A creator deity is a deity responsible for the creation of the world (or universe). In monotheism, the single God is necessarily also the creator deity, while polytheistic traditions may or may not have creator deities. A number of monolatristic traditions separate a secondary creator from a primary transcendent being, identified as a primary creator.

Polytheism

In polytheistic creation myths, the world often comes into being organically, e.g. sprouting from a primal seed, sexually, by miraculous birth (sometimes by parthenogenesis), by hierosgamos, violently, by the slaying of a primeval monster, or artificially, by a divine demiurge or "craftsman". Sometimes, a god is involved, wittingly or unwittingly, in bringing about creation. Examples include:

African contexts:

* Mbombo of Bakuba mythology, who vomited out the world upon feeling a stomach ache;

* Egyptian mythology

** Atum in Ennead, whose semen becomes the primal components of the universe

** Ptah creating the universe by speaking

* Unkulunkulu in Zulu mythology

American contexts:

Nanabozho (Great Rabbit,) Ojibway deity, a shape-shifter and a cocreator of the world.

* The goddess Coatlique in Aztec mythology;

* Viracocha in Inca mythology;

* A trickster deity in the form of a Raven in Inuit mythology;

Asian contexts:

* El or the Elohim of Canaanite mythology (see Genesis creation myth)

*Esege Malan in Mongolian mythology, king of the skies

*Kamuy in Ainu mythology, who built the world on the back of a trout;

* Izanagi and Izanami in Japanese mythology, who churned the ocean with a spear, creating the islands of Japan

*Marduk killing Tiamat in the Babylonian Enuma Elish

* Vishvakarman in Vedic mythology, responsible for the creation of the universe (while in later Puranic period, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are for creation, maintenance and destruction, respectively)

European contexts:

* The sons of Borr slaying the primeval giant Ymir in Norse mythology

* Rod in Slavic mythology.

Oceanic contexts:

* Ranginui, the Sky Father, and Papatuanuku, the Earth Mother in Māori mythology

Platonic demiurge

Plato, in his dialogue Timaeus, describes a creation myth involving a being called the demiurge (δημιουργός "craftsman"). This concept was continued in Neoplatonism and Gnosticism. In Neoplatonism, the demiurge represents the second cause or dyad, after the monad. In Gnostic dualism, the demiurge is an imperfect spirit and possibly evil being, transcended by divine Fullness (Pleroma). Unlike the Judeo-Christian God, Plato's demiurge is unable to create ex-nihilo.

Monolatrism

Monolatristic traditions would separate a secondary creator from the primary transcendent being, identified as a primary creator. According to Gaudiya Vaishnavas, Brahma is the secondary creator and not the supreme. Vishnu is the primary creator. According to Vaishnava belief Vishnu creates the basic universal shell and provides all the raw materials and also places the living entities within the material world, fulfilling their own independent will. Brahma works with the materials provided by Vishnu to actually create what are believed to be planets in Puranic terminology, and he supervises the population of them.

Monism

Monism has its origin in Hellenistic philosophy as a concept of all things deriving from a single substance or being. Following a long and still current tradition H.P. Owen (1971: 65) claimed that: :"Pantheists are ‘monists’...they believe that there is only one Being, and that all other forms of reality are either modes (or appearances) of it or identical with it."

Although, like Baruch Spinoza, some pantheists may also be monists, and monism may even be essential to some versions of pantheism (like Spinoza's), not all pantheists are monists. Some are polytheists and some are pluralists; they believe that there are many things and kinds of things and many different kinds of value. Not all monists are pantheists. Exclusive monists believe that the universe, the God of the pantheist, simply does not exist. In addition, monists can be Deists, pandeists, theists or panentheists; believing in a monotheistic God that is omnipotent and all-pervading, and both transcendent and immanent. There are monist pantheists and panentheists in Hinduism (particularly in Advaita and Vishistadvaita respectively), Judaism (monistic panentheism is especially found in Kabbalah and Hasidic philosophy), in Christianity (especially among Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglicans) and in Islam (among the Sufis, especially the Bektashi).

In Advaita Vedanta, Brahman is the abstract notion of "the Absolute" from which the universe takes its origin and at an ultimate level, all assertions of a distinction between Brahman, other gods and creation are meaningless (monism).

Buddhism

The Buddha explicitly rejects a creator, denies endorsing any views on creation and states that questions on the origin of the world are worthless.

Some gods in Buddhism have the view that they are creators of the world. For example, Baka Brahma. However, Buddha pointed out to them that they do not know the whole extent of the universe (he said they have no knowledge of some of the highest heavens), and further, the spiritual power of the Buddha was greater than the spiritual power of these gods who thought they created the world. One of the Suttas dealing with this subject is the Kevaddha Sutta.

The Buddha said (in DN1 - the Brahmajala Sutta or ''The Net of Views'') that their view of being the creator of the world is a misconception, and that these Brahma-gods actually have a cause which lead their origination (taking birth as a Brahma-god). Buddha even tells how the views concerning 'creator gods' originate in the world - through junior Brahma-gods (with a more limited life-span) who, on their passing away, get reborn as a human, and through practicing meditation are able to remember their previous life as a junior god to a Brahma god. Then, he starts to preach this view of a 'creator god' to others (see DN1 - the Brahmajala Sutta).

Hinduism

Hinduism includes a range of viewpoints about the origin of life, creationism and evolution. The accounts of the emergence of life within the universe vary in description, but classically the god Brahma, from a Trimurti of three gods also including Vishnu and Shiva, is described as performing the act of creation, or more specifically of "propagating life within the universe" with the other two deities being responsible for preservation and destruction (of the universe) respectively. Most Hindu schools do not regard the scriptural creation myth as a literal truth, and often the creation stories themselves do not go into specific detail, thus leaving open the possibility of incorporating at least some theories in support of evolution. Some Hindus find support for, or foreshadowing of evolutionary ideas in scriptures, namely the Vedas. An exception to this acceptance is the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), which includes several members who actively oppose "Darwinism" and the modern evolutionary synthesis.

Jainism

Jainism does not support belief in a creator deity. According to Jain doctrine, the universe and its constituents - soul, matter, space, time, and principles of motion have always existed (a static universe similar to that of Epicureanism and steady state cosmological model). All the constituents and actions are governed by universal natural laws. It is not possible to create matter out of nothing and hence the sum total of matter in the universe remains the same (similar to law of conservation of mass). Similarly, the soul of each living being is unique and uncreated and has existed since beginningless time.

The Jain theory of causation holds that a cause and its effect are always identical in nature and therefore a conscious and immaterial entity like God cannot create a material entity like the universe. Furthermore, according to the Jain concept of divinity, any soul who destroys its karmas and desires, achieves liberation. A soul who destroys all its passions and desires has no desire to interfere in the working of the universe. Moral rewards and sufferings are not the work of a divine being, but a result of an innate moral order in the cosmos; a self-regulating mechanism whereby the individual reaps the fruits of his own actions through the workings of the karmas.

Through the ages, Jain philosophers have adamantly rejected and opposed the concept of creator and omnipotent God and this has resulted in Jainism being labeled as ''nastika darsana'' or atheist philosophy by the rival religious philosophies. The theme of non-creationism and absence of omnipotent God and divine grace runs strongly in all the philosophical dimensions of Jainism, including its cosmology, karma, moksa and its moral code of conduct. Jainism asserts a religious and virtuous life is possible without the idea of a creator god.

Monotheism

Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism and Islam teach that creation is believed to be the origin of the universe by the action of God.

Among monotheists it has historically been most commonly believed that living things are God's creations, and are not the result of a process inherent in originally non-living things, unless this process is designed, initiated, or directed by God; likewise, sentient and intelligent beings are believed to be God's creation, and did not arise through the development of living but non-sentient beings, except by the intervention of God.

Baha'i

Bahá'í teachings state that God is too great for humans to fully comprehend, or to create a complete and accurate image of, by themselves. Therefore, human understanding of God is achieved through his revelations via his Manifestations. In the Bahá'í religion God is often referred to by titles and attributes (e.g. the All-Powerful, or the All-Loving), and there is a substantial emphasis on monotheism.

Chinese Mythology

Pangu can be interpreted as another creator deity. In the beginning there was nothing in the universe except a formless chaos. However this chaos began to coalesce into a cosmic egg for eighteen thousand years. Within it, the perfectly opposed principles of yin and yang became balanced and Pangu emerged (or woke up) from the egg. Pangu is usually depicted as a primitive, hairy giant with horns on his head (like the Greek Pan) and clad in furs. Pangu set about the task of creating the world: he separated Yin from Yang with a swing of his giant axe, creating the Earth (murky ''Yin'') and the Sky (clear ''Yang''). To keep them separated, Pangu stood between them and pushed up the Sky. This task took eighteen thousand years, with each day the sky grew ten feet higher, the Earth ten feet wider, and Pangu ten feet taller. In some versions of the story, Pangu is aided in this task by the four most prominent beasts, namely the Turtle, the Qilin, the Phoenix, and the Dragon.

Shangdi is another creator deity, possibly prior to Pangu sharing concepts similar to abrahamic faiths.

After the eighteen thousand years had elapsed, Pangu was laid to rest. His breath became the wind; his voice the thunder; left eye the sun and right eye the moon; his body became the mountains and extremes of the world; his blood formed rivers; his muscles the fertile lands; his facial hair the stars and milky way; his fur the bushes and forests; his bones the valuable minerals; his bone marrows sacred diamonds; his sweat fell as rain; and the fleas on his fur carried by the wind became human beings all over the world. The distance from Earth and Sky at the end of the 18,000 years would have been 65,700,000 feet, or over 12,443 miles.

The first writer to record the myth of Pangu was Xu Zheng (徐整) during the Three Kingdoms (三國) period.

Christianity

It is a tenet of Christian faith (Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant) that God is the creator of all things from nothing but by his word, and has made human beings in the Image of God, who by direct inference is also the source of the human soul. Within this broad understanding, however, there are a number of views regarding exactly how this doctrine ought to be interpreted.

Some Christians, mainly evangelical Protestants, particularly Young Earth creationists and Old Earth creationists, interpret Genesis as a historical, accurate, and literal account of creation. Others, in contrast, may understand these to be, not statements of historic fact, but rather spiritual insights more vaguely defined.

While the synoptic gospels do not address the question of creation, the Gospel of John famously begins: :"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being ... And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth" .

The Epistle to the Hebrews, a book of the New Testament, contains another reference to creation: :"For by faith we understand the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible" .

Thus, in Chalcedonian Christology, Jesus is the Word of God, which was in the beginning and, thus, is uncreated, and hence is God, and consequently identical with the Creator of the world ''ex nihilo''.

The Catholic Church allows for either a literal or allegorical interpretation of Genesis, so as to allow for the possibility of Creation by means of an evolutionary process over great spans of time, otherwise known as theistic evolution. It believes that the creation of the world is a work of God through the ''Logos'', the Word (idea, intelligence, reason and logic).

The New Testament claims that God created everything by the eternal Word, Jesus Christ his beloved Son. In him :"all things were created, in heaven and on earth.. . all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.''

Surrounded by a pervasive culture of rationalism, relativism and secularism, the Catholic Church has asserted the primacy of reason in Christian Theology. In a 1999 lecture at the University of Paris, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said: : "The question is ... whether reason, being a chance by-product of irrationality and floating in an ocean of irrationality, is ultimately just as meaningless; or whether the principle that represents the fundamental conviction of Christian faith and of its philosophy remains true: "In principio erat Verbum" — at the beginning of all things stands the creative power of reason. Now as then, Christian faith represents the choice in favor of the priority of reason and of rationality. [...] there is no ultimate demonstration that the basic choice involved in Christianity is correct. Yet, can reason really renounce its claim to the priority of what is rational over the irrational, the claim that the Logos is at the ultimate origin of things, without abolishing itself?"

