Obit published yesterday in the Lake County News

[Raymond]

Re: Propaganda and "Fully" Vetted"

Dear Mr. Dunkelberger,

As you can see, your entire response to Elizabeth Larson, reporter for the Lake County News article sounds like a piece of pure propaganda to me: http://lakeconews.com/content/view/6664/764/

Your comments are so ridiculous that I don't know where to begin. I was the person who did all the so called "vetting" in Lake county (which covered all of California and Southern Oregon and every world-wide devotee who came to Lake County) for the last 5 years before leaving your community in 2003 (after being in it for 26 years). I did all the intake evaluations on all the new devotees and did all the transitions at every beginning level.

However, having said that, I do have a few more questions to pose in regard to the accuracy of your facts.

You say that devotees were "fully vetted" and "informed of their responsibilities" and "then they make their free choice" in Adidam.

Now that is a bunch of crap and propaganda so that Adidam can absolve itself from any responsibility and always place the blame on the devotees and ex-devotees for what ever happens. Ever since the Jonestown incident in 1978 and the mid-eighties law suits, Adidam has gone into the paranoid mode with this kind of crap and you are just regurgitating it.

The Wikipedia definition: Vetting is a process of examination and evaluation, generally referring to performing a background check on someone before offering him or her employment. In addition, in intelligence gathering, assets are vetted to determine their usefulness.

Well, true vetting with honesty and integrity would also include the process working both ways --especially when you include "being informed of their responsibilities". Did that include telling the prospective devotee that their responsibilities were to get drunk and give Adi Da (aka Franklin Jones) "blow jobs" or turn over their partners to him according to his whims? In other words, is Adidam also vetted to the new devotee. So, does the new devotee hear the whole story from Adidam or just what you want him or her to hear? And if so, why has there been so many defections?

As I review the so called vetting process today (5 years after having left Adidam), all I see there is an indoctrination process for the benefit of Adidam and Adi Da. And this topic is too long and complex to post here at this time but a couple of things stand out as I reread it.

1- The 6 page Financial Contribution Form with Itemized Expenses is interesting to look at... Yes , well vetted, you are right at the financial end --very thorough...with even almost more information than I give to my accountant ---starting with total gross monthly income----- with the purpose of getting very cent out of them. Yes, those poor suckers---and I have apologized to many of them for having put them though the ringer and I apologize again. Some of them were in tears during the financial "consideration" ---but for "god" they were willing to do anything and even lie about their finances.

2- I'll post the part of the so called “vetted/background check” that I always found the most humorous: It was in regard to sexually and the questions were:

Do you have an intimate sexual relationship right now?
How many sexual relationships have you had in your life?
Length of time?
______more than 10 years,
______more than 5 years.
______more than 1 year.
______less than one month.
What is your longest period of celibacy?
Longest continuous sexual relationship?
Longest period of monogamy?

Tests for HIV and other infectious/sexual transmitted disease were required and we all knew why this was important????
(Of course, Franklin had herpes and transmitted it to some woman ---no vetting there, was there???).

So, to this day, I still don't know exactly why we needed to know how many sexual relationships prospective devotees had? Is this called "fully vetted"?

As I said, we certainly "vetted" the money end of things on those poor naive seekers looking to be saved by the messiah. And as stated in the definition above. For their assets, (per Wikipedia definition above), they were very well vetted. Money always came first.

If they had something to offer to Adidam in addition to money such as fame, prestige, contacts, skills, labor, etc., they were well vetting about their assets if it benefited Adidam or Adi Da ----or not so well vetted if we really wanted them in Adidam for other reasons. So, how well were the rich and famous vetted? How well was Ken Wilbur vetted? In any case, I don't remember doing "background checks" in the real sense of the word.

Then it says in the Lake County News article: "By the time Dunkelberger joined Adidam, the controversy had passed"- But he controversy hadn't passed and still hasn't. You were too naive to observe it (or kept in the dark).

..... and -Dunkelberger said: "The community has long moved past that period; if there is any residual effect it's an effect among people who are not in the community." He added, "This is not even spoken about any more."

Well, these are pretty dumb comments. Of course it is not spoken about in the community. That is what is called denial. It's denial of the long term history which translates also into denial of the recent negative history of Adidam (and there is plenty of negative recent history which hasn't been posted yet). Adidam members go into dumb mode or automatic denial mode and that is why there is no growth in Adidam and never will be in a fundamentalist cult.

