SuperstarNeilC
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Adi Da Samaj: Growing Up in Adidam (Rachel Kuhn)
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ADIDAM - Adi Da Samraj
- Thread starter SuperstarNeilC
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Adi Da Samaj: Growing Up in Adidam (Rachel Kuhn)
SuperstarNeilC
Well-known member
Adi Da Samraj: Criticizes the “Conventional Religionists”
Veda
Well-known member
Quote about Scientology from Franklin Jones' first book.
(Now deleted from the book.)
During the late 1960s, for a while, Jones was a staff member, and auditor, at the New York Org.
SuperstarNeilC
Well-known member
Adi Da Samraj: Overcoming the “problem” of mind
SuperstarNeilC
Well-known member
HelluvaHoax!
Well-known member
.
With superhuman focus, intensity and courageous commitment, I somehow managed to watch the first three minutes and forty-five seconds.
One of the most cringefully creepy things I have ever seen.
And magnifying that by a factor of 1,000,000 is the nearly continuous nervous "knowing" laughter of the believers who hung on his every word and facial nuance as if he was God manifest on earth.
The guy is repulsive beyond description, but there they were--soaking it all in and having huge "wins" with his metaphysical nonsense. This was Hubbard and a thousand other "advanced gurus" from the last 10,000 years, exploiting the sycophants marks who already are smiling and agreeing before he begins speaking each sentence.
Pathetic, really pathetic. Hard to watch---having been in Scientology at one time.
Jeez, awful! LOL!!!
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Karen#1
Well-known member
From Wikipedia ~~
Back in New York, Adi Da and wife Nina became members and then employees of the Church of Scientology.[45] Following Scientology protocol, he wrote Rudi a letter severing all contact.[46][47]
After a little more than a year of involvement, Adi Da left Scientology. He then returned to India for a month-long visit in early 1969, during which Swami Muktananda authorized him to initiate others into Siddha Yoga.[48][49]
Back in New York, Adi Da and wife Nina became members and then employees of the Church of Scientology.[45] Following Scientology protocol, he wrote Rudi a letter severing all contact.[46][47]
After a little more than a year of involvement, Adi Da left Scientology. He then returned to India for a month-long visit in early 1969, during which Swami Muktananda authorized him to initiate others into Siddha Yoga.[48][49]
Cat's Squirrel
Well-known member
I've got several of his books from the 1980s, and as I've said before I still think the guy had something at one point though he could well have lost it later. Unlike Hubbard, he was a real-life university graduate, from Columbia (in philosophy).
Maybe Ken Wilber saw it when he wrote an introduction to one of his books, though he later turned against Jones (I can't be bothered with this latest incarnation of his name, which is one of several - Da Free John, Bubba Free John, Da Avabhasa etc.) and his "Crazy Wisdom" philosophy.
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HelluvaHoax!
Well-known member
I am admittedly intolerant of gurus (especially those named "Bubba Free John").
I am burned out on gurus. They are all frauds.
Occasionally they are able to patch together a sentence or a paragraph that makes some sense, but they are all just humans—like everyone else. They don't have special powers or cosmic consciousness or anything else of he sort.
If people want to give them money or time or praise, i have no problem with it.
.
SuperstarNeilC
Well-known member
QUOTE
I saw Adi Da in 2005 in many occasions, and my personal experience after having studied most of the alternatives was that Adi Da is by far the Greatest Master of all.
//// //// //// ////
KEN WILBER: "I have not, and have never, renounced Da as Realizer, nor have I in any way abandoned my love and devotion for Him. . . . I have sat in satsang with Master Adi Da, and with numerous other great Adepts, and my own opinion is that Master Adi Da is the living Sat-Guru. . . Many people have made their way to Master Da because of my own writings. I am completely happy about that, and I hope I can continue that positive influence. At the same time, I have received an enormous amount of grief, from personal and professional quarters, for my endorsements. I do not regret those endorsements, nor do I retract them. . . . I affirm my own love and devotion to the living Sat-Guru, and I hope my work will continue to bring students to the Way of the Heart. . . . I send my best wishes and love to the Community, and a deep bow to Master Adi Da."
