(1955- present)

Andrew Cohen was born in the 1955, in New York City. At the age of 16 he had a consciousness expanding spiritual experience. He describes this in his words, "I had an experience of cosmic consciousness that occurred spontaneously, completely unsought, it emerged from the unknown. I was sitting up late one evening, speaking with someone and suddenly, for no apparent reason, the doors of perceptions opened. In an instant all boundaries disappeared and it literally seemed as if there were no walls, as if I wasn't sitting in a room having a conversation, and that I was sitting in the middle of infinite space. I could see the walls, could see the room that I was in but, inwardly, my experience was that all boundaries were gone and I was actually existing in and as infinite space. It became clear to me at that moment that there is only one point in space and that, no matter where we may appear to be physically located at anytime, we will always be in exactly the same place."

Andrew continued with his regular, daily life, and though this experience had made a great impression on him and opened his eyes, it gradually receded in his consciousness. He was a young man, trying to realize the dream of becoming a musician. Later, in his 20's, he gave up the dream and instead pursued understanding the origins of the spiritual experience he had. He began an inward journey that consisted of intensive spiritual seeking, including the study of martial arts, Kriya Yoga, and Buddhist meditations. Eventually this journey led him to India, where he met his guru, H. W. L. Poonja (Poonjaji, also known as Papaji). He describes his meeting with Papaji in his book Living Enlightenment (2002). "I went to see Poonjaji for what I thought would be only three days. When I told him that I had no expectations, his response was, "That's good!"

The next day, I asked a question about making effort on the spiritual path, and he replied: 'You don't have to make any effort to be free.' When he said that, something happened. For a split-second, it became apparent to me that I had never been 'unfree.' I saw it; I felt it. But then it was gone. And he smiled because he knew what had happened. A few days later, I described to him, as I had to all my teachers, the experience of cosmic consciousness that had occurred when I was 16. To my surprise, he said, 'You knew everything then.' A powerful confidence in what had already happened began to emerge within me. It was miraculous. Something released and just let go. And I knew that my seeking had come to an end. Over the next three weeks, there was an explosion inside me. Tremendous energy, experienced as overwhelming bliss, was so intense at times that I thought my body wouldn't be able to withstand it. I felt like I was going to explode into 1,000 pieces. A powerful presence was slowly but surely consuming my entire being, and I was scared at times. Day by day I was literally being overtaken by this is unconscious energy. Then, early one morning in a hotel room in Delhi, I sat up on my bed and heard these words come out of my mouth: 'I surrender my life to you; do with me what you will.'"

After this experience, Andrew began talking about this new consciousness. He noticed that those around him seemed to be able to go deep within themselves just through close connection with him. Of this he says, "It was as if I was on fire and anybody who got too close to me started catching that same fire themselves." Soon he went to Rishikesh, a sacred town on the Ganges River, and stayed there awhile before going to England to begin teaching. Many seekers began to gather around him.

Since then, Cohen has continued teaching his understanding of truth, which is based on his belief that Enlightenment must be attained, not for the good of the individual, but for the evolution of human consciousness. He travels the world, speaking, giving retreats, and connecting with important spiritual leaders and visionaries from different spiritual paths. Aside from writing several books, he has also created a magazine called What Is Enlightenment? In which he and others engage in a dialogue examining spirituality, conscious evolution, and the implications of being enlightened during this time in history. He is inspiration to hundreds of students around the world, who have collectively created the international fellowship for the realization of impersonal Enlightenment. This collective is committed to attaining Enlightenment with the intent of helping humanity to awaken to its true potential.

Andrew Cohen's Teachings: Excerpts from his book My Master Is Myself, found at Internet address: http://www.geocities.com/brianperkins77/179andrewcohen.html

"Through simply letting everything be as it is, we will experience SPACE―a vast, expansive emptiness where there is deep, deep, peace. This is a place where nothing ever happened, a place before the universe was born. When we experience that miraculous depth inside our own self, we recognize who we really are. In this state of deep and profound peace, we experience our True Self."

From a conversation with Ken Wilbur, Issue #25, What Is Enlightenment? Magazine:

Andrew: I wanted to speak about something we've discussed before, which is what I call the Authentic Self. In the development of my work in the field of evolutionary spirituality, I've come to the conclusion that awakening to this authentic self is a pivotal factor in the transformational process. And I think that a lot of people who are interested in Enlightenment, including myself for a long time, have unintentionally been failing to make the important distinctions between the Self Absolute, the Authentic Self, and the ego. As I have come to understand it, the authentic self is the deepest part of our humanity, beyond ego, or the awakened spiritual conscience. The great 20th-century sage Sri Aurobindo referred to it as the psychic being, and some might call it the soul. And this recognition was very helpful to me because for a long time the traditional Enlightenment model, which only seems to describe the path from the ego to the self absolute, had not been meeting my own evolving understanding of what radical realization is all about when one is no longer merely trying to transcend the world but is simultaneously aspiring to transform it.

Ken: Yes. The traditional model goes from ego to absolute, and that's it. And now you're emphasizing the authentic self as an important ingredient in this whole equation.

Andrew: It is so important. The authentic self is a completely different dimension of the self than either the Self Absolute or as the ego. It is that part of ourselves that is already whole. It has never been hurt, wounded, traumatized, or victimized. It is already whole and complete, and yet it can and does develop. For the Authentic Self, the point of departure in the developmental process is Wholeness itself. This is the part of ourselves that cares passionately about evolution for its own sake, already. When individuals awaken to the Authentic Self―even if it's only temporarily―suddenly they become aware of a living evolutionary context and experience a passion and concern about the necessity for development itself. I identify the Authentic Self as being synonymous with what we could call the first cause, the creative impulse, and its expression in the awakening human. The Authentic Self doesn't abide in the gross realm; it abides in what you would call the subtle realm. It's aware of everything that is happening here, cares passionately about and can act in response to everything that's happening here, but is always free from everything that is happening here."

Ken: Right.

Andrew: The ego, or what you would call the frontal self, exists only in this world. And that's why, of course, when people fall back into the ego and the world of the personal self in the gross realm, after having experienced the ecstatic evolutionary passion of the authentic self in the subtle realm, they lose touch with that passion in an instant.

Ken: Not a problem.

Andrew: Right. The Authentic Self cares passionately, cares desperately about everything.