Next Idea from Andrew >
Andrew Cohen on a Society Bereft of Philosophical InsightSpreading good ideas with someone you know is one of the simplest things we can do to improve the conversation.
- BUZZ
-
DELICIOUS
- DIGG
-
FACEBOOK
-
LINKEDIN
-
EMAIL
Andrew Cohen on Meditation
Related Ideas
-
Andrew Cohen on a Society Bereft of Philosophical Insight Liberation from the prison of personal ego. idea by Andrew Cohen in Faith & Beliefs -
Andrew Cohen: Spiritual Teacher One conversation suddenly gave meaning to the word “God.” idea by Andrew Cohen in Faith & Beliefs
-
Andrew Cohen: Engaging with Evolutionary Enlightenment God is not other than self. idea by Andrew Cohen in Faith & Beliefs
-
John McCain on NAFTA NAFTA has created millions of jobs, says McCain. -
Thomas Cooley: How Can You Make The Most Of Technological Revolution? The Dean of the NYU Stern School of Business, Thomas Cooley, on how technol
-
Geithner Answers Questions on His Financial Plan
-
Letterman Writer Gives Full Frontal Nudity the OK
-
Having Sex With Lolita in Tehran
-
Eleven Technologies That Will Revolutionize Business
-
How to Be a Smart Adopter
-
Michael Bloomberg Action Plan
-
Ricky Gervais on Religion
-
Ray Kurzweil on Living Well Forever
-
Eight Ways Microblogging Will Transform Your Company
Original content is for Non-commercial use under 
Andrew Cohen gives everything a bad name.
First, how we actually experience meditation, when we%u2019re not trying to do it? (It is the awakening to consciousness itself) as if consciousness is the destination. How awareness can focus upon particular object that arise in consciousness, may be they are thoughts, object, ideas. As if thoughts, object, ideas are outcome of consciousness. Moon mind thinks consciousness as phenomena.
In summary as he is explaining: consciousness is container and thoughts, object and ideas are contents so in meditation our awareness is released from identification with contents to focus on container.
When one becomes aware, consciousness starts to expand towards animal, trees, mountain, rivers, sky and whole universe as one is aware 100% he is conscious 100%. For example: stones, trees and animals has no possibility to be aware, doesn%u2019t mean consciousness doesn%u2019t exist.
Human has this wonderful possibly to be aware and if one is courageous enough starts to become aware and the quality to become aware is meditation.
Because only an enlighten person can able to invent techniques for meditation and only a courageous human being is ready to experiments these techniques creates an individual process to become conscious.
Science base on outer world search has reach to the same problem where these so-called spiritual teachers are. For example, for today%u2019s science, The universe is an object a container and because it is a container they found only 4% contents of universe is known matter and the rest 96% is just dark energy and dark matter. There are few courageous scientist who don%u2019t think universe as an object but everything which is exist is nothing but plasma and whatever is happening is just electricity moving into plasma. They claim 99.999% universe is plasma.
As per as inner world is concern, the situation is the same. These so-called spiritual teachers (Moon Mind) are able to say only 4% about consciousness and 96% is just they are covering their ignorance with beautiful words and so on%u2026
When a person enters into meditation, he has to face a big quantity of unconsciousness. As psychologists say we have 9 unconscious minds and only 1 conscious mind. That is the only difficulty and that is the only reason why there are very few who is ready make a quantum leap to go beyond Mind to No-Mind.
Meditation is not something to define. Unless meditation becomes a part of every day%u2019s activity, there is no hope to grow consciousness.
Meditation is The Only Solution!!!!
I found that after several 10 day silent retreats in India and Nepal, practicing Vipassana Meditation, I had a much stronger and more profound experience in a 45 minute drop in class at one of Andrew Cohen's EnlightenNext centres!
That got me thinking and I started exploring Andrew Cohen's teachings more...
I invite you to do the same...
It al depends on the meditation method, and on how long you have been meditating.
I would say that meditacion is a road you take, to a place or state you dont know where or what is,a travel into the once known but long forgotten.
