A question for journalists and researchers who may someday do dissertations or write a biography of Andrew Cohen.
Where and when did Andrew Cohen learn his way with words?
Did Andrew Cohen master some methods of verbal persuasion and aggression before his time in India, prior to the fateful encounter with HWL Poonja?
There is little excitement in saying one has studied many hours before mastering a skill.
It is much more exciting to make it seem one acquired that same skill seeminly out nowhere after an encounter with a guru. One doenst even have to say, "I aquired eloquence along with enlightenment, thanks to Guru X"
Instead, one can convey one's life story, making it seem all one's skills blossomed only after the encounter with Guru X. Tales of magic and gurus are rife in India and on the seekers circuit; one's listeners will tend to forget that skills must be learned and practiced--they cannot be downloaded into one's mind by 'transmission'.
If one reads The Mother of God, the description written by Luna Tarlo, Cohen's mother, she describes her shock upon seeing her son after his encounter with Poonja. She tells how shocked she was to see how Andrew had seeminly, suddenly become endowed with eloquence 'with a silver tongue' as she termed it, and how rapidly he had acquired a following.
Yet at that very same time, she described how Andrew was demonstrating not only eloquence, but a quite savage ability to put people down with sharp words and glances.
Tarlo's account makes it seem that Andrew acquired eloquence and social confidence after the two weeks Andrew spent with HWL Poonja, making it seem this acquisition of social and verbal skill had happened through some sort of mysterious transmission process between Poonja and Andrew.
(Post hoc ergo propter hoc - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaPost hoc ergo propter hoc (Latin: "after this, therefore because of this") is a logical
fallacy (of the questionable cause variety) that states "Since event Y followed X, Y must have been caused by event X.)
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Journalists, students, here is Corboy's question: Could Andrew Cohen have studied methods of people management and verbal persuasion before he went to India? Or during his time in India?
How did he learn to set up retreats and workshops? We are not born knowing how to do that; we have to learn it.
And -- are Andrew's methods unique or does his method of discussion, questioning and challenge resemble methods used by other well known human potential leaders who were active in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s?
The period when Andrew was doing his spiritual searching?
One good step for anyone who wishes to investigate this strange career is to get and read psychologist Len Oakes book Prophetic Charisma. He interviewed 20 charismatic leaders and found that every single one of them had been avid students of social and persuasive methods.
One has to abandon the assumption that a guru can transmit talent along with nondual awareness.
Debate, persuasion, shattering verbal attack, cutting shame inducing gestures and glances, voice modulation, arrangement of a retreat -- all of these are skills and must be learned and practiced.
One does not learn judo by having an instructor gaze into your eyes or magically transmit the skills with a touch of a finger -- one must spend many hours learning the forms and practicing.
It should not be any different when learning and mastering the verbal equivalent of martial arts.
Now, to the reviews on Amazon.com
One reviewer of American Guru by Bill Yenner wrote
"if you are interested in learning how otherwise highly intelligent and idealistic individuals can be drawn into cults of any kind, and come out the other side in one piece, this book is invaluable. "
Another reviewer made an observation that demonstrates, yet again, that transcendant experiences do not prove that the person orchestrating such experiences is wise or or kind.
"The point? Whatever stupendous and transcendent experiences I had (and we all had them), the corruption was there from the start. Cohen's own demons were not vanquished upon meeting Poonja-ji. To the lasting sorrow of all who have thrown away their autonomy for him, those demons were given free rein and given the name "Master". "
Reviews of American Guru from Amazon.com
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5.0 out of 5 stars Shouldn't Andrew Cohen step down? July 12 2012
By J C. L - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
"It has been suggested by anonymous sources, otherwise fearful, to me as a critic of various guru figures, to make public a request that Andrew Cohen step down from his position as 'guru' in the context of his EnlightenNext initiative.
The account in this excellent work is so depressingly clear on the issue of guru abuse that I think some kind of outside intervention or declaration is needed.
"The legacy of confusion here has gone on for a whole generation and includes the figures, Da Free John, E.J.Gold, Lee Lozowick and Andrew Cohen. The whole sequence here has been haywire from the beginning.
(((Corboy note: E.J. Gold and Lee Lozowick (now deceased) were both quoted at length in Mariana Caplan's plausible book, "Halfway Up the Mountain - The Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment." Andrew Cohen was also quoted in the book. Corboy was impressed by Lozowick's quoted material and attended a lecture given by him. Corboy and another person walked out after 20 minutes due to Lozowick's shocking bad manners.)))
