Adidam Benefit Concert For Fiji

The Music: For the evening, there will be several music presentations, beginning with an opening invocation chant by Tamarind Free Jones (student of Ali Akbar Khan); North Indian classical ragas with Peter van Gelder (sitar, one of Ali Akbar Khan's oldest western disciples) and Tim Witter (tabla); and music from "Facing East", led by John Wubbenhorst (bansuri disciple of Hariprasad Chaurasia) with special guest Kit Walker (keyboard and composition legend with Airto and others). Also performing with "Facing East" will be tabla master Samrat Kakkeri (Samrat has played with Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and others) and Steve Zerlin on bass (Steve has played with jazz greats Dennis Chambers, Jack DeJohnette and others). As a finale to the evening, all of the musicians will improvise music to the Art presentation of the second half.

The Art: Adi Da Samraj created art for over forty years with a single intention: the visual communication of Truth, and the means to draw the viewer beyond separateness into the paradox of "indivisible unity." Adi Da Samraj is a widely recognized spiritual teacher who produced many volumes of spiritual writings.

In 2006 the artist moved to digital technology, while still combining hand-drawn and painted forms as well as photographs within his compositions. In November 2007, Adi Da Samraj reached what he described as the "final resolution" of his entire artistic process. Adi Da felt this work to be the culmination of his artistic work and philosophy, the fully realized expression of "Transcendental Realism."

Full-scale fabrications of Adi Da Samraj's images have included many forms of media, from monumentally-scaled paints on aluminum, to large-scale pigmented inks on canvas, photographic and videographic works, sculptural light boxes, plasma screen installations, and projected performance events.

The Benefit: Naitauba is a small island in Fiji that for many years has served as a center for the spiritual work of Adi Da Samraj and Adi Da's devotees. For three days in mid-March, 2010, Naitauba and many neighboring islands in Fiji were battered by Cyclone Tomas, a category 4 storm. After hurried preparations, devotees of Adi Da Samraj and Fijian staff and their families living on Naitauba Island barricaded themselves in buildings, as hour after hour winds reaching 150 mph (240kmh), tore at buildings, and wreaked havoc with vegetation. Huge waves swept the island's shoreline, and over 14 inches of rain fell in a single day.

Cyclone Tomas was the most destructive event to have occurred on Naitauba in living memory. By Grace, no one on the island was injured, and the many empowered temples and holy sites were miraculously spared. Although numerous huge trees and branches fell within inches of sacred buildings, almost no damage was done to any of these structures. However the damage to the island's infrastructure—roads, power, communications, water, gardens and more—was very extensive and will take many months and great expense to fully restore. In addition, a number of residences, offices, and meeting places were severely damaged or destroyed.

A large proportion of the daily food on Naitauba comes from extensive organic gardens and orchards. Almost all of these were destroyed by Cyclone Tomas, and are now in the slow process of restoration. Much importation of food will be required until the local crops are restored.

The purpose of the July 17th benefit concert is to provide financial support toward the full restoration of Naitauba.

Naitauba Island is in Northern Lau, Fiji. It was established by the renowned spiritual teacher, author, and artist Adi Da Samraj as his principal Hermitage Sanctuary. Acquired in 1983, it became the foremost site of Adi Da's spiritual work from that time on. It is now the location of a large spiritual community with many sacred sites and temples, including the "Brightness", Adi Da's burial site. Adi Da spiritually empowered Naitauba as the primary location from which his spiritual Blessing flows perpetually to the entire world. Naitauba is the primary place of pilgrimage for Adi Da's devotees.

For 25 years, Adi Da worked to establish the island of Naitauba as a unique spiritual and ecological treasure. The Naitauba community is devoted to the principles of spiritual practice, green living, sustainable energy, cooperation, tolerance, and peace, and Adi Da's devotees and the local Fijian and Indian staff live together harmoniously, serving and protecting the sacred environment of the island. It is a uniquely pure and untouched sanctuary in the world today.

The farm on Naitauba, which grows food for those who reside and make pilgrimage to Naitauba, is based on principles outlined in Not Two Is Peace, one of Adi Da's many books. Through cooperative management they aim for self-sufficiency at the local level, and through sustainable farming methods, to grow healthy food free of toxicity.

An important aspect of Adi Da's work has been to address the now commonly known situation that the Earth-system is fast deteriorating into a degraded and unsustainable condition from which there may soon be no going back. The human world is threatened by an ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor, unbridled exploitation of resources, an energy crisis, food shortages, overpopulation, and increasing areas of social breakdown, political oppression, and armed struggle. In the face of all this, the global human system is becoming increasingly dysfunctional—incapable of managing itself to establish and maintain integrity. In Not-Two Is Peace, Adi Da spoke to this situation with a passionate calling for global change through the acceptance of his principle: "Cooperation + Tolerance = Peace", and universal acknowledgement of the prior unity of humankind.

"Naitauba is a Divine Gift for the sake of everyone—not just for those who live here now, but a profound Gift to everyone. I am happy for My devotees, and we are happy together. We can make a difference with this Place, this piece of Earth. This Place is not just a piece of land but a piece of Life, a piece of Earth itself—a Chakra, a Center of Influence that could change the life of humankind. What a Beauty! What a Grace! May all beings be Blessed! May the Island be Blessed! May all who argue with the Truth and who despair be made Blissful and be transformed by the Living One. May all beings on this planet—human, non-human, and beyond the human, come and gone, here and elsewhere—Know Happiness and Love-Bliss. May they all be Blessed by this event. May they be Blessed. May they be Blessed. May they be Blessed." — Avatar Adi Da Samraj, 1983

Adi Da's entire human lifetime was a profound gift of spiritual revelation. He was born in a radiant condition he called the "Bright"—a State of full Illumination—and his life was devoted to making that State of full Enlightenment available to all beings.

Adi Da Samraj was born on Long Island, New York, on November 3, 1939, and he passed away on November 27, 2008 on Naitauba Island, Fiji. During his lifetime, he created the legacy of an entirely new form of spiritual practice—the Reality-Way of Adidam—along with a worldwide community of practitioners, many books of profound spiritual instruction, empowered Sanctuaries and holy sites, and works of art that directly convey the Transcendental Truth of Reality Itself.

Adidam Bay Area offers celebrations, classes, seminars, and monthly study groups. One day retreats at the Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary in Northern California are offered twice a year.

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