Real God Is the Indivisible Oneness of Unbroken Light (Ruchira Adi Da Samraj)
The Privatization of God
[My 3-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Real God is the Indivisible Oneness of Unbroken Light: The Seventeen Companions of the True dawn Horse” by Ruchira Adi Da Samraj.]
I first read this book about a dozen years ago, when my friend, a Daist, whom I had turned on to Adi Da (then Franklin Jones) in 1973, sent me a copy. With some spare time on my hands this holiday season, I decided to give it a second read.
The book (first published in 1999) features some brilliant spiritual and philosophical arguments from the late Da (1939-2008), and some that the spiritual cognoscenti will reject and criticize.
First the good. Da makes mincemeat of the exoteric atheistic arguments proffered by the modern academic reductionists and scientific materialists. This book was written before the ascendancy of “the Four Horsemen” (Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens, Harris) and others following in their footsteps -- but it renders their arguments kingergarden prattle in the face of those who who have “cracked the cosmic code.”
Here’s an example of Da’s discourse on “Real God”:
“Real God is is Existence itself, and Existence Itself cannot (as Existence Itself) be inspected, or objectively ‘known’ – not even by Real God! Existence Itself (or the existence of Real God, or even the existence of any one or any ‘thing’) Is (As Such) Unknowable – an Irreducible (and Invisible) Mystery. Relative to “questions” of existence, every one and every ‘thing,’ is (inherently, and irreducibly) in a permanent state of Divine Ignorance (As, also, is Real God). Therefore, Real God Is (and cannot, otherwise, be) ‘Known’only in (or to) Native (or Inherent, and, therefore, truly Divine) Ignorance.”
Da’s argument for “Divine Ignorance” as a mystical method for awakening to Real God is not new, but Da (as is typical of him), ignores identification of the sources from whence he derives much of his Dharma. The same can be said of Da’s other recommended mystical methods. But Da, in this case, not only ignores the sources that taught (and teach) the same ways of Satsang, or Divine Communion, and surrender that he does, he even goes so far as to arrogate these methods to himself, claiming them as uniquely his own. Moreover, he conflates himself with the Divine, as the Great “Object,”’ or “Me,” to be worshipped.
For example, describing the spiritual practice he teaches, he writes, “The greatest opportunity, and the greatest responsibility, of my devotees is Satsang with Me – Which is to live in the Condition of ego-surrendering, ego-forgetting and (always more and more) ego-transcending devotional relationship to Me.” He repeats this injunction throughout the book, often emphasizing that this Way is exclusively His, and about Him. For example, elsewhere he writes,” The only-by-Me-Revealed and Given Way of Adidam is the Way of of Satsang with Me –the devotionally Me-recognizing and devotionally to- Me-responding practice (and ego-transcending self-discipline) of living in My constant Divine Company.
Is it possible to practice Da’s spiritual method(s) on your own? Not according to Adidam, his spiritual Community. In the book, they state, “There is no way that you can take His Teaching away and practice it yourself. As he has said many times, it is simply not possible to move beyond the confines of the ego and unlock the Secrets of Divine Enlighenment on your own, outside of a formally acknowledged devotional relationship to Him. That is why it is so important to become His formal devotee and to live the Way of Adidam exactly as He has given it.”
The Big Problem with this statement by Adidam is that Da is no longer trucking, so it would seem there is now no Way to Divine Enlightenment! Truth be told, the spiritual cognoscenti laugh at this Adidam statement, and at Adidam, the collective joke of Da sychophants and acolytes – none of whom has become Enlightened, nor written anything spiritually impressive. The truth is that 30,000 + people were involved in the Adidam Community over the decades, and over 95% ended up leaving, with not a single devotee Awakening.
Da billed himself as “the World Teacher,” but he spent his life as a private guru holed-up on an island. Ken Wilber, the renowned integralist, and at one time a huge Da advocate, labeled this “avoidance of relationship” with the world by the self-proclaimed “World Teacher” as “bordering on grotesque,” and he distanced himself from the guru.
Da’s failure to engage the world, especially sharp, critical spiritual outsiders (such as yours truly) in Dharma considerations, made him intellectually flabby. With no one to challenge him, he began to write books like this one, which, though brilliant in places, is riddled with holes, which space prevents me from exposing (though I will do so in comments, if so prompted).