(JCL continues)"The account here (Amercian Guru)is of a baffling display of pathological behavior masked by a misleading endorsement of Cohen's reputed enlightenment. The original source of this endorsement is itself entirely suspect and has empowered a very a questionable career of authoritarian behavior.
"One of the larger problems here is the lack of any traditional context made clear.
" What is the canon of the guru? What religion is in the background, Hinduism, Buddhism, ...? The lack of any clear context for a teaching has produced a completely vacuous teaching made up 'as you go along'.
(Corboy This was rationalized as being 'revolutionary/evolutionary')
"The quest for enlightenment beyond ego is not achieved by (egoic) ego-bashing of 'disciples' by a teacher. Ego cannot be destroyed by castigation and attempts to destroy a person's psyche. It is a misunderstanding to think you can destroy ego, and the task is that of self-enlightening transcendence of ego, by the individual in question, and in the final analysis the guru figure is at best a witness to what the disciple must do. The kind of shenanigans depicted in this book show someone out of control, with no grasp of what is needed.
"The Buddhist declaration of the entry to the Path of Enlightenment makes no reference as such to gurus or guruism. The fetish of the guru as absolute authority is a late distortion of the original primordial tradition.
"Real seekers might well seek the counsel of a wise figure on the way to self-enlightenment. But the decadence of the yogic tradition into the guru royalty phenomenon has no place in a democratic age, and is not needed. In fact it is often a front for reactionary politics masquerading as spiritual practice. The art of being a guru is a hard one, and at best that of a witness to the self-action of those who enter the path.
"On the basis of the information given by this book it should be clear that the authority of this impostor is void, and without any basis.
86 of 108 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A response to Roberta's letter Sept. 20 2009
By J C. H - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
"I feel compelled to provide a rebuttal to Roberta's review of Bill's book. I think most of us on the spiritual path will agree that it is the most challenging and difficult work that anyone can engage in. Everything eventually must be looked into if we really want to be free from our conditioning, including those sides of us that are the most painful and difficult to face. I think it is true that whoever endeavors to undertake such a journey must be willing to "face everything and avoid nothing."
"But let's be clear what exactly it is that Bill and other ex-students of Andrew Cohen are alleging here: systematic abusive behavior either done by Andrew or under his specific direction, including pressuring people to give large sums of money when they "failed" in some way (Bill personally was "compelled" to give $80,000 when he fell out of favor with Andrew, which he eventually got back after signing a five year gag order), slapping long time students when they commit some "error", and an incident in which buckets of paint were poured over the head of a women who allegedly disappointed Andrew, just to name a few. There have been many, many more examples of this kind of behavior in Andrew's community (go to whatenlightenment.blogspot.com to read more).
"Roberta, can you please explain to me how these actions can in any way be considered right and ethical? I would really like to hear from you how these actions could be right in ANY context, let alone a spiritual community supposedly upholding a higher standard of integrity. And if you are alleging that anyone outside of a spiritual community are in no position to judge what is ethical and what is not, I profoundly and unequivocally disagree with you.
"Simply put, Roberta, what about the specific events that that Bill describes in this book??!! This is not a story of people having their poor, little egos bruised. This is a story of truly cruel and twisted behavior that is being presented as "enlightened behavior."
"These stories are shocking to read about, and it personally offends me to hear them being rationalized as being done for the "sole benefit of the student's liberation." This could only be true if you consider humiliation and degradation a valid part of the spiritual path.
"I was a student of Andrew's for around three years over ten years ago. For many years after I left, I still felt a sense of loyalty to Andrew and what his community was doing. For a long time I have wrestled with these stories and my own personal loyalty to Andrew and his community, but no longer. The documented events are unequivocally abusive acts, and they offend my conscience to the point where I feel I must speak up, for the sake of what's right.
"Roberta, I know you personally from my time in Andrew's group many years ago, and recall you warmly. But I think you are doing a great disservice to the truth by insinuating that what this book contains is only Bill's "refusal" to face himself. Are you saying that the events Bill and other ex-students have mentioned did not take place? If not, do you personally condone these events as legitimate actions from an enlightened master solely concerned with the student's transformation?
"Enough is enough! I feel that it is time for those of us who disagree profoundly with these abusive, destructive acts to speak out against them forcefully and unconditionally. Personally, my conscience demands it.
