Andrew Cohen - Living at the Edge

 In this talk at EnlightenNext Boston, spiritual teacher and founder of EnlightenNext Andrew Cohen introduces a new framework for pursuing a spiritual life at the beginning of the twenty-first century. With expansive vision and meticulous precision, he traces the developmental process that has brought us to this unique moment in the human experience, one in which we are beginning to awaken to the real significance of our place in the cosmos. We have a rare capacity for self-reflection and an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the universe, Cohen explains, and that means that we are all uniquely privileged—and challenged—to redefine the moral, spiritual, and philosophical orientation of our lives and of our society.

Over the course of this afternoon teaching, Cohen presents us with the tools to do just that and issues a wake-up call about the urgency of getting started now. Revisiting many time-honored principles of enlightenment philosophy, such as the ego and the absolute ground of being, he reinterprets them within the context of an emerging evolutionary perspective. He also introduces his concept of the Authentic Self, or the ecstatic surge of the creative impulse through both individual and collective consciousness. Throughout, he conveys the stirring recognition that our capacity for consciousness and cognition is both our greatest gift and our most demanding responsibility in this rapidly evolving universe we call home.