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hovila
Thanks for this.
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Mac Nicolson
Fascinating that even liars can leave words of truth in their wake.
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Anthony Crook
Feels like alot of lies on the part of the contributors of this story. How do we know anyone in this article is telling the truth? Or that the second hand statements are True? Not written well either, I sense lies. But..Who knows. I have come to experience directly that this realm is a ‘dream’ so. I guess nothing really surprises me anymore. I Prayed for explanation of what was happening in my experience, and Robert appeared. I’ve been listening to his satsangs for 3 years now, and what he speaks about has proven true in my own direct experience. He has been a trustworthy guide of sorts for ‘me’. All that’s been said in this article just doesn’t feel completely true. And I’m not really sure if any of it matters..Peace
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Anthony, how do you explain away the emails from Katya Osborne saying that Robert Adams was never at her house when he repeatedly said he was?
As you said, some of my account was second hand, some of it memories that, however sincere, may have been unreliable. I would absolutely love for someone to come here and write their own first hand verification of any of Robert’s stories.
Not a single person has ever come forward and verified they saw Robert in India. Researchers at Ramana Ashram have looked through every photo taken in the 1940’s and found nothing of Robert Adams.
What are we to think in the face of numerous lies by him and not the slightest evidence he was with any of the teachers he claimed to be? I too, could not believe he would lie about Ramana. Who does that? But then, when I discovered he was telling people he was with Nisargadatta Maharaj for 6 months in Bombay, when he’d never heard of him when I knew him, what was I to think?
Petrosz Amadeus Xrzistosz
No idea who Steven Strouth is, but he overextends himself by attempting to critique the idea of self-inquiry and contrasting it (and practice generally) with something he calls “investigation.” No where in Advaita, or in the teachings of Ramana or others, have I encountered this distinction and I have not found it useful in my own teaching efforts. Nor have I encountered the critique that the specific instructions on inquiry can lead to ego-inflation.
Strouth ignores that even inquiry is not the final or ultimate teaching of advaita and Robert Adams made this clear in his satsangs, that ultimately even inquiry and the “I” do not exist. He also teaches (as most teachers do) that different practices or methods may be given to different students depending on their own level of attainment. There is no way his practice instructions can be taken as leading to ego-inflation.
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Hi Anthony I feel the same way you do. I’ve been listening to Robert for years too and his teachings have done so much good in my life. I feel deep in my heart that Robert is the real deal. I trust Robert more than my own mind. Yes, I literally trust him than my own mind. And perhaps other people had a similar experience, but it frightened the hell out of them. And perhaps their own minds felt the need to destroy Robert and his teachings by making up a lot of lies, which I feel this article is.
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Warwick Wakefield
So many people say that Adams has “helped” them, and they trust Adams more than they trust themselves.
This is the situation that Tanya Tucker sings about in her song, “Delta Dawn.”
“Delta Dawn, Delta Dawn, what’s that flower you have on,
Can it be a faded rose from days gone by?
And did I hear you say,
he was meetin’ you here today,
to take you to his mansion in the sky?”
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John Lamenzo
I met Robert in Sedona in 1993. He was severely debilitated by the Parkinsons. It was a brief darshan, and my experience was normal. He had difficulty speaking. I assumed that what he said was true, but to me not earth shattering. What caught my eye about this story here, are the references to Rudi and Franklin Jones. Rudi indeed had an oriental antique shop in lower Manhattan. I met Muktananda, Rudi, and Jones in the Fall of 1970 in Woodstock, NY at a small Lutheran church where Baba gave one of his first darshans in the US. At the break, I was just standing around minding my own business, when a little Indian man, the translator, came up to me and spoke in very polite English: ‘Sir, namaste, Sri Baba would like to speak with you’. Me: ‘I am honored’. ..to be continued, sometime…
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John Lamenzo,
Yes, Robert talked a lot about Rudi [Swami Rudrananda]. I think there is very little chance that Robert co-owned the antique store with him in NYC but if someone has different information, please post it here.
Robert had read a lot of Adi Da’s books and information about the shop was described there.
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Anonymous
Blake Warner and David Warner…a confusing paragraph.
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Anonymous,
Yes, that paragraph would not make a lot of sense to most people. Dr. Blake Warner is the person behind all the take-down notices regarding Robert Adams transcripts on the internet. Longtime Robert Adams students have wondered who he is and there is even a petition on the internet to find out who he is. He’s Robert Adam’s daughter Melanie’s husband.
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Petrosz Amadeus Xrzistosz
I might also note that Strouth’s only other apparent accomplishment is a self-published e-book critical of the Radhasoami (Sant Mat) path, which can be found on Amazon.
