Andrew Cohen (1955–2025) was an American spiritual teacher, author, and founder of the Evolutionary Enlightenment movement. Widely recognized for his provocative approach to contemporary spirituality, his career was marked by both acclaim and controversy, with followers praising his visionary teachings while critics highlighted allegations of psychological and financial misconduct.
Born in New York City, Cohen grew up in a secular Jewish household that shaped his early sense of inquiry and independence. A pivotal experience at age sixteen—what he later described as a moment of “cosmic consciousness”—set him on a path of exploring philosophy, spirituality, and the arts, though his formal academic record is less documented than his later spiritual training. His life changed decisively in 1986 after meeting the Indian master H.W.L. Poonja, whose influence propelled him into teaching and community-building. During this period, he produced early works such as Enlightenment Is a Secret (1991) and Freedom Has No History (1997,) laying the foundation for his emerging voice in contemporary spirituality.
As his teachings developed, he expanded his reach through EnlightenNext (s.1992,) a magazine that became a central platform for his ideas and for dialogues with prominent thinkers. His editorial leadership helped shape the discourse around evolutionary spirituality and broadened his international profile. Alongside this work, he continued to publish influential books, including Living Enlightenment (1999) and Evolutionary Enlightenment (2011,) which further solidified his reputation as a provocative and innovative spiritual teacher.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Andrew Cohen
A lot of people in spiritual life use the awareness of difference, and the spiritual glorification of difference, as a justification to indulge in that which is ultimately unreal.
—Andrew Cohen
Topics: Awareness
Everybody wants to get enlightened but nobody wants to change.
—Andrew Cohen
Topics: Change
Its taken 14 billion years for matter to gain the capacity to become conscious of itself. If this is true, it wouldn’t make any sense that the whole point of enlightenment would be to escape from the whole process at the very instant that the universe is beginning to awaken to itself.
—Andrew Cohen
Topics: Universe, Evolution, Spirituality
I’m suspicious of any man or woman who approaches their own liberation with any kind of gender bias.
—Andrew Cohen
Freedom has no history.
—Andrew Cohen
Topics: Freedom
As far as I’m concerned, the spiritual life is just like any other endeavor—you can succeed or fail. And when the goal is actual evolution beyond ego in an intersubjective context, success or failure is plain for all to see.
—Andrew Cohen
Topics: Spirituality
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