Alan Watts on “The Trickster Guru”…..

Note:  In an earlier article here, describing my own personal history, I described receiving back in the early 70s The Alan Watts Journal (which would arrive once a month in the mail).  This am I found a reposting of this old essay at a forum thread from http://lightgate.net/forum (and the person reposting it there identifies where they found it):

Alan Watts: The Trickster Guru
(courtesy of The Deoxyribonucleic Hyperdimension (Deoxy.org))

“The Trickster Guru”
Alan Watts

I have often thought of writing a novel, similar to Thomas Mann’s “Confessions of Felix Krull,” which would be the life story of a charlatan making out as a master guru – either initiated in Tibet or appearing as the reincarnation of Nagar-juna, Padmasambhava, or some other great historical sage of the Orient. It would be a romantic and glamorous tale, flavored with the scent of pines in Himalayan valleys, with garden courtyards in obscure parts of Alexandria, with mountain temples in Japan, and with secretive meetings and initiations in country houses adjoining Paris, New York, and Los Angeles. It would also raise some rather unexpected philosophical questions as to the relations between genuine mysticism and stage magic. But I have neither the patience nor the skill to be a novelist, and thus can do no more than sketch the idea for some more gifted author.

The attractions of being a trickster guru are many. There is power and there is wealth, and still more the satisfactions of being an actor without need for a stage, who turns “real life” into a drama. It is not, furthermore, an illegal undertaking such as selling shares in non-existent corporations, impersonating a doctor, or falsifying checks. There are no recognized and official qualifications for being a guru, though now that some universities are offering courses in meditation and Kundalini Yoga it may soon be necessary to be a member of the U.S. Fraternity of Gurus. But a really fine trickster would get around all that by the one-upmanship of inventing an entirely new discipline outside and beyond all known forms of esoteric teaching.

It must be understood from the start that the trickster guru fills a real need and performs a genuine public service. Millions of people are searching desperately for a true father-Magician, especially at a time when the clergy and the psychiatrists are making rather a poor show, and do not seem to have the courage of their convictions or of their fantasies. Perhaps they have lost nerve through too high a valuation of the virtue of honesty – as if a painter felt bound to give his landscapes the fidelity of photographs. To fulfil his compassionate vocation, the trickster guru must above all have nerve. He must also be quite well-read in mystical and occult literature, both that which is historically authentic and sound in scholarship, and that which is somewhat questionable – such as the writings of H.P. Blavatsky, P.D. Ouspensky, and Aleister Crowley. It doesn’t do to be caught out on details now known to a wide public.

After such preparatory studies, the first step is to frequent those circles where gurus are especially sought, such as the various cult groups which pursue oriental religions or peculiar forms of psychotherapy, or simply the intellectual and artistic milieux of any great city. Be somewhat quiet and solitary. Never ask questions, but occasionally add a point – quite briefly – to what some speaker has said. Volunteer no information about your personal life, but occasionally indulge in a little absent-minded name-dropping to suggest that you have travelled widely and spent time in Turkestan. Evade close questioning by giving the impression that mere travel is a small matter hardly worth discussing, and that your real interests lie on much deeper levels.

Such behavior will soon provoke people into asking your advice. Don’t come right out with it, but suggest that the question is rather deep and ought to be discussed at length in some quiet place. Make an appointment at a congenial restaurant or cafe – not at your home, unless you have an impressive library and no evidence of being tied down with a family. At first, answer nothing, but without direct questioning, draw the person out to enlarge on his problem and listen with your eyes closed – not as if sleeping, but as if attending to the deep inner vibrations of his thoughts. Conclude the interview with a slightly veiled command to perform some rather odd exercise, such as humming a sound and then suddenly stopping. Carefully instruct the person to be aware of the slightest decision to stop before actually stopping, and indicate that the point is to be able to stop without any prior decision. Make a further appointment for a report on progress.

To carry this through, you must work out a whole series of unusual exercises, both psychological and physical. Some must be rather difficult tricks which can actually be accomplished, to give your student the sense of real progress.

Others must be virtually impossible – such as to think of the words yes and no at the same instant, repeatedly for five minutes, or with a pencil in each hand, to try to hit the opposite hand – which is equally trying to defend itself and hit the other. Don’t give all your students the same exercises but, because people love to be types, sort them into groups according to their astrological sun signs or according to your own private classifications, which must be given such odd names as grubers, jongers, milers, and trovers.

