At the feet of the Spiritual Master: Stories from my life with Avatar Adi Da Samraj

I’m going to give this book four stars even though I’ve only just started reading it, because I’m already learning a lot about the devotee and Spiritual Master relationship in just a few short chapters. I’ll continue to update my review as I get further along.So far, I’m enjoying the book. As an American raised catholic, I do not have an understanding of the student and Teacher relationship or the devotee and Spiritual Master relationship, but I am curious. So far, I’ve read to page 61. The author, Gerald Sheinfeld, writes in a way that invited me in to his story right away and has kept me reading. I also like the photographs which are generously sprinkled throughout the book. The chapters are short and succinct, which is helpful if you only have a few minutes at a time to read.I recommend this book to anyone else who is curious about the devotee and Spiritual Master relationship, because Gerald Sheinfeld seems to write from a very private and intimate perspective. Having said that, I would personally like to read some of Adi Da’s own words in connection to the events described by the author and I would appreciate even more vivid details, which I believe would make this work even more significant.I’ll write more as I continue to read more of this awesome book.

This book is amazing...Full of wonderful stories that will make you Laugh out loud and blow you away. A wonderful close up look at relationship with the Divine Heart Master. Gerald brings the stories to life from his heart to yours and leaves you hungry for more. So you may want to read it again like I did. LOL. all I can say is I truly love this book and I recommend it to everyone.

As a devotee of Adi Da myself for many years I was already familiar with many of these stories but not all of them by any means. They are each touching, revealing and instructive in their own way, often bringing me to tears. I'm so grateful to Gerald for sharing them and will be recommending this book to anyone interested in learning about true spiritual life and the One Who is clearly the Avatar for our times and all time as I see it.

Gerald shares stories about the Life and Teaching of his Spiritual Master, Adi Da Samraj from the unique perspective of someone who was associated with his teacher from 1972 to 2008, the full span of the years that Adi Da taught. From the humble beginnings of a handful of ordinary men and women who gathered in the back room of a simple shop on a noisy thoroughfare in Hollywood to a remote private island in Fiji, Gerald witnessed the remarkable evolution of Adi Da's teaching work and the growing community of spiritual practitioners around him.Gerald notes the changes in the gurus' names, from Franklin Jones through Bubba Free John, Da Free John, Da Love-Ananda, Da Avabhasa to Avatar Adi Da Samraj as he catalogs the range of incidents he witnessed first hand. Among the most compelling are those that took place in the summer of 1973 when Gerald accompanied his teacher on a pilgrimage to the holy sites of India. The never-ending challenges Gerald faced in helping facilitate this important pilgrimage are a lesson in spiritual submission to the divine work that unfolded on that trip.Throughout the book, Gerald's love for his guru and humble acceptance of the many aspects of the changing relationship he enjoyed over those 35 years are a treat to read. The play with the master continues for all devotees, as Gerald ably documents in the final sections of the book.This is a very special and important testament to the life of a rare being. It joins the growing pantheon of literature by people who enjoyed first-hand experience of Adi Da Samraj during his lifetime, including  Love's Sacrifice and the Ordeal to Become Human: 30 Years with my Spiritual Master, Adi Da  by Dennis Leroy Stillwell;  Beyond the Illusion: A Spiritual Autobiography  by Antonia Vidor; and  Tasting the Moon: Adventures in the Meaning of Life  by Meg Fortune McDonnell.

This is a story of the Heart. One that is offered in a simple, real, and easily readable style. Each individual story within the book draws the reader easily in, and the quality of 'Heart FEELING' is conveyed again and again. Have found that reading Gerald's first-hand, and exceptionally detailed accounting of living with and serving his spiritual teacher, Avatar Adi Da Samraj, that the mind goes away ~ and this beautiful connection to Adi Da (which Gerald describes in poignant detail) settles magnetically into the fabric of ones own being. It is easy to feel that this endeavor is a 'labor of LOVE'. There is immense warmth, great daring, and a delightfully - free expression and accounting of the personal relationship Gerald Sheinfeld shared /shares with Heart Master Adi Da as it has unfolded over the course of his life from his early 20's to his now late 60's. Reflected to the reader is a depth of connection, relationship, understanding, opening, self reflection and perfect intimacy.Within the details of this book is a profound expression of devotion,the Gift of LIGHT Reflecting-Truth, and Divine Radiance Revealed as the immersion of The Divine into the earth world is mysteriously communicated and we are drawn beyond every day concern into the humorous, penetrating, precisely 'personal' and free expression of One WHO stops the mind and reveals the purity of Revelation. Ecstatic. Personal. Alive. Happy.A book to be read-many times over. Thank you for your story and taking us all on this journey with you. BEAUTIFUL!!

I enjoyed reading about Gerald’s experience with Adi Da Samaraj. It was a heart felt an authentic account of this mans spiritual journey in the company of a greatly realized being. Gerald’s stories have a quality about them that lets you really feel what it was like to be in the company of Adi Da, and the the profound and magical lessons and blessing he received.

An excellent read that gives a deep insight into what it is really like to be "cooked" by a spiritual master.