I saw Adi Da in 2005 in many occasions, and my personal experience after having studied most of the alternatives was that Adi Da is by far the Greatest Master of all.
//// //// //// ////
KEN WILBER: "I have not, and have never, renounced Da as Realizer, nor have I in any way abandoned my love and devotion for Him. . . . I have sat in satsang with Master Adi Da, and with numerous other great Adepts, and my own opinion is that Master Adi Da is the living Sat-Guru. . . Many people have made their way to Master Da because of my own writings. I am completely happy about that, and I hope I can continue that positive influence. At the same time, I have received an enormous amount of grief, from personal and professional quarters, for my endorsements. I do not regret those endorsements, nor do I retract them. . . . I affirm my own love and devotion to the living Sat-Guru, and I hope my work will continue to bring students to the Way of the Heart. . . . I send my best wishes and love to the Community, and a deep bow to Master Adi Da."
SuperstarNeilC
Well-known member
QUOTE
I lived with Adi Da. It was truly amazing. There is or was nothing like it. His condition was a 24/7 experience in his proximity....not something that was reserved for a retreat of some sort of lucky moment....it was full on all the time. All day all night. He was a constant source miracle really....his words were pregnant with his realization. He could be talking about sandwiches and you'd become God-realized from it. It was remarkable. I left.
I don't care what ANYONE says....almost NOBODY was willing to bring their innocent sister to this scene. Some long-term devotees shared that THEY were very reticent to bring family, and they weren't sure why. My feeling was that for some of us crazy spiritual cowboys, we'd risk it all with him. But this was NOT for everyone. It was not a simple road, this life with Da. It was the ultimate risk. It was a permanent thing. You can never back out, once you stepped inside that temple. He was dangerous. It was permanent, his presence. You could never retract it, NEVER.
He had ridiculously powerful Siddhis that were manifest all the time, every time. He was far beyond any other "guru" I'd met....light years beyond. "RADICAL" in his own description....it was so far beyond the typical "teacher" scenario. A bazillion miles past shaktipat and all that adolescent stuff. This was so far outside the box, it was almost impossible to even get in the doors, let alone meet him, and for good reason. You had to be ready for this on some odd, never before level.
The average "seeker" type would likely have a total breakdown, a crisis, and be carted off if they were allowed to get close to this massive, blazing event we call Adi Da. It's impossible to describe the implications of his presence here. IT WAS NOT JUST AN INTENSE VERSION OF WHAT WE KNOW HAS COME BEFORE- IT WAS UNPRECEDENTED IN THIS WORLD.....For the record, it wasn't an energetic thing, which is sort of implied in this video. Far from it. Shaktipat was an energetic path. Adi Da was not that kind of thing you might be thinking of..... amplified. No sir. NOT THAT! His transmission was pure consciousness from pure consciousness and pure consciousness only, and had a distinctly different quality from the usual "energies" people either experience or associate with "spiritual" crap. It was BEYOND that entire realm of (heightened material energy)experience. That's why it was indeed radical. It immediately erased any prior idea as to what was spiritual transmission. Your cells knew it. IMMEDIATELY! It was all at once, like a tidal wave.
It's not for the masses...I'm sorry, but it was not for the general public and maybe never will be. Unless you sat with him, his videos, the stories...they probably won't communicate the radical state or condition of being that I BECAME in that room as he meditated all of us into HIM. Maybe the videos will do it for some, but I'm not sure. Sitting with him was so incredible....you can't even describe it. Rick Archer ( nice guy) has one idea a bit off here. It wasn't like voltage. It wasn't that you couldn't "physically" handle the transmission. That's not why it was so intense. (although it was at the same time, intense ) BUT It was intense because of the absolute nature of his transmission- totally IT.....which shattered any experience or concept you ever had... which would make all these other supposed "awakened" people realize what fools they are, discussing non-duality and pretending to have some kind of "realization." All that goes out the window, in the presence of Da.
