A partial segment of
Identification of the Beloved is the Principle of Spiritual Life
Adi Da Samraj (Bubba Free John), December 8, 1976
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There is virtually no limit to the delusions that human beings can presume on the basis of their tendencies, their desiring, their motivation, their reactions to experience. Because this is so, individuals eventually step out of the stream of conventional relations. In other words, they at some point cease to act or live on the basis of the ego-soul, the experiential self, and they establish instead a sacred relationship by which they are relieved of the implications of this birth. Our meeting with one another each of you individually with me is of this kind. It is not a conventional relationship which we are here merely to dramatize with one another, you with me or you with one another. We are here to be lifted out of that destiny. Therefore, your relationship with me must be of a sacred nature. It must involve an entirely different kind of discipline than the usual life presumes. Your relationship to me in itself implies a commitment to the essential Teaching or consideration which is part of my communication with you. Apart from this sacred process that our relationship implies, the only thing we can possibly realize in one another’s company is suffering and delusion, which as you see is what the usual man realizes.
In all my years of teaching work, it has been a constant struggle to maintain this quality in our relationship. It is constantly my obligation to eliminate what stands in the way, what makes your approach to me a conventional one, what makes your response to me conventional, egoic, ordinary. And this is a great and very difficult task. It requires your whole life.
Your obligation personally is this matter of sadhana, the sacred occasion of our relationship. I must find a way to make that workable in this world, to maintain a communication to you, to keep myself available to you, to be able myself to stay out of the usual games of life so that I am available under circumstances that are free of conventional associations.
This body dies, that body dies. You try to rejuvenate, feel better, live longer but still in this world everybody dies. That’s why we do sadhana. Because separation enters in. We’re willing to fulfill the law of love. On the other hand what you love dies. That is the paradox of this place, and that is what makes it a hell. That is why this is one of the realms of suffering. This world is not a heaven. This is not a place of fulfillment. Thus, we must yield to the true Condition. We must not become dependent upon the conventional aspect of our relations. We must recognize our relations. We must identify the Condition of the loved one. You must recognize or identify me in Truth. Our relationship must be a spiritual one.
It is worth noting that this talk was given very shortly after the following event.
The Cosmic Birthday Joke
In the early days of his Work with devotees, it was possible for (Adi Da) to serve others by duplicating the habit conditions of the usual life, and struggling with others until the spell of common desires and tendencies could break. But this aspect of his obligation in the world began to dissolve, having essentially fulfilled itself, from the date of his birthday anniversary, November 3, 1976.
Enlightenment of the Whole Body
The Cosmic Birthday Joke
“On November 1, 1976 during a conversation with devotee Master Da began to feel ill and feverish. He thought a fast would be good and said the symptoms were signs of a Yogic process or purification occurring. The next day the symptoms were beginning to develop to such a degree he went into seclusion. This purification was rather quick and in a few days was out of seclusion and talking again with devotees. He described this purification as a ‘death’ experience similar to the one in his seminary days in Philadelphia in 1967.”
The Divine Emergence of the World-Teacher – pp. 163-4 (Summary)
This event started a process of relative seclusion and his asana of “Standing Firm”.
“In the early days of his Work with devotees, it was possible for Bubba to serve others by duplicating the habit conditions of the usual life, and struggling with others until the spell of common desires and tendencies could break.
But this aspect of his obligation in the world began to dissolve, having essentially fulfilled itself, from the date of his birthday anniversary, November 3, 1976.”
“In the last months, many aspects of the Future of Bubba’s Work have been made clear. The Mysteries of this Process of Divine Translation are being shown in him, and he will have the opportunity to make some of this known, for the sake of all those devotees who will make this transition in the future.”
The Enlightenment of the Whole Body.
“On November 1, 1976, when Master Da had gathered with devotees, he began to describe some strange symptoms that were occuring in him…” The Laughing Man, Vol 3, NO2, ‘Like a Streak of Lightning Which Flashes Acorss the Sky‘, On Bodily Transformation, by The Laughing Man staff, p. 69, 1982.