: "Even today, by reason of its choosing to assert the primacy of reason, Christianity remains "enlightened," and I think that any enlightenment that cancels this choice must, contrary to all appearances, mean, not an evolution, but an involution, a shrinking, of enlightenment."

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and others within Mormonism, believe that "the elements are eternal" (Doctrine & Covenants § 93:33), and that God (our Father in Heaven−−the Creator, Sustainer, and Governor of the Universe)--organized or wrought the creation of the Earth through His Son, Jesus Christ (known as YHWH "Jehovah" of the Old Testament), Who was with Him in the beginning (John 1:1−2, 14): "And by the word of my power have I created them [''i.e.'', the Earth and its many inhabitants], which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth" (Moses 1:32). God, the Father, had His Son fashion the eternal elements into the Earth upon which we live over the course of six creative periods that He called "days" (''yōm'' in Hebrew, Genesis 1:5)(note, however, that there is nothing to suggest that these six days were either immediately contiguous or of 24 hours duration (indeed, as to the latter, the data suggests that these "days" were rather longer)). "We will go down," said Jehovah, "for there is space there, and we will take of these [already existing] materials, and we will make an earth whereon these [''i.e.'', us] may dwell" (Abraham 3:24). But Latter-day Saint theology does not perceive God as the Creator of ''our'' Earth alone, but of countless worlds: "[W]worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten" (Moses 1:33), "[B]y him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God" (Doctrine & Covenants 76:24).

In short, the Creator is an architect and organizer of pre-existing matter and energy, who constructed our original Earth and other worlds out of this raw material according to the laws and principles He has decreed shall govern such things.

Creationism

Christian fundamentalism in the USA since the 1930s has pursued Biblical literalist doctrines of "Creationism" as a counter-hypothesis opposing the scientific community, with concepts such as flood geology, creation science and intelligent design proposed as syntheses of Christian creation beliefs and scientific method.

Judaism

Orthodox Judaism historically affirms that one incorporeal God (self-identified to Moses as Yahweh) is the creator of all things (many references available, see Job 38-41, for example), and that this same one created Adam and Eve personally (directly). They affirm that this Being is an indivisible one, incomparable to any created thing, and immutable.

Islam

According to Islam, God, known in Arabic as Allah, is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator, Sustainer, Ordainer, and Judge of the universe. Islam puts a heavy emphasis on the conceptualization of God as strictly singular (tawhid). God is unique (wahid) and inherently one (ahad), all-merciful and omnipotent. According to tradition there are 99 Names of God (al-asma al-husna lit. meaning: "The best names") each of which evoke a distinct attribute of God. All these names refer to Allah, the supreme and all-comprehensive divine name. Among the 99 names of God, the most famous and most frequent of these names are "the Compassionate" (al-rahman) and "the Merciful" (al-rahim).

Creation and ordering of the universe is seen as an act of prime mercy for which all creatures sing God's glories and bear witness to God's unity and lordship. According to the Islamic teachings, God exists without a place. According to the Qur'an, "No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision. God is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things" (Qur'an 6:103) God in Islam is not only majestic and sovereign, but also a personal God: according to the Qur'an, God is nearer to a person than his jugular vein. (Quran 50:16) God responds to those in need or distress whenever they call. Above all, God guides humanity to the right way, “the holy way§.”

Islam teaches that God as referenced in the Qur'an is the only god and the same God worshipped by members of other Abrahamic religions such as Christianity and Judaism. (29:46).

Sikhism

One of the biggest responsibilities in Sikhism is to worship God as "The Creator", termed ''Waheguru'' who is shapeless, timeless, and sightless, i.e., Nirankar, Akal, and Alakh Niranjan. The religion only takes after the belief in "One God for All" or Ik Onkar.

See also

{|width=100% |- valign=top |width=50%|

Biblical cosmology

Brahma

Cosmogony

Cosmological argument

Cosmology

Dating Creation

Day-Age Creationism

Deism

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Existence

Gap Creationism

Great Spirit

Intelligent designer

Jainism and non-creationism

Old Earth Creationism

Tzimtzum

Young Earth Creationism

|}

References

External links

God: new evidence – a series of six videos exploring how evidence from cosmic fine tuning points to the reality of a creator God

John Lennox: Evidence of a Creator in Nature (Oxford University)

TalkOrigins List of Creationist Claims

Category:Creation myths

ang:Scieppend ar:الخالق az:Əl-Xaliq es:Deidad creadora ig:Chineke ml:പടച്ചവൻ nl:Schepper (maker) ja:創造神 pl:Stwórca pt:Divindade criadora simple:Creator sk:Stvoriteľ (božstvo) sl:Bog stvarnik sv:Skapare tr:Hâlik

name	Amr Diab عمرو دياب
background	solo_singer
birth name	Amr Abdel Basset Abdel Azeez Diab
astrological sign	Libra.
alias	Father of Mediterranean music, The Plateau (الهضبة)
birth date	October 11, 1961
origin	Port Said, Egypt
instrument	Vocal, Guitar
genre	Mediterranean
occupation	Singer, composer, actor
years active	1983–present
label	Rotana
official webstite| website	Official Website/
nationality	Egyptian
nickname	The Empror The King
father	Abdul Basset Diab
spouse	Sherine Rida (1989–1992) Zinah Ashour }}

Amr Abdol-Basset Abdol-Azeez Diab (}}; born October 11, 1961) is an Egyptian singer and composer of geel music; the contemporary face of Egyptian el-geel pop music, according to ''World Music''. Diab is the best-selling Arab recording artist of all time, according to ''Let's Go Egypt''. He was awarded the World Music Award for Best Selling Middle Eastern Artist four times: 1998, 2002, 2007 and 2009. He has also sold over 50 million albums worldwide. He is currently the top singer in the Arab world, and considered a living legend by many of his fans in the Arab world.

Amr Diab is known as the Father of Mediterranean Music. He has created his own style which is often termed "Mediterranean Music" or "Mediterranean Sound", a blend of Western and Egyptian rhythms.

In ''The Mediterranean in Music'', David Cooper and Kevin Dawe referred to his music as "the new breed of Mediterranean music".

According to author Michael Frishkopf, Amr Diab has produced a new concept of Mediterranean music, especially in his international hit, "Nour El Ain".

In his analysis of ''The Very Best of Amr Diab'' album, Victor W. Valdivia of Allmusic said: "His music melded traditional Arabic sounds and textures with Western rhythms and instruments. The mesh was dubbed Mediterranean music, and The Very Best of Amr Diab displays Diab's superb skill in creating it."

According to the BBC, Diab "has ruled the Arab music world, especially Egypt and the Middle East, since the mid '80s, continually breaking sales records".

Musical career

In 1983, Diab released his first studio album, ''Ya Tareeq''. Diab released three more albums between 1984 and 1987. 1988's "Mayaal" garnered huge success all around the Middle East. It was produced, arranged and remixed by German musicians, Frank Von Dem Bottlenberg and Jörg Evers, with various releases. More success followed in the following years including the albums ''Shawakkna'', ''Matkhafesh'', and ''We Yloumouni''.

Amr Diab quickly developed fame for his new style of "Pan-Mediterranean" Arabic music, fusing touches of flamenco and raï with western pop with traditional Arabic rhythms. B1992, he became the first Arabic artist to start making high-tech music videos.

"Habibi" from Diab's 1996 album, ''Nour El Ain'' became a hit worldwide, and was remixed by many of the world's top DJs at the time. A special CD named ''Habibi: The Remix Album'' was released later with all of these remixes. Since then, Diab has remained at the top of the Arabic music scene, expanding reach to all parts of the Mediterranean with his 1999 release, ''Amarain'', that featured duets with Algeria's king of rai Khaled in a song called "Qalbi" and Greece's Angela Dimitriou in "Ana Bahibak Aktar" and "Eleos". "Tamally Maak" from Diab's 2000 album became a huge success. ''Leily Nahari'', Diab's first album with Rotana Records, was released in 2004. Diab's album ''El Leila De'' was released in the summer of 2007 and topped the Arabic music charts for 22 weeks. Diab received a World Music Award for Best Selling Middle Eastern Artist for the album. In 2008, Diab renewed his contract with Rotana for five more years. In 2009, Diab released a new album ''Wayah''. 233255/23. Omar soudan

Influences and contributions

Diab revolutionized Egyptian show business in several respects, and some of his biographers have referred to him as rebellious, because he challenged everything in Middle Eastern show business, from hairstyle and appearance to music style, presentation, and the financial scale of his projects.

Diab’s blending of Western rhythms with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern music styles created a new music style, referred to as Mediterranean music. His song “Tamalli Ma’ak”/“Always With You,” wherein he introduced classical guitar, is a good example of the genre.

The world's perspective

Diab is one of the most popular and acclaimed Arab pop singers of the modern age. In 1997 he won three awards at the Annual Arabic Festival; one for Best Video, for Best Song, and for Best Artist of the Year. The following year Diab received a Triple Platinum Award for the sales of ''Nour El Ain'' and also received a World Music Award in Monaco.

Albums

''Nour El Ain''

In 1996, ''Nour El Ain'' (Light of The Eye – Sight) was released, becoming a tremendous success not only in the Middle East but throughout the entire world. The song was composed by Nasser el-Mizdawi, lyrics were written by Ahmed Sheta and it was arranged by Hameed Elshaery. The title track, and its English version "Habibi", was an international phenomenon, becoming a massive crossover hit in countries such as Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka (performed by Sangeeth Wickremasinghe) and Malaysia (Malay version sung by Datuk Sharifah Aini). The song was copied and remade with Malayalam lyrics, a south Indian language, in the Malayalam movie Chandralekha. In a style reminiscent of the Aldo (musician) Franco-Arabic style, the song was remixed by several top European arrangers and has become a big pull on the dance floors of Europe. The video clip, also produced by Alam El Phan for the song "Nour El Ain", was one of the most lavish and expensive productions in the field of Egyptian song, and set a new standard for his contemporaries to aspire to. This album sold 3 million copies. In 1997, Amr Diab won three Awards at the Annual Arabic Festival (for Best Video, Best Song and Artist of the Year). In the following year, he received a Triple Platinum Award for the sales of ''Nour El Ain'', and received a World Music Award in Monaco on 6 May 1998, under the patronage of H.S.H. Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and attended by Gloria Estefan, Céline Dion, Mariah Carey, The Backstreet Boys, Steven Seagal and others. This award was the first of its kind for an Egyptian artist, emphasizing that his appeal is not just confined to the Middle East unlike the majority of his contemporaries.

''Awedooni''

His follow-up studio album entitled ''Awedooni'' (they made me used to...) was released in July 1998, and as with ''Nour El Ain'' (the light of the eye) it was produced with Hamid El Shaery and recorded in Cairo, Egypt. The first video from the album, the title track "Awedooni" (they made me used to...), was shot by the river Nile in Egypt and directed by Tareq Al Aryan. Like its predecessor, this album was a huge success for Amr and reinforced his popularity in the Arab world and abroad.

''Amarain'' "Two Moons" in english

Diab released his July 1999 new studio album ''Amarain'' (two moons), which is hailed as the best work of his career to date. Amr is working on eagerly anticipated duets with the France-based international Rai superstar, Khaled of "Didi" fame, and with the Greek singer, Angela Dimitrou, whose crossover smash "Marguerites" was a huge hit across the Middle East in 1998. The title track "Amarain" was the first video to be broadcast.

