JONES, Franklin Albert 1939-
(Da Avabhasa, Adi Da, Bubba Free John, Da Free John, Da Love-Ananda, Adi Da Samraj)

PERSONAL: Born November 3, 1939, in New York, NY; married; wife's name Nina. Education: Studied philosophy at Columbia University, 1957-c.1961; studied English at Stanford University, c. 1962. Under Albert Rudolph, studied Kundalini Yoga, 1964, and attended a Lutheran seminary in Philadelphia, PA; studied under Swami Muktananda in India, c. 1968.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Dawn Horse Press, 14330 Olympic Drive, Clearlake, CA 95422.

CAREER: Spiritual teacher and writer. Leader of the Adidam Community, formerly known as the Johannine Daist Communion and the Dawn Horse Communion.

WRITINGS:

AS DA FREE JOHN

The Knee of Listening (autobiography), Ashram (Los Angeles, CA), 1972.

The Method of the Siddhas, Dawn Horse Press (Los Angeles, CA), 1973.

The Order for Marriage, Dawn Horse Press (Los Angeles, CA), 1973.

The Heart of the Ribhu Gita As Taught by Sri RamanaMaharshi, Dawn Horse Press (Los Angeles, CA), 1973.

The Spiritual Instructions of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, Dawn Horse Press (Los Angeles, CA), 1973.

Conscious Exercise and the Transcendental Sun, Dawn Horse Press (Lower Lake, CA), 1974.

Garbage and the Goddess, compiled and edited by Sandy Bonder and Terry Patten, Dawn Horse Press (Lower Lake, CA), 1974.

No Remedy, compiled and edited by Bonnie Beavan and Nina Jones, Dawn Horse Press (Lower Lake, CA), 1975.

The Way of Divine Communion, Dawn Horse Press (San Francisco, CA), 1976.

You Don't Know What It Is, Vision Mound Ceremony, 1976.

I Am the Body, Vision Mound Ceremony, 1976.

The Paradox of Instruction, Dawn Horse Press (Honolulu, HI), 1977.

Breath and Name, Dawn Horse Press (San Francisco, CA), 1977.

The Enlightenment of the Whole Body, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1978.

Love of the Two-Armed Form, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1978.

What to Remember to Be Happy: A Spiritual Way ofLife for Your First Fourteeen Years or So, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1978.

The Way That I Teach, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1978.

The Eating Gorilla Comes in Peace, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1979.

Scientific Proof of the Existence of God Will Soon BeAnnounced by the White House!, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1980.

Compulsory Dancing, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1980.

Bodily Worship of the Living God, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1980.

The Four Fundamental Questions, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1980.

The Bodily Sacrifice of Attention, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1981.

"I" Is the Body of Life, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1978.

The Name of the Living Name Is Da, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1981.

The Lion Sutra, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1981.

The Bodily Location of Happiness, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1982.

The Hymn of the Master, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1982.

Nirvansara, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1982.

Crazy Da Must Sing, Inclined to His Weaker Side, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1982.

(With Daji Bodha and Lynne Closser) I Am Happiness: A Rendering for Children of the Spiritual Adventure of Master Da Free John, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1982.

The Fire Gospel, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1982.

Forehead, Breath, and Smile, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1982.

The Transcendence of the Ego and Egoic Society, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1982.

The Liberator (Eleutherios), Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1982.

The Yoga of Consideration and the Way That I Teach, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1982.

(With Georg Feuerstein, Ty Koontz, and David Dykstra) The Adept, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1983.

(With Georg Feuerstein) Easy Death, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1983.

The Dreaded Gom-Boo, or, The Imaginary DiseaseThat Religion Seeks to Cure, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1983.

(With Ty Koontz) God Is Not a Gentleman and I AmThat One, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1983.

(With Peter Churchill and Georg Feuerstein) Look at the Sunlight on the Water, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1983.

(With Sandy Bonder and Georg Feuerstein) The God in Every Book, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1983.

Enlightenment and the Transformation of Man, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1983.

The Lesson, Johannine Daist Communion (San Rafael, CA), 1983.

Ear/Death, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1983.

What Is the Conscious Process?, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1983.

(With Ty Koontz) Do You Know What Anything Is?, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1984.

The Transmission of Doubt, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1984.

The Way of Divine Grace, Johannine Daist Communion (San Rafael, CA), 1984.

The Testamental Hymn of the Master, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1984.

Spiritual Transmission and Self-Surrender, Dawn Horse Press (San Rafael, CA), 1984.

Science, Sacred Culture, and Reality, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1984.

The Next Option, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1984.

The Dawn Horse Testament of Heart-Master Da FreeJohn, Dawn Horse Press (San Rafael, CA), 1985.

