Alright, these were my 5 cents worth of wisdom on this topic.

2 more cents on Integral Enlightenment: Amazing how so many experts can create so much fog and confusion AND make a living at the same time. I’m envious. I wish I had the guts to do that. If I had, I might be just as good at it …

Carin

I appreciate your inquiry here and the endeveour to be open to as full a picture as possible given what you are reading. However, the conclusion that Andrew is “lacking in integrity” is based on some very questionable assumptions. I was a close student for 13 years and I know his former student “critics” very well, while I dont regard Andrew as flawless and think he has made some errors along the way, I have no doubt whatsoever about his integrity as a human being and Guru. But to appreciate what that means one has to appreciate just how embedded and dense most of our post-modern green meme egos are, and how hard a job it is for a true Teacher to catalyze genuine and enduring evolutionary transformation in real time. Without this context then so much of what Andrews detractors now call “abuse” cannot be understood. Evolution is a messy business, that is just the way it is. I do not believe it was Andrews intention ever to harm anybody, but it was his intention to help them break their egos (which they said they wanted), which can be excruciatingly painful and challenging.

See my article for an in-depth investigation into this:

http://www.guru-talk.com/2009/10/american-guru-andrew-cohen-allegations-of-abuse/

As to your open question about how is injecting real Love into the world. In my experience (and I have done years of prectice and met many teachers) Andrew Cohen is the most courageous and passionate vehicle for Love & Evolution I have ever met. And like all the great Revolutionary Masters (not Saints!) throughout history, there are those who want to betray and tear him down.

If you think the “evolutionary enlightenment” movement is based on delusion then I challenge anyone to go on a retreat with Andrew or visit an EnlightenNext center (and yes there are many many former students around the whole also lit up by that realization and perspective) and find out for yourself. Dont rely on hearsay and the “complaints” of some. There issues are not only questionable and lacking context, they are regarding events that occurred years ago before Evolutionary Enlightenment was a stable, living reality. Hence there is one heck of alot that they have no idea about, or ,if they do, they choose to deny it.

7 Responses to “Andrew Cohen, Evolutionary Enlightenment and EnlightenNext – is it a cult?”

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Marc:
October 5th, 2008 at 11:12 pm edit

Hal Blacker, ex-editor of WIE magazine and one of the founders of “What Enlightenment” and “EnlightenNixt” blogs, wrote me the following very thoughtful mail (excerpted with his permission) commenting on this article and on my question to him which was about finding an authentic spiritual path when there is no much nonsence and misinformation out there. Thank you Hal.
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Dear Marc,

I am very happy to hear that you found the blogs What Enlightenment??! and EnlightenNixt helpful and informative in your search. My personal motivation in working on those sites was precisely to warn sincere seekers like you about the pitfalls of involvement with Andrew Cohen, in addition to fostering the healing of ex-students of Cohen.

I think your insights about Cohen on your manifesting.net website are completely right on. In fact, given that you have had no personal involvement with Cohen or his organization (or maybe because of that?), your objectivity and clarity about them is very striking. I think that must be a testament to your own maturity, intelligence, and ethicality. And, btw, a number of other ex-Cohen students who have seen your analysis have told me they were also very struck by its accuracy and insight.

This paragraph you wrote really goes to the heart, I think, of involvement with questionable groups and movements, and the compromises people often make to maintain their involvement:

“I have noticed, among members of some personal growth / transformational organizations, a tendency to resist and deny information on the ethics and personality issues of their leaders. I have seen the same thing in the case of the (now-deceased) Harvey Jackins of Re-evaluation Counseling. Their reasons for doing this should be fairly obvious – that more than anything, people want to belong (to love and be loved) and to feel that their lives have a deeper purpose and meaning. Membership in a world-changing (or culture changing organization) and the powerful and deeply meaningful experiences to be had from that, can be very intoxicating, and so for people to consider issues that would put their membership (belonging) at risk, and/or challenge the legitimacy of the endeavor, can be very painful. For some more profound reflections on this topic read Simeon Alev’s article.”

