Adi Da

[[File:AvatarAdiDaSamraj2008.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Adi Da in 2008.]]{{newage}}
{{hatnote|Not to be confused with {{wpl|Adidas}}.}}
:
'''Adi Da''', born '''Franklin Albert Jones'''  {{Lived|November 3, 1939|November 27, 2008}}<ref name="Fiji Times">{{Cite web|url= http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=107501|title= Spiritual leader passes on|date= November 28, 2008|work= www.fijitimes.com|access-date= February 20, 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090226040019/http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=107501|archive-date= February 26, 2009|url-status= dead|df= mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="CCT">{{Cite web|date=June 2009|title=Obituaries|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916111154/https://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/archive/may_jun09/obituaries0|access-date=August 12, 2020|website=Columbia College Today}}</ref> was a guru/mystic/writer/artist born in Queens, New York.<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.adidam.org/adi-da/|title= An Introduction to Avatar Adi Da|work= www.adidam.org|access-date= February 20, 2010}}</ref>

He gained fame as part of the spiritual counterculture movement in the 1970s, writing 75 books, as well as lecturing, the [[new religious movement]] he established being called '''Adidam'''.<ref>Georg Feuerstein, ''The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice'', p. 25.</ref> Some followers reported having profound metaphysical experiences in Adi Da's presence, attributing these phenomena to his spiritual power.<ref>Feuerstein, "Holy Madness", (1992), p. 84.</ref> Other followers remained skeptical, witnessing nothing supernatural.<ref name="Lowe 1996">{{Cite book|title= DA: The Strange Case of Franklin Jones|last=Lowe |first=Scott |author2=Lane, David |year=1996 |publisher= Mt. San Antonio College Philosophy Group|isbn= 1-56543-054-9}}</ref><ref name="CCT"/> He was also known, for various shorter times, as 
Bubba Ho-Tep,
 '''Bubba Free John''', '''Da Free John''', '''Da Love-Ananda''', '''Da Kalki''', '''Da Avadhoota''', '''Da Avabhasa''', '''Adi Da Love-Ananda Samraj''' amongst other names. 

A main teaching was that "'ego'—the presumption of a separate self—is an illusion," rendering futile efforts to connect with divine truths from the traditional theistic stance of separateness.{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/gurusamericasuny00fors/page/n206 197]}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=The A to Z of New Religious Movements|last= Chryssides|first= George D.|year= 2006|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham, MD |isbn= 0-8108-5588-7|pages= 47–48, 200}}</ref> Adi Da declared himself a unique spiritual avatar, and you can only achieve enlightenment by following him and his Generic Eastern-ish Religion.<ref name="Gallagher 2006">{{Cite book|title= Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America [Five Volumes]|last1=Gallagher|first1=Eugene V.|author-link1=Eugene V. Gallagher|first2=W. Michael|last2=Ashcraft|year=2006|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, CT|isbn= 0-275-98712-4}}</ref>{{rp|99}} His teachings were almost exclusively "Divine Self-Revelation" with "no outside sources" &mdash; which some would take as code for [[PIDOOMA]].

He was also criticized for perceived isolationism,<ref name="Ken Wilber Online 1996">{{Cite web|url=http://wilber.shambhala.com/html/misc/adida.cfm/ |title=The Case of Adi Da |author=Wilber, Ken |date=October 11, 1996 |work=wilber.shambhala.com |access-date=February 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409093052/http://wilber.shambhala.com/html/misc/adida.cfm/ |archive-date=9 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title= Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America, Vol IV.|last= Gallagher|first= Eugene V.|author2= Ashcraft, W. Michael|year= 2006|publisher= Greenwood Press|location=Westport, CT|isbn= 0-275-98712-4|page= 93}}</ref> and controversial behavior.<ref name="Holy Madness 1996">{{Cite journal|author=Feuerstein, Georg |year= 1996|title= Holy Madness: The Dangerous and Disillusioning Example of Da Free John |journal= What is Enlightenment?|volume= Spring/Summer 1996|issue= 9 |issn=1080-3432}}</ref><ref name="Lowe 1996"/> Although he died in 2008 leaving an undetermined number of followers, you can still buy his DVDs for the neat and tidy sum of $26.95. Allegations of sexual misconduct in the mid-1980s were met with countersuits, resulting in dismissal or settlement of the claims.<ref name=DeepThroat>{{Cite news|title= Deep Throat's Daughter, The Kindred Free Spirit|first= Lynne|last=Duke |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=June 12, 2005 |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/11/AR2005061100724.html}}</ref><ref name=sfchron-04>{{Cite news|title=Sex Slave Sues Guru: Pacific Isle Orgies Charged|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|date=April 4, 1985}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Da Free John Sect Sues 6 Ex-Members On Extortion Charge|first=Molly|last=Collin|newspaper=Mill Valley Record|date=April 17, 1985}}</ref>

==External links==
*[http://www.adidam.org/ Official website]
*[http://www.daplastique.com/ Adi Da Art]
*[http://www.adidaupclose.org/  News and personal perspectives]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Da, Adi}}
[[Category:Cult leaders]]

Categories: Cult leaders