Adi Da Samraj (Author of The Knee Of Listening)

Adi Da Samraj鈥檚 Followers (25)

Adi Da Samraj

Born

in Queens, New York, The United States

November 03, 1939

Died

November 27, 2008

Website

Genre

Spirituality

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Adi Da Samraj (AKA Da Free John), born Franklin Albert Jones, was an American-born spiritual teacher, writer, and artist, widely recognized as the founder of the new religious movement Adidam. His teachings, writings, and artistic expressions were deeply rooted in a commitment to radical nonduality, which he referred to as 鈥渢he Bright鈥� 鈥� the inherent, indivisible reality that transcends the egoic self. Adi Da taught that true spiritual realization is not something to be sought or attained but is already fully present and must be directly realized through the transcendence of separateness and the activity of seeking itself.
He wrote extensively throughout his life, authoring more than 75 books on spirituality, philosophy, art, and global pea Adi Da Samraj (AKA Da Free John), born Franklin Albert Jones, was an American-born spiritual teacher, writer, and artist, widely recognized as the founder of the new religious movement Adidam. His teachings, writings, and artistic expressions were deeply rooted in a commitment to radical nonduality, which he referred to as 鈥渢he Bright鈥� 鈥� the inherent, indivisible reality that transcends the egoic self. Adi Da taught that true spiritual realization is not something to be sought or attained but is already fully present and must be directly realized through the transcendence of separateness and the activity of seeking itself.
He wrote extensively throughout his life, authoring more than 75 books on spirituality, philosophy, art, and global peace. Among his best-known works are The Knee of Listening, an autobiographical account of his early life and spiritual realizations; The Aletheon, a summation of his spiritual instruction; and Not-Two Is Peace, a work addressing the global human condition and advocating for a radically new form of cooperative culture. His writings are considered by followers to be revelatory and are presented not as mere philosophy, but as direct communications of the spiritual reality he claimed to have fully realized.
Raised in the United States, Adi Da studied at Columbia University and later at Stanford University, where he developed a strong interest in literature, philosophy, and theology. Despite achieving academic success, he found intellectual pursuits ultimately insufficient for the depth of truth he sought. This dissatisfaction led him to explore a wide range of spiritual paths, including Zen Buddhism, Vedanta, and various esoteric practices. After years of spiritual searching and intense personal experiences that he described as revelatory, he began to teach others, presenting a radically different approach to spiritual life that emphasized immediate, intuitive recognition of the divine reality.
Central to Adi Da鈥檚 teaching was the concept of devotional recognition-response 鈥� the spontaneous turning of attention toward what he described as the living presence of the divine. He rejected conventional religious forms and techniques as inherently limited and emphasized a transformative relationship to the spiritual reality he embodied. His community of devotees, known as Adidam, formed around this core relationship and sought to live in accordance with the principles he articulated.
Beyond his spiritual teachings, Adi Da was also an accomplished visual artist whose work spanned photography, digital media, and mixed media installations. He referred to his aesthetic approach as 鈥淭ranscendental Realism,鈥� seeking not to represent the world but to provide a perceptual portal into the non-dual reality. His art has been exhibited internationally and received attention in both spiritual and contemporary art contexts.
Adi Da spent his final years in Fiji on Naitauba Island, a remote setting he regarded as sacred and conducive to spiritual practice. There, he continued to write, create art, and guide his devotees. His legacy continues through the Adidam community, which maintains his teachings and artistic work, promoting his vision of a new culture rooted in spiritual realization, radical truthfulness, and the transcendence of ego.
His life and work remain a source of devotion, debate, and philosophical inquiry, reflecting a bold and unconventional path toward the ultimate questions of human existence. ...more

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Average rating: 4.44 · 874 ratings · 50 reviews · 212 distinct works 鈥� Similar authors