WOW!!! Is there really people still dumb enough to believe this definition is anything but snake oil? A thing can never be defined by the same thing. An apple, defined, isn't helped by saying it's an apple. Come on people, all who agree, you did take a critical thinking class in college right? I guess by agreeing with this ludicrous example you haven't.
Cohen, you are not a prophet or enlightened. You are a modern day snake oil salesman and these are just your modern day sucker's. Good thing for you as PT Barnum first pointed out, a sucker is born every minute.
Sorry luke84848, you're a tw*t.
But besides that, who cares about the definition of meditation really. You don't need some technique, just go with it and do it at your own pace and how it's most comfortable for you. What I tend to do in the most vague way is I learn and teach myself spiritual lessons and meanings by getting in contact with the higher self.
And itious if I am a tw*t by what standard? If you want to try to put some one down at least have the decency of a definition; like I know you are a drone because you have no original ideas or thoughts... see the truth will set you free, simpleton.
Where all that we do can be meditation if we are completely focused in the moment on walking, doing the dishes, writing here, etc.
On another note, we're truly enjoying your critiques, both negative and positive, of Cohen's definition.
First, Thank you for such a wonderful website!
Second, your question: "Is it possible to live in the United States, our oh-so-snake-oily society, as a true enlightened scholar and thinker?"
Absolutely! You have a few great ones on here. The differences are in the teaching.
There are two points I would distinguish as one who is an enlightened scholar and thinker:
1. point: The ability to say something new. I don't have to agree or disagree if it is new than it is "enlightened".
2. point: one can not be "enlightened" teaching either extreme that we are nothing and ego is evil or we are everything and all Gods. Either extreme is old fanaticism that perpetuates arcane thinking.
Cohen perpetuates that people are nothing. This the root of alot of suffering. By devaluing the individual he exploits people and one day will be charged with fraud. Cohen will wind up in jail, just like Marshyl Silver and other con artists. Con artists like Cohen always wind up in jail.
Finally, you have a bigthinker on here Irwin Kula who states beautifully the role of the modern individual. He states: "You are not as powerful as you fantasize about, and you are not as powerlessness as your nightmares" Also his idea of what is a successful life is if you can say: "I really, relatively speaking, continue to grow and understand who I am." This is an enlightened thinker. And because of your wonderful website bigthinker I can say I am successful by that definition. Thanks for the question.
Meditation is simply a practice by which we clear our mind of all the bit and pieces of unfinished thoughts and emotions that accumulate over time. It is analogous to defragmenting the RAM in your computer to make it run faster. One need not drag in mysticism, psychobabble, or New Age double-speak. It's just a way of clearing your mind... hence the whole "do nothing" aspect of meditation. You truly are trying to do nothing, in the sense that you are trying to release everything in your mind.
I doubt that Cohen is only in it for the money? I'm sure he's convinced himself and some of his followers he's doing good.. and if he earns a bucket load of money in the process then this is just the universe repaying him what he's worth.
Still, I'm sure Jim Jones thought he was doing good.
Meditation seems like a needless, mystical synonym for introspection.
My "problem" with guys like Cohen is that they tend not to lead you to the source of these ideas. An authentic spiritual teacher almost always teaches within the context of a particular lineage, tradition or text, helping you to understand the meaning of the ideas and implement the methods. I don't get that feeling when I listen to guys like Andrew Cohen or Surya Das. They wreak of ego and materialism.
Kyle, it might seem that way given the descriptions offered by most "gurus"... While in a sense meditation can be introspective - you spend a lot of time looking at your own mind - introspection is very conceptual whereas meditation is not.
Of course, I could say meditation is this or that, but there's no simple definition that would suffice. The only way to "get it" is to study authentic (i.e., not pop) teachings and/or learn from an authentic spiritual teacher (i.e., not Andrew Cohen, Deepak Chopra or Lama Surya Das, Ashanti)! Even most of the books out there "by" H.H. The Dalai Lama are rather "pop" in their approach.
Finding "the real deal" isn't easy, but it's worth the search. Everything that needed to be SAID about meditation was said a long, long time ago. That's a hint. ;-)