The Death of the Greatest American Con-Guru

December 29, 2008 5:23 PM

Adi Da (one of the most extreme of the 20th century God-men) died on Thanksgiving. This may be a little late, and of little interest to most of you. (He had many names: Da Free John is probably the most recognizable to many of us.) He lived in luxury in Fiji, with many beautiful "consorts." There is a very extensive discussion about him and his work here. Info about his "cult" here.
posted by kozad (45 comments total)

...it goes around the world, around the...
posted by Wolfdog at 5:28 PM on December 29, 2008

What is a nonduality? A plurality? An infinite shade of grey? A somewhat trivial affirmation of monism?

"All this is the mind. The grass in the distance is the mind."

Oh, I see. The grass in the distance is the mind. I suppose that's a nonduality? Here I always thought that the grass in the distance is the grass in the distance, but that would imply a duality of the grass in the distance and my mind thinking of the grass in the distance. And we wouldn't want that.
posted by ageispolis at 5:46 PM on December 29, 2008

Metafilter has become obituary filter apparently
posted by Large Marge at 5:51 PM on December 29, 2008

Well, the middle chapters of life are unknown, but the last chapter ends poorly, with them shoveling dirt over your head. this guy screwed a lot of people. if karma is a real phenomenon, look for him appearing soon as a cockroach...
posted by jcworth at 5:54 PM on December 29, 2008

Celebrity Death Beeper.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 6:00 PM on December 29, 2008

In the late 90's I had roommates who found a flier promoting a visit from Adi Da that said "The Promised God-Man Is Here!" We were all very excited, as you can imagine. Then we made up a song about the Promised God-Man to the tune of "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden".
Good times, good times.
posted by smartyboots at 6:02 PM on December 29, 2008

disappointed at the lack of a hrefs around beautiful consorts
posted by doobiedoo at 6:04 PM on December 29, 2008 [7 favorites]

Looks like Gallagher and Ganhdi had a baby.

He's Gallagandhi! All Hail Gallagandhi! On Gallagandhi's Island!
posted by jonmc at 6:12 PM on December 29, 2008

disappointed at the lack of a hrefs around beautiful consorts

It is wonderful to encounter the comments that you imagine making, but then immediately discard because you are too concerned about correct deportment.
posted by goldfinches at 6:13 PM on December 29, 2008 [8 favorites]

I don't know much about Adi Da. But my yoga teacher when I was in graduate school was a devotee of his. Guy named Gene who started each class by drinking a Nalgene full of a thick green muck which he claimed was his entire source of sustenance. He must have been in his fifties but he was terrifyingly limber and strong. Hell of a yoga teacher, too. So here's to you, Adi Da; you did something right.
posted by escabeche at 6:35 PM on December 29, 2008

"Consorts" are one of those things you have to live life on a larger scale than I ever will in order to have. Like "henchmen".
posted by Joe Beese at 6:39 PM on December 29, 2008 [10 favorites]

His line of three-stripe sportswear was all right but not sure about the philosophy.
posted by Abiezer at 6:39 PM on December 29, 2008 [10 favorites]

It is wonderful to encounter the comments that you imagine making, but then immediately discard because you are too concerned about correct deportment.

as if dropping a retrograde concept of companionship like 'consort' isn't enough of a tease, they're beautiful and offline only *sigh* don't worry finches, my left finger hovered above the mouse button for the both of us.
posted by doobiedoo at 6:43 PM on December 29, 2008

∴
posted by sonic meat machine at 6:46 PM on December 29, 2008

So here's to you, Adi Da; you did something right.

Yeah, sexual torture. Cheers!
posted by Falconetti at 6:49 PM on December 29, 2008

escabeche, are you sure that wasn't eggnog?

I have sustained myself for nearly two months on nothing but eggnog, but then, I've attained the never-before-reached 8th level of magic-God-man-ness (Jesus was only a level 5 according to Mr. Ali G or whichever name for Adi you prefer). Yeah, level 8. I know that for a fact.

It was an achievement on XBox Live. It was worth, like, 50 points! My gamerscore is insane.
posted by Bageena at 6:49 PM on December 29, 2008 [1 favorite]

"Beloved Bhagavan has previously Given Instructions that His Body is to be allowed to rest uninterferred with for a minimum of three days before it is taken to the Outshining “Brightness”, His Permanent Mahasamadhi resting place. The pre-burial Vigil may last longer, even for several weeks, if Beloved Bhagavan’s Body does not show signs of decay."

What's that smell?

It's not decay, OK? It's Mahasmadi pre-outshiningg bliss-aura emanation. Now shut up and sit down with the others.
posted by longsleeves at 7:07 PM on December 29, 2008 [1 favorite]

The more divine you are, the more Capital Letters you get in your obituary. True story.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 7:11 PM on December 29, 2008

Want good news or bad? Let's go to Adi's island paradise first, and then let's hear from his "ex-wife".
posted by Xurando at 7:12 PM on December 29, 2008

Gallagher, Gandhi, and Christopher Walken.
posted by moss at 7:17 PM on December 29, 2008

I've attained the never-before-reached 8th level of magic-God-man-ness

What's that in Operating Thetan numbers?
posted by Joe Beese at 7:20 PM on December 29, 2008 [2 favorites]

Hmm... the pic on his "official" obit makes him look like a humorless, thieving Robert Klein.
posted by the bricabrac man at 7:26 PM on December 29, 2008

disappointed at the lack of a hrefs around beautiful consorts

There are fleshy bits in Adi Das' "art" that might soothe that disappointment. (Warning: NSFW, Lousy)
posted by oneirodynia at 7:34 PM on December 29, 2008

"Those who do not Heart-Recognize Me and Heart-Respond to Me - and who (therefore) are without faith in Me - do not (and cannot) realize Me. Therefore, they (by means of their own self-contraction from Me) remain ego-bound to the Realm Of Cosmic Nature,
...
He's Gallagandhi!