A really good and well-balanced resource on this issue, in general and in great psychological detail, and on the characteristics of narcissistic group leaders (like Cohen, Adi Da and others), is the book Prophetic Charisma, by Len Oakes.

Another perspective on this: When I told my former friend, the late UG Krishnamurti, that I was working on a blog about Cohen, he said with his characteristic directness, “People won’t believe you because if they did, they would have to admit they made a mistake.”

Another important point of general application in your post is the following:
“The idea is that an individual can have all kinds of spiritual powers and charisma, but be emotionally and morally undeveloped. In other words, we frequently confuse spiritual powers and charisma for true enlightenment.”

The teachings of traditional spiritual paths are replete with warnings about going “part way”, developing powers or siddhis, and then stopping, thinking you have achieved the goal; and warnings to students about “false prophets”, egoic yogi’s and such. In some traditions, it is put another way. One might become profoundly “enlightened,” in that one has an abiding understanding and consciousness of the absolute, yet still not be mature or integrated in one’s psyche. That maturing and integration of one’s enlightenment may take many years and require real “tapas,” or spiritual discipline. One tradition I have studied (Vedanta) teaches that after self-knowledge it usually takes most people about a dozen years to integrate and mature. Even the great Ramana Maharshi may be an example of this. He spent about 12 years in silence and meditation on Arunachala mountain after his ego death experience before he began to speak and teach. In contrast, Cohen had a big experience and began to teach and gather disciples within weeks.

I have been thinking for several days about how to answer your question about finding an authentic spiritual path and teacher. This is a difficult question to answer because, I think, while there are guidelines, there really aren’t any sure-fire rules.

I think that what you did with your investigation about Cohen is a good start. If you find someone you are drawn to, first check them out as much as possible. Even if you meet a teacher and feel something profound, it is still a good idea to go slow, check him or her out, see if the teachings work and make sense, look at the people around him or her, observe the organization (if any). Don’t be paranoid, but use your discrimination. And if you sense something is wrong, take that sense seriously, investigate it and see if there is a basis for it or if it is just fear and resistance of ego. The Dalai Lama says this process should or could take several years. From my perspective, since the true guru is within, there is no need to rush.

But I know from my own experience that it does not always work out that way. First, to meet a true spiritual teacher is very rare. I think that involves sincere seeking, and a certain amount of serendipity or just plain luck. Some would call it karma. It isn’t really completely in our control. In my own life, the best teachers I met, I met unexpectedly. They were not in traditions I had picked out as my own most likely candidates for a chosen path. I was seeking, and I was curious, but I would never have chosen them based on my own rational judgment. Maybe a friend thought highly of the person, and I checked him out, out of curiosity or just out of respect for my friend. Or it was even more unpredictable and out of the blue than that.

Then, having met the teacher, making a connection and being drawn into the path seemed to happen as if it had a life of its own. When it was time to move on, that also happened in ways not entirely within my own control. With my main teachers, it was due to the guru’s death. And then something else emerged after some years. With Andrew, it was a gradual sense something was wrong, and a loss of inspiration.

What I am trying to say is, it is good to be prudent and use your discrimination in choosing a teacher and path. I think you have shown yourself well able and inclined to do this. Beyond that, there is something mysterious about the process, that resembles something like grace. I actually have found the old adage, “When the disciple is ready, the guru appears,” to be true.

As to finding a specific path or teacher–I don’t know if I can say anything very helpful. One reason for this is that in my experience, the best teachers are usually among the least well-known. Although that isn’t always the case. –my first teacher was fairly unknown when I met him but became very famous very quickly. I have also recently met another great teacher of a very traditional path who is famous and has a large organization. My own preference, though, is not to get involved with big organizations. I value the kind of personal contact with a teacher that is rare when they become too popular. And I just don’t think the very best teachers are going to appeal to the masses. This isn’t elitism. It’s just that the genuine search for self-knowledge is very rare.

Traditionally, it is said that to find a teacher you should be sincere, and worship and pray. The teacher will come. There is no doubt that if you are sincere, you will be supported and helped.

Best of luck.

