Evolutionary Enlightenment [Hardcover]

The first book I read by Andrew Cohen was 8 years ago. It was called Embracing Heaven & Earth and it hit me like a lightening bolt. What struck me more than anything else was the clarity of Andrew's thinking and the powerful call for deep integrity, which I found quite rare and refreshing for a contemporary spiritual teacher. Now, 10 years after that book was published, Andrew has written a new book and true to its message, it represents a serious evolution in his thinking, in the depth of his transmission, and in the vast breadth of the perspective he brings to the spiritual path. And once again, it blew me away completely.

Reading this book is like attending a month-long intensive retreat with Andrew (and I have been on several), in that he perfectly guides you through a process of discovery that starts from a place of cosmic depth, then dives into the nuts and bolts of human development, then explodes out into the cosmic significance of Evolutionary Enlightenment on an even grander scale.

This is a must read for any lover of rationality with even an inkling of interest in the spiritual dynamics of the self. Cohen's approach is both precise and deep all at the same time. I found myself lifted into a higher state of awareness during most of the book and also more educated about my own experience of being human.
This book is going to change a lot of lives, I'm sure of it.

It's been a long time since Andrew Cohen published a book, but this book makes good on that as it is the long-awaited complete summary of his teaching of Evolutionary Enlightenment. I knew it was going to be good, but I never expected it to be this accessible, complete, easy to read, and deeply captivating. Cohen takes you by the hand and walks you through time and no-time, all the way from the timeless ground of being and before the Big Bang, through the process of creation, up to this moment when you read this book and feel deeply touched by your own privilege to be alive just now. His language has always changed and morphed over the years, but I think in this book he has found the most direct, moving, profound yet accessible way to bring the evolutionary and enlightened journey across.

Oh, and that doesn't even begin to describe how this book is the "how to" for Ken Wilber's dense writings on Integral Theory, again in profoundly practical, jargon-free language.

While I was reading, I was thinking "I could read this to my mother and she would love it!". At the same time, my own copy is already chewed up, highlighted, and marked on every second page, quoted in my academic writings. I have no doubt this book will be an all-time classic as it brings the most profound teachings in a way that is so 21st-century, relevant, and accessible, that you don't need to "be spiritual" to get it - everyone can get this.

I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in living a deeply meaningful and purposeful life at the start of the 21st century. Evolutionary Enlightenment, as Andrew Cohen has explained in his new book, is an original, contemporary spiritual teaching having its roots in traditional enlightenment but then going further to contextualize nonduality in an evolutionary context. It points to how we can consciously create a new culture between us based on continuously striving to bring into being higher levels of consciousness.

This book is not just about theory. Cohen outlines his Five Tenets for living an evolutionary enlightened life, and having been engaged in practicing Evolutionary Enlightenment for some 10 years, I find these Tenets ever fresh and new, and a constant source of further contemplation.

Andrew Cohen writes in the book, "The teaching is about catalyzing the miracle of emergence in the interior of the cosmos, in and through our own selves." What is significant about this is that it sets the biggest possible context for our human lives and puts the responsibility for change and creating the future directly in our own hands. Cohen outlines the awe-inspiring power of the evolutionary impulse when it manifests as the spiritual impulse in human beings. This is what Andrew Cohen is bringing to the world - this new and totally relevant interpretation of who we are, and why we are here. It confirms our potential for never ending creativity and integrity. The book is inspiring, easy to read, and totally engaging. It definitely has a transmission coming directly from Cohen. I just want to read it again!

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