''Tamally Ma'ak''

In 2000, Diab revolutionized Arab music when he issued ''Tamally Ma'ak'' (I'm Always With You). The song was composed by Sherif Tag, a modern Egyptian Composer. He introduced the Spanish guitar in his song "Tamally Ma'ak" and in other songs. The clip of this song was made in the Czech Republic with much success. The album contained songs like "El Allem Alla" (Only God Knows), "Ba'terf" (I Confess) which where composed by Amr Mostafa the best middle-eastern composer, "Sa'ban Alaea" (It Makes Me Feel Sorry) and "We Heya Amla Eih" (And How Was She?). The song "Tamally Ma'ak" was even copied in the hit Bollywood song "Kaho Na Kaho" from the film ''Murder'' and also "I'm Calling U" by the group, Outlandish.

''Aktar Wahed''

''Aktar Wahed'' was released on August 1, 2001. The album's name is short for one of the songs, "Aktar Wahed Beyhebbak" (One loves you the most). It contains 10 tracks and received the World Music Award for the best-selling album in the Middle East for 2001.

''Allem Albi''

In February 2003, Diab released ''Allem Alby'' (Teach My Heart). The album's release date was arranged to be with the debut broadcast of Alam El Phan's (Allem Alby's production company, owned by Mohsen Gaber) music channel "Mazzika".

The album was a great success, with the release of the video "Ana Ayesh" (I'm Alive) which was directed by Stuart Gosling. The video was intensely broadcast on Mazzika. The album contains other songs, like the R&B;-influenced hit, "Allem Albi". Others that tend to be more distinctively Arabic-sounding are songs like "Kolohom" (All of Them), "Law Ash'any" (If You Adore Me), and "Alli El Wadaa'" (Goodbye To Me).

''Leily Nahary''

In late summer 2004, Diab's first album with Rotana was released, titled ''Leily Nahary'' (My Nights, My Days). The album's cover was from the promotional photo shoot of Pepsi. The video "Leily Nahari" directed by Cameron Casey provided aid to give Diab his space in the record-exclusive music channels. It was criticized because of its similarity to his previously unreleased video for "El Alem Allah" from the album ''Tamally Ma'ak''. This album sold over 1.5 million copies.

''Kammel Kalamak''

Diab's album ''Kammel Kalamak'', released on December 14, 2005, was the follow-up to ''Leily Nahary''. The album cost a reported $4 million to record, and was Rotana's biggest album of 2005. The love ballad "We Malo" was released as the single of the album, ''Kammel Kalamak''. The music video was shot in London and was released on a late notice after the release of the album. Rumors surfaced in late 2005 and early 2006 stated that Amr is considering terminating his contract with Rotana due to the poor promotion of his latest album, ''Kammel Kalamak''.

''El Leila De'' (Tonight)

The album ''El Leila De'' was originally set to be released after Ramadan 2006. However, it was pushed back several times due to Diab's repeated changes in the musical producers he was dealing with. Diab attributes the changes to the producer's lack of new and strong styles. In early 2006, Music Arranger Fahd was supposed to work on this album; however, later that year Tarek Madkour joined Amr Diab, and they started together to work on it. On March 25, 2007, Madkour's official website announced that Amr Diab and Madkour had decided jointly to skip the collaboration on the album due to the lack of time and conflicting working schedules. Fahd and a new producer called Hasan Al Shafei are elected to produce the music in the album, which is supposed to hit the markets in July 2007. The title of the album was changed from ''Khaleek Ma'aya'' to ''El Leila De''. After the release Amr, shot a new Pepsi advertisement in Europe. On June 21, 2007, two of the biggest sites (AmrDiabWorld.com & AmrDiab.info) for Amr Diab announced that the album, now entitled ''El Lilady'', would hit the market on July 7, 2007. The album would contain 10 tracks; AL Shafei and Fahd shared the production Al Shaei 7 songs & Fahd 3 Songs. Before releasing his album, Diab traveled to Portugal to shoot the new Pepsi ad choosing "Inta El Ghaly" song from his upcoming album ''El Leila De'' as the ad music. Amr then traveled to the USA to film the music video for his upcoming album.

The album master copy was given to Rotana, Amr Diab's CD production company, on the last week of June to meet the July 7, 2007 release date he had planned earlier. Rotana, however, has delayed the release of the new CD for a couple of days for unknown reasons. The album has also been leaked. The album was officially released on July 11, 2007. The album has already become a huge hit in Egypt and all over the Middle East. The album sold over 1,000,000 copies in only 5 days of release. The video clip has been slated for a July 27 release. The song that Diab chose to film was "N'eoul Eih", which is in the new style of House Music mixed with oriental Arabic music. The video clip was filmed in Santa Monica and Malibu, and also near Hollywood.

On July 27, Rotana News announced that ''El Leila De'' had sold over 5 million copies in less than two weeks in the Middle East, which gives the album a good chance to surpass Kammel Kalamak's 3 million copies only. On October 30, 2007, the management of the World Music Awards announced that Amr Diab was to receive an award for best selling artist in the Middle East for this album. Amr Diab received the award in the festival that was held in Monaco, Monte-Carlo, on the November 4, 2007.

''Wayah'' (With Her) (2009)

the world music award of for the best-selling album in the Middle East 2009 ''Wayah'' (With Her) was released for sale on the internet on June 27; however, the album was leaked online and was downloaded illegally amid complaints of slow download speed on the official site. Diab's fans initiated a massive boycott of the sites with the illegal copies and by July 3, 2009 ''Wayah'' had sold more than 1.5 million copies in the first week. Later on Amr Diab's administration announced that the album has become the highest-selling album in Diab's career. This album sold 3 million copies.

On October 18, 2009 Amr Diab won four 2009 African Music Awards in the following categories: best artist, best album, best vocalist and best song for "Wayah" and Amr Diab has been nominated by the Big Apple Music Awards

''Aslaha Betefre''' (2010)

Amr Diab has released a mini album for the first time in his career history, produced by Rotana, in July 2010. The mini album contains 1 song with 3 arrangements (Original song + Club Mix + Karaoke).

''Banadeek Ta'ala'' (2011)

Amr Diab is expected to release "Banadeek Ta'ala" late September 2011. The album contains 12 songs that include: Banadeek Ta'ala, Heya Hayaty, Aloomak Leh, Aref Habibi, Maly Enaya, Yaret Sennek, Ghaly Alaya, and Tagreba o Addet. The album is arranged by Adil Hakki and is produced by Rotana.

Music videos

Diab is one of the first singers to popularise music videos in the Arab World, and the first Egyptian singer to appear in music videos. With the exception of his very early releases, all of his albums have had at least one song shot as a music video. Diab has collaborated with a variety of music video directors in the Middle East, including Tarek El-Erian and Sherif Sabri.

The most anticipated video clip of 2007, ''N'eoul Eih'', was released on August 14 that year on Rotana TV. It was broadcast minutes later on Egyptian television on "El Beit Betak". The video was a great success.

August 6, 2009 witnessed the release of Amr Diab's latest video clip for his smash hit Wayah. Working alongside Cameron Casey and [Leily Nahari] for a second time, Amr Diab presented a fresh video clip which was filmed mostly on Green Screen and in Amr Diab's personal villa in Cairo, Egypt. The biggest surprise was the appearance of Amr Diab's children alongside his niece, who represented the younger generation of children who are still inspired by the music of Amr Diab.

Diab also filmed "Ba2dem Alby" which is set to be released on Valentine's Day.

''El Helm/The Dream''

''The Dream'' or ''El Helm'' is a biographical TV production produced by Amr Afefy that gives viewers the story of Amr Diab's life. The show consists of 12 episodes and began airing on December 24, 2008. ''El Helm'' is narrated by actor Ezzat Abou Ouf and includes interviews with Diab and people he worked with throughout the span of his career. The show, which aired on Rotana TV, saw great success and was preceded by one of the biggest advertising campaigns in the history of Middle Eastern music.

Film career

Diab's fame in the music industry has led him to experiment with other forms of media, such as film. Amr played himself in his first film, ''El Afareet'', which was released in 1989. The film also starred Madiha Kamel. His second film ''Ice Cream in Gleam'' (''Ays Krim fi Glym''), the 1992 movie in which Diab starred, was chosen as one of the best five Egyptian musical films by the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. The film was also featured in the UCLA Film and Television Archive's new program "Music on the Nile: Fifty Years of Egyptian Musical Films" at James Bridges Theater, UCLA, April 6, 8 and 10. David Chute of the Los Angeles Weekly termed the film "observant" and "a big leap". His third movie was released in 1993, and was named ''Deahk We La'ab'' (''Laughter and Fun''). The film premiered in the Egyptian Film Festival in 1993. Amr played alongside international Egyptian movie star Omar Sharif (''Lawrence of Arabia'', ''Doctor Zhivago'') and Yousra in the movie. Overall, Diab did not experience the same level of success in film that he had with his music career. Since 1993, Diab has focused on his singing career.

Egyptian Uprising

Amr Diab did not participate in the protests of early 2011 (he left the country with his family). However, he composed and sang a memorial song, "Masr A'let"., then he participated in a campaign "Masry Begad" ("Real Egyptian"), a social national program aimed at serving and rebuilding Egyptian society. His online radio station Diab FM will present talks and discussions about what Diab FM team can offer to our community as well as applying it practically by being present in different sites across Egypt with a new project each week.

Endorsements

Amr Diab has taken part in an internationally known Pepsi commercial featuring four other pop musicians: Beyoncé Knowles, Pink, Jennifer Lopez, and Britney Spears. In the US version, Enrique Iglesias takes the role of Caesar. But in the pan Arab version, the four American singers were retained but the male figure was replaced with Diab. This was not the first Pepsi commercial Diab has done; he also filmed commercials featuring his songs "Ana Aktar Wahed" (I'm the most), "Allem Alby" (teach my heart) and "Khad Alby Ma'aa" (She took my heart with her). Diab also appeared in a commercial alongside Jennifer Lopez, singing The Troggs hit "Wild Thing". In 2009 Pepsi decided not to renew his contract. In 2010 he was the star of "Hayat" bottled water campaign.

Local record labels

Diab's earliest albums were released by Delta Sound. In 1996 Diab moved to Alam Al Phan were he released his greatest hits. In between 2003 and 2004, and after a long successful career with Alam El Phan, Diab officially announced the termination of his contract with Mohsen Gaber (owner of Alam El Phan) and move to Rotana Records.

International record labels

Over 18 international companies have produced studio albums, compilations and exclusive music for Amr Diab across the globe.

Ariola - Germany

Hot Records - Germany

EMI Music - Greece

EMI Music - Arabia

EMI Music - Turkey

EMI Music - Canada [Hemisphere]

EMI Music - Europe

EMI Music - International

World Music Network - USA

George V Records - France

Putumayo World Music - USA

Wagram Music - France

Virgin - International

Nascent - UK

Milano 2000 - Italy

Reverb Music - UK

Toast Records - Italy

Warner Bros. - France

Collaboration with international musicians

Various international musicians have collaborated with Amr Diab:

Stuart Crichton (The founder of Progressive House)

Frank Von Dem Bottlenberg - Germany

Jorg Evers - Germany

Shazz (Didier Delesalle) - France

Klubbheads (Koen Groeneveld and Addy van der Zwan) - Dutch

Phunk Phorce (Leon and Matthew Roberts) - UK

Rhythm Masters (Robert Bruce Chetcuti and Steve McGuinness) - UK

Pete Beachill - UK

Simon Gardner - UK

Andy Greenwood - UK

Kevan Gallagher - UK

Jon Bishop - UK

Juan Cerro - Spain

Angela Dimitriou - Greece

Amr Diab in movies

Amr Diab's songs have appeared in several films, including: "Wala Ala Baloh" in ''Divine Intervention'' (2002) "Awedouni" in ''The Dancer Upstairs'' (2002) "El Alem Alah" and "Nour El Ain" in ''O Clone'' (2001) "Nafs El Makan" in ''Double Whammy'' (2001)

"Tamally Ma'ak" and "Nour El Ain" in the French movie, ''Coco'' (2009)

"Nour El Ain" in ''Malcolm in the Middle'' TV series (Season 4, Episode 4, Episode name: Stupid Girl), released on 9 January 2000 (USA)

Further reading

''Mediterranean Mosaic'' by Goffredo Plastino

''Egypt'' by Virginia Maxwell, Mary Fitzpatrick, Siona Jenkins, Anthony Sattin

''World Music'' by Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham, Richard Trillo, Orla Duane, Vanessa Dowell

''Teens in Egypt'' by Barbara A. Somervill

''Syria & Lebanon'' by Terry Carter, Lara Dunston, Andrew Humphreys, Damien Simonis

''World Music'' by Richard Nidel

''The Mediterranean in Music'' by David Cooper, Kevin Dawe

''The Middle East'' by Library Information and Research Service

''Let's Go Egypt'' by Let's Go, Inc., Joey Shabot, Dave Newman, Elizabeth Ogburn, Charlotte Houghteling

Discography

Studio Albums

1983: ''Ya Taree'' (يا طريق - O Road)

1984: ''Ghanny Men Albak'' (غنّي من قلبك - Sing From Your Heart)

1985: ''We Mneen Ageeb Nas'' (ومنين أجيب ناس - To Whom I Complain?)

