The "I-gotta-getties" and the "I-need-it-nowies" An Instructional Story Rendered for Children:
The following is a conversation between Avatar Adi Da Samraj and His older daughters, when they were seven and eight years old. His talk with them was transcribed and passed on to other children in Adidam, and it has become a helpful and enduring favorite story.
In this conversation, Avatar Adi Da shows children that they can "Locate" the Feeling of the Mystery Prior to their bodily desires and the content of their experience.
Avatar Adi Da asked one of His daughters, "What is it that you really like?"
She thought for a moment and then answered, "Pandas!"
Avatar Adi Da said, "What if you had an infinite number of pandas, as many as you wanted — would that make you Happy?"
"Yes!" said His daughter, smiling a big smile.
"But what if you could only have pandas," said Avatar Adi Da. "Nothing else! No people, no toys, no books, nothing else around you except pandas."
She began shaking her head and firmly changed her answer to "No."
Avatar Adi Da then asked, "Well, what would it be that you could have — and have nothing else at all forever but only that one thing — that would make you Happy?"
The girl looked at Avatar Adi Da quietly for a time and then she said, "You."
"You mean me — this body here?" asked Avatar Adi Da.
"No," she said, "my True Heart-Master."
"Who is that?" Avatar Adi Da Asked. "Do you mean Happiness?"
"Yes," replied the girl.
"Well," said Avatar Adi Da, "how do you get That?"
She became confused. "I don't know," she said.
Avatar Adi Da raised His eyebrows. "You don't know?" He demanded. "I thought you were supposed to be a practitioner!"
"I am a practitioner," said the girl.
"Where is the Happiness then?" asked Avatar Adi Da.
She touched her heart and said, "Right here!"
"That's right," said Avatar Adi Da. "And when you feel that Happiness, you forget about everything else."
He opened His arms to the room. "You forget about all of this."
He slapped His knee. "You even forget about the body. That's the Big Place — the Happiness Place. And it's very Big! You don't need anything else when you are There. You don't need toys, or books, or TV, or sweets. You don't even need a panda!"
Avatar Adi Da looked at His children. "Or a polar bear! Or a Woody Woodpecker! Or an E.T.!" He said, listing their favorite stuffed toys.
He smiled at His daughters. "There are no pandas in the Happiness Place."
Avatar Adi Da continued, "A lot of grown-ups are in trouble because they are un-Happy and 'thinking' that they need things to make them Happy. They have the 'I-gotta-getties' and the 'I-need-it-nowies'. But these people are only thinking they are un-Happy.
"So, what you must do is realize that you are only thinking you are un-Happy. And, instead of doing that, just remember that, before you started thinking you are un-Happy, you are already Happy. Already!" said Avatar Adi Da loudly.
Then He looked at His daughters. "You can feel that right now, can't you? That you are already Happy?"
"Yes!" they said.
"Well, then," said Avatar Adi Da with a smile, "that is the practice!"
The First Three Stages of Life Serving the Right, True, and Free Development of Children and Young People and Completing the Human Work of Individuation, Socialization, and Integration of Adults
If you are involved with children, you will undoubtedly find directly usable Wisdom in every section of this book.
You may also observe that the passages concentrating on the practical issues of conscious childrearing are addressed to you, the responsible adult. Other passages, interspersed throughout, are addressed directly to children themselves.
Through this book, children (and people of all ages) can learn:
A healthy sense of autonomy and physical mastery
Sensitivity to the energies of nature, self, and others
Discriminative intelligence and a will to go beyond limitations
To feel the Great Mystery of existence through meditation and devotional practice
Intimacy as the healing principle
To go beyond "Oedipal" sufferings, or unconscious emotional patterning in response to their parents and others
To live as "I love you" and become sensitive to the dramatization of "you do not love me"
To purchase offline, call: 877-770-0772 within the US or 707-928-6590 internationally
New! THE FIRST THREE STAGES OF LIFE Course Learn to Build the Foundation of "Full Human Maturity"
Six 90 minute engaging and interactive sessions online Taught by two experts in Avatar Adi Da's model of the first three stages of life — Richard Silk M.Ed and Debra Helleren BS.Ed.
Time: Thursday from 6 pm to 7.30 pm PST Dates: January 19th, 26th, February 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd. Cost: $125 (The book is a separate purchase)
To register or ask questions email: vmi@adidam.org If you are interested in this course at another time, please email vmi@adidam.org — Richard or Debra will be happy to keep you informed of other opportunities to join.
The First Three Stages of Life