Adi Da
Samraj aka Da Free John aka Bubba Free John aka Franklin
Jones is an American-born guru who claims to be the First, Last, and Only
perfectly enlightened Spiritual Adept that has ever appeared on Earth or will
ever appear in the future. He says that his own spiritual stature is superior to that
of Jesus or Buddha. The Adi Da Archives is a collection of materials
written by critics who challenge this claim, and who present a different interpretation of his life
and teachings.
Adi Da first emerged as a spiritual teacher in Los Angeles in 1972, after studying with the Indian guru Swami Muktananda and spending a brief period of time in Scientology. Starting with a very small group of devotees who would meet with him in a bookstore, he eventually built a spiritual community known as Adidam that has properties in Fiji, Hawaii, and elsewhere around the world. Adidam is believed to have a few thousand current members.
As an intelligent young man who had been educated at Stanford and Columbia, Adi Da wrote books in the early '70's that were hip and irreverent presentations of some of the more sophisticated eastern spiritual concepts. His core teachings then and now have many similarities with the Kashmir Shaivite and Advaita Vedanta schools of Hinduism, but they also incorporate his own insightful criticisms of both the typical spiritual seeker and the "usual man" in mainstream society. His 1971 autobiography "The Knee of Listening" is a fascinating account of his own spiritual journey, complete with vivid descriptions of his alleged mystical experiences and transformations in consciousness. These purported experiences and Adi Da's ability to present traditional eastern spiritual teachings in a way that makes them seem like they are the product of his own spiritual realization are what initially attracts many of those who become his devotees and convinces them he is an enlightened being.
Building on the base of his written teachings and charismatic personality, Adi Da has also been able to impress many of his followers by using the traditional Hindu technique of shaktipat. Shaktipat is said to be the guru's transmission of spiritual energy or the awakening power of consciousness itself to the devotee. Some of Adi Da's students have been particularly responsive to this dimension of their relationship to him, and have reported various kinds of spiritual experiences while meditating with him or in other situations. However, the true nature, source and value of those experiences is the subject of much speculation and debate. Many former devotees interpret these experiences and Adi Da's part in them much differently after they leave the group.
Adi Da became a controversial figure when he began to have sex with large numbers of devotees, drink obsessively, abuse drugs, engage in incidents of violence against women, and financially exploit his followers. He claimed that he was doing these things “temporarily” as a form of spiritual teaching, in order to reflect devotees' own tendencies back to them and thereby accelerate their spiritual development. However, each announcement that this “temporary” method of teaching people was ended forever was followed by another period of partying led by Adi Da. But there are only so many times one can go through a cycle like this without increasing the probability that doubts will be raised. So Adi Da eventually decided to restrict his personal interactions and partying to generally include only the small group of devotees known as his "inner circle." Those in the inner circle serve as intermediaries in his interactions with the general membership of the community, and fulfill sensitive functions that require extreme loyalty to Adi Da. The inner circle has been perhaps the most critical piece of infrastructure Adi Da developed to enable his decades-long pursuit of every kind of fulfillment for himself at the expense of others. The inner circle's mission has been to hide what they can of his indulgent personal life, abusive treatment of others, and psychological issues. What they can't hide, they spin by explaining as spiritual teaching, tantric practice, or "crazy wisdom." Or, they claim that what he's really all about has nothing to do with his body-mind at all, which would mean that anything you could observe about his human behavior is not particularly important when compared to his alleged transcendental function as an agent of spiritual awakening.
Over time, Adi Da's habitual patterns of problematic behavior became obvious to some people as reflections of his own personal weaknesses and desires, and could no longer be rationalized as a teaching methodology. In fact, some of those behavior patterns were outright abusive towards devotees, and others were at least detrimental to their growth and happiness. Yet there was no room for anyone in Adidam to address these issues without contradicting the belief that Adi Da was a perfectly Enlightened Master. So it was only a matter of time before things finally came to a head, as unresolved problems piled up and reached the breaking point. When a group of former devotees became convinced in 1985 that Adi Da was doing people harm, they attempted to meet with him to express their concerns in private. Their request was refused. Shortly thereafter, other events led to a flurry of media coverage involving these same former devotees and many others. As a result, facts about Adi Da's hidden life were made known to both the public and to many of Adi Da's followers and sponsors who were previously unaware of them. Lawsuits were filed, and a great deal of conflict raged while Adi Da hid in seclusion in Fiji. After he was exposed in 1985, his reputation has been effectively ruined for life.