A judidous use of hypnosis – avoiding all the common tricks of hand-raising, staring at lights, or saying “Relax. Relax, while I count up to ten” will produce pleasant changes of feeling and the impression of attaining higher states of consciousness.

First, describe such a stage quite vividly – say, the sense of walking on air – and then have your students walk around barefooted trying not to make the slightest sound and yet giving their whole weight to the floor. Imply that the floor will soon feel like a cushion, then like water, and finally like air. Indicate a little later that there is reason to believe that something of this kind is the initial stage of levitation.

Next, be sure to have about thirty or forty different stages of progress worked out, giving them numbers, and suggest that there are still some extremely high stages beyond those numbered which can only be understood by those who have reached twenty-eight – so no point in discussing them now. After the walking-on-air gambit, try for instance having them push out hard with their arms as if some overwhelming force were pulling them. Reverse the procedure. This leads quickly to the feeling that one is not doing what one is doing and doing what one is not doing. Tell them to stay in this state while going about everyday business.

After a while let it be known that you have a rather special and peculiar background – as when some student asks, “Where did you get all this?” Well, you just picked up a thing or two in Turkestan, or “I’m quite a bit older than I look,” or say that “Reincarnation is entirely unlike what people suppose it to be.” Later, let on that you are in some way connected with an extremely select in-group. Don’t brashly claim anything. Your students will soon do that for you, and, when one hits on the fantasy that pleases you most, say, “I see you are just touching stage eighteen.”

There are two schools of thought about asking for money for your services. One is to have fees just like a doctor, because people are embarrassed if they do not know just what is expected of them. The other, used by the real high-powered tricksters, is to do everything free with, however, the understanding that each student has been personally selected for his or her innate capacity for the work (call it that), and thus be careful not to admit anyone without first putting them through some sort of hazing. Monetary contributions will soon be offered. Otherwise, charge rather heavily, making it dear that the work is worth infinitely more to oneself and to others than, say, expensive surgery or a new home. Imply that you give most of it away to mysterious beneficiaries.

As soon as you can afford to wangle it, get hold of a country house as an ashram or spiritual retreat, and put students to work on all the menial tasks. Insist on some special diet, but do not follow it yourself. Indeed, you should cultivate small vices, such as smoking, mild boozing, or, if you are very careful, sleeping with the ladies, to suggest that your stage of evolution is so high that such things do not affect you, or that only by such means can you remain in contact with ordinary mundane consciousness.

On the one hand, you yourself must be utterly free from any form of religious or parapsychological superstition, lest some other trickster should outplay you. On the other hand, you must eventually come to believe in your own hoax, because this will give you ten times more nerve. This can be done through religionizing total skepticism to the point of basic incredulity about everything – even science. After all, this is in line with the Hindu-Buddhist position that the whole universe is an illusion, and you need not worry about whether the Absolute is real or unreal, eternal or non-eternal, because every idea of it that you could form would, in comparison with living it up in the present, be horribly boring. Furthermore, you should convince yourself that the Absolute is precisely the same as illusion, and thus not be in the least ashamed of being greedy or anxious or depressed. Make it dear that we are ultimately God, but that you know it. If you are challenged to perform wonders, point out that everything is already a fabulous wonder, and to do something bizarre would be to go against your own most perfect scheme of things. On the other hand, when funny coincidences turn up, look knowing and show no surprise, especially when any student has good fortune or recovers from sickness. It will promptly be attributed to your powers, and you may be astonished to find that your very touch becomes healing, because people really believe in you. When it doesn’t work, you should sigh gently about lack of faith, or explain that this particular sickness is a very important working out of Karma which will have to be reckoned with some day, so why not now.

The reputation for supernormal powers is self-reinforcing, and as it builds up you can get more daring, such that you will have the whole power of mass self-deception working for you. But always remember that a good guru plays it cool and maintains a certain aloofness, especially from those sharpies of the press and TV whose game is to expose just about everyone as a fraud. Always insist, like the finest restaurants, that your clientele is exclusive. The very highest “society” does not deign to be listed in the Social Register.

