The Knee of Listening: The Early Life Ordeal and the Radical Spiritual Realization of the Divine World Teacher

by Adi Da Samraj, Da Free John

The true story of how the Divine Being has appeared on earth in human form. Here Adi Da describes His first thirty-one years in vivid detail: His illumined Birth; His embrace of an ordinary human life; His unrelenting quest for God; His complete investigation of human experience—from money, food, and sex to the most esoteric mystical phenomena; His Divine Re-Awakening; and His unprecedented Revelation of the Way of Divine Enlightenment for all beings.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Religion, Biography, Memoir

621 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Adi Da Samraj (AKA Da Free John), born Franklin Albert Jones, was an American-born spiritual teacher, writer, and artist, widely recognized as the founder of the new religious movement Adidam. His teachings, writings, and artistic expressions were deeply rooted in a commitment to radical nonduality, which he referred to as “the Bright” — the inherent, indivisible reality that transcends the egoic self. Adi Da taught that true spiritual realization is not something to be sought or attained but is already fully present and must be directly realized through the transcendence of separateness and the activity of seeking itself.
He wrote extensively throughout his life, authoring more than 75 books on spirituality, philosophy, art, and global peace. Among his best-known works are The Knee of Listening, an autobiographical account of his early life and spiritual realizations; The Aletheon, a summation of his spiritual instruction; and Not-Two Is Peace, a work addressing the global human condition and advocating for a radically new form of cooperative culture. His writings are considered by followers to be revelatory and are presented not as mere philosophy, but as direct communications of the spiritual reality he claimed to have fully realized.
Raised in the United States, Adi Da studied at Columbia University and later at Stanford University, where he developed a strong interest in literature, philosophy, and theology. Despite achieving academic success, he found intellectual pursuits ultimately insufficient for the depth of truth he sought. This dissatisfaction led him to explore a wide range of spiritual paths, including Zen Buddhism, Vedanta, and various esoteric practices. After years of spiritual searching and intense personal experiences that he described as revelatory, he began to teach others, presenting a radically different approach to spiritual life that emphasized immediate, intuitive recognition of the divine reality.
Central to Adi Da’s teaching was the concept of devotional recognition-response — the spontaneous turning of attention toward what he described as the living presence of the divine. He rejected conventional religious forms and techniques as inherently limited and emphasized a transformative relationship to the spiritual reality he embodied. His community of devotees, known as Adidam, formed around this core relationship and sought to live in accordance with the principles he articulated.
Beyond his spiritual teachings, Adi Da was also an accomplished visual artist whose work spanned photography, digital media, and mixed media installations. He referred to his aesthetic approach as “Transcendental Realism,” seeking not to represent the world but to provide a perceptual portal into the non-dual reality. His art has been exhibited internationally and received attention in both spiritual and contemporary art contexts.
Adi Da spent his final years in Fiji on Naitauba Island, a remote setting he regarded as sacred and conducive to spiritual practice. There, he continued to write, create art, and guide his devotees. His legacy continues through the Adidam community, which maintains his teachings and artistic work, promoting his vision of a new culture rooted in spiritual realization, radical truthfulness, and the transcendence of ego.
His life and work remain a source of devotion, debate, and philosophical inquiry, reflecting a bold and unconventional path toward the ultimate questions of human existence.

Reviews

[Morgan Blackledge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was 11 years old when the Jonestown massacre happened. For those of you that are unaware, this was a mass murder-suicide that occurred on November 18, 1978, in Jonestown, Guyana, where over 900 members of the Peoples Temple, a cult led by Jim Jones, died via drinking a cyanide-laced Kool-Aid (literally where the phrase - don’t drink the Kool-Aid came from). The horrific images that came from that tragedy are etched into my mind.

Right around the same time. My mom became heavily involved in a (actually very benign - wonderful) Hindu/New Age religious organization: the Self Realization Fellowship (SRF) founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in the late 1920’s.

While I completely understood that Yogananda and SRF was a very different scene than Jim Jones and the People Church cult. The close pairing of these events, coupled with the often bizarre, strangely reverent, and oddly rapturous behavior that my mom and her SRF friends displayed at times made me feel somewhat/extremely uncomfortable. Such that I was occasionally concerned that my mom was in a cult.

She wasn’t.

SRF is actually a very safe community. And Yogananda is actually quite adorable, and a legitimately wonderful spiritual teacher, as just about anyone who has read his autobiography can attest.

But still.