Yours,
Hal
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Pat:
October 7th, 2008 at 7:31 pm edit

Dear Marc -

I love the passion and intellectual precision you’ve brought to your inquiry into Andrew Cohen. I subscribe to his magazine and I have downloaded many insightful interviews from the WIE website. I have wondered, too, about Cohen, as I have many self-professed gurus.

Jack Kornfield has been helpful to me in explaining why some teachers just go crackers even while their teachings can just be incredibly profound. Consider every person a mandala, each segment representing one aspect of their life: the spiritual, the sexual, money, relationship, love, money, health, insight/clear seeing, siddhis (powers), the physical, etc., etc. Enlightenment may or may not necessarily permeate all of these areas. Or more simply, they are not fully developed in all of the areas. That’s how you can have a teacher who’s very wise and insightful but bonks every woman in sight. Or gurus who are wonderful teachers but their greed is enormous.

Another thing that occurs to me is that in the West we have a certain amount of magical thinking about what is enlightenment. A useful and helpful definition I read recently is someone who has an incredibly big capacity to be non-reactive. Imagine keeping your heart open 24-7 by not being reactive? Perhaps this is a Western definition but it’s working for me.

Thanks for your insightful comments about Cohen. I look forward to reading more of your adventures in evolutionary spirituality.

all the best,
Pat
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Marc:
October 7th, 2008 at 8:16 pm edit

Hal and Pat –
thank you both for your very insightful posts.
What I have realized in this investigation – which started out as a somewhat obsessive need to “know the truth”, even to the extent that I questioned my own motivation – is some very profound truths about myself – which is perhaps the reason (in response to Hal’s comment) why I have so much insight here. The truth is that I have more than slight narcissistic tendancies myself, that manifest in a kind of love of power and an intoxication with the sound of my own words – not to mention a tendancy to indulge in “righteous anger”. It’s very comforting to know, given this, that in a dozen years or so I might achieve true spiritual maturity – although in my case I suspect it will take considerably longer than that :-). Given my age, I am not sure that Enlightenment is destined to be mine in this lifetime; but I still much prefer a life dedicated to love and laughter than one in which I am pretending to be someone other than who I really am (or else unaware of it).
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John S.:
January 14th, 2009 at 5:52 pm edit

Marc, I don;’t know if you’ve seen this rather insightful review of Wombacher’s book by Joe Szimhart?

http://home.dejazzd.com/jszimhart/11_days_at_the_edge.htm

Thanks for your article.

John
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Marc:
January 14th, 2009 at 7:34 pm edit

John,
actually I hadn’t. Joe is a good friend of mine.
the review is good but I think it fails to explain Cohen’s compelling appeal to some people. I find Cohen’s ideas extraordinarily compelling, but in my world, a sociopath cannot originate an authentic spirituality. End of conversation. But then it’s apparent that Cohen is not about authentic spirituality but about building his platform. That should be the first clue.
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Nancy Froio:
March 9th, 2009 at 11:36 am edit

Marc,

Thank you for being self expressed and having the courage to say what shows up as true for you. You do not seem concerned about your own popularity. Our culture needs more writers like you. I get a sense of your authentic passion around the spiritual ontologies arising within our culture.

I also honor Andrew in being fully self expressed and having the ambition to build his platform, as you say.

I have met Andrew in person in San Francisco. He certainly has charisma and a platform.

What is your opinion on beings who submit fully to a teacher?
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Marc:
March 9th, 2009 at 1:50 pm edit

Nancy,
I love your ability to simultaneously hold and make-right both aspects of a question.
And it is true that I really much prefer Andrew’s platform to, say, Gerry Falwell’s. He could be honored for that. His languaging in particular is brilliant. I so totally fall into it. It has affected me and much inspired my current world view.
What I need to do is let go of judgments of people who fall into a spiritual path that is so obviously lacking in integrity (and who, ironically, makes a claim to total integrity). I have seen much growth in some friends who have done this work (which includes myself, albeit from afar – this article IS my work with Andrew Cohen :-).
Thank Andrew.
Marc