As time goes on, allow it more and more to be understood that you are in constant touch with other centers of work. Disappear from time to time by taking trips abroad, and come back looking more mysterious than ever. You can easily find someone in India or Syria to do duty as your colleague, and take a small and select group of students on a journey which includes a brief interview with this Personage. He can talk any kind of nonsense, while you do the “translating.” When travelling with students, avoid any obvious assistance from regular agencies, and let it appear that your secret fraternity has arranged everything in advance.

Now a trickster guru is certainly an illusionist, but one might ask “What else is art?” If the universe is nothing but a vast Rorschach blot upon which we project our collective measures and interpretations, and if past and future has no real existence, an illusionist is simply a creative artist who changes the collective interpretation of life, and even improves on it. Reality is mostly what a people or a culture conceives it to be. Money, worthless in itself, depends entirely on collective faith for its value. The past is held against you only because others believe in it, and the future seems important only because we have conned ourselves into the notion that surviving for a long time, with painstaking care, is preferable to surviving for a short time with no responsibility and lots of thrills. It is really a matter of changing fashion.

Perhaps, then, a trickster may be one who actually liberates people from their more masochistic participations in the collective illusion, on the homeopathic principle of “The hair of the dog that bit you. ” Even genuine gurus set their disciples impossible psychological exercises to demonstrate the unreality of the ego, and it could be argued that they too, are unwitting tricksters, raised as they have been in cultures without disillusioning benefits of “scientific knowledge,” which, as ecologists note, isn’t working out too well. Perhaps it all boils down to the ancient belief that God himself is a trickster, eternally fooling himself by the power of maya into the sensation that he is a human being, a cat, or an insect, since no art can be accomplished which does not set itself certain rules and limitations. A fully infinite and boundless God would have no limitations, and thus no way of manifesting power or love. Omnipotence must therefore include the power of self-restriction – to the point of forgetting that it is restricting itself and thus making limitations seem real. It could be that genuine students and gurus are on the side of being fooled, whereas the phony gurus are the foolers – and one must make one’s choice.

I am proposing this problem as a kind of Zen koan, like “Beyond positive and negative, what is reality?” How will you avoid being either a fool or a fooler? How will you get rid of the ego-illusion without either trying or not trying? If you need God’s grace to be saved, how will you get the grace to get grace? Who will answer these questions if yourself is itself an illusion? Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.

The cock crows in the evening;
At midnight, the brilliant sun.
And there have also been such effective mother-magicians as Mary Baker Eddy, Helena Blavatsky, Aimee Semple McPherson, Annie Besant, and Alice Bailey.

© Alan Watts (1915 – 1973) The Essential Alan Watts, Celestial Arts (1974).

Conrad Goehausen (“Broken Yogi”): stand bare to the non-dual sky

The amazing conversation—and debate—continues in the comments thread at http://nonduality.org at this posted article:

http://nonduality.org/2008/11/28/adi-da-is-dead/

(There are 372 posted comments there!)  Currently, Conradg’s post is the “last word”.  I feel his last paragraph reinforces a point I’m starting to make in my reports on my own history:

Now I agree that we don’t need to talk much about the past, I just have no taboos about it. Getting the real non-dual lesson is hard, especially if we already think we know what that lesson is going to be. Which is why we have to throw away not just our past, but all these conceptual dharmas. I was always inspired by Da’s way of talking back in the 70’s, when he talked about throwing away all dharmas, and simply standing bare to the universe, with no supports. Well, I still believe in that attitude. I just didn’t see Adi Da staying true to that. Instead, he built up monumental edifices to the mind, huge dharmic castles which his devotees seemed to want to worship rather than tear down. But as with Marpa and Milarepa, the real wisdom comes not from building temples, but from tearing them apart. And that is what I felt at last I had to do with Da, tear down that temple, and stand bare to the non-dual sky.

The 1970s and its spiritual influences, part one

Exposure to the works of Alan Watts, sometime in 1969, initiated a process of purging myself of rigid mental pictures born from reading popular metaphysical literature of the time. And, likely set the stage for the development of new forms of conditioning with a new set of mental images adopted to represent what was reality. This despite the reinforcing and deconditioning “message” also expressed by J. Krishnamurti. I would say that after a good healthy entry into the stream of awakening, via exposure to a wide range of spiritual traditions and practices, that for a good decade plus the adoption of a frame of reference (and “story”)  offered by Franklin Jones (Adi Da Samraj)  was not really serving “awakening” and “realization”.  For all that time, I chose to live in his dream environment and looked at all other spiritual vehicles and influences as limited compared to his teachings.

