You
should not approach me unless you are willing to be undone. The Guru is only interested
in utter, radical dissolution of that whole limitation that appears as his disciple.
If you think I have anything to gain by this, you tell Me what it is. There is nothing to be gained by what I Am Doing. It Is Self-Sacrifice. It Is a Gesture Made out of Unobstructed Sympathy with suffering beings an Inclination of Absolute Immensity and Absolute Power to Relieve all suffering beings. My Self-Sacrifice Is a Commitment to Relieve all suffering beings, and, therefore, It cannot come to an end. It can only be fulfilled Perfectly.
Avatar
Adi Da Samraj, August 19, 2004
"Crazy Wisdom" refers to the unconventional
means (also traditionally referred to as "skillful means" in the Mahayana Buddhist
tradition) employed by the Master to serve the Spiritual liberation of His or
Her devotee. Adi Da is sometimes referred to as a "controversial teacher", and
there is no doubt that most of the "controversy" stems from a misinterpretation
of the period of His Teaching Work when He used "Crazy Wisdom" means extensively
with all His devotees interested in participating. Because of such misunderstandings,
we have put together this section on Adi Da's "Crazy Wisdom", to clarify the principles
behind it and to illustrate the benefits derived from His "Crazy Wisdom" Work
through firsthand stories from devotees.
"Crazy wise" emotional-sexual work. This first group of stories focuses on Adi Da's work with devotees in
the emotional-sexual dimension of life. Because the "radical",
"Crazy Wise" means that Adi Da has employed to address this area of life in His
devotees have prompted challenges to His Work and questions about His integrity
as a Realized Spiritual Master, we provide stories that help make sense of Adi
Da's Work.
The Call
To Be Love (And To Live As Love In All Relations) Michael
Costabile's article about the ordeal necessary to earn emotional-sexual self-understanding.
Includes stories from Frank Marrero (about knowing how to have sex, but not how
to love), Katsu (about having a body-negative, sex-negative, fearful, and self-suppressed
point of view), and Eileen McCarthy (how, as an emotional-sexual being, she was
self-suppressed and hidden), where each devotee describes how Adi Da gifted them
with self-understanding in these areas.
Sally Taylor Sally is an Australian-trained
physician, who became a devotee of Adi Da Samraj in 1976. She has participated
during Adi Da's Teaching Years in many of the emotional-sexual "reality considerations".
Sally talks about her voluntary participation in Adi Da's considerations about
the emotional-sexual dimension of life, the instructions she received, and the
profound benefit she has derived by being "grown up" beyond childish patterns
of self-suppression, shutting down of the life force, promiscuity, and limitations
on love. In addition to her medical expertise, she serves the culture of Adidam
by helping devotees with their practice.
The First Celibacy
Consideration In the summer of 1979, Adi Da began to talk about celibacy.
He suggested that if we cut out our middle class indulgence in coupling, perhaps
we would be able to really get down to the spiritual practice. James Steinberg
describes where the consideration went from there.
"Try
the Suppository" Much of the Work Adi Da does with His devotees involves
their emotional character alone (without involving their sexuality). Da-vid Forysthe's
story is a beautiful illustration of how Adi Da works with some common male character
liabilities that negatively impact Spiritual growth.
Fighting
the Spiritual Master
This story illustrates the degree to which Adi Da was willing to do anything
to serve His devotees' self-understanding, for the sake of their Realization.
"Crazy-wise" work through music and dancing. Next are several stories about how Adi Da Samraj
used the context of music and dancing as a creative circumstance for communicating
lessons. (The first three stories have been adapted from the book, The
Master Dancer.)
"Just Happy
and Free" Kathleen Ewart describes how Adi Da used the circumstance of dancing
to instruct her in the Master-devotee relationship and the inherent ecstasy of
surrender to the Guru.
Exactly That Same Embrace Jane
Attardi tells how Adi Da used the circumstance of dancing to reveal to her a lifelong
pattern of "masculine" aggressiveness that she used to prevent herself from being
vulnerable as a woman.
Extraordinary Eyes
Emily Grinnell describes how Adi Da used the circumstance of His own dancing
to reveal Himself as the Divine Person to her.
Club
Rat Chris Tong tells the story of how Adi Da created a most unusual evening,
and how He used music to open Chris's heart.
Singing as a Mindless and Ecstatic
Contemplative Crane Kirkbride tells how, using skillful means, Adi Da drew
on Crane's two lifelong passions singer and spiritual seeker and transformed
Crane into an ecstatic devotee of the Divine.
Unusual forms of Blessing.
Over the last several decades, Adi Da has used a wide variety of circumstances
and means (including unconventional ones) to transmit His Blessing to His devotees
and the world altogether.
Crazy Wisdom
and a Pregnant Woman Connie Mantas tells how Adi Da Samraj infused her with
Spiritual Force by forcefully pressing her belly when she was seven months pregnant.
Further Perspectives
Some
concluding thoughts on Adi Da's use of Crazy Wisdom.
The Teaching
Years Were "Fruitless" Mulund presents Adi Da's communication about how
His "Teaching Years" [the period of His early Work with His devotees] were "fruitless":
They demonstrated the fruitlessness of all the different forms of human seeking,
both conventional and unconventional.