Ken Wilbur retracted his "endorsement" of Adi Da, because he is a corporate Yogi and quite frankly, a self-deluded fool. He's nothing and his endorsement meant nothing to me at least. I thought his endorsement was a big zero... It was just Ken's need to associate himself with superior beings to validate himself somehow (which is not how it works hello). Then, when he found out that Da was controversial....he ran for the hills. He didn't want to jeopardize his phony businesses, so he played it safe, and said Da was good but bad but okay but not quite okay....Ken Wilbur has no clue. He's the Swami Rama of publishing. I'm sure he's done well in the yogic goldrush, formulated for fools and products and wellness retreats. The pathway to hell is paved by good publications.
Anyway...back to Adi Da. He was certainly controversial, there were some questionable things....but I loved him. And he was packing the ultimate heat and there was no fooling around about it. It was incredible. It was NOT for all people. It was too intense and too radical and too shattering.
His devotees were cool. Courageous pioneers who went way out on a limb with it. They threw everything away and went on this crazy, wild event with Da. I loved those people, so much. Very cool....the whole crazy thing. It was....almost not believable that it could even happen. But it did happen. I was there. I love Da because of it (and his core devotees) It was so great, words will never do him justice, or the whole event. His core devotees....many so brilliant, so adept, and so courageous and adventurous, so loyal and so resilient....they deserve a big round of love applause because they served this madman Godman for their entire lives....and it wasn't easy at all. But it was truly great! If you're going to come to a world, what else would you rather do?
I lived with Adi Da. It was truly amazing. There is or was nothing like it. His condition was a 24/7 experience in his proximity....not something that was reserved for a retreat of some sort of lucky moment....it was full on all the time. All day all night. He was a constant source miracle really....his words were pregnant with his realization. He could be talking about sandwiches and you'd become God-realized from it. It was remarkable. I left.
I don't care what ANYONE says....almost NOBODY was willing to bring their innocent sister to this scene. Some long-term devotees shared that THEY were very reticent to bring family, and they weren't sure why. My feeling was that for some of us crazy spiritual cowboys, we'd risk it all with him. But this was NOT for everyone. It was not a simple road, this life with Da. It was the ultimate risk. It was a permanent thing. You can never back out, once you stepped inside that temple. He was dangerous. It was permanent, his presence. You could never retract it, NEVER.
He had ridiculously powerful Siddhis that were manifest all the time, every time. He was far beyond any other "guru" I'd met....light years beyond. "RADICAL" in his own description....it was so far beyond the typical "teacher" scenario. A bazillion miles past shaktipat and all that adolescent stuff. This was so far outside the box, it was almost impossible to even get in the doors, let alone meet him, and for good reason. You had to be ready for this on some odd, never before level.
The average "seeker" type would likely have a total breakdown, a crisis, and be carted off if they were allowed to get close to this massive, blazing event we call Adi Da. It's impossible to describe the implications of his presence here. IT WAS NOT JUST AN INTENSE VERSION OF WHAT WE KNOW HAS COME BEFORE- IT WAS UNPRECEDENTED IN THIS WORLD.....For the record, it wasn't an energetic thing, which is sort of implied in this video. Far from it. Shaktipat was an energetic path. Adi Da was not that kind of thing you might be thinking of..... amplified. No sir. NOT THAT! His transmission was pure consciousness from pure consciousness and pure consciousness only, and had a distinctly different quality from the usual "energies" people either experience or associate with "spiritual" crap. It was BEYOND that entire realm of (heightened material energy)experience. That's why it was indeed radical. It immediately erased any prior idea as to what was spiritual transmission. Your cells knew it. IMMEDIATELY! It was all at once, like a tidal wave.
It's not for the masses...I'm sorry, but it was not for the general public and maybe never will be. Unless you sat with him, his videos, the stories...they probably won't communicate the radical state or condition of being that I BECAME in that room as he meditated all of us into HIM. Maybe the videos will do it for some, but I'm not sure. Sitting with him was so incredible....you can't even describe it. Rick Archer ( nice guy) has one idea a bit off here. It wasn't like voltage. It wasn't that you couldn't "physically" handle the transmission. That's not why it was so intense. (although it was at the same time, intense ) BUT It was intense because of the absolute nature of his transmission- totally IT.....which shattered any experience or concept you ever had... which would make all these other supposed "awakened" people realize what fools they are, discussing non-duality and pretending to have some kind of "realization." All that goes out the window, in the presence of Da.