During my high school years (the last years of the ’60s), I gobbled up books on metaphysics and the occult.  Flying saucer books were fun also!  So, by my senior year in high school, I had basicly dumped my old atheistic outlook and now carried around this picture in my mind of a universe of mysterious astral planes and forces that operated beyond this “material world”.  I was addicted to books about Edgar Cayce.  Reading Ruth Montgomery was a lot of fun also, thrilling my imagination with all sorts of things not at all viewed as possible in my previously dreary mental world of dismissive reductionism.

By the very beginning of the 1970s, I was practicing two types of meditation.  First, a basic zazen form of sitting.  Alan Watts was sharing his thoughts on a monthly basis now, through mailings of his Alan Watts Journal, and reading his handwritten essay “The Art of Meditation” was a great introduction for that form of practice.  (For me, anyway.)  “Sitting quietly, doing nothing”, or as Watts emphasized, without expectation or a search for experiences, was something I enjoyed doing on  a regular basis.

Then, there was experimentation with a practice that clearly was goal oriented or a search for experiences.  But, what the hell, I wanted to travel to exotic lands!  So, I was exposed to “surat shabda yoga” in my late teens (in Eureka, California, of all places!) and even though I never joined the Ruhani Satsang, got Initiated by Kirpal Singh, or took those classes Bruce Avenell was offering, I had obtained the details of the practice and started in with that.

This practice really amped up the electricity!  Focusing internally on the “light and sound current”, somewhat on a regular basis (like the zazen), seemed to have some amazing side effects in late 1972: a series of clear out of the body experiences over a two or three month period.  All these events took place upon awakening from a night of sleep and started off with sleep paralysis and overwhelming (and loud) currents of energy and a sense of bodily expansion.  When there was a feeling of intense pressure in the center of my brain (as this current overwhelmed my body), I felt tangible seperation from the body.  (One time I could feel my arms, comfortably resting under the covers, actually raising up and amazingly I saw their new energetic form.)

Alan Watts died in November 1973, but he had apparently written something that would sure catch my eye not long after!!  I noticed a Foreward he had written to a book called “The Knee of Listening”.  The book was written by a young guy named Franklin Jones, who was seen on the cover sitting bright eyed and talking to disciples.  Now, immediately I felt an inner tension, probably cognitive dissonance.  For I was definitely in alignment with Krishnamurti’s thoughts regarding Gurus and here was some young guy, from America, becoming a Guru and receiving words of praise from Alan Watts.  Curiousity won out after several examinations of the book on the shelves at the Humboldt State University bookstore, so I bought the damn book!  (And, also Jones’ “The Method of the Siddhas”, a compilation of his early talks before disciples.)

Now, I was not uninformed about eastern traditions.  I had already taken endless courses in Buddhism and Hinduism at HSU.  (Dr. Bazemore’s classes.)  So, I knew something about the role of Gurus in other traditions, and despite the cries of warnings offered by Krishnamurit, I decided to open myself up to this scene and see what I could find out. 

To be continued……

The NonDuality Salon Dialogue, Following the Death of Adi Da

At the time of this posting, a days long conversation between Daists, former Daists, and others has been occuring in the comments thread of this blog article (published at nonduality.org):

http://nonduality.org/2008/11/28/adi-da-is-dead

This conversation, with current and active Daists talking with former Daists, critics and others is something that hasn’t really happened before on the internet or via any other medium that I’m aware of.  There was a small scale and limited involvement by Daists at the old Ken Wilber Forum, but that was reportedly discouraged by Adidam (members posting there).

A lot of good information is being shared.  And, there’s a wide ranging consideration of such things as the guru function, various traditions, forms of sadhana, Adi Da’s behavior, and more.

And, it appears that some old friends and acquaintenances have “found” each other yet again, via this thread.  There are some real old times (in and out of the group) posting there.

