September 1-14, 2005
Two Weeks on the Road
with Andrew Cohen
Day 4: A Day-long Retreat
at the EnlightenNext Centre
London, England
by Tom Huston
In the next stop on his tour, Andrew raised the evolutionary bar for his European
student body by holding a powerful one-day retreat at the EnlightenNext Centre
in London.
Unlike the ramp-up time that he usually provides on public retreats, taking
care to help guide newer people through his teachings, Andrew essentially leapt
from zero to sixty within a few seconds in an “uncompromising onslaught
of liberated passion,” as it was described by one of Andrew’s senior
students, Chris Parish
—because this retreat was only for students and members of EnlightenNext.
Among many topics covered during two sessions, Andrew placed particular emphasis
on the importance and significance of his students’ basic spiritual practice
(meditation and contemplation). He essentially reiterated, in case anyone had
forgotten, that what he’s teaching is NOT a process of gradual self-improvement.
The personal development of the individual over time is certainly a fundamental
part of
his teaching, but we mustn’t forget that Evolutionary Enlightenment is
also about the freedom of enlightenment
here and now. Because it is
only from that position of innate freedom—the position of the
Authentic Self—that we can fully align
ourselves with an unfettered relationship to the
non-personal
evolutionary impulse that surges at the heart of life itself. And, he added,
it is only from that position that we should be engaging with our individual
spiritual practice.
This is what Andrew calls a “top-down” perspective on the
transformational process, which contrasts with the “bottom-up”
perspective espoused by psychological approaches—and the majority of
spiritual teachings today. As he describes it:
In one of the most interesting moments of the day, one of Andrew’s
Israeli students, Ruth Golan, who’s a longtime practicing psychoanalyst,
spoke with Andrew about her understanding
of the paradoxical nature of top-down transformation.
To hear their exchange, click here (time 5:12 min).
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