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34 of 47 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A truly important, healing book Oct. 25 2009
By Daniel Shaw - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
"Congratulations and thanks to William Yenner and all the contributors to this exceptionally clear, important book, American Guru.
"It is an open secret that followers of Andrew Cohen are subjected to abuse and exploitation that has nothing to do with spirituality, and everything to do with the pathological narcissism of Andrew Cohen. Former followers have spoken out, in this volume, with great courage and honesty.
"It would be wonderful to see such honesty and courage demonstrated by other leaders of the New Age movement. Instead of rationalizing and minimizing the extent of these abuses, instead of ignoring and dismissing the experiences of former followers, wouldn't it be wonderful if people like Ken Wilber, Genpo Roshi, Rupert Sheldrake, Deepak Chopra, Bernie Glassman, etc, could have the courage and the integrity to pay attention, to take up the cause of Cohen's former members, and confront Cohen publicly?
"If such celebrities of the New Age do not have this kind of courage and integrity, at least William Yenner and the authors of this book do - and their work will be of enormous benefit to those who have been cruelly violated and betrayed by Andrew Cohen, in the name of spirituality.
Daniel Shaw, L.C.S.W., author of Traumatic Abuse in Cults: A Psychoanalytic Perspective
28 of 41 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Sullied from the start Oct. 30 2009
By D I. W - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
"As someone who spent little more than a year in Andrew Cohen's community (1988-89), I have mostly kept myself apart from the online rumble. However, reading Bill Yenner's "American Guru" was a fine refresher in the reasons I left relatively quickly.
((Corboy note: 1988/89 were within the earliest years of Cohen's guru movement.)
"I will only briefly echo the praise this book has rightfully received. It's honest, humble, and complete without dragging the reader through every horrifying abuse that Cohen has perpetrated (and which is available on the What Enlightenment blog expose for those with the stomach for it.)
"If I am equally honest with myself, I have to admit that I saw the cult dynamics at work from the very beginning. I saw otherwise mature people acting slavish and infantilized to meet Cohen's tacit expectation of devotion. A fellow student shared with me her letter to Andrew in which she so thoroughly demonized herself for (fill in the blank: arrogance, ego, selfishness) that it took all the denial I could muster not to see it as the introjection of Cohen's own shadow. When, after a few months, I was offered the plum assignment of editing the transcripts of Andrew's talks, it was just as quickly taken away when I did not drop everything, run to his house with an armful of flowers, and throw myself at his feet in gratitude (all part of the unwritten rulebook).
"The final straw for me was attending a series of brutal, 70s-style men's group encounters where the designated scapegoat would be psychically flayed by the community members he had entrusted his spiritual well-being to. When I dared to raise a question about whether this was an effective way of working with the wayward student (leaving aside such wimpy notions as compassion), I drew the collective ire of the group upon myself. I was berated for days, until my own good sense caught up with me and gave me permission to leave.
"The point? Whatever stupendous and transcendent experiences I had (and we all had them), the corruption was there from the start. Cohen's own demons were not vanquished upon meeting Poonja-ji. To the lasting sorrow of all who have thrown away their autonomy for him, those demons were given free rein and given the name "Master". "
40 of 59 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Fair and Balance and NOT from FOX NEWS Sept. 13 2009
By D H. Pr - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
"Having been 'on the road' as a tourist in the spiritual landscape of post-modern America for decades myself, I can appreciate the pains, the pitfalls and feelings of bitter resentment that are too often the only reward after years of dedicated practice in the hands of a teacher that promises more than they can actually deliver.
Yenner's candid and even self-deprecating review of his time in the Andrew Cohen community is a clear eyed examination of his personal experience and observations. He pain-stakingly details and footnotes his recounting of the rise and fall of an idealistic follower who, as is too often the case, came to the end of an initially inspiring and finally gruelingly abusive relationship broken and racked with self doubt and self recrimination.
"Rather than settle for the well earned cynicism that justifiably belongs to those who have been exploited by a charismatic a leader, Mr. Yenner submits himself to a process of self reflection, scrutiny and personal responsibility that carefully leads the reader step by step through his process all the way to the beginnings of self-reclamation and healing. An invaluable accounting of one man's journey from love to betrayal and back again. If your looking for an Andrew Cohen hit piece this is not it ~ but if you are interested in learning how otherwise highly intelligent and idealistic individuals can be drawn into cults of any kind, and come out the other side in one piece, this book is invaluable. (unquote)