Someone using the handle “blisscake” is posting from Naitauba and describing some of what’s happening there, with many people now arriving on the island.  His last post (as of this writing) describes some anger and pain he was feeling due to some of the critical postings at nonduality, then describes surrendering all of that.  Blisscake also is directing everyone’s attention to a ning group, where it seems there are already some forums underway. 

http://realityrevelation.ning.com

This ning group, near as I can tell from the dates on all the posted notes, was started in early October.  Ning can be a fairly useful and active tool of communicating information and setting up forums for discussion.  (Members can also post pictures.) 

Recap:  the teacher Adi Da died just over a week ago at his “Hermitage” sanctuary on the island of Naitauba in Fiji.  Adi Da was first written about at this blog in a post describing some very early influences in my life, which included some involvement with him and his group in the mid 70s (and including peripheral contacts through the eighties).  Here is that article (posted here on July 28):

http://atiasrama.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/those-were-the-days-my-friends/

I wonder what is going to be the “rest of the story” now?  Anybody have a sense of what might unfold now?

The scarring of a favorite wandering site

Oxbow Nature Study Park, Reno

 A fire swept through 18 of the 22 acres of a Reno park that is rich in wildlife and also is a quiet, contemplative wandering site.  I took the above photo this November (seven months after the fire).

A big role now for Naamleela Free Jones?

The late Franklin Jones’ (aka Adi Da Samraj) daughters are very gifted.  One, Naamleela Free Jones is extremely gifted as a muscian and, according to a commentator at this blog, has long been set to be Adidam’s “Murti Guru” upon the passing of her father.

Above photo was lifted from an “unofficial” or site not formally part of Adidam: http://www.aboutadidam.org  No copyright notice evident there, but photo is possibly copyrighted somewhere.  Reposted here at a non-commerce site, as news/research/education.

Naamleela has her own website (which I first noticed a few years ago):

http://www.herstome.com

For readers who may be confused by the “Murti Guru” reference, it’s my understanding that a Murti Guru is someone who would be serving as some sort of vehicle for the “Transmission” of the deceased Guru’s spiritual power (which presumably is exercised from some sort of afterlife dimension).

Naamleela also maintains an active MySpace page (last logging on just 12 days ago):

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=72859521

Main address for her MySpace page:

http://www.myspace.com/naamleelafreejones

ADDEMDUM: Conrad Goehausen (“Broken Yogi”) in comments posted at the Naamleela thread over at http://lightgate.net/forum adds his thoughts and information on this subject:

Re: Naamleela reportedly to be Murti Guru

by Broken Yogi on Sun Nov 30, 2008 3:44 pm

Not yet. The general notion in Adidam has for many years been that Naamleela would one day become Murti-Guru, but only after she had become a seventh stage realizer herself (which is the long-stated requirement). Since that has not yet happened for her or anyone else, she can’t technically assume that role. However, I would predict that sometime over the next couple of years, she and several others will conveniently “transition” into the seventh stage of life, and most likely that she would assume the role of Murti-Guru. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how things shake out. There will certainly be some kind of power struggle for “authority”, which for the moment probably rests with Sukhamai (Bonnie Beaven). The thing is, Naamleela just doesn’t have the kind of powerful personality and drive that either Da or some of the others in the higher ranks of Adidam possess. She’s not much into the political games of Adidam, and has coasted by on her obvious family connection and rather sweet disposition. I’m not sure how much she really wants to seize the reigns of this organization and serve that role. I can think of a number of ambitious courtiers within Adidam who have fantasized for quite a long time about becoming Murti-Guru, and I would imagine that some of those fantasizers will reach for the stars during this time. Imagine the scene after Cinderella’s ball where all kinds of hopefuls try to fit the glass slipper on their feet. Without Adi Da himself around, it’s much harder to say who fits that role, and who doesn’t. As far as I know, he gave no acknowledgment of Naamleela as his successor, and certainly none that she had realized the coveted seventh stage. So it should be pretty interesting, from the point of view of dramatic theater, how this succession struggle comes out.

It was generally assumed in Adidam that Adi Da would not die until he had established at least a small group of seventh stage realizers around him, and an appointed Murti-Guru successor. So this sudden death is bad timing for the group as a whole and its future prospects for continuity. No matter how it turns out, because no future successor will have Adi Da’s own explicit approval and certification, there will always be some doubt as to who represents his real lineage. This leaves room for some very amusing spiritual politics.