Adi Da and his organization have failed to live up to the expectations that many supporters had for them in the early days. The turnover rate in Adidam has been on the order of 90-95%, and the group has never grown to more than a few thousand active core members. This despite the publication of dozens of books, some of them praised by academics and scholars, and the investment of millions of dollars on “missionary” efforts over a period of more than 30 years. The lack of membership retention reflects the fact that most devotees find their interaction with Adi Da and Adidam does not produce the spiritual benefits and transformation that are promised, yet there are huge demands placed upon devotees, in every aspect of their lives. So most vote with their feet and leave. Those who remain are members of a dysfunctional organization that shows all the classic signs of a cult. All resources are devoted to the purpose of fulfilling the needs and desires of one man, Adi Da. In addition, those most deeply involved in Adidam are practically compelled to engage in a lifestyle and practice that virtually epitomize much of what the young Franklin Jones criticized about "spiritual seeking." It is all of these drawbacks, coupled with Adi Da's systematic undermining of the group's recruiting efforts with absurd and self-defeating management directives, that keeps growth at a minimum.
Not only has the group failed to grow, it has left many ex-members feeling hurt and taken advantage of. Large numbers of former devotees have concluded that Adi Da’s so-called teaching method is nothing more than an excuse for him to exploit himself and others, regardless of his insightful teachings or the mystical experiences he claims to have had. Adi Da's lack of basic competence in applying his "crazy wisdom" teaching approach has proven harmful to many and ineffective for even more. It has not achieved the stated goal of undermining the narcissism and egoic tendencies of his devotees. Understandably, few people have been willing to suffer the indignities and exploitation of Adidam for very long when the expected benefits of doing so did not materialize. Even among those who stay involved with Adidam for a long time, there are many who withdraw to the periphery of the group over time and minimize their contact with Adi Da and his inner circle. They do this in order to preserve something of an ordinary life for themselves, and to insulate themselves from the Madman and his lieutenants, even if they won't admit these motivations to themselves.
As the years have passed, Adi Da's inflated opinion of himself has evolved into a form of delusional self-worship that reeks of outright madness. Each proclamation of his divinity is expressed in more and more capitalized words, attesting ever more outrageously to his unique status in the spiritual history of this planet. His progressive absorption into delusions of grandeur has been facilitated by a cultic group of sycophants who reinforce all of his illusions. They have joined him in creating a collective fantasy where everything he says and does are interpreted as the Words and Acts of God. Even his psychological and health problems are explained as yogic phenomena that are said to have profound historical implications and significance for our planet and the cosmos as a whole!
The net impact of this collective effort to mythologize everything about Adi Da is to undermine devotees' rational evaluation process that would otherwise enable them to assess his motives, character, and behavior. This phenomenon causes devotees to develop a huge blind spot in relation to Adi Da that exempts him from the kind of scrutiny that they routinely apply to everyone other than him. However, there are large numbers of former devotees who are no longer blinded by the myth of "Adi Da," and who do not accept his claims to unique spiritual stature. Instead they see the man Frank Jones, a flawed individual who should be held accountable for his actions like anyone else.
It is the reflections of those people that the Adi Da Archives is most interested in preserving. There is a need to provide educational and reference materials that reflect an alternative viewpoint to the fanciful interpretation of Frank Jones that has been created by him and his followers, so that interested parties can develop a more informed perspective on the man. As a starting point for this endeavor, we are presenting materials that have mostly been collected from the website at www.lightmind.com . The Editor of the Archives is grateful to Elias, the webmaster at Lightmind, for providing the forum that inspired the authors of the posts you find here to express their ideas.
There are many potential perspectives on Adi Da that have been expressed on the internet, but it is not the intent of the Editor of the Archives to capture all of these. For those who wish to explore the official Adidam version of Adi Da, we suggest you visit www.adidam.org . The Adi Da Archives makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, as to the operation of this site, or the accuracy or validity of any information, content, or materials included on this site (see legal disclaimer). Materials displayed in the Archives should be read with caution, and readers should understand that the Editor has not fact-checked or confirmed the information posted. An open invitation to Frank Jones (Adi Da) to comment on, or rebut anything posted on this site has been made.
Quotations and photos throughout this website from the works of Adi Da (Franklin Jones) and Adidam are copyright The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam Pty Ltd, as trustee for The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam (Is-Da-Happen) or as otherwise indicated. All copyrighted materials on this site are used under Section 107 (Fair Use Provisions) of United States Copyright Law. Copyrighted materials are being used here for the non-commercial purposes of education, research, and criticism. All other quotations are from public domain Internet sources.