And then Dunkelberger says: "the members closest to Adi Da in Fiji are the most advanced practitioners". Now that is a huge illusion on your part and another bit of propaganda. I know most of them and they are the most brainwashed people that I have ever met including his 2 wives. They (his 2 wives) were pathetic to listen to when they came here from Fiji in 2002 constantly saying that Adi Da is suffering because we were not practicing-----like a broken record.

So again, Mr. Dunkelberger, I suggest that you call up the reporter of Lake County News and revise your facts or at the very least try to make it look like it's not propaganda for your own sake. It's an insult to her (reporter) and to all member of Lake County who know better. Do you really think that Lake County citizens believe that Adi Da with all his debauchery over 38 years that he was the one and only god --past, present, and future-- over Jesus, Buddha’s and all the great sages who have ever lived.

In your response to the reporter you tried to diffuse the negative issues as past history and as a struggle between Adidam devotees vs. bad dissidents/ex devotees. But that is not the case at all. The thousand of ex-devotees are simply exposing what they know mostly out of integrity (and of course, other reasons).

It is estimated that less than 10% of all the devotees have remained in the cult over the last 38 years So are you saying that many of the 90% (the ones who left) are lying (out of the thousands who came through Adidam in 38 years). Now that is preposterous if you even think that but apparently you do.

But the bigger issue which you don't seem to understand is that your small group of 1,000 or so devotees claim something that the other 6.8 billion on the planet don't believe in or agree with. So it's not only Adidam devotees vs. thousands of ex-devotees but it is also Adidam devotees vs. the rest of the world (including the people in Lake County). This is something you don't want to admit. Other than your small group, no one believes in that crap. --Wake up!

Since I've left Adidam, I've had open and honest conversations with literally over a thousand people in Lake County and almost without exception everyone thinks Adi Da was a nut case. What do you expect them to say when a guy who led a life full of debauchery and a teaching that doesn't make much sense altogether said that he was the god of all gods above every other great teacher including Jesus and Buddha ---of course, he is seen as a nut case (which he was). With your fundamentalist view, you will never know this because no one outside of Adidam will talk to you openly in order not to offend you.

So don't blame the thousands of ex-devotees as dissidents. The whole world disagrees with your fundamentalist views and the character of Franklin-–and big time.

Now, another question comes up in my discussion here in Lake County with the public and that is: What does it say about the seeker/believer/follower who believes in this kind of fundamentalist viewpoint (that Franklin is the only god and can do anything in the name of “Crazy Wisdom"). How do you think the citizens of Lake County respond to that? Well, in general, it's not very flattering what they say about the devotee views and I'll leave it at that... And again, what do you expect?

Maybe Elizabeth Larson from the Lake County News can do her own survey on both of these point: 1) the response by citizens to the claim that Franklin Jones was a godman and the first, last and only messiah who has ever lived and 2) find out what people think of those who call themselves devotees of Adidam and who believe that their guru is god and the only god ever...and she could publish that.

Excuse the insult but once you are free of the childish cult mentality and no longer so naive, you obviously see it for what it is --- a delusion of grandeur by Franklin and an illusion by the devotee--- as most of the thousands of ex-devotees now see it ----and public people see it that way also.

Raymond

p.s.: Even his photo in the article is a piece of propaganda; an image of years ago. We all know what he looked like when he died and he didn't look good at all.

So do you really believe as you said: "that then they make their free choice”? What free choice???? It 's propaganda all along.

[RandomStu]

You say that devotees were "fully vetted" and "informed of their responsibilities" and "then they make their free choice" in Adidam.

Decades ago, it would have been possible for someone to join Da's community based on false/deceptive advertising (e.g., Da making public claims about how he lives his own life, while in fact his "private" behavior contradicted public claims). I don't think that's an issue any more, since info is so freely available on the net thru forums like this. For Da and for any present or future teachers/leaders like him, any prospective follower will always have lots of info both pro and con available. Simply put, since so much more information is now freely available, spirituality consumers now really can make more informed choices.