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Interesting little tidbit I just found out today. Robert widely told everyone he went to Joel Goldsmith lectures in Manhattan, New York and it was Joel who told him to visit Yogananda who then told him to visit Ramana Ashram.
One problem… According to the Joel Goldsmith Institute, Joel gave his first lecture in New York in 1953, three years after Ramana had passed.
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Anonymous
Joel Goldsmith gave lessons earlier than this (https://wikipedia.org/en/The_Infinite_Way). He was surely active prior to that as well.
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Red1963
Interesting….
Unfortunately what you say about Robert Adams has the ring of truth….
However i agree with Petrosz Amadeus Xrzistosz….
You have a very limited understanding of Self Inquiry……at least as expressed in this article…..
Which gives me pause to question your motives/agenda…..
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Red1963,
It’s not really helpful to say someone is wrong without explaining in what way and why.
To label others as wrong and denigrate their motives is not really a discussion it’s propaganda.
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Jonathan
Thank you so much this. I am grateful. Both for the interview and for the careful presentation of Katya’s response. I enjoyed Robert Adams’ book of satsangs very much at first. Then, one day, I remember reading something like “Ramana said he agreed with me 100%” and I thought, “That does not ring true in the least!” I went to the Robert Adams FB group and asked, as politely as I could, if there was any actual evidence that Adams had been in the ashram. Just asking the question — was like setting off a bomb! I was living in Tiruvannamalai at the time. I remember I sheepishly told a friend at Ramanasramam what I’d done and she began to laugh merrily and hooted, “Oh! You must never ask them that! That’s the question you must never ask!” I’m grateful that you have created a resource for people asking the same basic questions. Because it DOES matter. No one should be allowed to appropriate the lives of the great — or else I’m Indira Gandhi’s hairstylist! Thank you again. This is wise and brave and necessary.
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Red1963
Maybe it is not your motive or agenda that i am questioning…..
But i am puzzled….particularly by your criticism of Self Inquiry…..
There are many authentic ‘Spiritual Guides’ who successfully use Inquiry as a way of enabling their ‘students’ to realise: that they are not simply their bodies, their thoughts, their ego, their ‘I’ thought…that they are in fact the Being-Consciousness in which all things arise……
Authentic ‘Spiritual Guides’ such as Adyashanti or Scott Kiloby……
Or Pamela Wilson or Stuart Schwartz…..two wonderful teachers…..both of whom spent time hanging out with Robert…..
Hmm…..
Self Inquiry is particularly suited to our sceptical agnostic times…..
It even comes strongly recommended by one of America’s leading public intellectuals and all round committed atheist Sam Harris….
Of course there are dangers…people can start identifying as the one who knows he/she is Being-Consciousness-Bliss…..as the one who is enlightened….
But their are dangers in every path……
And if we allow ourselves to be governed by every possible pitfall….we will never do anything….
I suppose what i am saying here is that i would have found your criticisms of Robert even more convincing if you had shown a genuine appreciation for the living tradition of Self Inquiry…..
The living tradition of Self Inquiry of which he, Robert, was/is a part…..
Hmm…….
Speaking of was/is…..
He died over 20 years ago now…
So all of these reflections on his authenticity are kind of academic now….
Dead gurus don’t kick ass…..as Adi Da is alleged to have said…..
Hmm…
I was actually at his memorial service in Sedona….and well remember the son in law you speak of….singing a song about Robert going back to Jesus….
Much to the bemusement of the gathered ‘Advaita Hippies’…..
Me i liked it…i have always liked songs of devotion to the great master Jesus…
Hmm…..
Not really sure what to say….
As mentioned in my earlier post…i find your questioning and challenging of Robert’s spiritual biography entirely plausible…
So maybe i will end with a few questions and challenges of my own….
Is it possible that Robert could have been both liberated and a complete rogue….?
How do you explain the fact that genuine teachers such as the ones mentioned above were so profoundly positively affected by Robert?
How do you explain the very mysterious circumstances in which Ganesan, Ramana Maharshi’s great nephew, came to know about Robert?
How do you explain the fact that Rupert Spira another very fine teacher was prompted by a powerful dream of Robert to travel to Sedona to meet him?
How do you explain the fact that Papaji a very hard to please advaita teacher, read out transcripts of Robert’s talks at his Satsangs…?
Robert may not have walked the talk…but he certainly seems to have talked the talk…..
Of course if you believe that all the modern teachers of atma vichara are to quote you:
On a self-reflexive loop of the ego.
Just spending time focusing on themselves.
