, while on a Huichol pilgrimage in Mexico, "everything that could possible go wrong, did". For a "suburban kid from Los Angeles" it was like "trying to put on someone else's shoe".
Steve returned to focus on his university education in fine art. All the while, an awareness of a Divine Presence in his heart was growing. He describes how he cultivated his relationship with that Presence, even as he became increasingly aware of his own egoity and the ways it would tend to shut down that Presence.
Steve describes how his formal relinquishment of Huichol shamanism opened the door to the intensification of that Presence, and ultimately, to his devotional relationship with the human form of that Presence: Adi Da.
poster: AdiDaUpClose speaker: Steve Alexander length: 14:15 date added: July 8, 2012 language: English
Steve Alexander describes his experiences of Huichol shamanism (while in his twenties), and his aspiration to become a shaman. Then, while on a Huichol pilgrimage in Mexico, "everything that could possible go wrong, did". For a "suburban kid from Los Angeles" it was like "trying to put on someone else's shoe".
Steve returned to focus on his university education in fine art. All the while, an awareness of a Divine Presence in his heart was growing. He describes how he cultivated his relationship with that Presence, even as he became increasingly aware of his own egoity and the ways it would tend to shut down that Presence.
Steve describes how his formal relinquishment of Huichol shamanism opened the door to the intensification of that Presence, and ultimately, to his devotional relationship with the human form of that Presence: Adi Da.
Studio Sessions 2006-2007. Pictures and video clips of Adi Da at work on His Image-Art and His Art being transported, installed, and exhibited. Accompanied by Adi Da talking about His Image-Art.
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.
Adi Da recites His "Five Reality-Teachings", as we watch scenes from Adi Da Samrajashram, followed by Darshan of Avatar Adi Da.
Notice this:
1. You are not the one who wakes, or dreams, or sleeps.
2. You Are the actionless and formless Mere Witness of the three common states — of waking, dreaming and sleeping — and of all the apparent contents and “experiences” associated with the three common states, of waking, and of dreaming, and of sleeping.
3. You are not the body, or the doer of action, or the doer of even any of the body’s actions or functions.
4. You are not the mind, or the thinker, or the doer of even any of the actions or functions of mind or of body-mind.
5. No matter what arises — whether as or in the state of waking, or of dreaming, or of sleeping — you Are the actionless, and formless, and thought-free Mere Witness of attention itself, and of every apparent “object” of attention, and of any and every state of “experience”, and of the entirety of whatever and all that arises.
Always intensively “consider” these Five Reality-Teachings.
Always intensively observe and notice every moment of your “experience” — whether waking, dreaming, or sleeping — and, thus and thereby, “consider” and test and directly prove these Five Reality-Teachings in the moment-to-moment of your every kind and state of “experience”.
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