Have I Said It? – Spiritual Life

Have I Said It?

Franklin Jones, 1973 (Adi Da Samraj)

Note to reader:

As a member of Adi Da’s (then Bubba Free John’s) community from about 1973-1975, during which time I lived for nine months in Persimmon, the sanctuary where he lived. My service was to create an index of his early books. I found these writings to be compelling, along with some of the outrageous talks that have not found their way into print. Around his birthday in 1975 (to the best of my recollection), Adi Da was planning on moving with a small group to Hawaii. For that occasion, I arranged a selection of his compelling words by topic (mostly selected from his books) and hand-wrote them in a blank book for his enjoyment. As far as I know, nothing ever came of that compilation. That became Book One of two parts, the second of which I completed some time thereafter. Now through the Internet, I make both parts available to interested readers. These blank books (I made a copy for myself) have been sitting on my bookshelves all this time, and after Adi Da’s passing, it occurred to me that this compilation would be very useful to many readers.

Enjoy,

Ed Hirsch
presenceofone@yahoo.com
Ashland, Oregon


 

Bubba Free John, 1974 – Adi Da Samraj, 2008

Chapter 7.

Spiritual life

Spiritual Life is a Spiritual
Relationship.

 

 

God performs this work.

This way is fulfilled

By grace.

It is made perfect

And true

By grace.

 

What’s true about

Spiritual life

Is that there is God, Truth and
Reality.

And there is Grace.

Spiritual life

Is a spiritual relationship.

It is an involvement

With Grace.

It is life in God, Truth and
Reality.

It is a Graceful Process.

Because the spiritual process

Is Divine business,

It can be done very easily.

It is already done.

We are not talking about

Some condition that is

or can be

Accomplished.

We are talking about

The condition

That always and already
pertains.

 

The foundation of spiritual
life

Is not the absence

Of the intuition of the
Divine.

The foundation of spiritual
life

Is the intuition of your Real
Condition,

The intuition of the Divine
Nature

Of this moment.

I don’t mean life
evolving

Toward the Divine,

But life presently founded

In the Divine.

 

Life isn’t intended to be a
mystery

That leads to the discovery of
God,

Truth and Reality,

At enlightenment,

Or at any other point in the
future.

Life is founded in God, Truth and
Reality,

And is meant to be lived in
God,

Truth and Reality,

Happily and without mystery.

 

Life becomes a drama that is
not

Leading to the Divine.

It is leading Nowhere.

Life is not leading anywhere.

Truth or Reality becomes

Not the goal

But the very principle of
life.

Spiritual life

Is the company of truth.

It is a relationship to one

Who lives as Truth.

It is the very nature of life.

It is the form of existence.

 

Spiritual life

Is not the activity of spiritual
seekers.

Spiritual life begins

When the spiritual search

Is abandoned

And Communion with Truth is
begun.

It is a matter of living

In Divine Communion

From the beginning.

It is the assumption

Of the Divine

As the active principle and
condition

Of your life.

Then you begin in utter
freedom,

In the infinite intensity of
God.

 

The True Way

Is to Realize God in Truth.

It is God first, not God as the
goal.

God, Truth and Reality first,

as the principle of life.

Then the world is known in
Truth.

Then all the psycho-physical

Manifestations are known in
Truth.

The real or true way

Of Spiritual Life

Is to assume the condition

That is Divine Communion,

To live that condition
constantly,

Now, in this moment,

And now in this moment.

 

The Truth is this condition,

And that’s the good news.

The real good news is that

None of that seeking is
necessary

It is all nonsense!

The good news is that the
condition

That is happiness is free of this
dilemma

And all motivated existence,

That all of that is completely
unnecessary

And can in this moment be
side-stepped,

Obviated, undermined, and
completely

By-passed in the way of real Spiritual
Life.

 

The Divine Power of this work

Is perfect.

There is no obstruction in the
cosmos,

No obstruction in a human
being

That can stand up to it.

It is nothing.

It is just a ride.

It is no big deal.

It’s nothing, it amounts to
nothing.

You’re very serious about
it,

But at some point

It won’t mean anything to
you.

This way is simple and easy,

Because it does not take

Billions of lifetimes,

But it requires a hell of a
lot

In one lifetime.

And yet some day you will look at
it

And see that it required

Nothing at all,

That you did nothing.

It all seemed very dramatic

At the time,

And yet it involved

Nothing at all.

 

The true way

Is the one that is blissful
now.

The true teaching

Turns you to present bliss

And does not require you to create
it.

 

The condition of relationship

Already exists as your
condition.

What has to be added for that

To take place?

Nothing!

All that is required

Is relationship itself,

The condition

That is always already the
case.

 

Allow it to develop

And reveal the Divine to you

According to its own pace.

Live by faith,

Not by design.

You cannot overcome this
world,

But the Divine has already

Overcome this world.