Metafilter: EGO-BOUND to the REALM of Cosmic NATURE.
posted by swell at 7:39 PM on December 29, 2008

*sits right back, waits to hear tale*
posted by jonmc at 7:47 PM on December 29, 2008

Well Joe, it's 6 levels above Cleared Theta Clear. Basically, I get all the Starbucks I want for free and chicks dig me even though I'm chubby and balding.

In other words, I'm fucking awesome.
posted by Bageena at 7:47 PM on December 29, 2008

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of his successor, Lah Di Da.
posted by Floydd at 8:04 PM on December 29, 2008 [5 favorites]

Philistine! He will be succeeded by his son, Obladiobla.
posted by jonmc at 8:13 PM on December 29, 2008 [1 favorite]

Is God-Man... Dead?
posted by zoinks at 8:30 PM on December 29, 2008

Previously
posted by Roach at 9:23 PM on December 29, 2008

Dead Adi Da
posted by Meatbomb at 10:05 PM on December 29, 2008

There's something of a premonition in this:

"Adi Da's Own Word on the
Significance of His Passing
(an ongoing series)"

Will he rise. Pass on again, and then utter some more Words? Or will subsequent Words come to us from the afterexistance?

Either way, I am looking forward to the next installment.
posted by stonesy at 11:30 PM on December 29, 2008

Was it here on Metafilter that I read about his disciple, David Deida, author of The Way of the Superior Man? There's a lot of fucked up megalomania among these people, these "gurus," who all seem to blurb each other's books. That master of bullshit, Ken Wilber, also seems to have been taken in by Adi Da.
posted by jayder at 12:14 AM on December 30, 2008

life isn't fair - some of us get to take mahasamadhi while the rest of us can just go drop dead
posted by pyramid termite at 12:33 AM on December 30, 2008

My sister-in-law has a lot of friends who were the children of the community run by Ali-Da. To a person, they all have an extensive degree of trauma from the experience of being raised the way they were.

My sister-in-law, on finding out that Ali-Da had passed on, sent out an email eulogy. I can't do justice to the level of her contempt, but it was to the effect of "Ali-Da died. He was just a man, and he died. He wasn't a god, he didn't ascend into the heavens, he was just a man, and he's dead." If there were a way to spit on a person's grave via email, she would have included it with that eulogy.

I love my sister-in-law. She sometimes scares the shit out of me, but she's honest.
posted by Graygorey at 12:45 AM on December 30, 2008

Sorry - that's Adi-da.

No, on second thought; Ali-Da's close enough. Not my place to take care he's properly remembered...
posted by Graygorey at 12:49 AM on December 30, 2008 [1 favorite]

this raises the age-old question that apparently only adi-da and fatty arbuckle know the answer to: how do you break a coke bottle with a pussy?
posted by kitchenrat at 1:35 AM on December 30, 2008

Abi da? Ladeda? Hadida.
posted by Goofyy at 1:37 AM on December 30, 2008

Al Di La.

Much better.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 5:34 AM on December 30, 2008

I read a few of his books through inter-library loan, but it wasn't a patch on Robert DeGrimston. There's a few where he basically gets up at a party and talks for hours and his words are transcribed though; those are pretty neat.
posted by stinkycheese at 5:36 AM on December 30, 2008

Al Di MeoLa?
posted by kcds at 6:56 AM on December 30, 2008

As a child, the woman had been I sexually abused by a neighbor. To help her through her sexual fears he said, Da Free John told her to have oral sex with three group members, and then the guru had sex with her himself.

"I was hysterical," she said. "After it was over, I went out into the parking lot and found an open car, and had a good cry and went to sleep. I was traumatized. It's years later that I came to terms with it."

Filed under "fucked up, seriously." Reference added to file "Assholes of the 20th C."
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 8:59 AM on December 30, 2008

Wearing Nikes will result in eternal damnation.
posted by StickyCarpet at 9:38 AM on December 30, 2008

Somehow, many years ago, I acquired a copy of a book by this dude. I used it as a doorstop for a year or so until I had to deal with some rage and tore the book to pieces. I gathered based on the first page that it wasn't worth reading. It was a very satisfying object to destroy because the pages were pulpy, the cover was worn fleshy and the spine was unbroken; I suppose I should give Adi Da credit for helping me through.
posted by fuq at 9:51 AM on December 30, 2008

I think everything I need to know about this group is summed up here:

At this moment Beloved Bhagavan Adi Da Samraj is experiencing an extreme medical crisis. We do not know the full extent of what is happening with His Divine Bodily Human Form. However, this crisis is an extreme one in which He has Swooned out of His Body. This has occurred to the extent that He has not had a heart-beat or pulse, for nearly an hour’s time. Medical procedures are not reviving Him.

Beloved Bhagavan Adi Da has in the past Approved a medical protocol relative to such a circumstance. He has made it plain that nothing should be done to interfere with His Bodily Human Form for an extended period of time, a minimum of three full days. This is because He may always and at any point resume ordinary Consciousness and Life. However, at this moment, He is not animating the body at all.

Um. He had a sudden, massive heart attack and fell down dead. That might be why he didn't let you know in advance. Kind of amazing, this sort of denial.
posted by jokeefe at 4:16 PM on December 30, 2008