Glorifying the self-reflexive loop to the point they convince themselves they are Divine.
Narcissists who are extremely self-obsessed
Then you probably wont consider the questions i have asked.
But if you are willing to put aside your beliefs….a central tenet of genuine Self Inquiry….i wonder what answers might bubble up from within….
Hmm….
For myself, although it saddens me that Robert seems not to have been an embodiment of the living truth, I am taking seriously what you have said and am letting it in….
Much Love,
X
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Gretel
Very interesting that he will not speak 30 years ago when he knew that Robert Adams was a fraud. And now it is very timely to bring to light the truth … because he did not speak before to help humanity of a narcissist ???
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Gretal,
Good question. I did talk about this but no one was listening. Before Katya Osborne’s emails no one would believe a nobody over a great highly recognized sage. Her emails kind of changed the dynamics of the discussion.
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Warwick Wakefield
Robert Adams told people, tells people, what they want to hear.
He was undoubtedly a fraud, a liar, and a confidence man who defrauded his disciples to the tune of thousands and thousands of dollars.
The “spiritual” realm is full of phonies, people like Rajneesh, who later adopted the alias of Osho.
These people have a type of eloquence, a type of poetic speech, but they are rotten through and through.
Though Osho enacted his lunacy on the public stage, there are still today more than a hundred thousand Oshites around the world.
Adams had a similar ability to make things up as he went along, and now the gullible are flocking to him in their thousands, poor sods.
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Red1963,
Thanks for writing that. Very good points and questions. Hopefully when I get time I can go into this more deeply.
I am not criticizing self-inquiry. I am criticizing all “practices” and all second hand teachings.
To question and discover one’s own true nature is the most important thing in the world.
Do you do this by listening to what someone else discovered?
What they said about it?
Holding onto the “I” feeling as a practice is not an attempt to discover anything. It just makes you good at holding onto the “I” feeling.
What is that still place in which all feelings including the “I” feeling comes and goes?
My opinion is, don’t look for anyone else’s answers.
As I see it, spiritual guides, including all the ones you mentioned, form a last containment fence in which someone thinks they have the answers, the truth, but all they have is someone else’s answers.
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Hi Red1963,
Is it possible that Robert could have been both liberated and a complete rogue….?
Yes, it is possible he was. It is also possible he wasn’t. It is said a realized person always tells the truth. Why? Because they don’t care how they appear to others. They have no agenda.
How do you explain the fact that genuine teachers such as the ones mentioned above were so profoundly positively affected by Robert?
Many people were positively affected by Adi Da Free John, J. Krishnamurti, Chogyam Trungpa, Andrew Cohen, and many others all of whom had scandals. I’ve been positively affected by my next door neighbor too.
How do you explain the very mysterious circumstances in which Ganesan, Ramana Maharshi’s great nephew, came to know about Robert?
I don’t know anything about that. That was way after my time of knowing Robert. Feel free to link to it or tell me about it.
How do you explain the fact that Rupert Spira another very fine teacher was prompted by a powerful dream of Robert to travel to Sedona to meet him?
I’ve heard this regarding other people too. It seems to me all external searching for external answers has to come to an end. Maybe this was part of his process.
How do you explain the fact that Papaji a very hard to please advaita teacher, read out transcripts of Robert’s talks at his Satsangs…?
I don’t know much about Papaji. It seems there were a lot of conflicting messages about him. I’ve heard that he told everyone they are enlightened just as they are. That could be a message that could be misconstrued, no?
[Added question]. Why is reading Robert’s teachings any worse than watching a football game?
I suppose it’s not, — other than it gives people the illusion they are doing spiritual work when actually all they are doing is acquiring second hand information about someone else’s views. I say, put the books away. Put the quotes away. It may be time to metaphorically burn down the house.
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I attended Henry’s gatherings in Hollywood often to sit in Robert’s Satsang. I enjoyed the gatherings very much. It was a very peaceful atmosphere. I would just sit and meditate while Robert spoke and then commingled afterwards. I do remember that night when the woman confronted him publicly about trying to kill her. He said something to the affect: “Who is there to kiss whom?” The old advaita shuffle that I have noticed in myself and others who follow the non-dual path. Henry became livid and kicked him right out. I am very sad to hear that the woman committed suicide.
For me it was another cautionary tale of the dangers of being a guru. One can rise high in consciousness, and offer a lot to others, but the snakes/vasanas are still there, and unless you are honest, and face them, and not get hung up with the definition that you are enlightened, when you fall, you can get back up. But if you deny that you even fell, that you did whatever for the benefit of others (like so many gurus do with their pants down) then you will wallow in a pit of deception.
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