I wrote an obituary the following day and shared a few experiences of my relationship with Andrew, founder of Evolutionary Enlightenment.
In the days following, some of you sent your responses to my social media and more on what you read. Thank you for taking the time. You might be interested to read other responses below.
Andrew giving satsang prior to his fall from grace
I wrote in the comments section at the foot of my Substack post.
I have added extra paragraphs to Andrew’s disillusionment with Poonja-ji due to Poonja’s love affair in 1968. Poonja also disagreed about Andrew’s methods of teaching. This upset Andrew. A small gap became a chasm between them with the students of both teachers having a range of views and opinions.
If your interested to read the extra text, then go to the bold heading. – Andrew’s Disillusionment with Poonja-ji.
https://substack.com/@christophertitmuss
I regard Andrew’s disillusionment, as well as his issues with Poonja, as important in the evolution of his story.
His story serves as a lesson for all of us in terms of our relationship to our authority, the importance of humility when we express our authority and our relationship to authority of others.
Reflections from Readers on Andrew and the Obituary
- Thank you for this piece, Christopher. Honestly, I do not read many of the posts I receive, but read this one beginning to end, before 6am in Spain. Fascinating to get so much detail about someone I never met or heard of. Thank you for the attention you just gave to his life. It is a wonderful gift.
- A complete dick. Good riddance.
- Fascinating read, thank you. A beautiful and well-balanced piece. I’m sure there are various dharma journals that might like to publish it. Andrew was before my time (I did my decade of dharma bumming starting in the 00’s). But I heard various testimonies, mostly from those who were more alert to the dangers of his cult as opposed to people caught up in it. One story stuck out which you’ve touched on here. That Andrew deliberately came to Bodhgaya when you were teaching looking to recruit new students. That he gave a talk during your retreat which many students decided to go to. Not only were you completely relaxed about “your students” going to listen to Andrew, but that you told them off for leaving his talk early which was disrespectful. I enjoyed hearing that story and you earned respect in my book as a dharma teacher for that.
- Andrew was a classic example of the absurdity of Gurus who cling to their insight into ’emptiness of self’ as evidence of their own self-importance.
- I like this, agree.
- Thank you, dear Christopher, for this interesting reflexion! I never had any contact with this guru, only read his first book a long time ago, and also the harsh criticism by his former Dutch follower. I often mention some of the meaningful and for me enlightening conversations I had with you in Thailand in Wat Thao Khot and Wat Suanmokh., back in those blessed times, to our meditation sangha.
- Sorry I hear of Andrew’s death. I only met him a few times. He did seem very stressed. Your obituary Chris is very self-referential. I find myself admiring schoolteachers, social workers, nurses, doctors, people who drive taxis, serve food, farmers and construction workers they seem so much more compassionate and less narcissistic than self-proclaimed gurus.
- I enjoyed the article. Thank you Christopher for going to the trouble of putting together your memories of Andrew.
- I appreciate the article sometimes and but – likes/dislikes also not other times. Suddenly you are such a fan of Andrew?! I sat at Gaia House for several months when Andrew was there before he went to see Punja-ji after having a major fight with you in Bodh Gaya I heard. Well and then all the stuff that happened around him, a lot of suffering. Ok then he fell from grace, not a day to early. I never heard you mention enlightenment so often as in this article Christopher. You taught me about and had me read the “Guru Papers” all about dangers around devotion to a teacher etc. But now you seem such an admirer of Andrew, I don’t get it. Well further I actually met Andrew this Winter, we talked a bit. He was very sick with Parkinson and could hardly walk. He was somewhat a broken man. He blessed me when I reminded him of our days at Gaia House. In my friend’s house I saw his book: A Bodhisattva shadow” or “fall from grace” something like that. Now why this attack on his mother Luna? Your article is biased. Sorry to see. Because she said you’re narcissistic- aren’t we all!!!
- Many views on this man I never met or experienced. It is funny how differently a text can be read. I see it as an account of personal experiences of love and tension with a man who was difficult but still had positive qualities and deserves love, like everyone else.
- I’m with Stephen Bachelor! I went to Andrew’s things a few times in Totnes. I found him heavily manipulative, shallow and often unpleasant. Couldn’t understand what people saw in him. Obviously, this reflects on my own lack of spiritual development.
- Brief note to say how much I appreciated your generous obituary of Andrew Cohen. Given its length and thoroughness, I was impressed how quickly you published it just a day or two after his death.
- Ah NO Christopher. Don’t agree with your comments and Poonja-ji and his relationship with Belgian Girl. That’s not following a Buddhist Path. Ironically, Andrew finally returned to the Advaita Master of true worth Ramana. Now there’s a person who walked his Truth.
- I’m enjoying reading your obituary of Andrew Cohen. Much to reflect on. I remember visiting Poonja-ji in 1994 in Lucknow, Maybe Poonja-ji overlooked Andrew’s mental/emotional immaturity, even though he had very deep experiences and insights… just an opinionated opinion from my side.
- Thank you for this summation of Andrew Cohen’s life. I saw a documentary that was quite scathing, it was good to hear of his heart’s longing as a counterbalance.
Thank you for your contributions.
Final Word
If there is a significant evolvement of Andrew’s teachings, liberated from his personal history, then I will let you know through my social media. That could be weeks away, years away or never.
On Sunday (30 March 2025), I started reading his last book (published 2023) When Shadow Meets the Bodhisattva. Andrew (RIP) provides a graphic account of his experiences following his signed resignation as the guru, his depth of suffering and the specific steps he took to transform his mind. Sub-title of his book is: The Challenging Transformation of a Modern Guru.
He worked hard on himself in the years following to dissolve his dark shadows – to his credit. He writes that some of his old students refused to accept he had undergone inner change. They questioned his motives. Reading the book, it looks like some former students of Andrew went from intense and exaggerated positive projections to negative shadows.
I will review the book and put on my social media in a week or two.
Three blogs/posts will complete the response – Obituary, Reflections in the Sangha/others and Review of his last book.
Life moves on.
Love
Christopher