1986: ''Hala Hala'' (هلا هلا - Welcome, Welcome)

1987: ''Khalseen'' (خالصين - We're Even)

1988: ''Mayyal'' (ميّال - In Love)

1989: ''Shawaana'' (شوقنا - Missing You)

1990: ''Matkhafeesh'' (متخافيش - Don't Worry)

1991: ''Habiby'' (حبيبي - My Love)

1992: ''Ayamna'' (أيامنا - Our Days)

1992: ''Ice Cream Fi Gleam'' (أيس كريم في جليم - Ice Cream In Gleam)

1993: ''Ya Omrena'' (يا عمرنا - Our Life)

1994: ''W Ylomoony'' (و يلوموني - And They Blame Me)

1994: ''Zekrayat'' (ذكريات - Memories)

1995: ''Ragaeen'' (راجعين - We'll Be Back)

1996: ''Nour El-Ain'' (نور العين - Light Of The Eye)

1998: ''Awedoony'' (عوّدوني - They Got Me Used To)

1999: ''Amarein'' (قمرين - Two Moons)

2000: ''Tamally Maak'' (تملي معاك - Always With You)

2001: ''Aktar Wahed'' (أكتر واحد - The Most One)

2003: ''Allem Alby'' (علم قلبي - Teach My Heart)

2004: ''Leily Nahary'' (ليلي نهاري - My Night, My Day)

2005: ''Kammel Kalamak'' (كمّل كلامك - Keep Talking)

2007: ''El Leila De'' (الليلا دي - This Night)

2009: ''Wayah'' (ويّاه - With Her)

2010: ''aslaha Betfre''' (اصلها بتفرق - She Differs)

;Compilations

1999: ''The Best of Amr Diab''

2004: ''Amr Diab Greatest Hits (1986–1995)''

2005: ''Amr Diab Greatest Hits (1996–2003)''

Singles

2010: "Aslaha Btefre'" (أصلها بتفرق - Because she makes a difference)

References

External links

http://www.amrdiab.net/ - Official Website

http://amrdiabworld.com/ - Official Online Store

http://DiabFM.com/ - Official Online Radio

Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:Egyptian actors Category:Egyptian singers Category:People from Port Said Category:World Music Awards winners

ar:عمرو دياب bg:Амър Диаб cs:Amr Dijáb de:Amr Diab es:Amr Diab eo:Amr Diab fa:عمرو دیاب fr:Amr Diab id:Amr Diab hu:Amr Dijáb ml:അമ്ര് ദിയാബ് arz:عمرو دياب ms:Amr Diab nl:Amr Diab ja:アムル・ディアブ pl:Amr Diab pt:Amr Diab ru:Амр Диаб fi:Amr Diab sv:Amr Diab tr:Amr Diab uk:Амр Діаб zh:阿穆尔·迪亚布

Region	Western Philosophy
Era	21st-century philosophy
Color	#B0C4DE
Name	William Lane Craig
Birth date	August 23, 1949
Birth place	Peoria, Illinois
School tradition	Analytic Philosophy
Main interests	Philosophy of religion, Natural theology, Philosophy of time, Christian Apologetics
Notable ideas	Kalam cosmological argument
Influences	Alvin Plantinga, Francis Schaeffer, Edward John Carnell, Stuart Hackett, John Hick, Wolfhart Pannenberg
Influenced	J. P. Moreland, Francis Beckwith }}

William Lane Craig (born August 23, 1949) is an American Evangelical Christian apologist in the evidentialist tradition. Craig is a prolific debater, philosophical theologian, and analytic philosopher known for his work on the existence of God, defense of Christian theism, philosophy of religion, historicity of Jesus and the philosophy of time. In 1979, he authored ''The Kalam Cosmological Argument'', a defense of the argument of the same name. He is currently a Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University.

Biography

Craig received a BA in Communications from Wheaton College, Illinois in 1971 and two MA degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, in 1975, in philosophy of religion and church history. He earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, England in 1977 and Th.D. under Wolfhart Pannenberg at the University of Munich in 1984.

From 1980 to 1986 he was an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He briefly held the position of associate professor of Religious Studies at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California in 1986-1987. Between 1987 and 1994 Craig pursued further research at the University of Leuven, Belgium. Since 1996 he has been a Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, La Mirada, California.

Career

He is a fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture, which is the hub of the intelligent design movement, and a fellow of the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design(ISCID).

Craig is a Molinist who embraces a Reformed epistemology and in regard to biological origins is inclined towards progressive creationism, although he concedes the possibility of theistic evolution. He has published on the historicity of the resurrection accounts of Jesus and the philosophy of time for which he advocates a tensed or A-theory of time and a Neo-Lorentzian interpretation of the theory of relativity. He argues for a finely tuned theistic universe, a personal cause of the universe and a theistic objective morality. His work in Christian apologetics includes advocacy of intelligent design, and critiques of "New Atheism," liberal theology, metaphysical naturalism, logical positivism and scientism, postmodernism, anti-realism, moral relativism and subjectivism, Mormonism, Islam, and the methodology and conclusions of the Jesus Seminar.

Bibliography

''The Kalam Cosmological Argument''. London: MacMillan. 1979. ISBN 157910438X / ISBN 978-1579104382

''The Cosmological Argument from Plato to Leibniz''. London: MacMillan. 1980. ISBN 1579107877 / ISBN 978-1579107871

''The Son Rises: Historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus''. Chicago: Moody Press. 1981. ISBN 9781579104641 / ISBN 978-1579104641

''Apologetics: An Introduction''. Chicago: Moody Press. 1984. ISBN 0802404057

''The Historical Argument for the Resurrection of Jesus during the Deist Controversy''. Toronto: Edwin Mellen. 1985. ISBN 0-88946-811-7

''The Only Wise God: The Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom''. Grand Rapids: Baker Bookhouse. 1987. ISBN 1579103162 / ISBN 978-1579103163

''The Problem of Divine Foreknowledge and Future Contingents from Aristotle to Suarez''. Leiden: E.J. Brill. 1988. ISBN 9004085165 / ISBN 978-9004085169

''Knowing the Truth About the Resurrection''. Ann Arbor: Servant. 1988. ISBN 089283384X / ISBN 978-0892833849

''Assessing the New Testament Evidence for the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus''. Toronto: Edwin Mellen Press. 1989. ISBN 0889466165/ ISBN 978-0889466166

''Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom: The Coherence of Theism I: Omniscience''. Leiden: E.J. Brill. 1990. ISBN 9004092501 / ISBN 978-9004092501

''No Easy Answers''. Chicago: Moody Press. 1990. ISBN 0802422837 / ISBN 978-0802422835

''Theism, Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology'' (with Quentin Smith). Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1993. ISBN 978-0198263838

''The Tensed Theory of Time: A Critical Examination''. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 0792366344 / ISBN 978-0792366348

''Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up? A Debate Between William Lane Craig and John Dominic Crossan''. Grand Rapids: Baker Bookhouse. 1998.

''God, Are You There?''. Atlanta: RZIM. 1999. ISBN 1930107005 / ISBN 978-1930107007

''The Tenseless Theory of Time: A Critical Examination''. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. 2000. ISBN 9780792366355 / ISBN 978-0792366355

''God, Time and Eternity''. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. 2001. ISBN 9781581342413 / ISBN 978-1581342413

''Time and The Metaphysics of Relativity''. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. 2001. ISBN 0 7923 6668 9

''Time and Eternity: Exploring God's Relationship to Time''. Wheaton: Crossway. 2001. ISBN 9781581342413 / ISBN 978-1581342413

''What Does God Know?'' Atlanta: RZIM. 2002. ISBN 9781930107052

''Hard Questions, Real Answers''. Wheaton: Crossway Books. 2003. ISBN 9781581344875 / ISBN 978-1581344875

''God?: A Debate Between a Christian and an Atheist''(with Walter Sinnot-Armstrong). New York: Oxford University Press. 2003.

''Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview'' (with J.P. Moreland). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. 2003.

''Creation out of Nothing: Its Biblical, Philosophical, and Scientific Exploration'' (with Paul Copan). Grand Rapids: Baker Bookhouse. 2004. ISBN 0801027330

''Reasonable Faith''. Wheaton: Crossway. 1994. rev. 3rd ed. 2008. ISBN 0891077642 / ISBN 978-0891077640

''On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision''. Colorado Springs: David C. Cook. 2010. ISBN 1434764885 / ISBN 978-1434764881

See also

List of American philosophers

References

External links

Faculty webpage

Comprehensive Debate list

Interviews from the program Closer to Truth

Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of the University of Birmingham Category:Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Category:American philosophers Category:American religion academics Category:American theologians Category:Analytic philosophers Category:Biblical scholars Category:Biola University faculty Category:Intelligent design advocates Category:Christian philosophers Category:Christian apologists Category:Christian writers Category:Christian scholars Category:Discovery Institute fellows and advisors Category:Fellows of the International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design Category:Philosophers of religion Category:People from Keokuk, Iowa Category:American Christians Category:Trinity Evangelical Divinity School alumni Category:Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni

de:William Lane Craig es:William Lane Craig fr:William Lane Craig no:William Lane Craig pl:William Lane Craig pt:William Lane Craig fi:William Lane Craig sv:William Lane Craig

William Lane (6 September 1861 – 26 August 1917) was a journalist, advocate of Australian labour politics and a utopian.

Early life

Lane was born in Bristol, England, eldest son of James Lane, a Protestant Irishman and landscape gardener, and his English wife Caroline, ''née'' Hall. When Lane was born his father was earning a miserable wage, but later his circumstances improved and he became an employer. The boy was educated at Bristol Grammar School and showed ability, but he was sent early to work as an office boy. Lane's mother died when he was 14 years of age, and at age 16 he migrated to Canada, then to the United States, where he worked first as a printer, then as a reporter for the Detroit Free Press (1881), there meeting his future wife Ann MacGuire. In 1885 they migrated to Brisbane, Australia, where Lane immediately got work as a feature writer for the weekly newspaper ''Queensland Figaro'', then as a columnist for the newspapers Brisbane Courier and Evening Telegraph, using a number of pseudonyms ("Lucinda Sharpe", which some consider to be the work of Annie Lane, "John Miller" and "Sketcher").

A life-long abstainer from alcohol, in 1886 he created an Australia-wide sensation by spending a night in the Brisbane lock-up disguised as a drunk, and subsequently reporting the conditions of the cells as "Henry Harris". Lane's father was a drunk who impoverished the family.