	The Knee Of Listening: The Divine Ordeal of the Avataric Incarnation of Conscious Light: The Spiritual Autobiography of The Ruchira Avatar, Adi Da Samraj by Adi Da Samraj, Da Free John 4.02 avg rating — 126 ratings — published 1972 — 23 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Easy Death: Spiritual Wisdom on the Ultimate Transcending of Death and Everything Else 4.42 avg rating — 50 ratings — published 1983 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Not-Two Is Peace: The Ordinary People's Way of Global Cooperative Order by Adi Da Samraj, Ervin Laszlo (Introduction) 4.31 avg rating — 45 ratings — published 2006 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Method of the Siddhas by Adi Da Samraj, Da Free John 4.58 avg rating — 36 ratings — published 1973 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Dawn Horse Testament of the Ruchira Avatar 4.47 avg rating — 36 ratings — published 1985 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Mummery Book: A Parable of the Divine True Love 4.68 avg rating — 28 ratings — published 2001 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	What, Where, When, How, Why, and Who To Remember To Be Happy by Adi Da Samraj, Jaja Van Der Veer (Illustrator) 4.52 avg rating — 27 ratings — published 2000 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Transcendental Realism: The Image-Art of egoless Coincidence With Reality Itself 4.86 avg rating — 21 ratings — published 2007 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Green Gorilla 4.24 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 2008 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	See My Brightness Face to Face: A Celebration of the Ruchira Buddha, Avatar Adi Da Samraj, and the First 25 Years of His Divine Revelation Work 4.33 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 1997 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Adi Da Samraj (?)

“Fear of death is fear of surrender to Infinity.
Learn to surrender, to exist at Infinity while alive, and fear of death dissolves.
Fear of death is fear of the Unknown.
Realize the Wonder, the Eternal Unknowability of the Totality of Existence, and fear of death is transcended.
If happiness or freedom depends on the Answer to the Question, then there can be no happiness or freedom.
The Question cannot be satisfactorily or finally Answered.
For one who abides at Infinity, happy and free, at ease with his Ultimate Ignorance, the Question and the Answer are equally unnecessary.
What began will come to an end.
What is Wonderful is not threatened.
The Process of the Totality of Existence is Transcendental and Eternal.
Only a fraction of the Whole can pass away in any moment, since only a fraction of the Whole appears in any moment.
Therefore, the Heart Itself is always already Full of Wonder and Love.
"I" is the body-mind, the fraction of the Whole that is now appearing and will soon disappear.
"I" must be surrendered to the Heart, to the Whole, which is Infinity, Wonder, and Love.”
― Adi Da Samraj , The Eating Gorilla Comes in Peace: The Transcendental Principle of Life Applied to Diet and the Regenerative Discipline of True Health

tags: death, fear, fear-of-death, surrender, transcendence

17 likes

“Part of the apparently conventional nature of our relationships is the threat of separation and death. This body dies. That body dies. We can rejuvenate, feel better, live longer, but, even so, in this world everybody dies. That is why we do spiritual practice, because we are conscious of the destiny of our separation. We are willing to fulfill the law of love, but on the other hand what we love dies. That is why this is one of the realms of suffering. This world is not a heaven. This is not a place of fulfillment. Thus, we must yield to the true Condition. We must not become dependent upon the conventional aspect of our relations. We must recognize our relations. We must identify with the Condition of the loved one.

You must become established in the real Condition, or you will never be satisfied. You will be driven to all kinds of preoccupations and great schemes, trying to become victorious or immortal, for immortality's own sake, simply because you cannot deal with the fact of death. But death is an absolute message in this realm. It obligates us to recognize or identify one another in Truth, and we are not relieved of that obligation in this place.”
― Adi Da Samraj, The Eating Gorilla Comes in Peace: The Transcendental Principle of Life Applied to Diet and the Regenerative Discipline of True Health

tags: death, dukkha, fear-of-death, immortality, inevitability, separation, spirituality

9 likes

“Every negative complex of emotion conceals a conflict, a problem or dilemma made up of contradictory or opposing motives or desires. Self-observation must recover these emotional seeds of the dramatization of life if real control of habits is to occur. Otherwise, mere control of habits will itself become a form of dramatized conflict or warfare with the motives of our lives. Food desires, sex desires, relational desires, desires for experience and acquisition, for rest, for release, for attention, for solitude, for life, for death, the whole pattern of desires must come under the view of consciousness, the aspects of the conflicts must be differentiated, and habits must be controlled to serve well-being or the pleasurable and effective play of Life.

This whole process is truly possible only in the midst of the prolonged occasion of spiritual life in practice, since the mere mechanical and analytical attempts at self-liberation and self-healing do not undermine the principal emotion or seat of conflict, which is the intention to identify with a separate self sense and to reject and forget the prior and natural Condition of Unqualified or Divine Consciousness.”
― Adi Da Samraj, The Eating Gorilla Comes in Peace: The Transcendental Principle of Life Applied to Diet and the Regenerative Discipline of True Health

tags: desire, habit, spiritual-path

6 likes

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