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Adi Da Samraj – Reality Is Not What You Think [1 CD – 4 MP3]In this talk given to his devotees, Avatar Adi Da illuminates the false presumption that Reality is made up of separate things and separate beings. He reveals that reality is a great unity of Love-Bliss, and it is only our own reactivity and fear (or the self-contraction) that creates this illusion of separateness. At the beginning of this talk, he addresses his devotee’s question about the “purpose” of the self-contraction by clarifying that the self-contraction is an activity of separation that human beings are doing. He explains that the way to transcend fear, to transcend the self-contraction, “is to become a sacrifice in love, full of trust, Godward.” Only in this way will the true nature of reality be realized. _______________________________”This great cosmos that you perceive to be a separate something, full of separate somethings, separate beings and so forth, is not so. It is your presumption based on a local activity—self-contraction. Go beyond that, and abide this process in my company, realize reality itself. Then, in that realization Itself, your question is answered, vanished, undermined. The question no longer exists, because the illusion no longer exists. Bereft of illusion, self-contraction, egoity and its effects, then there is the realization of reality.–Avatar Adi Da Samraj April 22, 1995_______________________________Adi Da Samraj (1939–2008), born Franklin Albert Jones, in Queens, N.Y., was a controversial spiritual teacher, writer and artist, and the founder of a new religious movement known as Adidam. Beginning in 1972, Adi Da changed his name numerous times, including to Bubba Free John, Da Free John, Da Love-Ananda, Da Kalki, Da Avadhoota, Da Avabhasa, and from the 1990s until his death was known as Adi Da Love-Ananda Samraj or Adi Da.Adi Da first became well known in the counterculture of the 1970s for his books and public talks, and for the activities of his religious community. He expressed a teaching similar to eastern religions, that seeing oneself as an individual separate from a divine unitive reality is an illusion and the cause of unhappiness. He taught that the search for liberation from suffering only creates suffering, and is a fundamental impediment to enlightenment. Distinguishing his teaching from other religious traditions, Adi Da stated that he was an avatar, the incarnation of God in human form, and as such was the sole source of enlightenment for humanity.Adi Da wrote many books about his spiritual philosophy and related matters, founding a publishing house to print them. His books gained praise for their breadth of knowledge and insight from respected authorities in spirituality and philosophy. Adi Da was criticized for what was perceived as his isolation, controversial behavior, and cult-like community.In the mid 1980s, allegations by former devotees of financial, sexual and emotional abuses within Adidam were published in a number of news outlets in California; the media attention included national coverage on NBC’s The Today Show. These allegations resulted in lawsuits on both sides.