Scott Lowe's Essay, Discuss The Disparate Views Of Adidam

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to portray the new religious movement Adidam from the disparate perspectives of devotees and Adidam’s most zealous critics. From these accounts, I will attempt to offer a comprehensive and balanced representation by weighing each side against the other in order to establish a fair and accurate description. I will also attempt to describe each side’s perspective objectively, drawing from various sources. Adidam centres on the words and perceived wisdom of Frank Jones, who goes by many monikers such as Adi Da Samraj, Bubba Free John and Da Free John. The movement is perceived by both outsiders and insiders as an unconventional one. As can be expected, practices atypical from the larger society attract dispute and disparagement, so the movement has attracted a slew of controversy surrounding the
The fact that Lowe is a religious scholar in Asian studies and that he personally experienced Adidam as an insider makes a compelling case against Adidam. He attests to the brilliance and originality of Adi Da, but expresses his beliefs that Adi Da did probably engage in the abuse that he was accused of. However, what is important to note is that Lowe’s essay is not, and was not intended to be a scholarly source, despite his academic background, and there were never any encounters from which he personally witnessed himself that could incriminate Adi Da. The beliefs he expressed were merely speculation and came from secondary sources. In addition, the justification Adidam makes regarding the interpretation of practices still stands. The boundary for determining abuse, immorality and altogether questionable behaviour is an ambiguous one. It is difficult to remove one’s self from the standards our culture holds in order to ascertain a conclusion of whether or not Adi Da is the exploitative and cruel person he is accused of