Ken Wilbur retracted his "endorsement" of Adi Da, because he is a corporate Yogi and quite frankly, a self-deluded fool. He's nothing and his endorsement meant nothing to me at least. I thought his endorsement was a big zero... It was just Ken's need to associate himself with superior beings to validate himself somehow (which is not how it works hello). Then, when he found out that Da was controversial....he ran for the hills. He didn't want to jeopardize his phony businesses, so he played it safe, and said Da was good but bad but okay but not quite okay....Ken Wilbur has no clue. He's the Swami Rama of publishing. I'm sure he's done well in the yogic goldrush, formulated for fools and products and wellness retreats. The pathway to hell is paved by good publications.
Anyway...back to Adi Da. He was certainly controversial, there were some questionable things....but I loved him. And he was packing the ultimate heat and there was no fooling around about it. It was incredible. It was NOT for all people. It was too intense and too radical and too shattering.
His devotees were cool. Courageous pioneers who went way out on a limb with it. They threw everything away and went on this crazy, wild event with Da. I loved those people, so much. Very cool....the whole crazy thing. It was....almost not believable that it could even happen. But it did happen. I was there. I love Da because of it (and his core devotees) It was so great, words will never do him justice, or the whole event. His core devotees....many so brilliant, so adept, and so courageous and adventurous, so loyal and so resilient....they deserve a big round of love applause because they served this madman Godman for their entire lives....and it wasn't easy at all. But it was truly great! If you're going to come to a world, what else would you rather do?
Karakorum
Ron is the source that will lead you to grief
From follower to guru. Just like ol' man Ron himself.
Veda
Well-known member
"It's amazing but almost any policy letter, technical bulletin or book will give me what I need, which is not necessarily the actual concept that I'm needing but the viewpoint again. LRH's viewpoint."
The above quote was by Chick Corea, during an "OT Summit," held during the Autumn of 1976.
Personality cults have similarities.
This is off topic, but the Summit was for Scientology celebrities who were OT 3 or above. The OTs spoke obliquely about how quiet their space is, and how nice it is to be alone, etc. It was necessary to be vague so as to not "re-stimulate" those who are at lower levels of awareness.
Soon after, in November, Quentin Hubbard would commit suicide, and by July of the next year, Hubbard's cloak & dagger activities would result in FBI raids, leading to yet another emotional and physical breakdown which resulted in his "discovering" that the universe was "crawling" - and that OT 3s and above were also "crawling" - with the same stuff that these OTs, with total OT certainty, knew - just a year earlier - they had eliminated from their personal spaces.
The whim of the guru instantly changes the "reality" of the followers.
The guru's followers were amazed and awe struck by his art.
SuperstarNeilC
Well-known member
QUOTE
If we could examine the long history of spiritual traditions and spiritual masters would we discover that practitioners of various paths or students and devotees of various masters and teachers had awakened or grown significantly in maturity through their involvement in spiritual life?
The evidence of even the last two centuries would indicate that awakening or spiritual advancement from devotees of a specific master is very rare, this is true in Adi Da's case, but we could say the same about a whole bunch of realizers, ranging from Ramana Maharshi, to Bhagavan Nytyananda who made the statement that "most people had come to him for lottery numbers".
Spirituality can be just as much a vehicle for creating a self image or egoic construct, then being involved in any other pursuit. One could argue that the effort of individuals to gather around a specific idea, theme, or person, thereby constructing or re-enforcing their identity or self image, is what constitutes a cult. Indeed, I do believe that is the definition of a cult and this could be applied to political parties or the boy scouts for that matter, but where the definition becomes loaded, is when cults are associated with spiritual paths and spiritual teachers, where there is always the potential danger of abuse of power and exploitation.
Adi Da was very critical of this egoic tendency, because cultic behavior is the very antithesis of self transcending practice leading to growth and awakening, in any context of spiritual practice. Cultism immediately transform any esoteric school which should result in individual and collective transformation into exoteric belief based dependency.