One thing a friend of mine who is still a very active devotee mentioned to me is something Adi Da said about a month ago, about what happens after spiritual teachers die. He said that the teacher becomes an icon, and his teaching becomes a set of beliefs. Seeing as how this has already happened in Adidam long before Adi Da’s death, it’s a fait accompli. But as always with all things Adidam, a microcosmic example of how these things play out in modern western dress.

Broken Yogi

Berkeley forest wanderer’s thoughts on Adi Da and his death

In the article linked here, Stuart discusses not only his thoughts but steers the reader to other internet sites where there are discussions going on related to Adi Da and his death:

http://stuart-randomthoughts.blogspot.com/2008/11/adi-da-dies.html

Also, Stuart shared some thoughts here in commenting on an article below:

Stuart Resnick said:
November 29, 2008 at 7:59 pm eDifficult times are the best times for examining and questioning. When our attachments are working out for us, making us happy, when the object of our attachment hasn’t yet disappeared… then it’s very difficult to get enough motivations to examine the “I want something” mind.

But when the object of attachment disappears, causing difficulty and suffering, that’s the best, easiest time for inquiry. We have maximum motivation to examine and question our thinking, wanting, and attachment… the root cause of suffering.

Those who are attached to money now have, during this financial crisis, an opportunity to see the attachment for what it is. And the same is true when a guru died: an opportunity to examine our habits of believing in outside authority over our own just-now experience.

Stuart
http://home.comcast.net/~sresnick2/booboo.htm
http://stuart-randomthoughts.blogspot.com/

Fiji Times story on the death of Adi Da

Note: I found this posted at http://lightgate.net/forum  (clearly the “go to” place right now to find out what’s going on with the death of Adi Da and what is going on with his community, Adidam).

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=107501
Spiritual leader passes on

Friday, November 28, 2008

Update: 4:30PM Adi Da Samraj, leader of a spiritual community based at Naitauba in Lau, passed away at his home on the island on Thursday.

Adi Da Samraj, 69, established Naitauba as his principal teaching retreat in 1983 and became a Fiji citizen in 1993.

Spokesperson for the Naitauba Trust, owner of the island, Matt Wilson said Adi Da Samrajs followers from many countries around the world would continue to maintain Naitauba as a centre for quiet study and contemplation for those who come there year round.

Courses at the Naitauba retreat programs focus on Samraj Adi Das teachings of spiritual self-realisation, tolerance, respect, the unity of humanity, world peace and cooperation.

He said Adi Da Samraj wrote many books about his beliefs.

He also encouraged his students to study the worlds great religious traditions.

Adi Da Samraj was a legal renunciate, who owned no personal possessions.

Mr Wilson said Naitauba is a significant contributor to the economy of the Lau Group.

“It provides employment and contributes to many social and educational causes including scholarships for students in the Lau and Cakaudrove provinces.”

~E~

Adi Da Samraj dead of massive heart attack

I received a forwarded email that was one of a few sent to devotees, informing them of the death of their Guru Adi Da Samraj on Naitauba yesterday on Thanksgiving Day.

Reposted from http://lightgate.net/forum/

Here are four November 26-27 emails which devotees received relative to the dying and death of their guru –

1.
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 11:37:39 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: Adi Da Samraj Health Situation

Dear Fellow Devotees,

Praise to Beloved Bhagavan Adi Da Samraj.

At this moment Beloved Bhagavan Adi Da Samraj is experiencing an extreme medical crisis. We do not know the full extent of what is happening with His Divine Bodily Human Form. However, this crisis is an extreme one in which He has Swooned out of His Body. This has occurred to the extent that He has not had a heart-beat or pulse, for nearly an hour’s time. Medical procedures are not reviving Him.

Beloved Bhagavan Adi Da has in the past Approved a medical protocol relative to such a circumstance. He has made it plain that nothing should be done to interfere with His Bodily Human Form for an extended period of time, a minimum of three full days. This is because He may always and at any point resume ordinary Consciousness and Life. However, at this moment, He is not animating the body at all.

He was working in Picture Perfect at the Matrix, at Adi Da Samrajashram. It appeared to be a normal day, and He had been with the healers last night and was doing very well physically. He has actually been stronger and in better health over the past few weeks. Therefore it was a surprise when He simply collapsed, while working on His Divine Avataric Image Art.

