The Way of Adidam

The Way of Adidam (or the Way of the Heart) is a spiritual movement founded by Adi Da Samraj in 1970. The core teachings have had an impact on a cross section of contemporary spiritual dialogue. Alan Watts, in reference to Adi Da has said, "It is obvious, from all sorts of subtle details, that he knows what IT's all AbOUT." Shambala master Chögyam Trungpa, has stated in commendation of the establishment of Adidam, "It is tremendously difficult to begin a new tradition." . Noted author and mystic Ken Wilber, initially a strong supporter, has more recently advocated a cautionary view of Adidam.

Principles

Adidam is based on devotional recognition of Adi Da as one who has realized the ultimate divine condition. The premises of Adidam are:

  • The cause of suffering is what Adi Da calls the egoic "self-contraction", wherein consciousness turns in upon itself, creating a false sense of separation from its own boundless condition. This results in bondage to apparently separate objects, and even to attention itself. The characteristic disposition of a self-contracted ego is the "avoidance of relationship" and the consequent appearance of separate point of view.
  • The avatar (or divine incarnation) appears in human time to re-establish Dharma (eternal truth) and to bring beings back to the fullest realization of their own native condition of love-bliss.
  • The ego (or activity of separation) cannot undo itself. Grace is the mechanism by which the ego can be undone, and is operative in devotional communion (or yoga) with the realizer.
  • By turning the four faculties of body, emotion, mind and breath to the realizer in every moment, the self-contraction is transcended in each moment and ultimately made obsolete through dis-use.
  • The way of Adidam is not a "technique" to be applied by an ego, but a practice to be entered into in relation to the realizer (Adi Da.) This practice creates the conditions in which every egoic activity is reflected back and examined in detail, leading to progressive self-understanding and ultimately to perfect self-realization.

Hermitage Ashrams and Communities

Adi Da and his devotees have established five Hermitage Ashrams or places empowered by him as guru or spiritual teacher to be used principally for spiritual practice and meditation retreats and in Adidam philosophy to function as spiritual blessing points of influence.

The main Hermitage Ashram is called Is-Da Loka (formerly Adi Da Samrajashram) and covers the Fijian Island of Naitauba. Others are The Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary, Love's Point Hermitage and Tat Sundaram Hermitage, all in Northern California and Da Love-Ananda Mahal in Kauai, Hawaii. There are a number of Adidam communities around the world .

Life Disciplines

According to Adidam, formal devotees of Adi Da can choose to perform disciplines including meditation, sacramental worship, financial contributions, study, service, diet, yoga and formal exercise, cooperative living, regular work, sexuality, and spiritual retreats. Adidam states degree to which the disciplines are engaged depends on the devotee's level of participation, and their careful consideration of the disciplines.

The purpose of these disciplines is twofold. The practical result is the establishment of balance and equanimity in the life of the devotee, so that he or she is better fitted to spiritual life. However, the "esoteric" principal purpose is that of ego-transcendence, served by turning ordinary activity such as eating into conscious turning of attention towards the realizer.

Comparison of Adidam to Other Traditions

Buddhism

In Adidam as with Buddhism, there is no "other" creator-God. The Buddha was silent on the subject of God altogether. In Adidam, reality itself is acknowledged to be divine, conscious and acausal. The Buddha's primary concern was with the cessation of suffering, and so did not entertain questions that were merely speculative or not directly applicable to realization. The ultimate realization in Buddhism is the state of nirvana, or "residue-less" non-existence. In Adidam, the ultimate (or seventh-stage) state realization is that of non-separate unity with undifferentiated, absolute self-existing conscious light.

Advaita Vedanta

Advaita Vedanta, or the non-dualistic "completion" of the Vedantic tradition, is concerned with the realization of the absolute. Ramakrishna and Ramana Maharshi are among the principal modern exponents of this tradition. In Advaita Vedanta as in Adidam, self-realization is said to be perfect when there is perfectly egoless consciousness.

Understanding Adidam and the Traditions in context of the Seven Stages

Adi Da has considered all traditional approaches to religion and spirituality in the context of what he calls the seven stages of life. The first three stages of life have to do with basic survival: money, food and [...]. These stages can occupy an entire lifetime, or even several lifetimes, but in the case of the spiritual aspirant are identified with the first two decades of life. It is only when issues around money, food and [...] are dealt with that real spiritual life can begin in the fourth stage. This stage is when spiritual yearning towards realization awakens. In the fifth stage, the individual directs life energy "above" towards mystical experience in the subtle dimension. In the sixth stage, outward phenomena are excluded in favor of inward attention. The sixth stage is also a conditional stage (i.e. maintained by effort), and is the highest stage attained by the traditions, according to Adi Da. The seventh stage, which, despite being numerically sequential to the sixth stage, is not in fact "subsequent to" it. In this stage the "prior" condition of all existence is realized perfectly. Adi Da claims to be the first seventh-stage realizer (and only seventh-stage adept-realizer, i.e. teacher of the seventh stage.) According to him, his appearance was due to the absence of the full and complete seventh stage teaching in the manifest world.

The Seventh Stage Realization

In the seventh stage realization described by Adi Da, existence is discovered to be divine from the beginning. Nothing is excluded, but there is no difference either. There is only what he calls "the Divine Self-Domain." While the first six stages are characterized by "avoidance of relationship" in the perfect seventh stage realization there is no relatedness, since there is only One. Thus there is no object, and no difference either. There is only the indivisible "self-radiant" light.

Adi Da indicates that there are no "external" measures to determine whether an individual is a seventh stage realizer. Instead, reality "tacitly authenticates" the perfect realization of itself.