Archive for the ‘stages of life’ Category

Completing the 3rd stage of life

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

I have met a handful of men and women during my life who appear to have fulfilled and even grown passed the 3rd stage of life, they all have been involved in some form of spiritual practice, either formal or informal.

From what Adi Da has said and from my own observations it appears that the 4th stage of life informs and  matures the 3rd stage, in other words it is necessary to be “spiritually open” for the 3rd stage to mature properly and structurally.

Someone with no sense or intuition of Spirit or that which is greater than “matter”, could not truly grow passed or fully integrate in the 3rd stage of life. That is not to say mere belief has anything to do with this process.

The ideal situation according to Adi Da Samraj would be for a young person to grow up in a spiritual community, culturally influenced by people mature in and beyond this stage and by the age of 21 (or adulthood) naturally to  have adapted to all that is required for maturity there.

Some qualities that may be evident, there is no idealistic vision necessary, of what is typical here.

  • Full integration as an autonomous (rather than chronically dependent or independent) personality, having dealt with and continuing to deal with both childish and adolescent personal strategies.
  • Fundamental or natural free attention of mind–the ability to think, feel and be happily embodied and thus breathe and act with clarity and ease.
  • A  self disciplined life- taking responsibility for money, work, food, sexuality and everything related to a happy functional life.
  • A  life of conscious active service, rather than chronic self interest and random action.
  • The focus of life  practice in the 4th stage of life, that is one that is centered in real and self-generated (rather than imposed from without) spiritual practice.
  • Having dealt with and continuing to bring to awareness the patterns of sexuality and un-love that tend to dominate the psyche.
  • The ability to confess “I am not an addict” to be able to choose freely non addictive patterns.
  • Social  adeptness, the social level of life would be developed and non problematic (maturity in the 2nd stage of life)
  • An ease  with the functions of  bodily life and grounding, a life positive association with bodily existence (maturity in the 1st stage of life)

“But most people you see do not adapt beyond the third stage of life, do not even come to a point of maturity in the third stage of life. Very few people enter into the fourth stage of life in this society which is without culture. As a result we don’t see much of higher adapted personalities in this culture, this society. We see people more or less of the same kind everywhere. And not much gracefulness, not much serenity, not much bodily confession of the existence of God. If God exists, you should be able to see it in the body of old men and women. Because such bodies have been in the fire for a long time you see, a body submitted to God for 80 years looks a lot different you see than a body that’s just been indulged for 80 years. So the old should be a principle witness within the community”.
___Adi Da Samraj

“Because of their developmental tendencies toward either childish or adolescent ego-dramatizations, those who are yet bound to the unfinished “business” of the first three stages of life are not yet truly ready to enter into the esoteric process …”

___Adi Da Samraj

Further Reading

You must become human before you can become spiritual

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Where’s a laughing monk when you need one?

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

 

The laughing monks (Hanshan and Shih-te) are often portrayed as an icon of liberation within ritual form, which in their own historical role was within the loose formality or more likely boundary of Taoism and Zen Buddhism

Adidam is supposed to be an institution and practice that would welcome these iconic figures as they are metaphorically portrayed (their historical lives are another matter)

In fact a practitioner of Adidam should display something of their quality of prior freedom and liberation from mere ritual and ceremony. This is one of the many potential gifts of Bhagavan Adi Da to his devotees and to those who formally take up the Way of Adidam, at any time, now or in the future.

Though they may be used in this manner, the laughing monks do not merely represent adolescent or rebellious figures just poking fun at formality. Perhaps they were just plain mad, but the metaphor or intuition they seem to represent at least, is actually true sanity rather than a disturbed mind.

Adi Da often spoke and wrote about the crazy wise Master and also crazy wise disciple/devotees, as displayed in most religious traditions.

These laughing monks symbolically point to our inherent Freedom and what Adi Da often described as true “Humor”,  that which cannot be “lost or found” by any means whatsoever.

I want to see the laughing monks within the freely chosen disciplines of Adidam practice, again not as mere adolescent display of rebellious zeal, but more subtly and truthfully Free, even expressed as absolutely quiet equanimity, but necessarily always indicative and communicative of our prior and unbreakable Freedom in Reality. Exactly how this would appear within Adidam is unknown, obviously it would not be in a similar form to these tricksters.

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This begs the question what would an enlightened devotee look like, how would he or she behave ? Again my own adolescent tendency,   would mentally  paint them in the light of  these monks, sort of free spirits, always laughing, joking and speaking in paradoxical  riddles. Most likely they will be very quiet intense characters, no time for chit chat (no social face), almost bland and even boring ascetic types, nothing what so ever to distinguish them from their fellows, more like 6th Stage Realizers. Hard to believe (for me) but much more likely to be the case, of course what is going on in consciousness (for them) would be beyond Profound. Even the concept of this disappoints this same character (the child/adolescent). It’s something of a bitter pill for the ego and you can clearly see why the talking school- neo-advaita- programs are so popular, though based in error.