SRF gave me the creeps at times when I was 11.

Blame it on Jim Jones I guess.

But I have been allergic to cults ever since.

I met my own guru later in my 20’s, and lived with and around her in India and California for the preceding 5 years. She, and the community of devotees that surrounded her, were (and still are) extremely ethical, and absolutely impeccable people in every regard. I never experienced anything that had even the slightest hint of coercion manipulation or abuse. But even so. There were times when a type of extremely concerning group think would emerge, wherein if the teacher was not so ethical and grounded, it was evident that horrible abuses could easily occur in a vulnerable community such as that.

I experienced similar group think cult vibes in AA 12-step. Even though my overall experience with AA was great. The problematic group psychology that can emerge in these situations make a lot of people ripe for abuse, coercion and delusional levels of denial and rationalization of bad behavior.

All of that is a long way of saying.

I’m super allergic to cults.

And I’m super skeptical about charismatic spiritual leaders.

Particularly when they are men.

This concern has been confirmed over and over again over the past 40 years. One (mostly male but not exclusively male) Guru after the next has been exposed as abusive.

It’s a thing.

And interestingly, now as a psychotherapist, I work with lots and lots of people who have experienced religious and cult abuse, and even child sexual abuse in a religious context.

And when I say lots.

I’m not exaggerating.

It’s a lot of people.

And baring witness to the trauma they experienced.

Well…

It’s also a thing.

I offer all of this as a context for this 5/5 star endorsement of a book by Adi Da. One of the most infamous male Guru cult leaders of recent times.

I first heard about Adi Da from Ken Wilber’s writing in the late 1990’s - early 2000’s. Given the highly disturbing reports of horrific authoritarian and sexual abuses coming from Adi Da’s organization/community (the Adidam) at the time. I was absolutely applaud that Wilber endorsed Adi Da’s writing in such gushing/glowing terms.

Wilber writes:

“The Knee of Listening is one of the most profound spiritual documents of our time. What Adi Da presents is not just a philosophy, not just a path, but the radical understanding that demolishes the search itself.”

“He is not merely a teacher of Advaita or Vedanta or Dzogchen—he is the living embodiment of the very condition these traditions point to.”

“There is not a trace of doubt in my mind that Adi Da is one of the greatest Realizers to ever appear on this planet.”

At the time this was very dispiriting to read. And actually made me feel deeply skeptical regarding Wilber’s judgment. Of course it didn’t help that Wilber also endorsed and closely associated himself with a BUNCH of very questionable and later discredited male guru types including: Mark Gaffney (discredited due to child sex abuse); Andrew Cohen (discredited due to authoritarian coercive abuses); and Genpo Roshi (discredited due to financial misconduct).

To Wilber’s credit.

He was also critical of Adi Da.

“There is no doubt in my mind that Adi Da is a fully Enlightened being. But that doesn’t mean everything he did was appropriate, or that the way his sangha functioned was always healthy.”

“Enter his community at your own risk”.

Anyway.

I have been so allergic to Adi Da. And I have been so harshly critical of him since becoming aware of him.

And…

I still do not condone the cult/abuse.

And…

Somehow I ended up actually reading this book.

And it’s absolutely fucking incredible.

It’s astounding.

Astonishingly breathtakingly astounding.

And…

Boy o’ boy do I feel WICKED conflicted about it.

But I simply can’t deny.

This book is about as profound as anything I’ve ever read.

Particularly the first 500 pages.

After which, the current additions added less compelling (but still absolutely amazing) stuff.

Anyway.

I felt/feel so conflicted about this that I have spent some additional time watching interviews with some of his devotees. They seem to confirm that there was some extremely wild shit happening in his community.

And that he was in fact having sex with his students. And a lot of them (mostly women) felt extremely violated and traumatized afterwards. And I find that absolutely unconscionable. Not too many people would disagree.

I have seen interviews with some of his other female devotees that admit to having a sexual relationship with him, where in they felt that their relations with him were very beneficial.

To me, I don’t actually care.

I think the power difference makes those types of relationships nonconsensual by default.

And, I realize that all of the wild stuff happened in the 1960s and 70s, and that was going on all over the place.

But still.

Yuck.

And no.

Given all that.

It would be completely dishonest of me if I didn’t give this book a HUGELY enthusiastic review.

Because (IMO) it’s great.

Maybe among the best writing on spiritual awakening that exists.

Maybe I drank the Kool-Aid.

But from where I stand right here right now.