Given my “problems” with this book, I’m only motivated to give it three stars.
[My 3-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Real God is the Indivisible Oneness of Unbroken Light: The Seventeen Companions of the True dawn Horse” by Ruchira Adi Da Samraj.]
I first read this book about a dozen years ago, when my friend, a Daist, whom I had turned on to Adi Da (then Franklin Jones) in 1973, sent me a copy. With some spare time on my hands this holiday season, I decided to give it a second read.
The book (first published in 1999) features some brilliant spiritual and philosophical arguments from the late Da (1939-2008), and some that the spiritual cognoscenti will reject and criticize.
First the good. Da makes mincemeat of the exoteric atheistic arguments proffered by the modern academic reductionists and scientific materialists. This book was written before the ascendancy of “the Four Horsemen” (Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens, Harris) and others following in their footsteps -- but it renders their arguments kingergarden prattle in the face of those who who have “cracked the cosmic code.”
Here’s an example of Da’s discourse on “Real God”:
“Real God is is Existence itself, and Existence Itself cannot (as Existence Itself) be inspected, or objectively ‘known’ – not even by Real God! Existence Itself (or the existence of Real God, or even the existence of any one or any ‘thing’) Is (As Such) Unknowable – an Irreducible (and Invisible) Mystery. Relative to “questions” of existence, every one and every ‘thing,’ is (inherently, and irreducibly) in a permanent state of Divine Ignorance (As, also, is Real God). Therefore, Real God Is (and cannot, otherwise, be) ‘Known’only in (or to) Native (or Inherent, and, therefore, truly Divine) Ignorance.”
Da’s argument for “Divine Ignorance” as a mystical method for awakening to Real God is not new, but Da (as is typical of him), ignores identification of the sources from whence he derives much of his Dharma. The same can be said of Da’s other recommended mystical methods. But Da, in this case, not only ignores the sources that taught (and teach) the same ways of Satsang, or Divine Communion, and surrender that he does, he even goes so far as to arrogate these methods to himself, claiming them as uniquely his own. Moreover, he conflates himself with the Divine, as the Great “Object,”’ or “Me,” to be worshipped.
For example, describing the spiritual practice he teaches, he writes, “The greatest opportunity, and the greatest responsibility, of my devotees is Satsang with Me – Which is to live in the Condition of ego-surrendering, ego-forgetting and (always more and more) ego-transcending devotional relationship to Me.” He repeats this injunction throughout the book, often emphasizing that this Way is exclusively His, and about Him. For example, elsewhere he writes,” The only-by-Me-Revealed and Given Way of Adidam is the Way of of Satsang with Me –the devotionally Me-recognizing and devotionally to- Me-responding practice (and ego-transcending self-discipline) of living in My constant Divine Company.
Is it possible to practice Da’s spiritual method(s) on your own? Not according to Adidam, his spiritual Community. In the book, they state, “There is no way that you can take His Teaching away and practice it yourself. As he has said many times, it is simply not possible to move beyond the confines of the ego and unlock the Secrets of Divine Enlighenment on your own, outside of a formally acknowledged devotional relationship to Him. That is why it is so important to become His formal devotee and to live the Way of Adidam exactly as He has given it.”
The Big Problem with this statement by Adidam is that Da is no longer trucking, so it would seem there is now no Way to Divine Enlightenment! Truth be told, the spiritual cognoscenti laugh at this Adidam statement, and at Adidam, the collective joke of Da sychophants and acolytes – none of whom has become Enlightened, nor written anything spiritually impressive. The truth is that 30,000 + people were involved in the Adidam Community over the decades, and over 95% ended up leaving, with not a single devotee Awakening.
Da billed himself as “the World Teacher,” but he spent his life as a private guru holed-up on an island. Ken Wilber, the renowned integralist, and at one time a huge Da advocate, labeled this “avoidance of relationship” with the world by the self-proclaimed “World Teacher” as “bordering on grotesque,” and he distanced himself from the guru.
Da’s failure to engage the world, especially sharp, critical spiritual outsiders (such as yours truly) in Dharma considerations, made him intellectually flabby. With no one to challenge him, he began to write books like this one, which, though brilliant in places, is riddled with holes, which space prevents me from exposing (though I will do so in comments, if so prompted).
Given my “problems” with this book, I’m only motivated to give it three stars.