 

The grace of Reality itself

Absorbs ego-consciousness

And makes it identical

To absolute Consciousness.

And it is all done

In a very natural, easy
transition.

You couldn’t do it
yourself.

You would refuse to do it

As soon as you realized

What was actually required.

 

The individual cannot do
understanding,

Nor can he do no-seeking and
no-dilemma.

Spiritual life is not about
winning.

There are no winners in God.

None.

Know that you cannot

Be responsible for it.

Know that you cannot figure it
out.

You do not understand it.

You cannot understand it.

That is the truth.

 

Here is spiritual life, Divine
Communion.

Live it. Be happy to have
discovered

That you cannot figure it out.

Allow the Divine

To create your event.

The Divine is always creating

A perfect event.

 

If you live by faith,

In other words,

If you live always already

In Divine Communion,

And allow the manifestation of your
event,

Your life in any moment,

To be the Divine occasion,

Perfection will always be
manifested

In the form of conditions

Appropriate to this moment in
God.

 

Nothing happens to you

That is not appropriate.

All events serve truth.

Everywhere

Everything combines

For the sake of truth.

Nothing happens arbitrarily

To those who live truth.

 

The radical point of view

Is not one of seeking,

Step by step,

Through experiences,

But by penetrating,

Prior to any movement at all,

The present condition.

If you always move directly

To that condition,

That happiness,

Prior to your games,

Your separateness,

Your fulfillments,

Then you have already passed
through

Everything necessary

For your dissolution in God.

 

You will never gain anything

Again by experience.

So if it has become
complicated,

Return to the basics,

God, Grace, Truth and Reality.

There’s no meditation
technique

For you to acquire.

I do not recommend

That you meditate.

There is only understanding.

Therefore, understand.

There is no right motive

For adopting it,

There is only the discovery

That you are

Already doing

Self-contraction.

It is not a matter

Of your meditating yourself

To the point of realization.

 

The actual power of the Divine

Is activated in understanding,

And that power does the
meditation.

That power is the meditation.

The Divine power

Is greater than anybody

Could possibly comprehend.

It is not itself

Experiential or yogic in
nature.

It is not even mystical in
nature.

But it is perfect nonetheless,

And more than sufficient.

It is real, absolute.

It is present in silence.

It is immediate, direct.

The power of the Heart
manifestation

Is a moveless intensity

Without center or periphery,

That grasps consciousness

And draws it into itself.

 

In the condition

Of Divine Communion

You are meditated.

Meditation is not your
concern.

The Lord is the Great

Master of meditation.

He alone is the meditator,

And he alone is the Supreme

Object of meditation.

 

In the process of this
meditation,

Only the Lord is known.

The Lord must meditate you.

The Lord must enter.

And when the Lord enters you,

He makes you ecstatic.

Intelligence is the
fundamental

Meditation.

Consciousness is itself

The meditation.

 

Real meditation

Is an expression of that

Rather than a way

To get to it.

Real meditation is already

A radical activity.

It is not purposive.

It has no dilemma to solve.

Real meditation is an intense
fire.

It is a marvelous
intelligence,

A brilliance, a genius, a living
force.

It is not a pious attempt

To quiet your little thoughts.

It blasts the hell

Out of these thoughts!

 

The most intense meditation

Is one in which the Form of
Reality

Itself absorbs consciousness.

When consciousness

Moves into relationship,

The mind falls away.

The mind is replaced

By a form of intensity.

It doesn’t make any
difference

What is inside.

It all has to go.

It is really very simple.

You just throw it away.

The key to the matter

Is not how to throw it away.

The key to the matter

Is recognizing that it is

Just stuff

Garbage.

As soon as you see it,

You know immediately

That you should throw it away,

Drop it.

 

You are just looking

At a lot of garbage

And thinking it is the
precious

Instrument of God.

But I’ll tell you right
now

It is all garbage!

Everything you are given is
garbage,

And you are expected

To throw it away,

But you meditate on it.

None of it is the Divine.

It is garbage.

You are being asked

To sacrifice everything!

The Divine vision

Is just a pimple on the
Goddess,

Except it is not recognized

As such by seekers.

They think, “oh, it is the
Lord.”

They couldn’t care less

About the Lord,

Because to know the Lord

Would require them

To be obliterated.

 

The Lord in Truth

Requires the sacrifice

Of self-existence.

Nobody wants such a thing.

They want the Goddess,

Who will pamper them,

And delight them.

That is what people want.

The usual meditation

Is only a consolation.

The ordinary yogi or religious
man

He may think he is looking at

The blue of Krishna

Or the white of Jesus,

Until he loses face.

Until the sudden zero,

He looking at Krishna

Or the Christ.

He is only consoled,

Only distracted.

His realization and his death

Are kneeling in one another.

What are you looking at

In this turning inward?