Atma-Murti, Advaitayana Buddhist Communion (San Rafael, CA), 1986.

Love-Ananda Gita (The Free-Song of Live-Bliss), Dawn Horse Press (San Rafael, CA), 1986.

The Illusion of Relatedness, Advaitayana Buddhist Communion (San Rafael, CA), 1986.

Renunciation and Liberation by Grace, Dawn Horse Press (San Rafael, CA), 1986.

(With Ty Koontz) The Holy Jumping-off Place, Dawn Horse Press (San Rafael, CA), 1986.

(With Molly Murphy MacGregor) Vegetable Surrender, or, Happiness Is not Blue, Dawn Horse Press (San Rafael, CA), 1987.

Everything Must Change Workbook, Free Daist Communion, 1988.

The Da Upanishad, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1989.

Real Practice Requires a Unique Understanding, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1991.

(With G. R. Thursby) The Ego-"I" Is the Illusion ofRelatedness, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1991.

The Dawn Horse Testament, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1991.

(With Scott Anderson, Sarasvati Mohan, and Daniel C. Bouwmeester) Polarity Screens, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1991.

What Are True and False Religion, Spirituality, andMeditation?: A Selection of Essays and a Talk Taken from the Works of the Divine World-Teacher and True Heart-Master Da Avabhasa ("The Bright"), Free Daist Communion (Clearlake, CA), 1991.

(With Paul Augspurger) Free Daism, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1992.

Darshan of the Divine World-Teacher, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1992.

A Practical Guide to Serving the Dying, Sri Love-Anandashram, 1992.

The Hymn of the True Heart-Master, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1992.

"First to Be Devoted to Me," Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1992.

"Hear Me Heart-Deep," Free Daist Communion (Clearlake, CA), 1992.

Tell Everyone That I Am Here, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1993.

Live by the Heart and Be Changed, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1993.

The Incarnation of Love, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1993.

"Consider" My Word of Instruction, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1993.

The Heart's Shout, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1993.

The Seven Gifts of Sri Da Avabhasa's Grace, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1993.

The Da Love-Ananda Gita, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1993.

The Master Dancer, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1993.

Love of Me Must Be the Measure of Your Intimacies, Dawn Horse Press (Clearlake, CA), 1993.

Ishta, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1994.

The Divine Siddhis of Adi Da, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1995.

The Order of My Free Names, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1995.

The Santosha Avatara Gita, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1995.

The Practice of Solitary Shaktichalana Mudra in theWay of the Heart, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1995.

"Conductivity" and the Practice of Own-Body SexualYoga, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1995.

Love, Wisdom, and Happiness in the First Three Stages of life, Dawn Horse Press (Lower Lake, CA), 1995.

Abide with Me in Faithful Love, Vision of Mulund Institute (Middletown, CA), 1995.

Adi Da Samraj, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1996.

The Mummery, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1996.

The Heart's Shout, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1996 .

The Heart's Awakening, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1996.

The Completing Discourses of the 25-Year Revelation, TDL Trust Pty Ltd, 1996.

Adi Da Samraj's Divine Work at QuandramamaShikhara, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1996.

Listen Deep in My Heart Itself, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1997.

The Treasure Consideration, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1997.

The Scale of the Very Small, Ruchira Buddha Foundation (Middletown, CA), 1997.

Always Invoke Me, Feel Me, Breathe Me, and ServeMe, Dawn Horse Press (San Rafael, CA), 1997.

The Art and Yoga of Sexual Practice, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1997.

A Mastered Life, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1997.

Four Thorns of Heart-Instruction, Dawn Horse Press, 1997.

Drifted in the Deeper Land, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1997.

On the Mountain of Attention, Free Daist Avataric Communion (Middletown, CA), 1997.

See Me with the Heart, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1997.

Da Prana Ratha—The Simpler Form, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1997.

Aham Da Asmi, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1998.

The Five Books of the Heart of the Adidam Revelation, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1998.

Ruchira Avatara Gita, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1998.

The Dawn-Horse Testament of the Ruchira Avatar, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1999.

An Open Letter to All Who Would Find Heart-BreakingFreedom, Dawn Horse Press, 1999.

The Seventeen Companions of the True Dawn Horse, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1999.

Truth for Real, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1999.

The Truly Human New World Culture of UnbrokenReal God Man, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 1999.

(With Maja van der Veer) What, Where, When, How,Why, and Who to Remember to Be Happy, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 2000.

Death Is a Living Process, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 2000.

The Seven Stages of Life, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 2000.

I Give You the Gift of One Another, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 2000.

The Bright Field, Da Love-Ananda Samrajya Pty Ltd, 2001.