This was my personal discovery in my time as a practitioner of the Way of The Heart, specifically when I spent 2 years serving very close around Adi Da. My discovery was that as a an individual involved in the activity of what he termed 'self contraction' aka 'egoity', I actually wanted nothing to do with real spiritual life, and was utilizing spirituality as a means to construct an identity and prop up a self image. It was a devastating discovery, since I had spent a good 30 years of my life involved in spiritual pursuit having come to Adi Da in 1989.
In the midst of this reflection in Adi Da's company in 2007, I had to see all that I had gleamed over and suppressed as a cultist, not only in terms of my own liabilities, but also in terms of the sangha, cultural context around Adi Da,, and Adi Da himself.
So I completely resonate with what Terry is saying here, since it has been my experience, to wrestle with this paradox of having come across a genuine spiritual Master Realizer Spirit Baptizer whom I utterly fell in love with, and witnessed on a daily basis the signs of his Heart Transmission Siddhi which lifts the veils of duality revealing unspeakable Love-Bliss that breaks the heart in Ecstatic Communion with the Irreducible Source Condition of all things, while also witnessing for lack of a better word, so much cultic dysfunctionality around Adi Da and the part he played in that dynamic.
Getting back to my original point, I think maybe there are two areas of investigation and consideration here. The first, how to navigate the paradoxical nature of various Masters, who function in a crazy wise context, display genuine signs of realization, spiritual transmission, genius and brilliance, who disseminate great esoteric teachings, yet seem to cross the line on a range of other issues.
The second, the sobering acknowledgement of the egoic liabilities we all represent as spiritual practitioners falling into the pitfalls of cultic behavior, which may be indicative as to why so few aspirants who have come to spiritual Masters have awakened or significantly matured. Without wanting to sound righteous and judgmental or disrespectful but even some of the comments on this short thread, come off sounding quite cultic.
To finish off, I left Adi Da personal company in late July 2007, was not re-associated with the community till 2012 and as a practitioner in 2017 and I am still going through a lot to process the paradoxical nature of this consideration relative to Adi Da. Its really challenging for me right now, and I see a great struggle and upheaval taking place in the community of Adi Da's devotees with all sorts of signs including cultism. So this kind of dialogue is crucial and important if any sangha or individual is to authenticate their practice, and I think trust is at the heart of that capacity.
If we could examine the long history of spiritual traditions and spiritual masters would we discover that practitioners of various paths or students and devotees of various masters and teachers had awakened or grown significantly in maturity through their involvement in spiritual life?
The evidence of even the last two centuries would indicate that awakening or spiritual advancement from devotees of a specific master is very rare, this is true in Adi Da's case, but we could say the same about a whole bunch of realizers, ranging from Ramana Maharshi, to Bhagavan Nytyananda who made the statement that "most people had come to him for lottery numbers".
Spirituality can be just as much a vehicle for creating a self image or egoic construct, then being involved in any other pursuit. One could argue that the effort of individuals to gather around a specific idea, theme, or person, thereby constructing or re-enforcing their identity or self image, is what constitutes a cult. Indeed, I do believe that is the definition of a cult and this could be applied to political parties or the boy scouts for that matter, but where the definition becomes loaded, is when cults are associated with spiritual paths and spiritual teachers, where there is always the potential danger of abuse of power and exploitation.
Adi Da was very critical of this egoic tendency, because cultic behavior is the very antithesis of self transcending practice leading to growth and awakening, in any context of spiritual practice. Cultism immediately transform any esoteric school which should result in individual and collective transformation into exoteric belief based dependency.
This was my personal discovery in my time as a practitioner of the Way of The Heart, specifically when I spent 2 years serving very close around Adi Da. My discovery was that as a an individual involved in the activity of what he termed 'self contraction' aka 'egoity', I actually wanted nothing to do with real spiritual life, and was utilizing spirituality as a means to construct an identity and prop up a self image. It was a devastating discovery, since I had spent a good 30 years of my life involved in spiritual pursuit having come to Adi Da in 1989.
In the midst of this reflection in Adi Da's company in 2007, I had to see all that I had gleamed over and suppressed as a cultist, not only in terms of my own liabilities, but also in terms of the sangha, cultural context around Adi Da,, and Adi Da himself.
