Beyond the Beginner’s
Spiritual Way of Saint Jesus By The Avataric Great Sage, Adi Da
Samraj (this book was later published as
Pneumaton)
INTRODUCTION by Jonathan Condit, PhD (Senior Editorial Assistant to Adi Da Samraj) In the years 20052006, the Avataric Great Sage, Adi
Da Samraj, wrote two extraordinary bookswith the
arresting titles Up? and Is. In these two books, Adi Da
Samraj has summarized, with a great richness of detailed
consideration, the entire religious and Spiritual history
and effort of humankind. In both books, He describes and
criticizes the ordinary pursuit of exoteric (or conventional
and socially based) religion, which accounts for the vast
majority of all human involvement with religion. Then, in
Up?, He goes on to describe esoteric religion in the mode of
Spiritual ascent (or the effort to go
infinitely up, the effort which is the origin of all
Spiritual Mysticism throughout human history)while, in
Is, He describes esoteric religion in the mode of
world-excluding Transcendental Self-Abiding (or the effort
to go deep within, which effort is found
principally in the traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism). A remarkable feature of both Up? and Is is that Adi Da
Samraj not only discusses the Spiritual and Transcendental
traditions, He also offers unique renderings of principal
texts that epitomize those two fundamental modes of
Spiritual search. His renderings are not simply
translations, but fully expository (and, indeed,
revelatory) presentations of theoften only cryptically
expressedmeanings of the traditional texts. In the
case of Up?, Adi Da has chosen to render the Spiritual
essence of the New Testament Gospelsprimarily, Mark
and Matthew, as well as the so-called Secret Gospel of
Mark. The purpose of Adi Das sublimely beautiful
rendering of the Gospels is not to proveor
disproveanything about the presumed historical Jesus
of Galilee.*1 Rather, His rendering has the
purpose of revealing the true esoteric core of original
Christianity (as a tradition originating in the esoteric
mode of Spiritual ascent)whether the
Gospels are to be regarded as history, as
legend, or as a combination of the two. Both Up? and Is conclude with Adi Da Samrajs
offering of His own Wisdom-Teaching and Realit-Way, with
regard (respectively) to Its Spiritual and Transcendental
dimensions. His Waythe Way of Adidamis the
Unique Way of Transcendental Spirituality, which
acknowledges, and yet surpasses, both the ancient Spiritual
esotericism and the ancient Transcendental esotericism. Up?
includes Adi Das poetic masterpiece Hridaya Rosary (in
which He Reveals in detail the true nature of the Spiritual
process in His Company), as well as His core Teachings on
the fundamental practice of devotion to Him (which is the
very foundation of the Way of Adidam). Taken together, Up? and Is represent an unprecedented
map of the total human story of
religion and Spiritualityand they, likewise, form the
context for coming to know the Unique Divine Offering of the
Avataric Great Sage, Adi Da Samraj.
and the
Traditions of Mystical Cosmic Ascent via
Spirit-Breath