About Adi Da Samraj - His Biography

"No one like Me", He once Wrote, "has appeared in this place before." Every moment of heart–Communion with Adi Da, now and forever, is the self-forgetting Bliss of Non–separation from God, Truth, or Reality. What Joy could be greater than this?
An Introduction by devotees
of Avatar Adi Da Samraj (1996)

Throughout His entire life, even from the time of His birth. Adi Da Samraj has always been Working to bring the "Brightness" of the Divine Reality into the "room" of the world. From the most ancient times, there have been prophecies of a Bringer of Light who would appear when humanity was lost in darkness. And, indeed, these prophecies have proven to be true: Adi Da Samraj was born on November 3, 1939, in the early months of World War II, when the world was about to embark on a murderous conflict the likes of which had never been seen before. Occurring precisely in these darkest of times, Adi Da Samraj's birth was an event of utterly unprecedented magnitude. It was the Incarnation, in human form, of the Divine Reality Itself—the timeless Consciousness that is the Source and the very Life of all that exists.

Although He is manifested in a human body, Adi Da Samraj is not an ordinary human being–and not even an extraordinary human being. He is the Divine Avatar, the Perfect Descent of the Divine into our human midst.

From the moment of His birth, Adi Da Samraj existed in an unspeakable Condition of constant Radiance and Joy. And when, as an infant, He acquired the capability of language, He gave a name to this Condition. He called it simply "the 'Bright.'" His naming of the "Bright" was the beginning of His Work of Teaching the Truth about Reality.

His naming of "the 'Bright'" was also a naming of Himself—for He is the Incarnation of the "Bright." His "Bright" Condition can be seen in the photographs from all periods of His Life. As a baby, He Radiated the "Bright" just as clearly as He does now.

Adi Da Samraj’s Coming into the world was not an event ruled by the impersonal forces of cause and effect. His birth was intentional. Before His birth, He consciously and intentionally associated Himself with the embryonic physical being that was to be born to His mother and father. Thus, He was never "helplessly" identified with His human vehicle, as ordinary beings are. Rather, He has always maintained the association with His physical body by a Divine process of Radiating into the body from Above.

It has traditionally been understood that the greatest Spiritual beings are associated with the physical body only to a certain extent—"down" as far as one of the upper chakras (either the center of the head or the throat or the heart). Adi Da Samraj's association with the physical body has been of a unique nature in this respect. His association with the body has always been only down to the center of the head (or the brain core), which is the minimum degree necessary for the physical association to exist at all. On the other hand, beginning at the age of two, He made a conscious decision to allow Himself to identify "all the way" with the human body and persona, as if He were unaware of His own "Bright" Condition—while at the same time never losing His Establishment Above and Beyond the physical body. He did this in order to learn exactly what the human "problem" is, and how that "problem" is to be completely overcome (a process completed with His Divine Re-Awakening in 1970).* And, even more profoundly, He did this in order to bring His own Divine Being-to Divinely Descend–directly into the grossest domains of the manifest cosmos, so that even the "outer reaches" of the cosmos would be fully Pervaded by His Divine Light (a process fully established with His Divine Self–"Emergence" in 1986).

The decision He made at two years initiated an immense Work of Submission to common humanity. That Submission lasted for sixty years, as He (first) Submitted to fully learn the human condition (1941–1970), then Submitted to Teach ordinary human beings with all their gross preoccupations (1972–1986), and finally Submitted to endure the refusal (of those who had come to Him) to accept His full Revelation and the responsibilities inherent in the Spiritual relationship to Him (1986–2000).

Adi Da Samraj's Submission–Work was fully and finally completed in a profound event that occurred in 2000. Since that event, it is no longer necessary (or even possible) for Adi Da Samraj to continue participating in the conditions of gross reality as He once did. He still functions in the physical domain—indeed, very actively so in creating His Light–Image Art, and in other ways as well. But He is now "returned" to the Divine Innocence of His infancy, simply "Bright" before us.

Adi Da Samraj has Manifested here in order to speak the Truth for Real. He is here to Reveal the Real Nature of Existence and to Reveal the process—the Way of Adidam—by which that Reality is Realized. His Communication of Truth is utterly "radical", dismantling our man-made conceptions of the Divine, slicing through our illusions about "self" (or "ego"), and addressing the core concerns of the heart with unimaginable profundity and compassion.

But Adi Da Samraj has Come to do much more than speak the Truth—He has Come to Transmit His Very Being, the "Bright" Itself. Indeed, Transmission of His Divine Spiritual Blessing and State is Adi Da Samraj's principal Divine Function in the world. Just as He was aware of His Divine State from birth, naming It "the 'Bright,'" He was also aware of His Divine Function of Transmitting the "Bright." As a young child, He named this Function the "Thumbs," because when His Transmission of the "Bright" is received with the greatest degree of openness, It feels like a "mass of gigantic thumbs, coming down from above," pressing blissfully into the body.

By bringing His Gift of the "Thumbs" into the world, Adi Da Samraj has made it possible for beings to tangibly experience His "Bright" Condition, and (for those who apply themselves with utmost intensity to the Spiritual process in His Company) to Realize that Condition—to Realize Utter Non–separateness from Him.

Adi Da Samraj is here to make His Supreme Offering to every heart. He has always been passionately involved in generating means by which people can receive His Revelation of the "Bright." For thirty years (from 1969 to 1999), He devoted immense energy to the process of writing books and giving discourses—a process that culminated in the creation of His twenty-three "Source–Texts" in which He Gives His full verbal Revelation and Instruction. Since the completion of that great work of words, Adi Da Samraj has plunged with equal intensity into the creation of works of art. Continuing His lifelong involvement in the visual arts, He is now creating a body of visual imagery that "speaks" just as eloquently and fully of the Divine process—in the medium of Light.

Adi Da Samraj has Appeared in this world in order to Shine His Gift of the "Bright" to all. We urge you to participate with full energy and attention, and to receive His Gift deep at heart.

Absolutely NOTHING conditional is satisfactory. Everything conditional disappears – everything. This fact should move the heart to cling to Me, to resort to Me, to take refuge in Me. This is why people become devotees of Mine. This is the reason for the religious life. The unsatisfactoriness of conditional existence requires resort to the Divine Source, and the Realization of the Divine Source–Condition.
- Avatar Adi Da Samraj

Avatar Adi Da does not offer a consoling belief system that promises "heaven" after death or a utopian existence on earth. He has Come to set in motion a universal heart–conversion that makes a life of "unqualified relatedness" and all–embracing love the standard for human life. And He Is Here now.

If you want to learn more about Avatar Adi Da Samraj, we encourage you to order the most recent version of The Knee Of Listening, Avatar Adi Da's Spiritual Autobiography, from the Dawn Horse Press website. You can also download, read and print our e-book Adi Da and Adidam online, or the Essays and Talks on the Adidam Downloads Page.

Visit the main Adidam website

Contact our Correspondence Department directly

Attend one of our worldwide events

*Click for an excerpt of Avatar Adi Da's Writing that describes how His Meditation changed completely in quality after His Enlightenment in the Vedanta Society Temple In Hollywood, California on September 10, 1970.