Posts tagged ‘meditation’
Why the World Needs More Spiritual Heroes
Here’s a published dialogue that I did with my friend Deepak Chopra in which we discuss the challenges of standing up for Spirit in a secular culture. Enjoy! __________________________________ ANDREW COHEN: What I wanted to speak with you about, Deepak, is what it really means to be a spiritual hero. This is kind of a
Why It’s Important to Lose Your Mind (at least twice a year)
I just got back from leading a 9-day meditation retreat in the wild and cactus-filled desert of Arizona. And I feel exuberant, inspired, and powerfully awake to the presence of immanent and seemingly infinite potential–simply because I took a sustained break from our modern world and its unspoken cultural agreements and assumptions about what’s real
AUDIO: Letting Everything Go
The following audio clip is taken from the first day of Andrew’s recent Being and Becoming Retreat in Arizona. In reference to meditation, Andrew makes the profound point that if we want to experience the freedom of enlightened awareness, we have to be willing, at least temporarily, to let absolutely everything go. [Audio clip:
AUDIO: ‘Going Out of Your Mind’ with Ed and Deb Shapiro
Andrew recently spoke with irreverant spiritual teachers Ed and Deb Shapiro on their radio show ‘Going Out of Your Mind’ about a variety of interesting topics including: the evolution of the guru-disciple relationship within a postmodern context, Andrew’s recent trips to India, their own experiences with some of their respective past gurus, the significance of
How a New World is Born
The ultimate spiritual revelation is that there is no other. There is only One. When any individual goes very deep into a meditative state, momentarily transcending the separate self-sense or narcissistic ego, this profound singularity at the level of consciousness itself is what he or she will find. There is an uncontainable thrill in those
Meditation is Training for Life
If we want to be free, it is important to learn how to directly experience the unbroken chaos and impersonal confusion of our own minds without being disturbed by any of it. Only if we can bear it will we be able to take responsibility for it. If we cannot calmly endure our own minds,
AUDIO: ‘A Guide to Freedom’ – Discovering the True Purpose of Meditation
For some individuals who are interested in evolutionary spirituality and ‘getting things done’ in the world, the perennial spiritual practice of meditation can seem like an unnecessary burden that only hinders our deeper engagement with life. After all, why waste time sitting still and doing nothing when you can be out changing the world for
Beyond Limits Series: “I am not the body; I am the soul”
Since the dawn of civilization, human beings have been discontent to stay within the perceived limits of what’s possible. For thousands of years, inspired men and women have continually sought to go beyond limits in all areas of life—pushing into the edge of their physical, intellectual, spiritual and creative capacities. The result of these efforts
A Different Kind of Marathon
For the past three years, EnlightenNext has organized a world-wide Meditation Marathon where individuals from all over the planet join together for up to 24 hours of meditation. What began as a fundraising initiative has evolved into an amazing global celebration of Spirit. “What would compel someone to dedicate 24 hours to being still and
AUDIO: Father Thomas Keating
Below is the audio from Andrew’s recent dialogue with Father Thomas Keating on meditation: [Audio clip: view full post to listen] To download the full audio recording, right-click here and select “Save link as.” The dialogue between Andrew and Father Thomas kicked off a month-long global celebration of spirit that will culminate with the
VIDEO: Father Thomas Keating
Saturday, November 10th at 2pm ET (USA), Andrew will be having a virtual dialogue with Father Thomas Keating about meditation. If you’re unfamiliar with Fr. Keating’s work, check out the following videos to get a greater sense of who this amazing man is who has made such a huge contribution to the Christian contemplative path
Peace Is Not the Answer
I’ve been thinking quite a lot lately about what spiritual development and spiritual attainment actually mean these days. What is the purpose of being on a spiritual path for the most progressive people on the planet today—those of us who have grown up in an environment of unprecedented wealth, education, and personal freedom? As a spiritual
The Infinite Depth of Your Own Self
In order to discover the infinite depth of your own self, you must find a way to enter into a very deep state of meditation—such a deep state that your awareness of thought moves to the background and eventually disappears. When awareness of thought disappears, the awareness of the passing of time disappears along with
The Case for Certainty
People with deep spiritual conviction—from religious fundamentalists to high Himalayan mystics—possess the greatest existential gift of all: certainty. But these days, it’s not a gift that we find it easy to appreciate. And for good reason. For the last 60 years or so, ever since the unthinkable devastation of the two great conflagrations of the
Is Sex A Path to God?
I just had a dialogue with my friend and collaborator, the great integral philosopher Ken Wilber on sexual ethics (the recording of which will be broadcast on June 2nd). Several years ago, we had a similar conversation on the question “Is Sex a Path to God,” which became the article below in EnlightenNext magazine: _________________________________________________________________
Meditation & Freedom
Meditation only becomes real, powerful, authentic, and liberating when it is a practice of letting everything go. Otherwise it is reduced to little more than a psycho-spiritual relaxation technique. It may make you feel better, but it won’t set you free. Feeling better and being free don’t necessarily mean the same thing. Feeling better is
Q&A: The Buddha, The Biosphere & the Big Bang
Below is a list of questions that people have posted on this blog over the past week, including my answers. If you have any questions, please post them as comments. From Pauline: Q: How do you know that before the big bang that it was peaceful, that nothing had happened, that it was a singularity,
AUDIO: On Being & Becoming
On Sunday, April 1st, Andrew Cohen led a free call as part of the lead up to his two upcoming Being & Becoming retreats this August in Tuscany and this December in Arizona. The essence of Andrew’s teaching of Evolutionary Enlightenment is to enable people to come together in an egoless context and create a
No Expectations
In the way that I teach meditation, the idea is to simply to assume a position of freedom from the very beginning. You’re not trying to create any particular experience. Experiences may come and go, but you are not seeking for experiences. You are just assuming the position of unconditional freedom, without any expectations. You
Part 4 – God Is Love
A Meditation on the Indefinable Nature of the Divine God is Love. How many times have we heard the word “love” being used to define that which is ultimately indefinable? I suppose it is because that’s the only word that can even bring us close to grasping the ungraspable. When we use “love” to define
Andrew Cohen is a spiritual teacher, cultural visionary, founder of EnlightenNext, and the author of 