So I completely resonate with what Terry is saying here, since it has been my experience, to wrestle with this paradox of having come across a genuine spiritual Master Realizer Spirit Baptizer whom I utterly fell in love with, and witnessed on a daily basis the signs of his Heart Transmission Siddhi which lifts the veils of duality revealing unspeakable Love-Bliss that breaks the heart in Ecstatic Communion with the Irreducible Source Condition of all things, while also witnessing for lack of a better word, so much cultic dysfunctionality around Adi Da and the part he played in that dynamic.
Getting back to my original point, I think maybe there are two areas of investigation and consideration here. The first, how to navigate the paradoxical nature of various Masters, who function in a crazy wise context, display genuine signs of realization, spiritual transmission, genius and brilliance, who disseminate great esoteric teachings, yet seem to cross the line on a range of other issues.
The second, the sobering acknowledgement of the egoic liabilities we all represent as spiritual practitioners falling into the pitfalls of cultic behavior, which may be indicative as to why so few aspirants who have come to spiritual Masters have awakened or significantly matured. Without wanting to sound righteous and judgmental or disrespectful but even some of the comments on this short thread, come off sounding quite cultic.
To finish off, I left Adi Da personal company in late July 2007, was not re-associated with the community till 2012 and as a practitioner in 2017 and I am still going through a lot to process the paradoxical nature of this consideration relative to Adi Da. Its really challenging for me right now, and I see a great struggle and upheaval taking place in the community of Adi Da's devotees with all sorts of signs including cultism. So this kind of dialogue is crucial and important if any sangha or individual is to authenticate their practice, and I think trust is at the heart of that capacity.
Cat's Squirrel
Well-known member
Thanks for your posts Neil, that's really interesting. It's easy to make too much of Jones's time in Scientology, but from his autobiographical account in "The Knee Of Listening" I would say that Rudi (Albert Rudolph) was probably a more important influence on him, because Rudi was his kundalini yoga teacher. (He was also Stephen Levine's teacher at one point.)
SuperstarNeilC
Well-known member
SuperstarNeilC
Well-known member
SuperstarNeilC
Well-known member
Amazon review of the book “Adi Da Samraj: Realized or/and Deluded?”
Franklin Jones, also known as Bubba Free John, Da Love Ananda, Adi Da, and many other appellations besides, was quite the character. Even as a relatively young man he was lauded by spiritual elites; Ken Wilber, in 1979, wrote of him:
"Whatever else might be initially said, the event of Bubba Free John is an occasion for rejoicing, because -- without any doubt whatsoever -- he is destined to be recognized as the first Western-born Avatar (World Teacher) to appear in the history of the world. For the other great avatars -- Christ, Gautama, Krishna -- all have been Asian. But here, for the first time, is a Western-born Spiritual Master of the ultimate degree."
At the same time he was the quintessential cult figure, an abusive, predatory and whimsical sexual-spiritual bully who lorded it over his god-besotted, harebrained disciples. Wrote Mark Miller, the former boyfriend of one of Jones' "spiritual wives":
"DFJ [Da Free John] gave her herpes and told her it was prasad [spiritual food] from the Guru to help her work through her bad c**t karma... He also gave it to a lot of other women, and you can't really say it was by accident. He knew he was contagious but he had sex anyway because he could just explain it as a form of blessing for the women he gave it to... DFJ made another friend of mine give three guys oral sex, one after the other, and then he had sex with her himself. She was molested as a child and had some sexual hang-ups, so this really traumatized her, making her do this group thing" (91).
William Patrick Patterson's book is the first assessment of this man of many sides and extremes.
I've long been curious about Franklin Jones--how could one not be after Wilber's hyperbolic, laudatory ejaculations?--so when I found this volume on Amazon I snatched it up with hardly a thought, even though the book did not appear to have been properly published. Indeed, no reputable publisher makes a book cover like that; mine has "review copy" stamped on the inside cover, plus there are a zillion typos and sentences needing to be rewritten. Clearly this is not a finished product. I don't know if a polished edition will ever emerge--I certainly hope so--but I still read the work with relish and plowed through it at a pace. I suspect you'll do the same.