As devotees know, Beloved Bhagavan Adi Da Samraj is a Divine Yogi. There is a long history of such beings having very unconventional “death events” or moments in their lives. We have seen this in Beloved Bhagavan’s Case in many circumstances in the past–the Ruchira Dham or Lopez Island Event, and the Divine Emergence, as merely two of them. Certainly it is the hope of this moment, as we write, that Beloved Bhagavan will Re-Enter His Body and begin a new Phase of His Work. It is our hope and intention that He will Re-Animate the Body and wake up.

Here at Adi Da Samrajashram we are all invoking and praying for Adi Da Samraj to resume His Bodily Functioning. Ruchiradama Quandra Sukhapur Rani has repeated to us, that His Motive in Returning to the Body will be devotees’ heart-need and calling. All devotees are asked at this moment to engage in a Vigil of Prayer and Invocation of Beloved Bhagavan Adi Da, and a Calling to Him to Stay here with us.

In the history of the Great Tradition, there have been many great Yogic Realizers who have dropped out of their bodies for an extended period of time, without heartbeat or pulse, and later Spiritual Revived. This was the case with Swami Nityananda in the 1920s. He left the body for many hours and was believed by many to have died. Upon returning, he declared that his work was simply not done. Also Shirdi Sai Baba left his body for a full three days in the 1880s, and upon returning there was a dramatic change in the fullness and potency of his work. Examples like this are numerous. And Adi Da Samraj is the Greatest of Master Yogis. Therefore we call upon devotees to invoke and call upon Adi Da Samraj with our full heart-need for His Continued Presence amongst us in Bodily Human Divine Form.

At this moment, Adi Da Samraj remains lying in horizontal position at Picture Perfect. The devotees here are gathered around the building, doing Vigil and calling upon Him to remain with us, with full heart need. Drs. Charles Seage and Andrew Dorfman are with Beloved Bhagavan, as well as the Ruchiradamas, and many devotees to assist in tending to Adi Da Samraj.

One recommended action you can take, is to go into your Communion Hall and invoke Beloved Bhagavan down into His Divine Body, through waving of lights, chanting, recitations, the Devotional Prayer of Changes, or simply heartfelt invocation and communion with Him.

We will continue to inform and update you as the evening progresses.

Om Sri Parama Sapta Adi Da Love-Ananda Hridayam

—————————————

2.
Subject: Update on Bhagavan Adi Da Samraj

Dear devotees,

At 8 pm Fiji time, Lesley Huber, speaking on behalf of the Ruchira Sannyasin Order Authority Office, made the following communication:

“At approximately 5:10 pm Fiji time, while working with His Divine Image Art in Picture Perfect, it appears that Bhagavan Adi Da suffered a massive heart attack, and since that time has shown no heartbeat or pulse. At this time, 8 pm, medical intervention has been suspended in respect for the Divine Yogic Integrity of the Master’s Body.

Masters choose their time of relinquishing the body, and saints and realizers have returned after extended periods without apparent life signs.

At this point, all devotees should understand that this is a Divine Yogic matter, and participate accordingly. Devotees in Hermitage are in a deep Vigil in and around Picture Perfect, and it is essential that devotees worldwide likewise enter into a Vigil in their own places of Communion and Worship. We encourage devotees to gather, wherever possible, in the Empowered Halls of the gathering, and stay connected.”

We will continue to send further updates as they become available.

Om Sri Parama-Sapta-Na Adi Da, Love-Ananda Hridayam

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3.
Sent: Thursday, November 27, 2008 12:55 AM
Subject: Further update

Update on Beloved Bhagavan Adi Da’s Condition

Beloved Bhagavan Adi Da Samraj’s Bodily Human Divine Form is now lying on His Bed in His Bedroom at Aham Da Asmi Sthan at the Matrix.

His Bodily Human Form was carried on a stretcher in silent procession from Picture Perfect to Aham Da Asmi Sthan. Beloved Bhagavan was covered with a sannyasin orange shawl during this time.

A number of devotees are now in the Bedroom with Adi Da Samraj keeping Vigil with lit deepa lamps. The rest of the Adi Da Samrajashram devotees are keeping Vigil outside on the veranda in front of the Darshan swing.

Please continue to invoke and call Adi Da Samraj to Reanimate His Divine Bodily Human Form for the sake of each of us and for the entire world.

