Posts tagged ‘QotW’
A State of Constant Resolution
Question: How can freedom and responsibility go together? Answer: You have to think about enlightenment as a state of constant resolution—then you’ll understand how these apparent opposites are completely related to one another. If you want to be free, you must aspire to always live in a state of resolution, an orientation to life where
An Inner Contract
Something profound happens at a soul level when someone makes a commitment to their own spiritual development. No one forces you to do it. It’s freely chosen. And, of course, when you make that commitment, you don’t really know what you are committing to. But what you do know is that it’s a commitment to
God’s Choice
It is my firm conviction that Spirit as the Uncreated, Unborn, Unmanifest, timeless Ground of Being “chose” to create the universe. How do I know this? Because from our vantage point in the 21st Century, we can look back and see where we all came from, which is no-thing whatsoever. God or absolute Spirit must
A Ceaseless Creative Striving
When we awaken to the evolutionary impulse, as the urge toward higher creativity, it becomes apparent to us that the energy that is driving the process as a whole is inherently spiritual or divine. Spirit created and is creating the universe. What is this ceaseless creative striving in matter, nature, and culture? And where does
Creating the Future Unceasingly
Evolutionary Enlightenment is about awakening directly to the energy and intelligence that created the universe and is creating the universe. The Big Bang, the birth of the universe, was the unimaginably powerful expression of that energy and intelligence—and still is. The nature of what I call the “evolutionary impulse” is an ecstatic urgency that is
No End
In an evolutionary context, development has no end. That means we can always develop more, further, higher, and deeper. In Traditional Enlightenment, it’s possible to become “fully enlightened.” In Buddhism, they call it “cessation” or “the end of becoming.” In Evolutionary Enlightenment there is no final resting point—it is about infinite becoming for eternity.
The Holy Life
There is something so incredibly life-affirming about the kind of joy and fellowship that emerges when many human beings, inspired by spiritual values and a higher sense of purpose, come together. The Buddha, when asked if association with like-minded people was a part of the holy life, is reported to have declared: “Association with like-minded
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
Becoming a True Seeker
To become a true seeker requires a heroic willingness to suspend our most cherished beliefs. I’m not speaking about suspending our good judgment, discerning intellect, or common sense in any way, shape, or form. But I am saying that we have to be willing to let go, even if only temporarily, of whatever our deepest
Being and Becoming
If Enlightenment is the discovery of what IS, then it must embrace the ultimate nature of all things—seen and unseen, known and unknown. And I think the most truly all-embracing and inclusive definition of reality includes both Being and Becoming. Being is that timeless void out of which the cosmos was born, the empty ground
The Light of Consciousness
The overwhelming and profound nature of the spiritual metamorphosis that occurs as one begins to move beyond individual and collective egoic self structures is difficult to convey without knowing about it directly from personal experience. If one had only known the darkness and had never seen the light of the sun, how could it be
A Utopian Idealism
When one’s own self evolves, deepens, becomes more whole, then one naturally begins to seek for that same depth and wholeness in one’s relationships with others. As we awaken to higher states of consciousness, as we begin to see our own presence here in this unfolding process in a larger context, and especially as we
In Our Own Hands
What does it really mean to consciously evolve—to deliberately and intentionally create and co-create the future? It gets clearer and clearer to me every day that it really is up to us—each and every one of us, individually and collectively—to create the future that we hope for in our highest moments. When we reach that
On the Edge of Unknown Territory
[The following is an excerpt from Andrew Cohen and Ken Wilber's popular "Guru & Pandit" dialogue series. --Ed.] Andrew Cohen: It’s rare for an individual to realize that he or she is literally on the edge of unknown territory. Most human beings are born and die within a preexistent cultural context that they don’t necessarily
Are You Thinking Your Own Thoughts?
I just got back from a jam-packed teaching and speaking tour of India, supported in part by the Speaking Tree. As a 56-year-old western spiritual teacher who originally came to Mother India in 1984 seeking for Enlightenment, I find myself in an interesting position when I return: now I come back to share with others
Preoccupied with the Possible
The following quote was taken from Andrew Cohen’s answer to a reader’s question in a previous post: QUESTION: What do you mean when you say that awakening to the evolutionary impulse literally changes everything and inspires you to become a completely different person? ANSWER: This means that when we awaken to what I call the
Creating New Habits
In the end, as I see it, there are only two possibilities for a human life. Either you strive to move beyond where you already are or else you continue to do what you have already done. Unless you have a vision that reaches beyond everything your life has been about so far, what is
The Paradox of Meditation
The meditation experience is interesting because on one hand it is about completely letting go of everything, and on the other hand, it is about paying more attention. It’s a paradox. Let go of everything and have the courage and faith and conviction to keep letting go, fearlessly, no matter what arises. But don’t let
A Cosmic Orientation
The evolution of our consciousness and our culture is an awe-inspiring task, but I believe it is possible for anyone who cares deeply enough about it. Those of us who feel compelled by the evolutionary impulse must be willing to embrace the dramatic scale at which the life-process is operating. When we awaken to the
In All Your Imperfection
It’s important to remember that your ego—your separate personal self-sense and all its culturally conditioned tendencies—is just not awake to the urgent need for your participation in the evolutionary process. That’s why your ego is convinced that it has all the time in the world to be eternally busy with its own self-improvement. It says,
Andrew Cohen is a spiritual teacher, cultural visionary, founder of EnlightenNext, and the author of 