With the growth of the Australian labour movement, "Sketcher"'s columns, especially his "Labour Notes" in the ''Evening Telegraph'', increasingly promoted labourist philosophy, and Lane himself attended meetings supporting all manner of popular causes, speaking with his "American twang" against repressive laws and practices and Chinese immigrants.

After becoming the de facto editor of the Courier, Lane departed during November 1887 to found the weekly ''The Boomerang'', "a live newspaper, racy, of the soil", in which pro-worker themes and lurid racism were brought to a fever-pitch by both "Sketcher" and "Lucinda Sharpe". He became a powerful supporter of Emma Miller and Women's suffrage. A strong proponent of Henry George's Single Tax Movement, Lane became increasingly committed to a radically alternative society, and ended his relationship with the ''Boomerang'' due to its private ownership.

In May 1890 he began the community-funded Brisbane weekly ''The Worker'', the rhetoric of which became increasingly threatening towards the employers, the government, and the British Empire itself. The defeat of the 1891 Australian shearers' strike convinced Lane that there would be no real social change without a completely new society, and ''The Worker'' became increasingly devoted to his New Australia utopian idea.

''The Workingman's Paradise'', an allegorical novel written in sympathy with the shearers involved in the 1891 Shearer's Strike, was published under his pseudonym ''John Miller'' in early 1892. In the novel Lane articulated the belief that anarchism is the noblest social philosophy of all. Through the novel's philosopher and main protagonist he relates his belief that society may have to experience a period of State socialism to achieve the ideal of Communist anarchism. Mary Gilmore, later a celebrated Australian writer, said in one of her letters ''"the whole book is true and of historical value as Lane transcribed our conversations as well as those of others"''.

New Australia Colony

Contriving a division among Australian labour activists between the permanently disaffected and those who later formed the Australian Labor Party, Lane refused the Queensland Government's offer of a grant of land on which to create a utopian settlement, and began an Australia-wide campaign for the creation of a new society elsewhere on the globe, peopled by rugged and sober Australian bushmen and their proud wives.

Eventually Paraguay was decided upon, and Lane and his family and several hundred acolytes from New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia departed Mort Bay in Sydney in the ship ''Royal Tar'' on 1 July 1893.

New Australia soon had its crisis, brought on by the issues of inter-racial relationships (Lane singled out the Guarani as racially taboo) and alcohol. Lane's dictatorial manner soon alienated many in the community, and by the time the second boat-load of utopians arrived from Adelaide a year later, Lane had left with a core of devotees to form a new colony nearby named Cosme.

Eventually Lane became disillusioned with the process, and returned to Australia in 1899.

Later life

Lane then went with his family to New Zealand. After initial melancholia, he soon refound his old verve as a pseudonymous feature-writer from 1900 for the newspaper ''New Zealand Herald'' ("Tohunga"), only this time as ultra-conservative and pro-Empire. He had strong racial antipathy toward East Asians, and during World War I he developed extreme anti-German sentiments. He died on 26 August 1917 in Auckland, New Zealand, having been editor of the ''Herald'' from 1913 to 1917, much admired, having lost one son Charles at a cricket match in Cosme in Paraguay, and another Donald on the first day of the ANZAC landings (25 April 1915) on the beaches of Gallipoli.

References

Gavin Souter's account of Lane and New Australia in his ''A Peculiar People''

Peter Bruce's thesis (Univ Sydney) ''The Journalistic Career of William Lane''.

''Larry Petrie (1859-1901) - Australian Revolutionist?'' by Bob James

Whitehead, Anne (1997) ''Paradise Mislaid — in Search of the Australian Tribe of Paraguay'' University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia

External links

''Workingman's Paradise'', Pdf at University of Sydney

Category:1861 births Category:1917 deaths Category:Australian anarchists Category:Australian trade unionists Category:Australian journalists Category:New Zealand journalists Category:Old Bristolians Category:People from Bristol Category:Georgists

de:William Lane (Utopist) it:William Lane pl:William Lane

name	Adi Da Samraj
birth date	November 03, 1939
birth place	New York, New York, United States
death date	November 27, 2008
death place	Naitaba, Lau Islands, Fiji
nationality	American
other names	Franklin Albert Jones
known for	Founder of Adidam
occupation	Spiritual teacher, writer, and artist }}

Adi Da Samraj (Devanāgarī: आदि द समराज) (November 3, 1939 – November 27, 2008), born Franklin Albert Jones in Queens, New York, was a spiritual teacher, writer and artist, and the founder of a new religious movement known as ''Adidam''. Adi Da changed his name numerous times throughout his life; these names included Bubba Free John, Da Free John, Da Love-Ananda, Da Kalki, Da Avadhoota, and Da Avabhasa among others. From 1991 until his death, he was known as Adi Da Love-Ananda Samraj or Adi Da.

Adi Da initially became known in the spiritual counterculture of the 1970s for his books and public talks, and for the activities of his religious community. His philosophy was essentially similar to many eastern religions which see spiritual enlightenment as the ultimate priority of human life. Distinguishing his from other religious traditions, Adi Da declared that he was a uniquely historic avatar (incarnation of a god or divinity in human form). As such, Adi Da stated that devotional worship of him is the sole means of spiritual enlightenment for others.

In the mid 1980s, allegations by former followers of financial, sexual and emotional abuses within Adidam received international media attention. These allegations resulted in lawsuits or threatened suits on both sides.

Adi Da wrote many books about his spiritual philosophy and related matters, founding a publishing house to print them. He gained praise from authorities in spirituality and philosophy, but was also criticized for what were perceived as his isolation, controversial behavior, and cult-like community.

Biography

Youth (1939–70)

thumb|left|Adi Da as an infant, 1940Adi Da was born Franklin Albert Jones on November 3, 1939, in Queens, New York and raised on Long Island. His father was a salesman and his mother a housewife. A sister, Joanne, was born when he was eight years old. He served as an acolyte in the Lutheran church during his adolescence and aspired to be a minister, though after leaving for college in the autumn of 1957 he expressed doubts about the religion to his Lutheran pastor. He graduated in 1961 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Columbia University and went on to complete a master's degree in English literature at Stanford University in 1963.

After graduating from Columbia, Adi Da began using hallucinogenic drugs, sometimes heavily. In 1963, after finishing at Stanford, for 6 weeks he was a paid test subject in drug trials of mescaline, LSD, and psilocybin that were conducted at a Veterans Administration hospital in California. He wrote later that he found these experiences "self-validating" in that they mimicked ecstatic states of consciousness from his childhood, but problematic as they often resulted in paranoia, anxiety, or disassociation. For over a year, Adi Da lived with his girlfriend Nina Davis in the hills of Palo Alto. While she worked to support them, he wrote, took drugs, meditated informally, and studied books on hermeticism in order to make sense of his experiences.

Responding to an intuitive impulse, they left California in June 1964 in search of a spiritual teacher in New York City. Settling in Greenwich Village, Adi Da became a student of Albert Rudolph, also known as "Rudi", an oriental art dealer and self-styled spiritual guru. Having studied a number of spiritual traditions, including "The Work" of G.I. Gurdjieff and Subud, Rudolph was then a follower of Siddha Yoga founder Swami Muktananda, who gave Rudi the name "Swami Rudrananda". Rudi taught an eclectic blend of techniques he called "kundalini yoga" (having no literal relationship to the Indian tradition by that name.)

Adi Da's father told Rudi of his son's onetime aspiration to become a Lutheran minister. Feeling that he needed better grounding, in 1965 Rudi insisted that he marry Nina, find steady employment, lose weight, end his drug use, and begin preparatory studies to enter the seminary. As a student at Philadelphia's Lutheran Theological Seminary in 1967, Adi Da described undergoing a terrifying breakdown. Taken to a hospital emergency room, a psychiatrist diagnosed it as an anxiety attack. It was the first in a series of such episodes he would experience throughout his life, each followed by what he explained to be profound awakenings or insights. Feeling none of his Lutheran professors understood this experience, Adi Da left and briefly attended St. Vladimir's Russian Orthodox Seminary in Tuckahoe, New York. Disillusioned, he moved back to New York City and got a job working for Pan American Airlines, in hopes this would facilitate his being able to visit Swami Muktananda's ashram in India. He did so for four days in April 1968. Swami Muktananda encouraged Adi Da to end his studies with Rudi and study with himself directly.

Back in New York, Adi Da and wife Nina became members and then employees of the Church of Scientology. Following Scientology protocol, he wrote Rudi a letter severing all contact. After a little more than a year of involvement, Adi Da left Scientology. He then returned to India for a month-long visit in early 1969, during which Swami Muktananda authorized him to initiate others into Siddha Yoga.

In May 1970, Adi Da, Nina, and a friend from Scientology named Pat Morley gave away their belongings and traveled to India for what they believed would be an indefinite period living at Swami Muktananda's ashram. However, Adi Da was disappointed by his experience there, especially by the numbers of other Americans who had arrived since his previous visit. Three weeks after arriving, Adi Da said that visions of the Virgin Mary (that he interpreted as a personification of divine feminine power, or shakti) directed him to make a pilgrimage to Christian holy sites. After two weeks in Europe and the middle east, all three returned to New York before moving to Los Angeles in August.

Becoming a guru (1970–73)

thumb|left|Adi Da in Los Angeles, 1973In September 1970, Adi Da said that while sitting in the Vedanta Society Temple in Hollywood, he permanently realized "The Bright", his term for a state of complete spiritual enlightenment. He wrote an autobiography titled ''The Knee of Listening'', which was published in 1972. In it, Adi Da wrote that he had uniquely been born with full awareness of "the Bright," but this knowledge became obscured in childhood. His subsequent spiritual journey was a quest to recapture this awareness, and share it with others.

In October 1970, Swami Muktananda stopped in California on a world wide tour largely underwritten by Rudi. Adi Da visited him and related his experience the previous month of "The Bright." Adi Da felt that the swami did not understand or properly acknowledge the full importance of his experience. During the visit Adi Da reconciled with Rudi.

With fellow former Scientology employee Sal Lucania as financier, Adi Da opened Ashram Books (later Dawn Horse Books), a spirituality bookshop in Los Angeles. He began giving lectures there based on his autobiography, soon attracting a small following due in part to his charismatic speaking style. He taught in a traditional Indian style, lecturing from a raised dais surrounded by flowers and oriental carpets, with listeners seated on the floor. He incorporated many ideas from the Kashmir Shaivite and Advaita Vedanta schools of Hinduism, but also expressed original insights and opinions about both spirituality and secular culture. He was one of the first westerners to become well-known as a teacher of meditation and eastern esoteric traditions at a time when these were of growing interest. Some early participants stated that Adi Da demonstrated an ability to produce alterations in their consciousness, likening the effect to shaktipat of Indian yoga traditions.

With an increasing number of followers, Adi Da founded a new religious movement called "The Dawn Horse Communion". In 1973, he traveled to India to meet a final time with Swami Muktananda in hopes of being recognized as a "Mahasiddha", or fully enlightened sage. They disagreed on a series of questions Adi Da had prepared. This effectively ended their relationship, and they went on to later disparage each others' relative level of spiritual accomplishment. Adi Da nevertheless stated that he continued to appreciate and respect Muktananda as his onetime teacher.

thumb|The Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary in Lake County, CaliforniaUpon returning to Los Angeles, Adi Da (then Franklin Jones) directed his students that he should now be addressed as "Bubba Free John," based on a nickname meaning "friend" combined with a rendering of "Franklin Jones". He divorced Nina, although she remained a follower. In January 1974, Adi Da told his followers that he was "the divine lord in human form". Later that year, the church obtained an aging hot springs resort in Lake County, California, renaming it "Persimmon" (it is now known as "The Mountain of Attention"). Adi Da and a group of selected followers moved there and experimented in communal living. Most followers relocated from Los Angeles to San Francisco, where Dawn Horse Books also moved.

