On The Nature of Real Questions
by Beezone
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Adi Da Samraj offers a profound and transformative perspective on the nature of questioning, seeking, and the persistent human desire to resolve existential dilemmas. For centuries, philosophers, mystics, and seekers have grappled with fundamental questions such as What is the nature of existence? Where is God? Is there a purpose to life? These questions—while endlessly fascinating and mind-expanding—often lead to further complexity and frustration, as they ultimately resist definitive answers.
Adi Da’s teachings present a radical departure from the traditional intellectual or conceptual pursuit of such answers. Rather than treating these “first principle” or ultimate questions as problems to be solved, he invites us to examine the root of the questioning itself: the underlying sense of separation and self-contraction that motivates the search. He emphasizes that the act of seeking answers—no matter how sophisticated or noble—is bound by the limits of the egoic mind, which perpetuates the very dilemma it seeks to escape.
For Adi Da, the deepest resolution to life’s mysteries does not lie in the accumulation of knowledge or the crafting of intellectual answers. Instead, it is found in the dissolution of the questioning itself. This dissolution occurs not through passive resignation but through a direct, living encounter with the ultimate Reality—what he calls the “Divine Condition” or “Conscious Light.” By transcending the presumption that existence is a question or a problem, one becomes free to experience Reality as it is: a state of profound happiness, peace, and creative freedom.
Adi Da’s approach to philosophical and existential inquiry is both challenging and liberating. He reframes the process of questioning from a compulsive search for solutions into an opportunity for profound transformation. In his view, questions about existence—no matter how vast or abstract—are not meant to be “answered” in the conventional sense. Instead, they serve as gateways to deeper insight, opening the individual to the Mystery of existence itself. This Mystery, as Adi Da insists, is not something to be “solved” or intellectually grasped but to be directly realized and lived.
Through his teachings and writings, Adi Da illuminates several key points about the nature of questioning and seeking:
- The Futility of Egoic Seeking: The mind’s endless search for answers is rooted in a self-contracted state that reinforces the sense of separation from Reality.
- The Mystery Beyond Questions: Existence itself is not a question or a problem but a profound Mystery that cannot be objectified or reduced to concepts.
- The Liberation of Surrender: True freedom lies not in resolving the questions but in surrendering the need to question, allowing one to live in direct communion with the infinite.
Adi Da’s insights challenge us to go beyond the limits of the questioning mind and instead embrace a state of radical openness and intuitive participation in the Mystery of existence. He emphasizes that this process is not an intellectual exercise but a transformative realization that dissolves the boundaries of self and mind, allowing the individual to experience life as a continuous unfolding of Divine Reality.
In this way, Adi Da’s teaching offers not just a critique of the traditional search for answers but a luminous vision of what lies beyond: a state of freedom, joy, and creative engagement with the infinite. For those who are willing to confront the deepest existential dilemmas and transcend the limits of conventional thought, his teachings provide a powerful invitation to awaken to the true nature of existence.
What Adi Da says:
1. “You are not going to be given any answers at all… But there is a certain influence that will destroy your questioning. I certainly hope you can make contact with it. As a matter of fact, I am it.”
Adi Da challenges the premise of the questioning mind itself, highlighting that the process of realization is not about accumulating intellectual answers but about a transformative contact with the living force of Reality (or the Divine). His identification as “that influence” underscores his role as a living embodiment of the transcendent, capable of breaking the cycle of conceptual seeking.
Commentary: This statement shifts the focus from seeking “answers” to entering into a direct, felt relationship with a liberating influence. It suggests that true resolution comes not through explanation but through an encounter that transcends the limitations of the questioning mind.
2. “The Realization of Consciousness is a mindless feeling… It is one eternal Condition. But once you come to terms with this Realization and cease resisting it… you are natively Happy.”
Adi Da describes Consciousness not as a thing that can be grasped or conceptualized, but as a “mindless feeling”—a direct and eternal state that defies mental frameworks. Resistance to this state perpetuates suffering, but when resistance ceases, one rests in native happiness and peace.
Commentary: This passage reinforces the futility of trying to “size up” or intellectualize Reality. It highlights the paradoxical nature of realization: it is not something you attain but rather something you yield to when the mind’s efforts dissolve.
3. “The real question is the state you are in… The real answer is the transcending of your self-contracted state.”
Adi Da reframes all questions as reflections of the seeker’s current state of being. The “answer” is not external or conceptual but involves a transformation of the very condition that motivates the questioning.
Commentary: This points to the root of all inquiry—the “self-contraction” or existential tension within the seeker. The solution lies in transcending this contracted state rather than pursuing external resolutions.
4. “When you fall from ordinary fascination into a crisis… you have become deeply available.”
Adi Da speaks to the transformative potential of crisis and despair when one recognizes the futility of seeking. This surrender creates an openness to something beyond the egoic effort to control or solve life.
Commentary: This quote emphasizes the catalytic role of disillusionment and despair. True availability for transformation arises when one exhausts the hope that seeking will bring ultimate fulfillment.
5. “The Mystery of our existence is not a problem to be solved.”
Adi Da critiques the tendency to treat the Mystery of existence as a question or problem. This “Problem” is rooted in the egoic presumption of separation, which motivates all seeking. Transcendence comes from releasing this presumption entirely.
Commentary: The search for answers is revealed as a perpetuation of the very dilemma one seeks to escape. The Mystery, by nature, cannot be solved or objectified; it can only be lived or directly realized in its depth.
6. “When the life is only open… That state without answers and without questions is the true state.”
Adi Da describes a state of radical openness and ecstatic flow where the mind dissolves, leaving no questions or answers. In this state, intelligence functions as pure, intuitive participation in Reality, free of the ignorance that generates questioning.
Commentary: This quote encapsulates the essence of transcendence. When the mind is overwhelmed by the force of life and existence, there is no need for questions or answers—only a profound, creative participation in the Mystery.
Conclusion
Across these quotes, Adi Da consistently points to the limitations of seeking answers to insoluble questions. Instead, he calls for a radical surrender to the Mystery, which is not a question to be solved but a condition to be directly felt and lived. The transcendence of the “self-contraction” is central, as it is this egoic tension that creates the illusion of a problem in the first place.
Adi Da’s approach invites us to:
- Recognize the limits of conceptual thinking: Realization cannot be grasped by the mind or framed in language.
- Surrender to the Mystery: This involves ceasing the futile effort to resolve the unresolvable and instead allowing oneself to be in the truth of existence.
- Experience native Happiness: By transcending resistance, one discovers a peace and joy that is inherent, not achieved.
In the context of first principle questions—Where is God? Is there a God?—Adi Da’s teachings suggest that these questions dissolve in the recognition that what is sought is already the ground of being itself. The act of questioning reflects a state of separation, and the “answer” is the transcendence of that state, allowing one to rest in the native condition of happiness and openness.