A New Relationship to Thought (Quote of the Week)
by Andrew CohenQuestion:
What was your relationship to thought before you were convinced that there was a problem?
_
Tag: "quote"
Radical Indeterminacy (Quote of the Week)
by Andrew Cohen
In our most evolutionarily enlightened moments, we directly experience the truth of the fact that we are all truly on a cosmic journey. When we literally begin to feel the telos, or directionality, of the entire process moving in and through our own nervous system, this is when we directly experience that movement as a vertical impulse in our own consciousness, way beyond our egos. We see that where we are headed is never static or predetermined. In every moment, there is the possibility for something new. This is what I have recently been calling “radical indeterminacy”—when we glimpse for ourselves the limitless nature of our own potential to evolve, infinitely and forever.
Apr 26, 2010 | 11 comments | View Post
The Greatest Good (Quote of the Week)
by Andrew Cohen
From an evolutionary perspective or worldview, development—the emergence of that which is new—is seen as the greatest good. So during the limited time that each of us has here on Earth, we all have the opportunity to develop, to make a difference in this world through applying our God-given capacity for free agency, or freedom of choice, to our own conscious evolution. No matter who we are, we all have some measurable, not insignificant degree of free agency. And learning how to activate that gift, so that which is truly higher and new can emerge through us, is what makes all the difference.
Apr 19, 2010 | 15 comments | View Post
The Key to Liberation (Quote of the Week)
by Andrew Cohen
I don’t believe we have to solve all of our psychological problems in order to become liberated human beings. In the way that I teach, the key to our liberation is simple and direct: it occurs when we discover and recognize something that is more important. When you awaken to something that has infinitely greater spiritual, moral, and philosophical value than your personal problems, when you discover a higher perspective that is inherently more meaningful than the woes of your wounded self, those problems and woes won’t necessarily disappear, but they suddenly appear to be dramatically less important. Continue reading…
Mar 29, 2010 | 3 comments | View Post
Where There Is No Other (Quote of the Week)
by Andrew Cohen
When two or more individuals who have awakened to what I call the Evolutionary Impulse, or Authentic Self, come together in deep dialogue and focused conversation, the experience is something akin to thinking aloud with yourself. Why? Because there is only one Authentic Self. The ego can only have a relationship with other separate individuals, but the Authentic Self can only have a relationship with itself. If you awaken to the Authentic Self and another also becomes illuminated by that same Self, you will find that you both experience a strong pull to be together, but what you are drawn to is not the other individual’s unique personality. The Authentic Self isn’t interested in other individuals. Continue reading…
Mar 08, 2010 | 24 comments | View Post
You, Whoever You Are (Quote of the Week)
by Andrew Cohen
People often ask me, What is the self? What is it that actually evolves? And I always answer, It’s you, whoever you are. I don’t just mean your ego or personality. But what I’m pointing to is the fact that beneath all of that there is some essential core of selfhood or agency that is making choices. If you want to become an evolutionarily enlightened human being, your ability to succeed depends upon accepting the simple fact that you are the one who is making the choices. You are the chooser. Continue reading…
Mar 01, 2010 | 16 comments | View Post
A Messy Process (Quote of the Week)
by Andrew Cohen
Evolution is a messy process. So anybody who really wants to make the effort to strive for something new is going to have to be willing to make mistakes, take wrong turns, even to fail, but never give up. The simple truth is this: if not failing is more important to you than genuinely succeeding, you’re never going to make it. If you really want to succeed, you have to have the big heart, heroic will, tenacity, courage, and commitment to fearlessly engage with the evolutionary process until something profound, mysterious, and extraordinary happens that cannot be undone.
Feb 01, 2010 | 40 comments | View Post
Seek Until You Find (Quote of the Week)
by Andrew Cohen
You must seek until you find. Only when you find what you have been looking for will you be able to truly stop seeking. Better not to stop seeking energetically until then. It is imperative that you do not stop seeking until you reach the goal of Enlightenment. Do not allow yourself to stop until you’ve come to the absolute end of all seeking. Only when you have come home forever and you know without any doubt that it is all over should you allow yourself to stop.
Jan 27, 2010 | 65 comments | View Post
Deconstructing Your Culturally Created Self (Quote of the Week)
by Andrew Cohen
The ego, which has traditionally been the enemy of the spiritual aspirant, is not just an individual entity. It also has a collective dimension. The collective ego is your culturally conditioned self–the conglomeration of conscious and unconscious ideas that represent the way you assume life is supposed to be. It is all of the “shoulds” and “shouldn’ts” you have absorbed from those around you and from the shared history of your culture or ethnic background. It is a set of subtle and not-so-subtle beliefs, ideas, and ways of seeing the world that you deeply subscribe to but may not even be aware of. Continue reading…
Jan 11, 2010 | 23 comments | View Post
Leave the Door Open for That Which Is New (Quote of the Week)
by Andrew Cohen
Without being aware of it, many of us tend to base our sense of what’s possible now, in this present moment, upon what has or has not happened in the past. But if we want to be spiritually liberated, indeed, if we want to be an expression of evolution-in-action, we have to dare to look beyond everything we already know. We have to leave the door open for the unimaginable. We have to stop weighing and measuring what’s possible now by what has already happened. We have to let go of all the conscious and unconscious cynicism that has become habitual in our way of thinking. Continue reading…
Dec 21, 2009 | 13 comments | View Post