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Rules of Behavior in the Seventh Stage of Life

The strict maintenance of conservative or regenerative dietary, sexual, and other personal disciplines is necessary for growth in the first six stages of life, once commitment to the self-transcending Way of God-Communion truly begins. This is because the essence of practice in the developing stages is literal and even intentional submission of the body-mind to the Current of Life, rather than to mere experience, or sensual and mental or psychic objects in themselves. However, in the seventh stage of life, such disciplines are no longer necessary-since all processes of the body-mind have ceased to limit or bind the Radiant Heart. Even so, those disciplines have by then become natural, ordinary, and appropriate to the body-mind itself, which is under the Law of Nature. Thus, in the seventh stage of life, the conventional disciplines of the lower functions continue as a general rule-not because they are necessary, but simply because they are natural, ordinary, appropriate, and inevitable. However, the non-necessity of conventions of behavior in the seventh stage also accounts for the sometimes bizarre, unconcerned, unconventional, and even apparently worldly behavior of perfectly Enlightened individuals, particularly in their instructive Play with others.

The rule of practice is indeed the conversion and restraint of the tendencies of the body-mind. But the essence of Enlightenment is self-transcendence, or humorous freedom from the conditions of the body-mind. Therefore, even in the seventh stage of life, some individuals have taken occasional exception to the rule through humorously unconventional behavior. Mere self-indulgence is, of course, not the principle behind such behavior. Divine Humor, or Freedom, is the principle, which at times Communicates Itself through the unconventional or paradoxical behavior of Enlightened beings. In general, however, the individual in the seventh stage appears quite austere, pure, and Life-positive in his daily behavior, although he is under none of the restraints of Nature, and his actions are quite spontaneous and Full of Love.

Adi Da Samraj: The Enlightenment of the Whole Body
© 2010 The Da Love-Ananda Samrajya Pty Ltd, as trustee for the Da Love-Ananda Samrajya. All rights reserved. Perpetual copyright claimed

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Four Phases of the Seventh Stage of Life

Friday, April 9th, 2010

This is taken from the 1992 edition of The Knee Of Listening (editorial). The process after Divine Enlightenment has never been previously detailed  in any traditional  literature.

The Ultimate, or fully Awakened and seventh stage Practice unfolds in four progressive phases of the Perfect Demonstration of the Heart And each of the four phases of the seventh stage Demonstration is an expression of the “Bright” Yoga of Amrita Nadi.

Divine Transfiguration is the phase in which the Divine or ‘Original Spiritual Current of Love-Bliss is reflected from the Infinitely Ascended Terminal, or “Head’ of Amrita Nadi into the descending circuit of the body-mind of the Awakened individual, thereby Transfiguring the body-mind. This results in great Heart-Service to others and signs of (even sometimes visible) bodily Illumination and Infusion by the Self-Radiance of the Heart.

Divine Transformation is the phase in which the Divine or -Original Spiritual Current of Love-Bliss’ is reflected from the Infinitely Ascended Terminal of Amrita Nadi in the full Circle (both descending and ascending) of the body-mind of the Awakened individual—resulting in the spontaneous manifestation of Siddhis. or extraordinary Powers of Blessing Both the Divine Transfiguration and the Divine Transformation phases aft founded in Descent—as the “Original Spiritual Current of Love-Bliss’ is reflected from the Infinitely Ascended Terminal of Amrita Nadi into the descending (or descending and ascending) circuit of the conditional body-mind. It is this very ‘Descent’ that allows the apparent conditional embodiment Of the Realizer to take place.

Divine Indifference is the phase in which the Divine. or ”Original Spiritual Current of Love Bliss”. Abides in Amrita Nadi Itself, and It is only minimally, and less and less, reflected in the Circle of the body-mind of the Awakened individual. Thus, the conditional body-mind and all experience are only minimally noticed (and less and less engaged), as the individual being Inheres in the Prior and formless Well of Love-Bliss or Divine Being Itself. This was Sri Da Avabhasa’s Disposition at the time of His Birth until the age of two, and the State to which He Returned after the Event of His Divine Emergence in 1986.

Divine Translation is the phase of the seventh stage Demonstration in which all conditions (including Amrita Nadi) are Recognized and Outshined in the Divine Self-Condition. in the Perfect Space and ‘Bright’ Domain that is Consciousness itself. Realized as the Native Love-Bliss-Feeling of Being.

Adi Da passed into the final phase of Translation in 2000

In Divine Translation, the movement of Descent whereby the Awakened Adept Appears in a conditional form comes to rest or is dissolved. In Divine Translation. Absorption-Identification with the Self-Existing and Self-Radiant, Infinite and Divine Person utterly Outshines the Structure of Amrita Nadi, the conditional body-mind, and all the possible worlds of experience.

