The paradox of instruction

Franklin Jones (AKA Bubba Free John, Adi Da Samraj, etc.) was a flawed genius. After the publication of his first book "The Knee of Listening", Ken Wilber and several other important spiritual philosophers (including Alan Watts) endorsed him in glowing terms. But Franklin Jones became a DANGEROUS teacher once he became corrupted by the mental illness that Carl Jung calls "ego-inflation."

Ego-inflation is a potential pitfall—Jung would call it a “shadow”—for anyone practicing a “spiritual path.” Indeed, without the prerequisite humor, honesty and humility, the danger only increases as one’s practice advances into more powerful stages.

In its mild and most common form, ego-inflation shows up as holier-than-thou attitudes and the mentality that “My way is the only way.” Of course, this degree of ego-inflation is not usually madness, but simple ignorance and naiveté, but displayed as arrogance. By contrast, the severest form of ego-inflation is actual psychosis: a run-away messianic complex that convinces you that you are a “perfect” embodiment of something “special,” called upon to deliver a “unique” gift that was unavailable to humanity before your “miraculous” birth. Your rants begin to sound like ad copy, studded with superlatives about your glories: never-before-seen, exclusive offer, elite company, the best, the highest, the first, the last, the only, etc.

This turned out to be the arc of Franklin Jones, who began his “guru career” as an inspiring communicator of the way of essential freedom and unqualified relationship. At his debut, his wisdom teaching was so original (as displayed in "The Paradox of Instruction") and clear and liberating that it thrilled my soul. But even as this book was published---only about five years into his teaching project---Franklin, who by then was calling himself Da Free John, was already showing signs of ego-inflation. The situation steadily worsened over the next three decades. Franklin changed his name half a dozen more times, ending with the name Adi Da Samraj when he died from a heart attack at age 69. By then he was claiming to be the most enlightened human being who ever had lived and ever would live! This would have been laugh-out-loud funny—a goofy bit of New Age nonsense—if it were not so sad for those of us who had once responded to Franklin with love. Ego-inflation had driven him to disastrous self-delusion, probably insanity.

I don't recommend any of his books published after about 1977, unless you're interested in studying the rapid progress of psychopathology (specifically, delusional personality disorder and megalomania).