The same thing

That you are always looking
at!

The same obsession.

The usual meditator

Is just another obsessed man,

Unaware of relationship

As his actual condition.

 

Fulfillment isn’t worth
squat.

It is not a matter

Of the quiet mind,

The empty mind,

The blissful mind,

The transcendent mind,

Or even the Divine mind.

Truth is of a radical

And most prior nature.

It would be better

To be cooked alive

Than to gain a little peace

By method and trickery.

And even if

There is a little quiet,

Real spiritual life

Must begin at last.

 

Spirituality is not the way

To Truth.

The cultic path is not the way

To God.

No spiritual process

Makes you realize God.

There is no such process.

The Divine already enjoyed

Is the foundation

Of any genuine spiritual
process.

All these ways of realizing God are
false.

The traditions have only felt

The comedy that men may
attain.

All those ways are absolutely
false.

There is absolutely no way.

There is no way.

There is no path.

None.

 

In order to know that

With certainty

You must realize

That all paths are

Fruitless.

All paths are

Suffering and avoidance.

Spiritual life is not the
extraordinary.

Spiritual life is not sitting in the
cave,

Reciting the mantra.

Thirty years of Shakti
experiences

Will occupy a fool,

But they will not awaken him.

 

In the presence of the Divine
Person,

There is nothing to be
attained,

There is no state to be
attained.

There is no God-union

Until God is there to be unioned
with.

And when God appears you are not going
to

Have to do your spiritual
breathing!

It will all be very obvious.

You won’t have to think
about

What is necessary to be done

To become one with God.

All righteousness,

All ordinary spirituality

Or the search for consolation

Is nonsense.

It is a refusal.

It is unreal.

All separation is an illusion.

And all attainments are an
illusion.

There is no separation,

And there is no attainments

Of union.

No process,

High or low,

In any plane of manifestation,

Is Truth or leads to Truth.

 

The only way to Truth

Is Truth itself.

Truth is the way.

Spiritual life

Is a relationship,

A living demand.

The Way

Is the condition itself.

The relationship itself.

It already exists.

It is the spiritual
discipline,

The meditation.

There is nothing else

That needs to be added to it.

The condition itself,

The relationship itself

Is the spiritual discipline.

Spiritual life

Is a relationship.

It has always been so.

Nothing apart from

That relationship

Is offered.

Spiritual life

Is simplicity,

It is relationship,

Relational life.

It is your conscious humanity.

You must live it.

You must become a human being.

To be intelligent,

You need not first realize

Absolute truth.

But no one can realize absolute
truth

Who has not first

Become intelligent.

You must become

Masters of the ordinary.

 

Truth is resurrected

From the ground up.

Spiritual life

Is not a form of consolation.

Its foundation is not

A fascinating promise.

Spiritual life is threatening.

Spiritual life is not leading

Toward your fulfillment

In some great vision.

Spiritual life is leading to

The absolute undermining

Of your separate existence

Absolutely.

 

Spiritual life

Is not a cure.

There is no remedy.

Spiritual life

Is the life of truth.

Spiritual life

Is a demand,

Not a form of therapy.

It is the practice of life

In a world where the Living
Heart,

Not your dilemma and search,

Is the condition.

 

Real spiritual life

Requires everything

Of a person.

Spiritual life

Is a crisis!

The crisis in Consciousness

Is spiritual life.

The suffering and the
intensity

Tapas

Is spiritual life.

 

Spiritual life

Is living intelligence,

Conscious in dilemma,

But with intensity.

 

We begin

Spiritual life

Only when we have

Already discovered

The “terrible
truth.”

It is because

You are sensitive

To the fact

That you are disturbed

That you become willing

To engage

Spiritual life.

 

It is better to be disturbed.

It is right to be disturbed.

In your condition,

One should be disturbed!

It is quite correct

For you to be disturbed,
because

In fact, you are disturbed.

To be disturbed

And yet not to feel disturbed

Would not be appropriate.

It is much more intelligent

To realize that you are
disturbed.

That is the beginning

Of spiritual life.

At least that sensitivity

Affords the possibility

Of spiritual life.

 

No one begins to live

Spiritual life

Until he or she has suffered.

Life is suffering.

Suffering is the first form of
grace.

Suffering has released you

Into your own depth.

Come into the presence

That is God

When you are already happy.

It is not a matter of

Any experience whatsoever.

It is a matter of

Falling out of the

Conditional and conventional

Representation of existence

Into that prior, absolute
enjoyment.

 

It is all garbage.

Throw it all away.

Only God

Is the condition

Of Consciousness and Life.

Spiritual life

Is life in the condition of
Truth.

Spiritual life has to do with

Continuous happiness, continuous
bliss,

Continuous freedom, continuous
relationship.

To live that Divine Communion

Under all conditions

Is the discipline of our work.