The 6 page Financial Contribution Form with Itemized Expenses is interesting to look at... Yes , well vetted, you are right at the financial end --very thorough...with even almost more information then I give to my accountant ---starting with total gross monthly income----- with the purpose of getting very cent out of them. Yes, those poor suckers

It's similar to e.g. financial scams. The guy who runs the Ponzi Scheme is deceptive in advertising that you can triple your money in a year (or whatever). And the people who get trapped in the Ponzi scheme also play their role. They're so blinded with desire for these unbelievable profits -- getting something for nothing -- that they lose the ability to clearly examine and question and critically evaluate whether the scam artist's claims are reasonable.

My own desires (to be spiritual, enlightened, superior to the ordinary masses) made me a "mark" for "get-holy-quick" schemes. In the vetting process that Raymond describes... there was always a reason why the follower submitted to the outrageous exercise of financial vetting. Wasn't it because the follower thought that by sacrificing money, he/she would get a special connection to God (yada yada)? And that the spiritually-greedy follower wanted to get this special, higher status even more than materially-greedy investors want 300% returns? This line of thinking is vital from my perspective, since I've got neither the ability nor need to put an end to all scam artists... but I do have the ability to examine my own wants clearly enough so that I'll stop swallowing the bait and getting caught by the hidden hook.

So, to this day, I still don't know exactly why we needed to know how many sexual relationships prospective devotees had? Is this called "fully vetted"?

Thanks for sharing this info, it's fascinating how the process works. I guess that once people have revealed intimate details of their lives (details that there's no logical reason to to share with a prospective guru)... there's something psychological that makes them less likely to use their critical thinking to question the guru's claims in all sorts of other areas.

And then Dunkelberger says: "the members closest to Adi Da in Fiji are the most advanced practitioners".

I think this is a really key point. Anyone willing to use their God-given critical thinking would be sure to ask, "Advanced according to whom?? This concept of 'advanced' is only meaningful relative to a goal... what exactly is this goal, who's decided to make it the goal, and why should anyone accept it as their goal?"

Dunkelberger's quote above isn't exactly deceptive. For a statement to be deceptive, it must have a clear meaning that can be demonstrated to be false. But "advanced" (without answering my above questions) doesn't hold any clear meaning at all. So why does "advanced" work as "bait" for the new devotees? Maybe they're so greedy for their own ideas of becoming "advanced" that it over-rides the simple, critical, indepedent thinking that can so easily knock down the hype.

If we clarify our own goals, honestly look into our own minds to see what we want to get and why... then we won't get trapped by ideas like those Dunkelberger and Da put out as bait. Conversely, if we don't get clear about our own wants, somebody is bound to hook us on something, one way or another.

Do you really think that Lake County citizens believe that Adi Da with all his debauchery over 38 years that he was the one and only god --past, present, and future-- over Jesus, Buddha’s and all the great sages who have ever lived.

The statements that Da's made (about his advanced stage, his Divinity yada yada) are indeed judged as ridiculous by 99+% of the world. Still, if we care to think for ourselves, we don't really need to concern ourselves much with what the majority believes. Sure, it's good info to know how few people believe Da's claims. If someone within Da's world thinks that his teachings are good and beneficial for everyone, the fact that so very few people became Da's followers, and that even among those hard-core believers, most eventually left... these facts are indeed evidence that most people ultimately don't find Da's way so wonderful. It's not a big deal... since each of us can decide for ourselves what we find beneficial for our own particular life situation... and that decision doesn't require any judgements about what the rest of the world thinks.

The dynamic is pretty simple. If 99% of the world thinks Da's teachings are non-sense, for most of the population, their "follow-the-crowd" impulse leads them to never consider Da. But if someone somehow spends some time in say the Fiji compound, they'll be surrounded by people among whom 99+% do believe in Da's teaching, so this sheep-mind will then turn in the other direction. After all, the people most important in our lives are the ones right around us day to day, so it's easy to ignore what the rest of the world thinks and follow our own little herd.

what it is --- a delusion of grandeur by Franklin and an illusion by the devotee--- as most of the thousand of ex-devotees now see it ----and public people see it that way also.

There are 2 ways to reach this conclusion that the dynamic around Da is delusion/illusion. (1) Gather information of others' opinions from a larger group, listening to the opinions of lots of people in the wider world, rather than limiting it to the small group of Da devotees. Then follow the larger group, rather than the smaller group, and the larger group (the world in general) indeed finds Da's claims absurd. (2) Use critical thinking. Look into our own desires and thought-process to see what it is we want and hold and cling to, and how these attachments lead us grab onto this or that belief. Once the underlying cause of our belief becomes clear, then we can see through the illusion/delusion for ourselves, regardless of what any group, small or large, tells us to believe.