This is my undeniable experience.

I’m still very frightened and wary of Adi Da’s personage and teaching style. But I’m absolutely convinced by his writing. And I’m already reading another one of his books. And it’s blowing me away. And I can’t stop. And I’m gonna keep going.

5/5 💎

[Alaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not take my eyes off the front photo, then after reading the book I realised why, this is not an ordinary man , or an ordinary spiritual Teacher , what is written is profound .

[Paul LaFontaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

The spiritual autobiography of Franklin Jones AKA Adi Da Samraj. Starts with stories of him as a child and comes to its main conclusion in Los Angeles in 1970 at the Vedanta Temple where he claims enlightenment. The tale chronicles his explorations of Christianity, Vedanta and his own version of direct seeing.

I first read the Knee of Listening in 1984 and was struck then as I am now at what a remarkable document the core writing contains. It is a no holds barred journey of a remarkable spiritual figure. Some amazing realizations are buried within. It appears he comes to a place of direct insight after six years of focused seeking.

I remember the original version and was struck by the unreadable appendages that have made their way to the introduction and subsequent followup chapters since then. Like his search, the spiritual community around him (of which I was a tiny part for a short while in 1984) was overhauled, renamed, recasted and mutated repeatedly. I think he had seven or eight names in his time. The final spiritual language that he and his community settled on reads more like Finnegans Wake than a spiritual text.

His final chapter in this heavily edited book is simply titled, "I Am Utterly Beyond your Comprehension." In the end, you were sir.

Cautiously recommend

[Wisteria · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story of a real huckster. If you have or do read this, then you'll see it was his wife who was actually the "spiritual" person. Adi Da, I often say "Ladi Da." His ego was massive. When he and his wife went to India, it was his wife whom the monks singled out as "spiritual." It's unbelievable to me how many people actually believe hucksters like him.

[James Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rigorous, brilliant, and demanding...
I have just finished reading the most recent edition (having already read two previous editions earlier in my life). I'll return to it regularly for further contemplation.

[Lotara · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book radically changed my life

[Steven H · Rating 1 out of 5]

THE REVISED/REWRITTEN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ADI DA

Adi Da Samraj (1939-2008) was born Franklin Albert Jones, but was also known as Bubba Free John, Da Free John, Da Love-Ananda, etc., until from 1991 until his death he settled on Adi Da Love-Ananda Samraj [or just "Adi Da"]. He became a famous and controversial spiritual teacher beginning in the 1970s counterculture. His movement has been criticized as cultic, abusive, etc., although his followers remain devoted to him, and often live in one of his five "Adidam" churches (including his main one on an island in Fiji).

He wrote many books, including 'The Method of the Siddhas,' 'Garbage and the Goddess,' 'Four Fundamental Questions,' 'Aham Da Asmi (Beloved, I Am Da),' 'Ruchira Avatara Gita: The Avataric Way of the Divine Heart-Master,' 'Ananda Gita: The Free Avataric Gift of the Divine Love-Bliss,' 'Hridaya Rosary: Four Thorns of Heart-Instruction,' 'Eleutherios (The Only Truth That Sets The Heart Free,' and his autobiography, 'The knee of listening' [revised as' The Knee Of Listening: The Divine Ordeal of the Avataric Incarnation of Conscious Light'], etc.

He wrote, "From the beginning, in the early 'Brightness' of my life, I directly perceived the guiding Purpose of my life: to restore True Humor (or the all-transcending quality of Happiness, that can persist, or, otherwise, constantly come forward, in the living being under all conditions, whether the conditions appear to be positive or negative)." (Pg. 39)

But while young, "I would often exploit the possibilities of sex, or become deeply drunk on wine, engage in orgies of eating, or smoke marijuana for long hours." (Pg. 105) He adds, "I became overwhelmed by my lack of discipline. I had rarely worked for a living in my life. I had never really supported myself or anyone else. I was a libertine, a drinker, a drug user, a useless and impractical dreamer, a passionate madman!" (Pg. 140)

Of Swami Rudrananda ("Rudi"), he recalls being told, "This Yoga requires great discipline and surrender, and I can't teach anybody who can't accept the discipline and work. You go out and get a job and come back in about six months or a year. We'll talk about it then." (Pg. 147)

He adds, "From the beginning Rudi proposed Nina as an object of my love and pleasure... There is much truth in the idea that I got married only because my teacher told me, for the sake of discipline and as a kind of Yoga. But it was a voluntary decision on my part, and one that I had come to recognize as right and necessary at that time in my life." (Pg. 170)

