Rolf C. Carriere:
Gerald Sheinfeld has written an up-close account of his lifelong devotion and service to his Guru, Adi Da Samraj. In brief vignettes, this Leela book chronicles Gerald’s 45-year struggle for increasingly profound self-understanding aimed at ego-transcendence.
The Leelas make abundantly clear that living in the ever-blessing presence of the Guru is an utterly demanding practice, keeping devotees on their toes all the time, out of their comfort zone, without a let-up, moment to moment, day after day.
The reader becomes a witness to the intimate play in which the Guru, with no holds barred, creates an endless variety of teachable moments, often out of seemingly innocuous events and circumstances, and thereby confronting devotees with their interminable acts of self-contraction. The Guru mirrors devotees back to themselves, all for the sole purpose, and ultimate reward, of Enlightenment. . . .
—Rolf C. Carriere
Senior UN official 1971–2004,
senior advisor to several INGOs 2005–present
[READ FULL ENDORSEMENT IN BOOK]
Susana Weingarten Evert:
I
am grateful and delighted to have read the “Leela” manuscript
of Gerald Sheinfeld. It is a well-rounded selection of stories that
describe how Master Adi Da taught His devotees with humor,
compassion, and love. It is a clear and emotional testimonial of
Adi Da’s Teachings for all humankind that brought tears to my
eyes continuously. Adi Da’s Teaching transmits the Truth simply.
Thank you, Gerald. You have created a testimonial that the world
urgently needs.
—Susana Weingarten Evert
Professional dancer, Ballet Independiente de Mexico and DANCEVERT;
choreographer, educator, and massage therapist
Kathy M. Skerritt:
Living in times when tribalism is the dominant global paradigm
(by which I mean the separation of individuals into opposi-
tional factions based on ego-driven and presumed-to-be irreconcil-
able differences), it is emotionally potent and spiritually promising
to read of one man’s radically unconventional encounters with a
teacher unlike any heretofore appearing in the sacred traditions.
Gerald gives us entrée into how, over decades of practice as Adi
Da’s devotee, he came to understand what it means to surrender
the egoic self and be drawn into the state of non-opposition and
non-difference made possible by Adi Da’s own spiritual realization.
At the Feet of the Spiritual Master is a must-read for any who are
fatigued by the politics of “divide and conquer” and who know
that there is Something Else to be understood.
—Kathy M. Skerritt
Co-Founder, The Anthroposphere Institute;
first generation framer, The Great Lakes Commons Social Charter
Andrew Harvey:
“I offer you a relationship not a technique”: These words by Adi Da Samraj open the engaging and revealing stories of Gerald Sheinfeld’s 45 years with his Spiritual Master. Gerald’s stories give a unique insight into the Guru/devotee relationship, beginning with his confession that feeling Adi Da’s Enlightened State answered his search for God and truth. Then over time Adi Da served that heart-awakened response by revealing more and more of His Awakened Condition, spontaneously generating a deeper devotional response. These stories show how spiritual growth happens as a free gift by the Enlightened Master.
A book worth studying, filled with the awakened recognition of Divine Reality and profound lessons in ego transcending self-understanding.
—Andrew Harvey
Author, Evolutionary Love Relationships, Teachings of Rumi,
and
The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism
Charmian Anderson, PhD:
A brilliant U.S. scholar once stated, “Adi Da Samraj is the greatest Spiritual Master in all of history.” Gerald Sheinfeld is
uniquely blessed to have spent decades in intimate proximity to the
God man Adi Da Samraj. Gerald describes some of what it was like
to live in the midst of such an incomparable, magnificent, human-
ity-serving, radiant Force. I felt the presence of God throughout the
pages of his book, which is a rare gift to the world.
—Charmian Anderson, PhD
Author, The Heart of Success; one of the first individuals to receive
an advanced degree in Transpersonal Psychology in the United States