Adi Da

Personal

Vocation

Notable

Traits

American siddha-guru known as "Bubba Free John or "Master Da Free John," a handsome, ample and happy mystic with an ashram called Horse House Commune in California. His teachings deal with various forms to harmonize and purify action in life. "The Method of the Disshas" and "Garbage and the Goddess" are among his works, which include books and recorded talks. It is said of Jones that he lived in a world of sheer light and joy known as "the Bright" until his second or third year. This condition would assert itself in the form of uncommon psychic and mystical experiences, as well as physical symptoms such as sudden attacks of fever or skin rashes with no diagnosable medical cause. These signs subsided in his eighth year and didn’t return until he was 17. In 1960, he went through a despair that yielded two insights which would be crucial to his philosophy. The first was that there is only one reality or transcendental consciousness; the second is that this reality is man’s true identity and anything else is a product of an un-enlightened mind. From 1962-1964, he sequestered himself in spiritual disciplines, and sought out the company of an American-born teacher, Swami Rudrananda, who instructed him in Indian kundalini yoga. He then entered a Lutheran seminary at Swami’s instruction. In 1967, while at the seminary, he underwent another religious experience, and came up with a new insight, that his whole search had been founded on the avoidance of relationships and the recoil from reality in its many forms. In 1968, he sought out Swami Muktananda in India, and stayed briefly with him there, and during that time the Swami acknowledged that Franklin had reached "yogic liberation." On 10 September 1970, he entered the permanent condition of Sahaj Samadhi, essential to transcendental being-consciousness. After this, he was moved to teach others the condition of "the Heart" or the reality in which everything inheres. He spent three years of struggle with students who were not prepared for his teaching, which weakened his physical body. He returned to India to clarify his teaching, changed his name to "Bubba Free John," as Bubba was his childhood nickname and "Free John" a rendering of Franklin Jones. When he returned to America, he began to teach differently. In November 1976, Free John ceased to have frequent contact with his many followers and lived in seclusion for the next three years. In the fall of 1979, he dropped the name "Bubba" for the spiritual address "Da" meaning "Giver." In 1983, Adi Da moved with a group of about 40 followers to the Fijian island of Naitaba, purchased by a wealthy follower. It was his primary residence until the end of his life. Accusations of Adi Da abusing his power as a spiritual leader attracted international attention in 1985. In investigative reports and dozens of interviews, both named and anonymous ex-members made numerous specific allegations of Adi Da forcing members to engage in psychologically, sexually, and physically abusive and humiliating behavior, as well as accusing the church of committing tax fraud. Two lawsuits were filed against Adi Da and the church in California in 1985. One, the O'Mahoney suit was dismissed the next year. The other lawsuit and several threatened suits in subsequent years were settled with payments and confidentiality agreements, negatively impacting member morale and bleeding the organization financially He died in Naitaba, Lau Islands, Fiji on 27 November 2008. Link to Wikipedia biography