Stuart
http://stuart-randomthoughts.blogspot.com/

[sky]

mdpc mentioned a Joan Felt Adidam connection. I only knew a bit about her as I left Adidam in 1988 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Could someone please explain this?

[\mb]

mdpc mentioned a Joan Felt Adidam connection. I only knew a bit about her as I left Adidam in 1988 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Could someone please explain this?

Here's a link from the old forums:

http://www.lightgate.net/boards/viewtopic.php?t=4000&highlight=joan+felt

[Raymond]

In case you haven't been following and reading the posts at the end of the obituary article on the Lake County News site, there is new one posted (at the very bottom of the page) by a long time "devotee" ---which is worthwhile reading with discrimination ----and worth analyzing and deconstructing it (for the fun of it).

http://lakeconews.com/content/view/6664/764

[...oneLove]

In case you haven't been following and reading the posts at the end of the obituary article on the Lake County News site, there is new one posted (at the very bottom of the page) by a long time "devotee" ---which is worthwhile reading with discrimination ----and worth analyzing and deconstructing it (for the fun of it).

http://lakeconews.com/content/view/6664/764

This "long time devotee" links to a site (http://www.adidaupclose.org/) that gives more personal accounts from devotees of Adi Da Samraj in it's "Adi Da's Divine Mahasamadhi and Adidam In Perpetuity" section, under "Stories". One devotee named John wrote "There is only God! None of us are worthy. Still, there is only God!" Noteworthy to me is how many 'da'votees feel they're "not worthy", it seems to be a repetitive theme in the Adidam community.

...oneLove

[~E~]

This "long time devotee" links to a site (http://www.adidaupclose.org/) that gives more personal accounts from devotees of Adi Da Samraj in it's "Adi Da's Divine Mahasamadhi and Adidam In Perpetuity" section, under "Stories". One devotee named John wrote "There is only God! None of us are worthy. Still, there is only God!" Noteworthy to me is how many 'da'votees feel they're "not worthy", it seems to be a repetitive theme in the Adidam community.

Kind of a Wayne's World moment, if you know what I mean. Maybe they are all Aerosmith fans...

Party on, Dasters!

E

Half my life
is in books' written pages
Lived and learned from fools and
from sages
You know it's true
All the things come back to you

Sing with me, sing for the year
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears
Sing with me, if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good lord will take you away

Dream On Dream On Dream On
Dream until your dreams come true
Dream On Dream On Dream On
Dream until your dream comes through
Dream On Dream On Dream On
Dream On Dream On
Dream On Dream On

~ Aerosmith

[RandomStu]

One devotee named John wrote "There is only God! None of us are worthy. Still, there is only God!"

Suddenly I understand why my People had rules against even writing down the name of "God." As soon as anyone even opens their mouth to speak about such things, all that comes out is meaningless gibberish.

Noteworthy to me is how many 'da'votees feel they're "not worthy", it seems to be a repetitive theme in the Adidam community.

You can't have joy without sorrow, or heat without cold. The universe always maintains balance (if you add it all up, the result is zero). So if you're going to elevate one guy to extremes (the first last only highest-level Realizer), then someone else has got to be degraded to keep the balance.

If anyone really believed that the fundamental Truth is always already the case, they couldn't possibly take all this talk of "levels" so seriously.

Stuart
http://stuart-randomthoughts.blogspot.com/

[Raymond]

Short update:

Middletown Times Star in Lake County published on Dec. 5, 2008 that "Spiritual Leader Dies". ---Nothing remarkable about the article---a little history, 1985 law suits, etc. However they called the MOA, -- the Mountain of Atonement and said that is was 600 acres.

In the Dec. 18, 2008 article by Bill Dunkelberger in the Lake County News.com obituary, the acreage was at 700 acres. I posted earlier on this thread that it was 1200 acres.

For whatever reason Mr. Dunkelburger made the correction at the Middletown Times Star on Jan. 9, 2009 and corrected the MOA name and acknowledged the 1200 acres. This hasn't been changed yet on the Lake County News. com perhaps because in this case the original obituary was written by him and he would have to change the other mistakes such as the 2000 devotees census and the 10% tithe amount and the vetted qualifications, etc., etc.