Adi Da often changed his name, saying it reflected differences or changes in the nature of his message and relationship to followers. In 1974, he changed his name from "Bubba Free John" to "Da Free John". Subsequent names included Da Love-Ananda, Dau Loloma, Da Kalki, Hridaya-Samartha Sat-Guru Da, Santosha Da, Da Avadhoota, Da Avabhasa, and from 1994, Adi Da Love-Ananda Samraj, or Adi Da. Adi Da translated the Sanskrit syllable ''Da'' as "giver."

"Crazy Wisdom" (1973–84)

In 1973, Adi Da began to use more unconventional means of instruction he called "crazy wisdom", likening his methods to a tradition of yogic adepts who employed seemingly un-spiritual methods to awaken observer's consciousness. Some followers reported having profound metaphysical experiences in Adi Da's presence, attributing these phenomena to his spiritual power. Others present remained skeptical, witnessing nothing supernatural.

Adi Da initiated a period of teachings and activities that came to be known as the "Garbage and the Goddess". He directed his followers in "sexual theater", a form of psychodrama that often involved public and group sex, the making of pornographic movies, and other intensified sexual practices. Drug and alcohol use were often encouraged, and earlier proscriptions against meat and "junk food" were no longer adhered to.

Adi Da said that this behavior was part of a radical overturning of all conventional moral values and social contracts in order to help shock students into insights regarding habitual patterns and emotional attachments so that they could more completely surrender to him and the community. Conventional marriage received Adi Da's particular criticism, and many couples were forced to split up or switch partners. Adi Da himself had nine or more polygamous partners during this time that he called his "wives", including Playboy centerfold Julie Anderson, aka "Whitney Kaine" who had entered the community as a follower's girlfriend. He likewise recommended polygamy or polyamory to some followers.

Adi Da published his fourth book, titled "Garbage and the Goddess: The Last Miracles and Final Spiritual Instructions of Bubba Free John." It documented the relatively unexpurgated lectures and activities of this period. It quickly sold out its first print run, and a second was sent to bookstores. However, due to the controversial nature of its contents, all available copies were quickly retrieved and ritually burned at Adi Da's behest.

In 1983, Adi Da moved with a group of about 40 followers to the Fijian island of Naitauba, purchased by a wealthy follower from the actor Raymond Burr. It was his primary residence until the end of his life.

Public controversy (1985–86)

Accusations of Adi Da abusing his power as a spiritual leader attracted international attention in 1985. Adi Da and Adidam (then known as Da Free John and The Johannine Daist Communion) were subjects of almost daily coverage in the ''San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, Mill Valley Record'', other newspapers, and regional television news and talk shows over several weeks early in the year. The story gained greater attention with a two-part exposé on The Today Show that aired May 9 and 10.

In investigative reports and dozens of interviews, both named and anonymous ex-members made numerous specific allegations of Adi Da forcing members to engage in psychologically, sexually, and physically abusive and humiliating behavior, as well as accusing the church of committing tax fraud. Others stated that they never witnessed or were involved in any such activities.

Adi Da and his organization were sued by Beverly O'Mahoney, then wife of the Adidam president, for fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, and assault and battery (among other things); the suit sought $5 million in damages. To a local reporter, Adidam threatened to file its own lawsuit against O'Mahoney, as well as five others who had been named in stories and interviews making allegations of abuse (no suit was ever filed). Adidam charged that allegations against the church were part of a conspiracy to extort large sums of money.

The church issued conflicting statements in response to the coverage. A lawyer for the church said that controversial sexual activities had only occurred during the "Garbage and Goddess" period years earlier. Shortly after, an official church spokesman said that "tantra-style encounters" of the kind described in allegations were still occurring, but were mostly confined to an inner circle. This confirmed the stories by former members that such activities had continued up to the time of the lawsuits and interviews, but had been kept hidden. The church said that no illegal acts had taken place and that the movement had a right to continue experiments in lifestyles.

Two lawsuits were filed against Adi Da and the church in California in 1985. The O'Mahoney suit was dismissed the next year. The other lawsuit and several threatened suits in subsequent years were settled with payments and confidentiality agreements, negatively impacting member morale and bleeding the organization financially.

"Divine Emergence" and final years (1986–2006)

thumb|left|Adi Da at The Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary, 1986On January 11, 1986, distressed by what he felt was the futility of his work, Adi Da experienced a physical and psychological crisis. Doctors diagnosed exhaustion and stress, but he afterward described it as a death and resurrection. As in previous and subsequent similar episodes, Adi Da attributed special significance to it, calling it his "Divine Emergence". From this point on, he said that one needed only to meditate on his image or body in order to "participate in his enlightened state".

Adi Da had predicted that by the year 2000 he would be recognized by the entire world for his unique spiritual realization. When this failed to occur, he experienced another crisis and death-like episode. This was said to initiate another period, where Adi Da would shift from "active teaching" to silent “spiritual blessing" to counteract negative forces in the world. He nonetheless continued to write books, make art, and give talks to his followers, but with an increased emphasis on silent darshan.

In 2000, some followers of spiritual teacher Frederick Lenz joined Adidam, reportedly upsetting long-time followers who felt the new members were undeservedly privileged (Lenz, also known as "Zen Master Rama", had committed suicide in 1998). Adi Da claimed to have been Swami Vivekananda in a past life, and said that in a previous incarnation Lenz was then a disciple.

Adi Da later began exhibiting his digital art and photography. Followers reported that he died of cardiac arrest on November 27, 2008 at his home in Fiji, while working on his art.

Adi Da had four children: three biological daughters with three different women, and one adopted daughter. These include actress Shawnee Free Jones.

Philosophy

Fundamental to Adi Da's religious philosophy is the essentially "eastern" religious concept that the purpose of human life is spiritual enlightenment, an awakening to ultimate reality that is the natural state of all human beings (though seemingly obscured.)

"Self-contraction"

Adi Da said that what keeps human beings from experiencing this ultimate, enlightened reality is the activity of ego, which he stated is the source of all emotional, psychological, and spiritual dissatisfaction. He called this activity "self-contraction," and defined it as a psychological mechanism lying somewhere beneath the normal level of conscious awareness, leading people to believe they are limited, suffering individuals. He said that fundamentally, all efforts to unite with the divine from the point of view of a separate self were futile, since that separate self itself is illusory.

"Seventh stage realization"

Adi Da developed a map of potential human and spiritual evolution that he called "the seven stages of life".

First Stage—"individuation/physical development"

Second Stage—"socialization"

Third Stage—"integration/mental development"

Fourth Stage—"spiritualization/Divine Communion"

Fifth Stage—"spiritual ascent"

Sixth Stage—"abiding in consciousness"

Seventh Stage—"Divine Enlightenment: awakening from all egoic limitations"

The first six stages account for all permutations of religion and culture throughout history, as well as levels of personal development. Adi Da categorized the fourth, fifth, and sixth stages of life as the highest respective stages of human development. He characterized those who have reached these stages as "saints", "yogis", and "sages", including other religious figures such as Gautama Buddha and Jesus Christ.

Relative to this spectrum, Adi Da stated that while some "yogis, saints, and sages" had occasionally indicated some awareness of a "seventh stage", only he as a unique avatar had ever been born fully invested with the capability to fully embody it; furthermore, as the first "Seventh Stage Adept" only he would ever need to (or be capable of) doing so. He stated that the seventh stage has nothing to do with development and does not come after the sixth stage in a sequential manner. The culminating awareness of this seventh stage is a permanent, natural state of “open-eyed ecstasy", for which Adi Da employed the Sanskrit term ''Sahaja Nirvikalpa Samadhi''.

Adi Da insisted that since he solely embodied seventh stage realization, devotional worship of him would henceforth be the exclusive means for others to free themselves from "self-contraction", thereby allowing them to "participate in his enlightened state" (i.e. attain awareness themselves of the seventh stage, or "realize" it.)

Adidam

''Adidam'' refers to both the organization of Adi Da's devotees and the religion he taught. The organization, or church, founded initially in 1972, went by many earlier names, including the Dawn Horse Communion, the Free Communion Church, the Laughing Man Institute, the Crazy Wisdom Fellowship, the Way of Divine Ignorance, and the Johannine Daist Communion.

Adidam presupposes an eastern view of divinity and accepts the concepts of karma, reincarnation, chakras, etc. It also employs many Sanskrit terms and concepts. God, or the divine, is seen as a principle and energy, a consciousness that predates creation but is not a willful creator itself.

Though earlier manifestations were more eclectic and experimental, over time Adidam increasingly came to resemble the Hindu tradition of bhakti yoga. The practice of Adidam is now defined by its emphasis on a devotional relationship to Adi Da, whom followers see as an enlightened source of power serving as the sole gateway to the divine. Adi Da's followers often refer to him simply as "Beloved". Through devotion and service, it is believed that the follower’s consciousness is gradually transformed in the image of Adi Da’s. While devotion to Adi Da and the study of his teachings are the primary features of Adidam, other specified practices are also prescribed, including the study of other religious texts, physical exercises, regulation of sexuality, and a raw vegan diet.

Adi Da said that after his death there would not be any further teachings or "revelations", and that his message was complete. His artwork, writings, and the religious hermitages and sanctuaries "empowered" by his presence are to remain as expressions of his teaching and being. He was emphatic that no individual assert themselves as his representative or heir.

While the church is based on Naitauba Island, Fiji, there are five officially designated ashrams, or "sanctuaries", belonging to Adidam. Three are located in North America, with another in Hawaii. Followers of Adidam have been ambitious and prolific in their dissemination of Adi Da's books and teachings; however, the church is estimated to have remained more or less constant at approximately 1,000 members worldwide since 1974, with a high rate of turnover among membership.

Works

[[File:Orpheuseurydice.jpg|thumb|left|250 px|''Orpheus and Eurydice'' (diptych), 2008 ''Eurydice One: The Illusory Fall of the Bicycle into The Sub-Atomic Parallel Worlds of Primary Color and Point of View'' ''Part Three: The Abstract Narrative in Geome and Linnead (Second Stage) – L 4 (from Linnead One)'' 2007, 2009 – Lacquer on aluminum, 96 x 198 x 5 inches.]]

Books

Adi Da wrote prolifically about his spiritual philosophy, creating the Dawn Horse Press in 1973 to publish his books. It continues to print many Adi Da-authored titles. Best known among these is his autobiography, ''The Knee of Listening.'' First published in 1972, it has been reissued in a number of editions, undergoing extensive revisions and additions. The first edition was 271 pages long; the latest is 840.

Art

In the last decade of his life, Adi Da produced visual art. These works were primarily photographic and digitally produced. He labeled his style "Transcendental Realism." In 2007 Adi Da's works were included in an exhibition collateral to the Venice Biennale in Italy curated by Italian art historian Achille Bonito Oliva; the exhibit then moved to Florence. His work is represented by a commercial gallery in Culver City, California and has been shown by another in New York City.

''The Spectra Suites'', a book of Adi Da's art, has an introduction by American art historian and critic Donald Kuspit.

Reception

Critique

Ken Wilber

From 1980 to 1990, philosophical theorist and author Ken Wilber wrote a number of enthusiastic endorsements and forewords for Adi Da's books, including ''The Dawn Horse Testament'', ''The Divine Emergence of the World-Teacher'', and ''Scientific Proof of the Existence of God Will Soon Be Announced by the White House!'' Wilber also recommended Adi Da as a spiritual teacher to those interested in his own writings.

Later, Wilber alternated between praise and pointed criticism. In his last public statement concerning Adi Da he wrote: "I affirm all of the extremes of my statements about Da: he is one of the greatest spiritual Realizers of all time, in my opinion, and yet other aspects of his personality lag far behind those extraordinary heights. By all means look to him for utterly profound revelations, unequaled in many ways; yet step into his community at your own risk."