 

Happiness is the
responsibility.

Freedom is the discipline.

To be free

Is the ultimate discipline.

Happiness is

What it’s all about.

Unhappiness is

The highest crime.

Spiritual transformation
depends

On this realized, ecstatic
condition

In every moment.

A spiritual life is one in which
you

Lose face in each moment, in which
you

Are the servant of God, in which
you

Are dependent on the services of
God.

Unless such a literal and
conscious

And ecstatic and face-losing
affair

Appears in every moment as your
life,

You are not living spiritual
life.

If that glorious, ecstatic kind
of

Happiness and distraction is not
present,

Spiritual life is not
possible.

 

There is no call

For seriousness at all.

There is never any call

For seriousness.

There is no reason

To be serious about anything

Whatsoever.

 

You must already be happy,

Already full of humor.

There is no reason

Why you have to be
extraordinary.

Be ordinary, be happy.

 

Before you started imagining

A program for your

Ultimate victory or defeat,

By desiring and creating
circumstances

For yourself,

Just before all of that
happens

In this moment,

Just before you believe all of
that,

You are happy.

And it is better to be happy.

That happiness is your
condition.

All of the rest of it is an
hallucination

By which you program your
life.

 

Be easy, be full of enjoyment.

It is not to annihilation

That you are invited.

It is to the fullness of God

That is happy and free.

There is only this humor, this
freedom,

As the radical foundation

Of conscious life.

And it makes no difference,

Except that every other state,

Object or form of knowledge

Makes a difference.

Universal modification, as a
functional

Rather than a conventional
condition,

Known in truth, is wonderful!

 

All human possibilities, if they
are

Managed in God, are enjoyable.

Life is, fundamentally,
delight,

When released from the strategic
destiny

Of narcissus and the conventional
cult

Of this world.

 

Life or the cosmos is a
modification

Of the great Divine.

What heresy to assume

That the Lord’s power of
modification

Is false or to be gotten rid
of!

It is all God’s work, God’s
happiness.

It is to be known and lived in
truth.

Therefore enjoy it,

For you alone

Must live your ends

And all the stages

Of time.

 

Enjoy and create

According to the wisdom

Of your own form.

All that arises

Is to be realized

As the conscious theatre

Of God.

Not any yogic bliss

But to be already and presently
happy,

Regardless of the apparent
condition,

Is spiritual life.

All the manipulation of the life
force

Is God’s concern.

Life in truth

Is to be already happy

Without any reasons
whatsoever,

Not to be hoping to be happy

By moving into Samadhi.

This enjoyment

Is the principle of life,

Not its goal.

True Bliss

Is the enjoyment

Of your condition

In Truth.

It requires

The most perfect sacrifice.

Truth is Life

Is to live the primary

Condition of relationship

Under all conditions,

At all times.

Live this

Conscious relationship

Always.

You should just

Live that relationship.

Live that forever.

A lifetime of truth.

True spiritual practice

Is to live the condition

Of that Divine relationship,

Divine Communion,

For a lifetime,

Even eternally.

 

Spend no time whatsoever

Analyzing yourself.

No time.

I mean no time!

Don’t spend any more time

In your little

Self concerned life.

Turn yourself completely

Over to that process,

Withhold nothing,

And every moment throw away

Everything that you’ve
withheld.

You must make every moment

An involvement in that
process.

Every moment must be realized

In this form of service,

Every moment must be realized

As the sacrament

In which the self is yielded,

In which all content is
yielded,

And in which grace is
received.

 

You are under

An obligation.

You must go through it.

You must maintain the form

Of spiritual life eternally.

Having begun, never abandon
it.

Never.

Once having found it,

To abandon it

Is the height of foolishness,

Worthy of what it realizes.

 

Now you must do it,

And if you don’t do it,

Then you will suffer.

If you do it,

You will enjoy God.

Enjoy the condition

Of spiritual life

With open intensity,

And you simply won’t be

Obsessed anymore!

 

The fact that any of that
remains

Is not really any concern of
yours,

Because it belongs to God.

So fine, now it belongs to
God.

It is a matter of living the
truth,

And truth obviates

What is not truth.

Do this always,

Freely,

And with humor.

Just do what you have to do

And get it started.

Then it goes on forever.

Everything else is quick.

 

It seems

That talking about

Spiritual life

Tends to make it appear

A very complicated process.

It is here!

This relationship

Is a real condition.

You must be

Very simple

And very direct.

True spiritual life

 

Is much more practical than
that,

Much more direct than that.

It must be.

It is here.

 


Have I Said It?

Franklin Jones, 1974 (Adi Da Samraj)

More:

The Teaching

Reality

God

No Dilemma

Seeking

Suffering

Spiritual Life

Realization

Understanding

Ignorance

“I” Am the Body

Bubba Free John

The Guru

Satsang

The Devotee

The Community