He states, "Rudi asked me why I never became a minister... [He] told me it would be good for me to take up those studies again... And the work of a minister or a theologian was ideally suited to me. It would make use of my intellectual abilities and give me a 'creative' outlet in which to speak about Spiritual Truth and help other people. I protested that... I was in no sense a Christian any longer... Finally... I agreed to give it a try. Even when I told Rudi I would accept it and play it as a kind of 'imposter,' he pointed out again that it was all a part of me and suited to my very needs and abilities... This was in the spring of 1965. Entering students at the Seminary were required to have minimum training in ... Greek, and so... I enrolled at a Protestant seminary in New York for a year... In the meantime, my job at the radio station had come to an end, and I went to work as a furniture refinisher in a store owned by one of Rudi's students." (Pg. 172)

Later, he traveled to Swami Muktananda's ashram, but "there was a brief conversation about my trip. I would spend four weeks constantly in Baba's Presence, but this brief conversation was to be virtually the only one we would have from that moment. (Just previous to my leaving, I addressed him about an experience I had in meditation, but I did not otherwise have any personal discussions with him." (Pg. 243)

Later, he met a young man from Uganda who had seen him at the ashram, "and he became instantly convinced that I was to be the instrument for his instruction... But I only wished him well and told him to seek our Baba as his Guru... [Later] I was moved to write to this man more directly. I made no effort to turn him from Baba... I told him that I was not a disciple of Baba in the usual sense. I told him that I did not relate to Baba in the manner of a 'seeker'." (Pg. 276-277)

He states, "I felt it was time to remove the veil of silence between Baba and me. He must know what I understood and how I related to him. I posed no threat to him... But I reserved the right and the necessity to TRULY understand all that had been given to me... I would state my position clearly... and if Baba could not tolerate me on those terms, I was willing to accept my total independence. Thus I wrote a long letter of complaint and justification... The letter I received in reply barely indicated that Baba was aware of what I had written... The reply only stated that Baba wanted to be sure I was not trying to turn people from the Ashram. I should feel free to teach as I desired in America. It closed with the admonition that the disciple chooses the Guru, not the Guru the disciple." (Pg. 278-279)

Much later, when he was a Guru on his own, "I noticed a physical change in myself. My belly dropped and expanded, and, thus and thereby, permanently assumed the 'pot-shaped' Yogic form. I always feel the Pressure of Shakti-Energy there, and I breathe it continually." (Pg. 363)

Of his "Bubba Free John" period, he states, "During all this time Bubba drank beer and bourbon and smoked cigarettes with His devotees. These were His 'aids' in the liberating process. When devotees drank and smoked in His Presence, they relaxed their ordinary social persona, allowing Him to touch the 'pit of snakes,' to bring forth and release the powerful emotions and desires that are alive in every individual beneath the surface personality." (Pg. 520)

Adi Da definitely didn't appeal to everyone. Still, he was a very interesting spiritual figure.

[Moises Pittounikos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 800 page tome is different from the innocent first edition.

Here we have a heavyweight kickboxing champion on steroids! The writer matures with age, he gets better at describing the Divine Condition and he rips his shirt off and announces his Divinity!

So this is a crazy book! No doubt! However, the writer was a poetic genius. His description of Ramana Maharshi's system is better than the Maharshi himself! And he devised a word salad for the English mind to enjoy. Here are no Eastern cliches or difficult Sanskrit words.


The writer is far from being the enlightened Avatar as his worshippers say he was.

But I enjoy reading his writings.

[Indigo Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had a life-changing effect on me when I picked it up in 1977, and it continues to this day. Adi Da (Franklin Jones) wrote like a scientist, documenting every important life change or spiritual sign, whether it was flattering to him or not. His unflinching honesty was intriguing. When I got to the end, I felt like I was about to understand everything he had experienced. A very important book.

[Hope Brady · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the stories from his early life were fascinating. There is a point in the story where he seems to reject the guidance of his mentor and goes off into his imagination. He didn't see it that way but that's how it looked to me and he lost some credibility for me at that point. Still, it was interesting and a good read.

[Sieglinde · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read similar biographies of Hindu gurus and the main unique thing about this one is that he was an American. I found the second section which was based on a series of essays by him to be repetitious and saying the same thing over and over again. To me there was not much nee in the book.

[George Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The great autobiography of our time - life-changing

[Memphis Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

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