Others

In 1982, yoga and religion scholar Georg Feuerstein formally became a follower of Adi Da, and wrote a number of introductions to Adi Da books. He later renounced this affiliation, becoming publicly critical of Adi Da and the community surrounding him in Fiji. Feuerstein devoted a chapter to Adi Da in his 1991 book ''Holy Madness: Spirituality, Crazy-Wise Teachers, and Enlightenment''. In the introduction to the 2006 edition, Feuerstein describes having edited the sections devoted to Adi Da to reflect these changes in opinion.

Asian religions scholar Scott Lowe was an early follower of Adi Da and lived in the community in 1974. In an essay later analyzing what he had witnessed as well as Adi Da's subsequent career, he perceives a pattern of "abusive, manipulative, and self-centered" behavior, saying "does it necessarily follow that the individual who is 'liberated' is free to indulge in what appear to be egocentric, hurtful, and damaging actions in the name of spiritual freedom? I personally think not, while acknowledging the subtlety and complexity of the ongoing debate".

Lowe and others have also criticized Adi Da's claims toward the exclusivity of his realization. In part, critics point to his earlier message strongly rejecting the necessity for any religious authority or belief, due to "enlightenment" being every individual's natural condition.

Adi Da heavily edited subsequent editions of his books, for which they have been criticized as auto-hagiography and self-mythology.

University of Southern California religion professor Robert Ellwood wrote, "Accounts of life with [Adi Da] in his close-knit spiritual community [describe] extremes of asceticism and indulgence, of authoritarianism and antinomianism...Supporters of the alleged avatar rationalize such eccentricities as shock therapy for the sake of enlightenment."

Endorsements

In a foreword to the 2004 edition of Adi Da's autobiography ''The Knee Of Listening'', religious scholar Jeffrey Kripal described Adi Da's total corpus as being "the most doctrinally thorough, the most philosophically sophisticated, the most culturally challenging, and the most creatively original literature currently available in the English language."

Psychiatrist Gabriel Cousens wrote an endorsement for Adi Da's biography ''The Promised God-Man Is Here'', saying, "it has deepened my experience of Him as the Divine Gift established in the cosmic domain". He also mentions Adi Da in his books ''Spiritual Nutrition'' and ''Tachyon Energy''.

Writer Henry Leroy Finch said about Adi Da: "there exists nowhere in the world today, among Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, native tribalists, or any other groups, anyone who has so much to teach, or speaks with such authority, or is so important for understanding our situation".

Psychiatrist Elizabeth Kübler-Ross wrote an endorsement for Adi Da's book ''Easy Death'', referring to it as a "masterpiece".

Bibliography

The following is a list of books by Adi Da:

''The Knee Of Listening: The Divine Ordeal of The Avataric Incarnation of Conscious Light. Book Four of the Seventeen Companions of the True Dawn Horse.'' 1st ed. 1972 subtitled "The Early Life and Radical Spiritual Teachings of Franklin Jones", 2nd ed. 1973, 3rd ed. 1978, 4th ed. 1984, standard ed. 1992, new ed. 1995 subtitled "The Early-Life Ordeal and the Radical Spiritual Realization of the Divine World-Teacher, Adi Da (The Da Avatar)", standard ed. 2004: ISBN 1-57097-167-6

''The Method of the Siddhas: Talks with Franklin Jones on the Spiritual Technique of the Saviors of Mankind'', 1st ed. 1973, 2nd printing 1973, 3rd ed. 1978, 4th ed. 1987, new ed. 1992, new ed. 1995, new ed. 2004 as ''My Bright Word: Discourses from The Divine Siddha-Method Of The Ruchira Avatar'': ISBN 1-57097-015-7

''Garbage and the Goddess: The Last Miracles and Final Spiritual Instructions of Bubba Free John'', 1974: ISBN 0-913922-10-2

''Conscious Exercise and the Transcendental Sun'', 1st ed. 1974, 2nd ed. 1975, 3rd ed. 1977: ISBN 0-913922-30-7

''No Remedy: An Introduction to the Life and Practices of the Spiritual Community of Bubba Free John'', 1st ed. 1975, 2nd ed. 1976: ISBN 0-913922-20-X

''The Paradox of Instruction: An Introduction to the Esoteric Spiritual Teaching of Bubba Free John'', 1977: ISBN 0-913922-28-5

''Breath and Name: The Initiation And Foundation Practices Of Free Spiritual Life'', 1977: ISBN 0-913922-29-3

''The Way That I Teach: Talks on the Intuition of Eternal Life'', 1978: ISBN 0-913922-38-2

''The Enlightenment of the Whole Body: A Rational and New Prophetic Revelation of the Truth of Religion, Esoteric Spirituality, and the Divine Destiny of Man'', 1978: ISBN 0-913922-35-8

''Love of the Two-Armed Form: The Free and Regenerative Function of Sexuality in Ordinary Life and the Transcendence of Sexuality in True Religious or Spiritual Practice'', 1st ed. 1978, 2nd ed. 1985: ISBN 0-913922-37-4

''The Eating Gorilla Comes in Peace: The Transcendental Principle of Life Applied to Diet and the Regenerative Discipline of True Health'', 1st ed. 1979, 2nd ed. 1987: ISBN 0-913922-19-6

''The Four Fundamental Questions: Talks and Essays About Human Experience and the Actual Practice of an Enlightened Way of Life'', 1st ed. 1980, reprinted 1984: ISBN 0-913922-49-8

''Compulsory Dancing: Talks and Essays on the Spiritual and Evolutionary Necessity of Emotional Surrender to the Life-Principle'', 1st ed. 1980, reprinted 1983: ISBN 0-913922-50-1

''Bodily Worship of the Living God: The Esoteric Practice of Prayer Taught by Da Free John''', 1st ed. 1980, 2nd ed. 1983: ISBN 0-913922-52-8

''Scientific Proof of the Existence of God Will Soon Be Announced By The White House!: Prophetic Wisdom About the Myths and Idols of Mass Culture and Popular Religious Cultism, the New Priesthood of Scientific and Political Materialism, and the Secrets of Enlightenment Hidden in the Body of Man'', 1980: ISBN 0-913922-48-X

''The Bodily Sacrifice of Attention: Introductory Talks on Radical Understanding and the Life of Divine Ignorance'', 1981: ISBN 0-913922-59-5

''"I" Is the Body of Life: Talks and Essays on the Art and Science of Equanimity and the Self-Transcending Process of Radical Understanding'', 1981: ISBN 0-913922-60-9

''The Bodily Location of Happiness: On the Incarnation of the Divine Person and the Transmission of Love-Bliss'', 1982: ISBN 0-913922-61-7

''Raw Gorilla: The Principles of Regenerative Raw Diet Applied in True Spiritual Practice as lived by members of The Johannine Daist Communion under the guidance of the Divine Adept Da Free John'', 1982: ISBN 0-913922-62-5

''The Yoga of Consideration and The Way That I Teach'', 1982: ISBN 0-913922-63-3

''Nirvanasara: Radical Transcendentalism and the Introduction of Advaitayana Buddhism'', 1982: ISBN 0-913922-65-X

''I Am Happiness: A Rendering for Children of the Spiritual Adventure of Master Da Free John'', 1982: ISBN 0-913922-68-4

''Forehead, Breath, and Smile: An Anthology of Devotional Readings from the Spiritual Teaching of Master Da Free John'', 1982: ISBN 0-913922-70-6

''Crazy Da Must Sing, Inclined To His Weaker Side: Confessional Poems of Liberation and Love by the "Western" Adept, Da Free John'', 1982: ISBN 0-913922-71-4

''The Fire Gospel: Essays and Talks on Spiritual Baptism'', 1982: ISBN 0-913922-78-1

''The God In Every Body Book: Talks and Essays on God-Realization'', 1st ed. 1983, 2nd ed. 1983: ISBN 0-913922-78-1

''The Dreaded Gom-Boo (or The Imaginary Disease That Religion Seeks To Cure): A Collection of Essays and Talks on the "Direct" Process of Enlightenment'', 1st ed. 1983, 2nd ed. 1983: ISBN 0-913922-74-9

''Enlightenment and the Transformation of Man: Selections From Talks And Essays On The Spiritual Process And God-Realization'', 1983: ISBN 0-913922-83-8

''Look At The Sunlight On The Water: Educating Children for a Life of Self-Transcending Love and Happiness'', 1st ed. 1983, reprinted 1984, 2nd ed. 1987: ISBN 913922-84-6

''God Is Not A Gentleman and I Am That One: Ecstatic Talks on Conventional Foolishness versus the Crazy Wisdom of God-Realization'', 1983. ISBN 0-913922-85-4

''Do You Know What Anything Is?: Talks and Essays on Divine Ignorance'', 1984: ISBN 0-913922-87-0

''The Transmission of Doubt: Talks and Essays on the Transcendence of Scientific Materialism through Radical Understanding'', 1984, ISBN 0-913922-77-3

''The Illusion of Relatedness: Essays on True and Free Renunciation and the Radical Transcendence of Conditional Existence'', 1986: ISBN 0-918801-01-X

''The Holy Jumping-Off Place: An Introduction to the Way of the Heart'', 1986: ISBN 0-913922-94-3

''Vegetable Surrender (or Happiness Is Not Blue)'', 1987: ISBN 0-918801-02-8

''The Sky Goes On Forever: A Book about Death for Children'', 1989: ISBN 0-918801-13-3

''The Da Upanishad: The Short Discourses on Self-Renunciation, God-Realization, and the Illusion of Relatedness'', 1989: ISBN 0-918801-16-8

''The Lion Sutra: The "Perfect" Revelation-Book of the Divine World-Teacher and True Heart-Master, Da Avabhasa (The "Bright"). (On Perfect Transcendence Of The Primal Act, Which Is the ego-"I", the self-Contraction, or attention itself, and All The Illusions Of Separateness, Otherness, Relatedness, and Difference)'', previously published as ''The Love-Ananda Gita (The Free Song of Love-Bliss)'', 1st ed. 1986, new ed 1995: ISBN 1-57097-012-2

''The Ego-"I" Is The Illusion of Relatedness'', 1991: ISBN 0-918801-32-X

''Feeling Without Limitation: Awakening to the Truth Beyond Fear, Sorrow, and Anger'', 1991: ISBN 0-918801-28-1

''The Heart's Shout: The Liberating Wisdom of Da Avabhasa'', 1st ed. 1993, 2nd ed. 1996: ISBN 1-57097-109-X

''The Incarnation of Love: "Radical" Spiritual Wisdom and Practical Instruction on Self-Transcendending Love and Service in All Relationships by The Divine World-Teacher and True Heart-Master, Da Avabhasa (The "Bright")'', 1st ed. 1993, 2nd printing 1994, 3rd printing 1994: ISBN 0-918801-86-9

''Money: The Commitment of Life-Force in the Forms of Efforts and Love. Instructions on Financial Responsibility and the Sacred Use of Money in the Way of the Heart from The Divine World-Teacher and True Heart-Master, Da Avabhasa (The "Bright")'', 1993: ISBN 0-918801-88-5

''The Art and Yoga of Sexual Practice: Talks on the Regenerative Sexual Yoga for Beginners in the Way of the Heart'', 1994: ISBN 0-918801-97-4

''Ishta: The Way of Devotional Surrender to the Divine Person'', 1994: ISBN 0-918801-98-2

''Abide WIth Me In Faithful Love: The Heart-Word of Adi Da (The Da Avatar) on Sexual Practice and Renunciation in the Way of the Heart'', 1995: ISBN 1-57097-020-3

''The Order Of My Free Names: The Self-Revelation of the Incarnate Divine Person, Adi Da, and How to Call Him By Name'', 1996: ISBN 1-57097-024-6