Real God Is the Indivisible Oneness of Unbroken Light, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 2001.

God Games, Vision Mulund Institute (Middletown, CA), 2002.

Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Beginning of the Formal Avataric Divine Teaching-Work of the Ruchira Avatar, Adi-Da Love-Ananda Samraj, Da Love-Ananda Samrajya (Middletown, CA), 2002.

The Way of Adidam, Dawn Horse Press (Middletown, CA), 2002.

Also author of various works under other psuedonyms, including Adi Da, Adi Da Samraj, Bubba Free John, Da Avabhasa, and Da Love-Ananda.

ADAPTATIONS: Many audio and video recordings of his teachings have been made.

SIDELIGHTS: Born in 1939, Franklin Albert Jones spent the first twenty years of his life uneventfully, growing up on Long Island and studying at Columbia University, until, by his account, he was awakened to other possibilities. He subsequently began a life of new-religious teaching. His first book, The Knee of Listening, which combines autobiographical and mystical elements, has received the most attention outside his following, but Jones has published, through his own press, hundreds of works imparting his teachings, primarily under the name Da Free John.

By his own account, Jones's early childhood was marked by the "Bright," a unique state of unencumbered understanding and illumination. He was an active and creative child and began to live the life expected by his family, including embracing Lutheran Christianity. However, at Columbia University Jones pursued questions about consciousness, and while in California, studying at Stanford University, he decided to seek a spiritual teacher. In 1964 in New York, Jones found Albert Rudolph (known as Swami Rudrananda, or Rudi) who instructed him in Kundalini Yoga and directed him to study for a time at a Lutheran seminary in Philadelphia. Later Jones made several trips to India to see Rudolph's teacher, Swami Muktananda. Jones states that in 1970, while meditating in the Vedanta temple in Hollywood, CA, he attained permanent reawakening. Thereafter he began writing, teaching, and leading a group of followers. According to the Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, Jones established "the Dawn Horse Communion, based on the traditional Hindu concept of imparting Kundalini experience and spiritual awareness, but later emphasized the paradoxical philosophy that seeking for spiritual enlightenment could actually be an obstacle to discovering it. . . . He no longer teaches Kundalini Yoga in any form, but rather emphasizes transmission of awareness between himself and his devotees, at the same time publishing a number of books relating to his concepts of radical transcendentalism."

In a review of his first book, The Knee of Listening, a contributor to Publishers Weekly characterized his quest as "zig-zag" and notes, "regrettably, much of Mr. Jones's account gets tangled in heavy mystical jargon." But a Choice reviewer of Jones's 1980 book Scientific Proof of the Existence of God Will Soon Be Announced by the White House! described his writing as "sometimes esoteric, other times plainly readable, but always provocative and stimulating." Jones's writing also merited praise from David C. Lane in his book Exposing Cults: When the Skeptical Mind Confronts the Mystical: "There are very few spiritual teachers in the twentieth century who could be termed religious geniuses. Da Free John is one of them. Since the beginning of his formal ministry in 1972 in southern California, Da Free John has produced a body of work which is unparalleled amongst new religious thinkers for its radical insight, comparative depth, and force of expression. He has won wide critical acclaim for his writings, eliciting praises from sociologists, psychologists, and theologians."

Yet Lane also noted that many dismiss Jones as "just another cult leader out to gain followers, fame, and wealth," citing his circulation of many images of himself and his adoption of a string of increasingly grand names. Jones's Web site explains that he used, from 1972 to 1997, "Bubba Free John, when he was a 'brother' or friend to His devotees; Da Free John, when He Revealed His Divine Nature as 'Da,' or the Giver; Da Love-Ananda, when He called His devotees to renounce everything but the Love-Bliss that is Being Itself, and that He Is; Da Avabhasa (The 'Bright'), when devotees spontaneously celebrated the Free Divine 'Brightness' Radiating as and through His bodily Form; Adi Da (The Da Avatar), when He Revealed Himself even more fully as the Living Incarnation (or Avatar) of the Divine Person. . . . In 1996, He took the Name of Adi Da Samraj. And more fully, in 1997: Adi Da Love-Ananda Samraj." His Web site also presents teachings and the locations of "Adidam Centers" throughout the world.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2nd edition, 1984.

Lane, David C., Exposing Cults: When the SkepticalMind Confronts the Mystical, Garland Publishing, 1994.

PERIODICALS

Choice, April 1981, review of Scientific Proof of theExistence of God Will Soon be Announced by the White House!

Publishers Weekly, July 23, 1973, Alice K. Turner, review of The Knee of Listening.

ONLINE

Adidam,http://adidam.org/ (September 26, 2003), Web site of the Adidam Community, including the author's biography.*