Raymond
Note: I should have also said that Adidam made a point to the paper of saying that Franklin was a renunciate and didn't own anything. The Star had doubts about that --and rightly so.

[GW in Ohio]

The following is the best obituary of Adi Da I've read to date. It's also the best summary of his life and "career" I've seen. In fact, this whole website is filled with information and insight.
http://www.adidaarchives.org/index.htm

(Elias: Is this your handiwork?)

Adi Da Samraj aka Da Free John aka Bubba Free John aka Franklin Jones was an American-born guru who claimed to be the First, Last, and Only perfectly enlightened Spiritual Adept that had ever appeared on Earth or will ever appear in the future. He said that his own spiritual stature was superior to that of Jesus, Buddha, or any of the great spiritual figures from human history. The Adi Da Archives is a collection of materials written by critics who challenge this claim, and who present a different interpretation of Adi Da's life and teachings.

Adi Da was born in New York in 1939, and died of a heart attack at the age of 69 on November 27, 2008 at his home on a Fijian island owned by the religious organization he founded. He failed to resurrect from the dead, as hoped for by some devotees, who claimed he had recovered from several previous "deaths."

Adi Da first emerged as a spiritual teacher in Los Angeles in 1972, after studying with the Indian guru Swami Muktananda and spending time as a member and employee of Scientology. Starting with a very small group of followers 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 over one thousand current members worldwide, with perhaps several hundred of these engaged as "formally practicing devotees" as of late 2008.

Educated at Stanford and Columbia, Jones brought formidable intellect and creativity to bear upon the task of westernizing some of the eastern spiritual concepts that young Americans in the early 1970’s were becoming interested in. Over the course of his life, he self-published hundreds of books and magazines outlining and revising his spiritual teachings, including his own spiritual autobiography “The Knee of Listening” (1971). His core teachings incorporate many of the ideas he learned from studying the Kashmir Shaivite and Advaita Vedanta schools of Hinduism, but they also contain his own original insights and opinions about both spirituality and secular culture. Many observers note that the spiritual practices and experiences typically engaged in by Adi Da and his community tended to reflect the Occult tradition or possibly a degenerate version of Guru Bhakti Yoga (guru worship), more than the "non-dualist" perspective (i.e., all that exists is God) emphasized in many of his books and formal discourses.

Adi Da's writings include fascinating accounts of his own spiritual journey, complete with vivid descriptions of his alleged mystical experiences and transformations in consciousness. Adi Da's ability to present traditional eastern spiritual teachings in a way that made them seem like they were the product of his own spiritual realization, rather than mere beliefs he held, was what initially attracted many of those who became his devotees and convinced them he was an enlightened being.

Building on the base of his written teachings and charismatic personality, Adi Da was also 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 were particularly responsive to this dimension of their relationship to him, and 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 was considered a controversial figure due to persistent accusations that he was having sex with large numbers of devotees, drinking obsessively, abusing drugs, engaging in incidents of violence against women, and financially exploiting his followers. He rationalized all of this as his way of teaching people, claiming his behavior was selfless service designed to quicken the spiritual development of devotees by reflecting their own tendencies back to them. Critics, however, claim these activities were driven by Adi Da’s own personal desires, preferences and character flaws, and were generally engaged in with little regard for their impact on others. Some ex-members claim that their consent to become Adi Da's devotees and satisfy his endless demands and needs of every kind was gained through fraud, deception, or cognitive dissonance. Others state that they were harmed or traumatized by his abuses.

Many ex-followers point to Adi Da's lack of basic competence (or "skillful means") in applying his "crazy wisdom" teaching approach, and cite its ineffectiveness in producing positive results. It did not achieve the stated goal of undermining the narcissism and egoic tendencies of devotees, nor did it serve to enlighten them. Adi Da himself consistently stated that his devotees were failing to properly practice his teachings, that none of them were enlightened, and that Adidam was a failure.

Within the Adidam organization, Adi Da built an inner circle of corrupt loyalists who helped him control what was communicated about him to the general membership of Adidam and to the public. The inner circle was 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. Inner circle members were rewarded with high status in the Adidam organization and culture, and in many cases were allowed to live off the resources of the group and did not have to earn a living in the "outside world." The inner circle's mission, among other things, was to hide what they could of Adi Da's indulgent personal life, abusive treatment of others, and psychological issues. What they couldn't hide, they explained away as his method of spiritual teaching, tantric practice, or "crazy wisdom." Or, they claimed that what he was really all about had nothing to do with his body-mind at all, which meant that anything you could observe about his human behavior was not particularly important when compared to his alleged transcendental function as an agent of spiritual awakening.