''Drifted In The Deeper Land: Talks on Relinquishing the Superficiality of Mortal Existence and Falling by Grace in the Divine Depth That Is Reality Itself'', 1997: ISBN 1-57097-037-8

''The Mummery Book: A Parable Of The Divine True Love, Told By Means Of A Self-Illuminated Illustration Of The Totality Of Mind'', 2005: ISBN 1-57097-175-7

''Real God Is The Indivisible Oneness Of Unbroken Light: Reality, Truth and The "Non-Creator" God In The True World-Religion Of Adidam. Book One of The Seventeen Companions of The True Dawn Horse.'' 1999: ISBN 1-57097-055-6

''The Truly Human New World-Culture Of Unbroken Real-God-Man: The Eastern Versus The Western Traditional Cultures Of Mankind and The Unique New Non-Dual Culture Of The True World-Religion of Adidam. Book Two of the Seventeen Companions of the True Dawn Horse.'' 1999: ISBN 1-57097-056-4

''What, Where, When, How, Why, and Who To Remember To Be Happy Book: A Simple Explanation Of The Divine Way Of Adidam (For Children, and Everyone Else). Book Thirteen of the Seventeen Companions of the True Dawn Horse.'' 2000: ISBN 1-57097-074-2

''I Give You The Gift Of One Another: The Call to ego-Transcending Cooperation and the Creation of Authentic Intimate (Local) and Global Community'', 2000: ISBN 1-57097-083-1

''Death Is A Living Process: The Mate Moce Guide to Serving the Dying'', 2000: ISBN 1-57097-085-8

''The Seven Stages Of Life: Transcending The Six Stages Of egoic Life and Realizing The ego-Transcending Seventh Stage Of Life In The Divine Way Of Adidam. Book Ten of the Seventeen Companions of the True Dawn Horse.'' 2000: ISBN 1-57097-105-6

''The Bright Field: The Photographic Art of Adi Da Samraj'', 2001: ISBN 1-57097-130-7

''Aham Da Asmi (Beloved, I Am Da). Book One of The Five Books of The Heart of The Adidam Revelation.'' 1st ed. 1998, 2nd ed. 2000, 3rd ed. 2003: ISBN 1-57097-163-3

''Da Love-Ananda Gita (The Free Avataric Gift of the Divine Love-Bliss). Book Two of The Five Books of The Heart of The Adidam Revelation.'' 1st ed. ''The Love-Ananda Gita'' 1989, standard ed. ''The Love-Ananda Gita'' 1990, standard ed. ''The Santosha Avatara Gita'' 1995, standard ed. 1998, standard ed. 2000, standard ed. 2005: ISBN 1-57097-166-8

''Ruchira Avatara Gita (The Avataric Way of the Divine Heart-Master). Book Three of The Five Books of The Heart of The Adidam Revelation.'' 1st ed. ''The Hymn of the Master'' 1982, new ed. ''The Hymn Of The True Heart-Master'' 1992, standard ed. ''The Hymn Of The Tue Heart-Master'' 1995, standard ed. 1998, standard ed. 2000, standard ed. 2004: ISBN 1-57097-164-1

''Hridaya Rosary (Four Thorns Of Heart-Instruction). Book Four of The Five Books of The Heart of The Adidam Revelation.'' 1st ed. ''Four Thorns Of Heart-Instruction'' 1997, standard ed. 1998, standard ed. 2000, standard ed. 2005: ISBN 1-57097-204-4

''Eleutherios (The Only Truth That Sets The Heart Free). Book Five of The Five Books of The Heart of The Adidam Revelation.'' 1st ed. [''The Liberator (Eleutherios)''] 1982, new ed. [''The Liberator (Eleutherios)''], 1995, standard ed. 1998, standard ed. 2001, standard ed. 2006: ISBN 1-57097-187-0

''The Dawn Horse Testament Of The Ruchira Avatar: The Testament Of Divine Secrets Of The Divine World-Teacher, Ruchira Avatar, Adi Da Samraj'', 1st ed. 1985, 2nd ed. 1991, new ed. 2004: ISBN 1-57097-168-4

''Easy Death: Spiritual Wisdom on the Ultimate Transcending of Death and Everything Else'', 1st ed. 1983, 2nd ed. 1991, 3rd ed. 2005: ISBN 1-57097-202-8

''Religion and Reality: True Religion Is Not Belief in Any God-Idea but the Direct Experiential Realization of Reality Itself'', 2006: ISBN 1-57097-212-5

''The Ancient Reality-Teachings: The Single Transcendental Truth Taught by the Great Sages of Buddhism and Advaitism'', 2006: ISBN 1-57097-198-6

''The Liberator: The “Radical” Reality-Teachings of The Avataric Great Sage, Adi Da Samraj'', 2006: ISBN 1-57097-211-7

''The Perfect Tradition: The Wisdom-Way of the Ancient Sages and Its Fulfillment in the Way of “Perfect Knowledge”'', 2006: ISBN 1-57097-197-8

''The Way of Perfect Knowledge: The “Radical” Practice of Transcendental Spirituality in the Way of Adidam'', 2006: ISBN 1-57097-213-3

''The Yoga of Right Diet: An Intelligent Approach To Dietary Practice That Supports Communion with the Living Divine Reality'', 2006: ISBN 1-57097-193-5

''The Ancient Walk-About Way: The Core Esoteric Process of Real Spirituality and Its Perfect Fulfillment in the Way of Adidam'', 2007: ISBN 1-57097-221-4

''"Radical" Transcendentalism: The Non-"Religious", Post-"Scientific", and No-Seeking Reality-Way of Adidam'', 2007: ISBN 1-57097-226-5

''Perfect Philosophy: The "Radical" Way of No-Ideas'', 2007: ISBN 1-57097-231-1

''The Spectra Suites'', 2007: ISBN 1-5996-203-16

''The Complete Yoga of Human Emotional-Sexual Life: The Way Beyond Ego-based Sexuality'', 2007: ISBN 978-1-57097-235-5

''The Self-Authenticating Truth: Essays from The Aletheon'', 2007: ISBN 1-57097-245-1

''Surrender Self By Sighting Me: Essays from The Aletheon on Right and True Devotion'', 2007: ISBN 978-1-57097-237-9

''The Orders Of My True And Free Renunciate Devotees'', 2007: ISBN 978-1-57097-244-7

''Reality Itself Is The Way: Essays from The Aletheon'', 2007: ISBN 1-57097-238-9

''Aesthetic Ecstasy'', 2008: ISBN 1-57097-236-2

''My Final Work of Divine Indifference'', 2008: ISBN 1-57097-234-6

''The Seventh Way: New Essays from The Aletheon'', 2008: ISBN 1-57097-242-7

''Perfect Abstraction: New Essays written for Transcendental Realism'', 2008: ISBN 1-57097-25-08

''The Teaching Manual of Perfect Summaries'', 2008: ISBN 1-57097-254-0

''Green Gorilla: The Searchless Raw Diet'', 2008: ISBN 1-57097-256-7

''Atma Nadi Shakti Yoga: The Intrinsically egoless Transcendental Spiritual Reality-Way of Adidam Ruchiradam'', 2008: ISBN 978-1-57097-255-3

''Not-Two Is Peace: The Ordinary People's Way of Global Cooperative Order'', 1st ed. 2007, 2nd ed. 2007, 3rd ed. 2009: ISBN 1-57097-225-7

''The Boundless Self-Confession: Essays from The Aletheon'', 2009: ISBN 978-1-57097-260-7

''The Aletheon: The Divine Avataric Self-Revelation of His Divine Presence, Avatar Adi Da Samraj'', 2009: ISBN 978-1-57097-274-4

''The Gnosticon: The “Perfect Knowledge” Reality-Teachings of His Divine Presence, Avatar Adi Da Samraj'', 2010: ISBN 1-57097-281-8

''The Reality-Way of Adidam: The Divine Process That Outshines All Seeking in the Perfect Freedom of Reality Itself'', 2010: ISBN 1-57097-282-6

''Transcendental Realism: The Image-Art of egoless Coincidence With Reality Itself'', 1st ed. 2007, 2nd ed. 2010: ISBN 1-57097-285-0

''The Eternal One: The Divine Mahasamadhi of the Divinely Translated Master, Parama-Sapta-Na Adi Da'', 2010: ISBN 1-57097-278-8

''Recognition of Me Is Liberation: The Radical Conversion To Intrinsic egolessness In The Divine Reality-Way of Adidam'', 2010: ISBN 1-57097-286-7

''The Pneumaton: The Transcendental Spiritual Reality-Teachings of His Divine Presence, Avatar Adi Da Samraj'', 2011: ISBN 1-57097-288-5

''Right Life Is Free Participation In Unlimited Radiance", 2011: ISBN 1-57097-299-7

See also

Advaita Vedanta

Nondualism

Avatar

Notes

References

Chryssides, George. (2001). ''The A to Z of New Religious Movements''. The Rowman Litterfield Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8108-5588-5

Cousens, Gabriel. (2005). ''Spiritual Nutrition: Six Foundations for Spiritual Life and the Awakening of Kundalini''. North Atlantic Books. ISBN 978-1-55643-499-0

Crowley, Paul. (2005). Rahner beyond Rahner: A Great Theologian Encounters the Pacific Rim. Rowman & Litterfield. ISBN Number 074254964X

Daniels, Burton. (2002). ''The Integration of Psyche and Spirit Volume I: The Structural Model''. iUniverse. ISBN 0-595-24181-6

Ellwood, Robert. (1997)"Nova Religio" book review of "DA: The Strange Case of Franklin Jones", October 1997, Vol. 1, No. 1, Pages 153–153.

Feuerstein, Georg. (1992). ''Holy Madness: Spirituality, Crazy-Wise Teachers, And Enlightenment'', Penguin. ISBN 0-14-019370-7

Feuerstein, Georg. (2006). ''Holy Madness: Spirituality, Crazy-Wise Teachers, And Enlightenment'', Rev Exp edition, Hohm Press. ISBN 1-890772-54-2

Forsthoefel/Humes. (2005). ''Gurus in America (SUNY Series in Hindu Studies)'', State University of New York Press. ISBN-07914-6578-4.

Gallagher, Eugene, Ashcraft, Michael. (2006). ''Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America [Five Volumes]''. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-275-98712-4

Gordon, Melton, Gale J. (1999). ''Religious Leaders of America: A Biographical Guide to Founders and Leaders''. 2nd Revised edition. Gale Research Company. ISBN 0-8103-8878-2.

Melton, Gordon, Baumann, Martin. (2002). ''Religions of The World-A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, Volume 1''. ABC-CLIO Ltd. ISBN 1-57607-223-1

Jones, Franklin. (1972). ''The Knee Of Listening''. CSA Press. ISBN 978-0-87707-093-1

Kripal, Jeffrey J. (2004). ''Foreword to 'The Knee Of Listening''', Dawn Horse Press. ISBN 1-57097-167-6

Lewis, James R. (2001). ''Odd Gods: New Religions and the Cult Controversy Book'', Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-842-9

Lowe, Scott and Lane, David. (1996) "DA: The Strange Case of Franklin Jones". Mt. San Antonio College Philosophy Group.

Rawlinson,Andrew. ''Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers in Eastern Traditions'' .Open Court,(1997),ISBN 0-8126-9310-8

York, Michael. (2004). ''Historical Dictionary of New Age Movements''. The Rowman Litterfield Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8108-4873-3

External links

Adidam.org: Official Adidam website

Category:1939 births Category:2008 deaths Category:American spiritual teachers Category:New religious movements Category:American spiritual writers Category:Spiritual teachers Category:Former Scientologists Category:Founders of religions

fr:Franklin Albert Jones nl:Adi Da Samraj pt:Adi Da