what is enlightenment

The Relationship with a True Guru

By Judy Fox

I am one of Andrew Cohen’s oldest students having met him in 1986 when he had been teaching formally for only around six months. His teachings have changed enormously over the years, but the seeds for everything that have unfolded were there in the early days. Continue reading…

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In Defense of American Guru Andrew Cohen

Posted by admin on October 14, 2009
Responses to Allegations / No Comments

By Rod S

Throughout history human beings have sought council and guidance from their friends, colleagues and leaders. This has always been a natural and normal thing to do. In the spiritual quest also, seekers and finders have sought the guidance of Teachers and Gurus to help illuminate the often difficult and thorny path of self realization and transformation. However, we live in strange times when it seems you can have a “guru” for practically anything from tennis, swimming and health, to cooking, woodwork and sewing, yet when it comes to the spiritual path, the word “guru” has become for many a 4 letter word! In a nutshell the postmodern ego hates being told what to do! This ‘mean green meme’ ego thrives on ‘independence’ and doing what it wants, whenever it wants. Continue reading…

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American Guru Andrew Cohen & Allegations of Abuse

Posted by admin on October 02, 2009
Responses to Allegations / 1 Comment

By Pete Bampton

“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” George Bernard Shaw

“The real function of a Guru is to insult you” Chogyam Trungpa

An American Guru: The Real Deal

Meeting one’s Guru or Master is a Mystery. It is a date with destiny. Those who are lucky enough to stumble upon this seismic encounter may never be the same again. In that meeting one experiences, suddenly or gradually, an ecstatic release into the limitless singularity and depth of one’s True Self. The time-bound stream of the separate self sense is mysteriously overwhelmed by a vast rushing river of intoxicating freedom and fullness welling forth from the fount of Creation Itself as Oneself. But that spontaneous breakthrough into a vast new universe of being and knowing is usually only the beginning. If the impact of this spiritual baptism is profound, one may find oneself overwhelmed by a transcendent Roar surging up from the unfathomable depths of that Revelation that demands one thing and one thing only: Surrender. Continue reading…

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Welcome to Guru Talk

Posted by peteb on September 08, 2009
Uncategorized / Comments Off

Who is American Guru Andrew Cohen? Is he a radical Awakened trailblazer forging a profoundly significant spiritual teaching for our times? Or is Andrew Cohen an inspired, but ultimately immature and “abusive” Guru? What is really going on in the spiritual community and organization EnlightenNext, is it brainwash or breakthrough, transference or transformation? Have former students been badly burned or enormously benefited? Is the Guru-Student relationship obsolete for sophisticated 21st Century post-modern seekers? What is this controversial entity/non-entity called the Ego that needs to be transcended if we are to authentically Awaken? And what the heck is Evolutionary Enlightenment all about anyway?

Our hope is that the articles posted here at Guru Talk will provide you with some compelling answers to these big questions and a whole lot more, opening up new and boundless vistas of inquiry and revelation. If you wish to respond to any of the articles you can find our contact info here.

Enjoy the ride!

Pete Bampton

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Let The Wild Rumpus Begin!

Posted by admin on August 31, 2009
Evolutionary Enlightenment, Responses to Allegations / No Comments

by Roberta Anderson

ENTERING POST-GRADUATE SCHOOL WITH A TRUE GURU

I was a student of Andrew Cohen from the fall of 1989 to late in 2001. With the exception of a few months when I left the community, I managed to stay in the always-simmering cauldron of Formal Students over the twelve years that I lived, breathed, worked, ate, lived, thrived, and at times anguished in the ongoing and sometimes unbearable intimacy of this tumultuous and seething evolutionary community I had managed to land in. Continue reading…

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