© 2010 The Da Love-Ananda Samrajya Pty Ltd, as trustee for the Da Love-Ananda Samrajya. All rights reserved. Perpetual copyright claimed

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The ultimate “luxury” of spiritual retreat

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

In recent years my inclination moves more toward peace, retreat, movelessness, no-seeking, no-dilemma, no-disturbance. There is an undisturbed state that rests the being beyond stress. That non-perturbation has been described by Adi Da as resting at ocean depth, rather than the ever breaking surface waters- where there is no rest. It is always available to all sentient beings (not just human)

This is a great luxury of course and from the exoteric view a diversion from the creative struggle that would be all life. From this point of view the only action is at the surface, where the waves ever break and where all reality is.

Here, I am not talking about going “on retreat” as a distinct action where we set ourselves apart from conventional living for periods of time, which is of course very useful and necessary.

I mean a daily practice within either a moderated conventional environment or ideally within a community living structure that actively supports such motives.

The first move was to the cities, that was revolutionary, away from the unceasing stress of survival with barely a moments peace from it. The cities in spite of their terrible negative aspects still represent an attempt by man to create a life apart from mere gut level survival, now the evolutionary move would be to the life of spiritual retreat. This is the sane and joyous movement that many, may now make.

The argument for it is the same one that built the cities and then evolved further, having gotten food shelter and much more handled, we are free to “drop out”, not as means to escape responsibility, but after having taken responsibility (and continuing to do so) it  now becomes the great possibility of many (not just a handful of ascetics as in the past) to take rest in the core of being where we can then grow beyond the failure of the 3rd stage of life.

Related Post : Handle Business & Drop Out

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Audio : The Great Tradition

Monday, October 12th, 2009

Adi Da talks with great wisdom and insight on the religious traditions of mankind, which he calls in total “The Great Tradition”, he mentions one of the services he performed as Adept Realizer in service to humanity, which was to review the very best spiritual literature and media available called at the time of this talk “The 7 Schools of God Talk”, this list and its eloquent reviews, later became called. “The Basket Of Tolerance”, which may appear in book form in the future.
Adi Da’s scheme or map of Seven Stages of life, based on His personal exploration of the esoteric anatomy of man is explained here. This talk may be of interest to anyone with a passion for religion, esoteric traditions, eastern religions, religious philosophy & comparative religion.

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Handle business and drop out

Sunday, October 11th, 2009

Notes on a meditation experience

Today had an insight into that which stands Free or is never implicated in all the arising conditions of the body-mind with which we normally identify.

That which stands Free, just “rest-abides”, it seems to be where our attention would naturally rest if it was not constantly disturbed by stressful demands in our association with the body-mind. Ordinary life as we know it is a constant demand on our attention, in my life I conceive of it as “survival stress”, or the most basic form of self-contraction.

The place I rested today briefly, was free of any bound implication, any need for my attention to be absorbed in the ordinary round of events-money, food, sex, society, or to respond to any environmental demands. There was just profound rested-ease, it felt like my (our) native condition, free of disturbance, unperturbed, moveless, thought-free (though thinking was possible and clear) searchless, without dilemma and completely free of primal fear

It can also be described as natural, wherein the life lived in my conventional manner is unnatural, rooted in stress, craving and fundamental disturbance. To be absorbed there in motionless ease, seems to be what Adi Da calls “at-root” or “in-depth”. He also says that many non-humans (sentient beings) abide here whenever they are at rest, after having handled business they “contemplate’, he does not describe this contemplation as of a something, just the act of contemplation itself, everyone would allow this condition (beats any vacation, strategic meditation state, or entertainment possible), “Handle business and drop out !” is the Adept’s advice.

By convention a human being tends to do nothing other than “handle business”, here to “drop out” means to fall into the Heart Depth, rest there, abide there, the Sages and Great Ones did not hesitate about it, just dived in. It is not enlightenment as some claim, just native to all beings.

If you want to get technical it may be resting attention naturally at the causal root(1) of the being, not by any method or technique, it’s just where attention natively “sits” when all the hub-bub of life demands really fall away for periods of time. It feels structural or a natural progression or evolved state of our essential being, what I mean by this is it is not ephemeral (or at least less changeable) like so many internal states that come and go, but more like a stage of life of human possibility.

(1)The causal dimension is senior to and pervades both the gross and the subtle dimensions. It is the root of attention, or the essence of the separate and separative ego-”I”. The causal dimension is associated with the right side of the heart, specifically with the sinoatrial node, or “pacemaker” (the psycho-physical source of the heartbeat). Its corresponding state of consciousness is the formless awareness of deep sleep

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