So, what's inside?
The actual biography is a mere five chapters at around a hundred pages. While a lot more could certainly have been said, Patterson manages to give you the gist of the man in this relatively short space. There is almost nothing about Jones' boyhood, which is a shame because one really has to wonder what sort of upbringing might have formed such a thoroughly narcissistic, exploitive and charismatic personality. (The suggestion of sexual molestation by his Lutheran minister is made, almost as an afterthought, on page 135. Jones' autobiography The Knee of Listening supports this.) By page two he's already in college. Clearly, Jones was a gifted student--he went to Columbia and thence to Stanford, and the snippets from his master's thesis on Gertrude Stein (at the back of the book) indicate not only a born writer but a subtle intellect as well. During this time he participated in drug experiments and flung himself headlong into hedonism before finally recognizing that way as a dead end. And here begins his real story.
To make it short: he connected up first with an Asian imports store owner and kundalini yoga master named Albert Rudolph (aka "Rudi"), through whom he was introduced to Swami Muktananda. Under Muktananda's tutelage Jones came into his own--and then left him. Finally, at the Vedanta Society Temple in Hollywood he attained his final realization:
"It was as if I had walked through myself. Such a state is perfectly spontaneous. It has no way of watching itself. It has no way to internalize or structure itself. It is Divine madness. The Self, the Heart is perfect madness. There is not a jot of form within it. There is no thing. No thing has happened. There is not a single movement in consciousness. And that is its blissfulness" (26).
Jones made his career afterwards as a guru and self-proclaimed Avatar. He self-published on a massive scale, made the evening news with sex scandals, got fatter and fatter, and finished his days hiding out on a private Fijian island with a gaggle of flunkies, er...I mean groupies. Finally, the rock star lifestyle caught up with him and he died of a massive heart attack at the oh-so-appropriate age of 69.
Those are the general biographical details. But what makes the story particularly compelling is the man's bona fide yogic energy--his shakti--and his often brilliant insights into the contemplative life. Franklin Jones was amoral. He was a narcissist and megalomaniac, a wife batterer, sexual pervert and drug addict. He was even, perhaps, delusional and psychotic. But he was not a fraud; he was too brilliant to need to fake. Meaning, I have no doubt he was a natural born spiritual genius, though often malevolent, abusive and manipulative as the worst cult leader can be. (He learned much of his art from Scientology, after all.) Meaning, while you would never want to join his club, reading his books, especially their earliest editions, may not be a bad idea. His entire lineage--that of the Kashmiri siddhas--has much to teach and is filled with fascinating characters. In addition to the aforementioned Rudi and Muktananda is the greatest of them all, Bhagwan Nityananda.
So, let this rough cut biography be a starter for you. You can learn something from rogues as well as saints, so why not a rogue saint? This story points out how sublime and how horrific the human situation really can be; we are all, in our own little ways, Franklin Jones.
Franklin Jones, also known as Bubba Free John, Da Love Ananda, Adi Da, and many other appellations besides, was quite the character. Even as a relatively young man he was lauded by spiritual elites; Ken Wilber, in 1979, wrote of him:
"Whatever else might be initially said, the event of Bubba Free John is an occasion for rejoicing, because -- without any doubt whatsoever -- he is destined to be recognized as the first Western-born Avatar (World Teacher) to appear in the history of the world. For the other great avatars -- Christ, Gautama, Krishna -- all have been Asian. But here, for the first time, is a Western-born Spiritual Master of the ultimate degree."
At the same time he was the quintessential cult figure, an abusive, predatory and whimsical sexual-spiritual bully who lorded it over his god-besotted, harebrained disciples. Wrote Mark Miller, the former boyfriend of one of Jones' "spiritual wives":
"DFJ [Da Free John] gave her herpes and told her it was prasad [spiritual food] from the Guru to help her work through her bad c**t karma... He also gave it to a lot of other women, and you can't really say it was by accident. He knew he was contagious but he had sex anyway because he could just explain it as a form of blessing for the women he gave it to... DFJ made another friend of mine give three guys oral sex, one after the other, and then he had sex with her himself. She was molested as a child and had some sexual hang-ups, so this really traumatized her, making her do this group thing" (91).