Om Sri Parama-Sapta-Na Adi Da, Love-Ananda Hridayam

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4.
Sent: Thursday, November 27, 2008 7:39:59 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: From the RSO Re: Mahasamadhi/Invitation to Naitauba

Dear Devotees,

It is the middle of the night here at Adi Da Samrajashram, devotees remain in what is now clearly the Mahasamadhi Vigil of Beloved Bhagavan Sapta Na Adi Da Samraj. The time of Beloved Bhagavan’s Divine Mahasamadhi is being placed at approximately 5:10 PM on Thursday, November 27th, 2008.

Everyone here has been shocked at how quickly the Mahasamadhi occurred. Bhagavan Adi Da was sitting in His Chair Working in Picture Perfect. Just a minute before, He had been Giving Instructions relative to His Divine Image Art. A few minutes before that, He had been speaking humorously and laughing. And then He silently fell over on His Side and within a very short period of no more than a couple of minutes, He had entered into His Mahasamadhi. Dr. Charles Seage and Dr. Andrew Dorfman diagnose that Beloved Bhagavan suffered a fatal heart attack. There were no signs of struggle, but a quick and painless transition.

Beloved Bhagavan had given no indications that He was going to be taking Mahasamadhi. Up until that point, He had been experiencing what seemed to be a normal day. He had been continuing His Divine Puja of preparing gifts for Dana vira Mela earlier in the day, and had been in Picture Perfect for a good part of the day.

Beloved Bhagavan Adi Da’s Body is now sitting upright on His Bed in His Bedroom at Aham Da Asmi Sthan. He is draped in orange clothes.

The Ruchira Sannyasin Order and a few intimate devotees are sitting in the bedroom with Him. Devotees are also sitting on the veranda outside of His Room in silent meditative communion.

Beloved Bhagavan has previously Given Instructions that His Body is to be allowed to rest uninterferred with for a minimum of three days before it is taken to the Outshining “Brightness”, His Permanent Mahasamadhi resting place. The pre-burial Vigil may last longer, even for several weeks, if Beloved Bhagavan’s Body does not show signs of decay.

Ruchiradama Quandra Sukhapur has invited all to come to Naitauba during this time. Everyone is invited. All four congregations of devotees. And anyone else who wishes to come who will be rightly related to making this pilgrimage. This has all happened so quickly that we have not yet figured out how the practical details will be managed. But anyone who is moved to come to Naitauba to participate in Beloved Bhagavan’s Mahasamadhi Vigil should begin to consider their practical arrangements to make the pilgrimage.

As mentioned, there is no way to know exactly how long it will be before Beloved Bhagavan’s Divine Bodily Human Form will be Sacredly Interned at the Outshining “Brightness”. If the pre-burial Vigil only lasts the minimum period of three days, Beloved Bhagavan’s Divine Bodily Human Form could be Installed at the Outshining “Brightness” as early as late Sunday. So all who wish to be here for this Sacred Ceremony should begin to make immediate plans for the journey.

This is a very difficult time for all devotees and friends of Adi Da Samraj. Adi Da has always told us that His Mahasamadhi would be the time when He would most fully enter into His Divine Translation. He has said that it would be for Him a Divine Outshining of this Realm altogether. And He has also told us, that it would unleash a further Siddhi of His Divine Blessing. This is already being felt by devotees here at Adi Da Samrajashram. So even though this is one of the most difficult times that all devotees will ever experience, in terms of the Mahasamadhi of our Beloved Divine Master, it will also best also be a time in which we remain focused in our Divine whole bodily turning to Beloved Bhagavan. It feels here that somehow He is “holding up” all of His devotees to go through this moment with equanimity and continued reception of His Divine Blessing.

(From James Steinberg at Adi Da Samrajashram)

Om Sri Parama-Sapta-Na Adi Da Love-Ananda Hridayam

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Started up a broader themed blog: Third Eye on Reno

At Third Eye on Reno the focus will be generalized as opposed to the narrow focus of this blog.

http://renothirdeye.wordpress.com

The ever so fascinating election, probably THE election of our lifetime, is over by tommorrow night.  Thus, ending nearly three years of active volunteer work in the political fields of Washoe County.  (Where, as it turns out, the candidates visited with great frequency because of its key battleground nature.)  So…….more attention here soon.

URL to new blog corrected!