ONLY THAT Bob Adamson

Reviewed by Jerry Katz

Author Kalyani Lawrys association with Bob Adamson has a long history. She first met
Sailor Bob in the 1970s when they were both devotees of Swami Muktananda. At one
point Bob shifted his devotion from Muktananda to Nisargadatta Maharaj. Kalyani did
not make that shift, however decades later Kalyani would find herself sitting with Bob
at his home and, now, presenting us with a book of Bobs life and a selection of his
teachings.
Only That includes 16 glossy pages with 23 black and white photos of Bob from
childhood through various stages of his life, including a few photos of Nisargadatta
Maharaj, his teacher. The photos and the first half of the book, which is about Bobs life,
are new contributions to the printed Adamson works.
The Table of Contents for Part 2, The Teaching, is cleverly designed, with each chapter
a teaching unto itself, for example, The Ego is Fiction, Can You Get Out of the Now?
and Everything is That. There is no index, which would be helpful for easily finding
uses of the term full stop, or where Bob referred to Buddhism, for example.
Nisargadatta Maharaj was Bobs primary teacher. To such a degree of success has Bob
communicated the essence of Nisargadatta, that he is informally known as perhaps the
best living representative of the Nisargadatta teaching. I make it clear that Nisargadatta
never authorized Bob (or anyone else) to teach and Bob has his own style of
communication.
This informality of lineage is important to point out because it informs potential
students of Bob that they are not being invited into a formal lineage or a tradition. While
there are benefits to aligning with a tradition, any association with Bob is that of two
people getting down to what is true.
The authors purpose is to introduce and further contribute to Adamsons published
works by presenting his teachings alongside his biography. The author has succeeded
and also contributed something new, since there is no other printed work providing so
many details of Bobs past. Im not aware of all the podcasts with Bob which may
contain further biographical material. I know that Bob has discussed his past with
people other than Kalyani, but I believe this is the first time Bobs history has been
published in print.
The biography is the bones of the books theme and thesis: a life of alcoholic suffering
gives way to nondual spiritual enlightenment. The thesis is that it is possible to
overcome suffering and alcoholism and to understand ones true nature if one gets a
foothold in sanity, values it deeply, and follows the path that opens up as far as possible.
While Bob Adamsons teachings are available in other published writings, in podcasts,
and in person, what I like about this book is the packaging of biography with teachings
and the noting of the turning points in Bobs life that opened up to the realization
expressed in the section of the book on teachings.

The turning points were the final quitting of drinking and a question that arose out of
that, a question Id never heard, a question Bob posed about his life. I wont say what
the question was, leaving it to the reader to stumble upon.
What makes Only That relevant and significant is the biographical material in
conjunction with the teaching. The phase of Sailor Bobs life in the Navy and his great
psychological suffering and alcoholism are the most intense parts of the biography.
They form the most important part of the book because they are new revelations in print
regarding Adamson and they show the profound suffering, alcoholism, addiction, and
despair.
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