William Patrick Patterson's book is the first assessment of this man of many sides and extremes.
I've long been curious about Franklin Jones--how could one not be after Wilber's hyperbolic, laudatory ejaculations?--so when I found this volume on Amazon I snatched it up with hardly a thought, even though the book did not appear to have been properly published. Indeed, no reputable publisher makes a book cover like that; mine has "review copy" stamped on the inside cover, plus there are a zillion typos and sentences needing to be rewritten. Clearly this is not a finished product. I don't know if a polished edition will ever emerge--I certainly hope so--but I still read the work with relish and plowed through it at a pace. I suspect you'll do the same.
So, what's inside?
The actual biography is a mere five chapters at around a hundred pages. While a lot more could certainly have been said, Patterson manages to give you the gist of the man in this relatively short space. There is almost nothing about Jones' boyhood, which is a shame because one really has to wonder what sort of upbringing might have formed such a thoroughly narcissistic, exploitive and charismatic personality. (The suggestion of sexual molestation by his Lutheran minister is made, almost as an afterthought, on page 135. Jones' autobiography The Knee of Listening supports this.) By page two he's already in college. Clearly, Jones was a gifted student--he went to Columbia and thence to Stanford, and the snippets from his master's thesis on Gertrude Stein (at the back of the book) indicate not only a born writer but a subtle intellect as well. During this time he participated in drug experiments and flung himself headlong into hedonism before finally recognizing that way as a dead end. And here begins his real story.
To make it short: he connected up first with an Asian imports store owner and kundalini yoga master named Albert Rudolph (aka "Rudi"), through whom he was introduced to Swami Muktananda. Under Muktananda's tutelage Jones came into his own--and then left him. Finally, at the Vedanta Society Temple in Hollywood he attained his final realization:
"It was as if I had walked through myself. Such a state is perfectly spontaneous. It has no way of watching itself. It has no way to internalize or structure itself. It is Divine madness. The Self, the Heart is perfect madness. There is not a jot of form within it. There is no thing. No thing has happened. There is not a single movement in consciousness. And that is its blissfulness" (26).
Jones made his career afterwards as a guru and self-proclaimed Avatar. He self-published on a massive scale, made the evening news with sex scandals, got fatter and fatter, and finished his days hiding out on a private Fijian island with a gaggle of flunkies, er...I mean groupies. Finally, the rock star lifestyle caught up with him and he died of a massive heart attack at the oh-so-appropriate age of 69.
Those are the general biographical details. But what makes the story particularly compelling is the man's bona fide yogic energy--his shakti--and his often brilliant insights into the contemplative life. Franklin Jones was amoral. He was a narcissist and megalomaniac, a wife batterer, sexual pervert and drug addict. He was even, perhaps, delusional and psychotic. But he was not a fraud; he was too brilliant to need to fake. Meaning, I have no doubt he was a natural born spiritual genius, though often malevolent, abusive and manipulative as the worst cult leader can be. (He learned much of his art from Scientology, after all.) Meaning, while you would never want to join his club, reading his books, especially their earliest editions, may not be a bad idea. His entire lineage--that of the Kashmiri siddhas--has much to teach and is filled with fascinating characters. In addition to the aforementioned Rudi and Muktananda is the greatest of them all, Bhagwan Nityananda.
So, let this rough cut biography be a starter for you. You can learn something from rogues as well as saints, so why not a rogue saint? This story points out how sublime and how horrific the human situation really can be; we are all, in our own little ways, Franklin Jones.
Cat's Squirrel
Well-known member
Good post. Here's a thread I started about Franklin Jones on the old board, which starts with "The Man Of Understanding" which gives something of the flavour of his writing;
The Man of Understanding
This is the epilogue of Da Free John's 1971 book, "The Knee of Listening". It's worth a read, whatever you make of it. Epilogue: The Man of Understanding The man of understanding is not entranced. He is not elsewhere. He is not having an experience. He is not passionless and inoffensive. He...
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