In 1985, tensions in Adi Da's life escalated when a number of ex-devotees requested an audience with Adi Da to air grievances, and he refused to communicate with them. As a result, various lawsuits were filed by and against Adi Da, his organization, and former members. A great deal of international media attention followed. As a by-product of the media attention, many aspects of Adi Da's life that had previously been hidden from devotees who were not inner circle members and were unknown to the general public became exposed. In a practice that continues to this day, Adidam attempted to deny allegations about Adi Da by ex-members. However, they were caught by the media in their lies and forced to admit they were deceitful. The rationale that they gave for lying about Adi Da's problematic behavior was that "people who are not spiritually mature enough will not understand it in the proper context."

Adi Da himself refused to respond to any of the charges made against him in 1985, preferring to withdraw into seclusion in Fiji during the controversy and allow devotees to try and defend him. He finally emerged from seclusion once the media attention faded and the lawsuits had been settled, only to fall into despair and feelings of failure that contributed to his suffering a major breakdown in 1986. This breakdown was later mythologized by Adi Da as a miraculous incident of death and resurrection that he called the “Divine Emergence.” After the negative publicity in the mid-1980's, Adi Da's reputation was effectively ruined. In his later life, many of those who had earlier endorsed him, like Ken Wilber, distanced themselves from him.

Although Adi Da described himself as the “World Teacher,” he did not have any significant interactions or communications with anyone outside of his group during the course of his career. In 1983 he predicted that before he died all of humanity (whom he called “five billion slugs”) would acknowledge him, and said that if he had not come to Earth all of humanity would have been destroyed. However, his organization has stayed very small, despite the publication of more than a hundred 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 35 years. Franklin Jones as “Da Free John” and “Bubba Free John” was relatively well known in the 1970’s and 80’s among those interested in eastern spirituality, but faded into obscurity during the last decade of his life.

The turnover rate in Adidam has been on the order of 90-95%, and the group achieved little (if any) net growth after the mid-1980's despite receiving an inflow of new members over the years. The lack of membership retention reflected the fact that most devotees found their interaction with Adi Da and Adidam did not produce the spiritual benefits and transformation that were promised, yet huge demands were made upon devotees in every aspect of their lives. Understandably, few people were willing to suffer the indignities and exploitation of Adidam for very long when the expected benefits of doing so did not materialize. So most of them voted with their feet after a period of time, and either left the group or pulled back to became only peripherally involved, distancing themselves from the personal influence of Madman Da and his inner circle lieutenants.

It has been a high turnover rate, coupled with Adi Da's systematic undermining of the group's recruiting efforts with absurd and self-defeating management directives, that kept Adidam growth at a minimum. Only time will tell what happens with the organization now that its founder has passed away. Some religious groups have become more popular after their eccentric leaders have died, while others have faded into obscurity.

Adidam turned out to be a deeply dysfunctional organization that showed all the classic signs of a personality cult, even as its leader criticized cultism to try and obscure his part in creating it. Virtually all of its resources were devoted to fulfilling the needs and desires of one man, Adi Da, at the great expense of everyone else. In addition, those most deeply involved in Adidam were essentially compelled to engage in a lifestyle and practice that literally epitomized much of what Adi Da criticized about cultism and "spiritual seeking." The group's history has been an ongoing exercise in extreme cognitive dissonance.

As the years passed, Adi Da's inflated opinion of himself evolved into a form of delusional self-worship that reeked of outright madness. Each proclamation of his divinity was 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 was facilitated by a cultic group of sycophants who reinforced all of his illusions. They joined him in creating a collective fantasy where everything he said and did was interpreted as the Words and Acts of God. His psychological and health problems were explained as yogic phenomena that were said to have profound historical implications and significance for our planet and the cosmos as a whole! Some of the more bizarre incidents of his kinky and questionable behavior were explained away not merely as examples of spiritual instruction, but as outright miracles.

The net impact of the collective effort to mythologize everything about Adi Da was (and still 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 as the savior of mankind.

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. The purpose of this website is to collect and preserve materials critical of Adi Da that have appeared on the internet, many of which were posted to the Adi Da Discussion Board at www.lightmind.com .