8 Quotes & Sayings By Adi Da Samraj

Adi Da Samraj, born Adi Da Samraj, was born to a wealthy family of lawyers and entrepreneurs who made their living through construction, farming, and real estate. His first love was art. After attending the University of California at Berkeley for one year, he abandoned these pursuits and instead began to learn about Eastern philosophy and mysticism. In 1971, Adi Da traveled to India to meet his teacher Krishnamurti and became an initiate of the Order of ISKCON - International Society for Krishna Consciousness Read more

In 1974, Adi Da experienced the death of his mother and abandoned his life as a lawyer. He moved to India and lived in the countryside near the Pali Hills for twelve years. Adi Da lived in a simple hut with no electricity or running water. He continued with his study and practice of yoga and meditation and also spent time making art.

It was here that he produced over 800 paintings that he divided into two collections: "The Traveler" is a series of paintings that represent his spiritual journey through India; "The Hiker" is a collection of paintings created on hikes through the Himalayas. These paintings formed the basis for his first book, The Hiker's Handbook, which was published in 1986 by Harper & Row . In 1994, Adi Da moved back to San Francisco where he began teaching at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur.

He also began teaching classes and workshops around the world at major conferences including: The World Congress on Religious Studies, The New Thinkers Conference, International Congress on Gurdjieff Awareness Week, The Summit of Light Conference, The Spiritual Renaissance Summit held in San Francisco, The European Parliament of Ecumenics held in Luxembourg, The Roshikha Initiative held in Germany each year since 2003 where over 400 people from many countries have attended this lecture series on Advaita Vedanta philosophy. Adi Da has been interviewed on television shows including NBC’s Today Show with Bryant Gumbel , CBS Evening News with Dan Rather , ABC Nightline with Ted Koppel , CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight , HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher , Inside Edition , FOX News Channel’s Happening Now with Dennis Miller , Good Morning America , Larry King Live , CNN’s Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter , USA Today Radio’s On-Air program as well as appearances on many other news programs as well as

1
Every negative complex of emotion conceals a conflict, a problem or dilemma made up of contradictory or opposing motives or desires. Self-observation must recover these emotional seeds of the dramatization of life if real control of habits is to occur. Otherwise, mere control of habits will itself become a form of dramatized conflict or warfare with the motives of our lives. Food desires, sex desires, relational desires, desires for experience and acquisition, for rest, for release, for attention, for solitude, for life, for death, the whole pattern of desires must come under the view of consciousness, the aspects of the conflicts must be differentiated, and habits must be controlled to serve well-being or the pleasurable and effective play of Life.This whole process is truly possible only in the midst of the prolonged occasion of spiritual life in practice, since the mere mechanical and analytical attempts at self-liberation and self-healing do not undermine the principal emotion or seat of conflict, which is the intention to identify with a separate self sense and to reject and forget the prior and natural Condition of Unqualified or Divine Consciousness. . Adi Da Samraj
2
In the play of living we engage in three fundamental forms of action. We begin things, we continue to be engaged in things, and we bring things to an end. We are each obligated to be capable of fulfilling these three forms of action relative to every condition in our experience. To suffer disability relative to any of these three forms of action relative to any condition in our experience is to accumulate a tendency relative to that condition. Such is the way we develop our conventional "karmas." By virtue of such accumulations we are obliged to suffer repetitions of circumstances, in this life and from life to life, until we overcome the liability in our active relationship to each condition that binds us. In the manifest process of existence, we and all other functions in the play are under the same lawful obligation to create, sustain, and destroy conditions or patterns that arise. The inhibition or suppression of the ability to create conditions (or to realize that conditions are your creation and responsibility) is reflected as "tamas, " or rigidity, inertia, indolence, and laziness. The inhibition or suppression of the ability to sustain (or to realize that the maintenance of conditions is your responsibility) is reflected as "rajas, " or unsteadiness of life and attention, and negative and random excitation or emotion. The inhibition or suppression of the ability to destroy or become free of conditions (or to realize that the cessation of conditions is your responsibility) is reflected as artificial "sattwa, " sentimentality, romance, sorrow, bondage to subjectivity, and no comprehension of the mystery of death. Adi Da Samraj
3
Everything eaten is killed. Every meal is a sacrifice. Adi Da Samraj
4
The basic principle of health, well-being, and the action of healing is the presumption of prior perfection rather than the motivating problem. We must be established in the presumption that Truth is always already the case, and therefore, the perfect form of any condition is already, priorly, and presently true of it. It is not that "I" am a problem or disease to be cured (or a hopeless sinner to be saved). Rather, "I" am already and priorly one with the Perfect Condition and the perfect Form of all conditions that presently pertain, and "I" am simply operating in order to manifest it (or allow it to manifest itself) in the play of experience. . Adi Da Samraj
5
Part of the apparently conventional nature of our relationships is the threat of separation and death. This body dies. That body dies. We can rejuvenate, feel better, live longer, but, even so, in this world everybody dies. That is why we do spiritual practice, because we are conscious of the destiny of our separation. We are willing to fulfill the law of love, but on the other hand what we love dies. That is why this is one of the realms of suffering. This world is not a heaven. This is not a place of fulfillment. Thus, we must yield to the true Condition. We must not become dependent upon the conventional aspect of our relations. We must recognize our relations. We must identify with the Condition of the loved one. You must become established in the real Condition, or you will never be satisfied. You will be driven to all kinds of preoccupations and great schemes, trying to become victorious or immortal, for immortality's own sake, simply because you cannot deal with the fact of death. But death is an absolute message in this realm. It obligates us to recognize or identify one another in Truth, and we are not relieved of that obligation in this place. Adi Da Samraj
6
Without true celebration discipline is obnoxious. Adi Da Samraj
7
Fear of death is fear of surrender to Infinity. Learn to surrender, to exist at Infinity while alive, and fear of death dissolves. Fear of death is fear of the Unknown. Realize the Wonder, the Eternal Unknowability of the Totality of Existence, and fear of death is transcended. If happiness or freedom depends on the Answer to the Question, then there can be no happiness or freedom. The Question cannot be satisfactorily or finally Answered. For one who abides at Infinity, happy and free, at ease with his Ultimate Ignorance, the Question and the Answer are equally unnecessary. What began will come to an end. What is Wonderful is not threatened. The Process of the Totality of Existence is Transcendental and Eternal. Only a fraction of the Whole can pass away in any moment, since only a fraction of the Whole appears in any moment. Therefore, the Heart Itself is always already Full of Wonder and Love. "I" is the body-mind, the fraction of the Whole that is now appearing and will soon disappear. "I" must be surrendered to the Heart, to the Whole, which is Infinity, Wonder, and Love. Adi Da Samraj