My Master is My Self [Paperback]

Andrew Cohen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1995

My Master Is My Self is the compelling story of one man's single-hearted dedication to the discovery of the truth and the profound spiritual realization that irrevocably transformed his life. It begins with an intimate account of the meeting between Andrew Cohen and the then little known Indian teacher H.W.L. Poonja, which catapulted the author into an explosive spiritual awakening. As this extraordinary love story between teacher and student unfolds, the diaries and letters that compose this book go on to chronicle the events that ensued in Andrew's life during the next three years, describing the evolution of his understanding and how his own teaching began. Regarded as a modern spiritual classic, My Master Is My Self portrays with captivating passion the unfolding of a remarkable awakening and the birth of a profound spiritual teaching.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

What follows is the story of an extraordinary meeting. A meeting that occurred beyond time and that revealed a wisdom so deep that it dares even the most open-minded to suspend all ideas about what is real and what is true just to begin to let it in. It is the story of a love so profound that it pierces the illusion of separation and explodes the vast expanse of beginningless and endless freedom that wants only to be discovered by an innocent heart. This is a meeting that is dreamt of by many but one that few ever have the good fortune to experience, defying the limits of what most believe possible. Yet the dairies and letters that compose this story attest to the fact that it did indeed occur. My Master Is My Self chronicles the meeting between Andrew Cohen and his last teacher H.W.L. Poonja, and the events that unfolded in Andrew's life over the three years that followed. An intimate, first-hand account of a profound awakening is rare. And it is even more rare when such an account is articulated in a way that conveys not just the experience itself, but the depth of understanding that arose from it. This is what marks My Master Is My Self as such an unusual work.

From the Back Cover

"Our union began with the clear seeing of the fact that this 'knowledge' or understanding had nothing to do with the individuals involved. It was, and only could be, once again: the SELF NATURE. Not he and not I. Only ONE SELF. When this understanding is clear it sets the basis for a deep and profound meeting of two individualsin the realization that they, as separate entities, do not have any separate existence. They are both only manifestations of one being - one source. In the true seeing of this Fact, this Truth, there will be an absolutely Free and beautiful dance of the Self with the Self. A true union in emptiness. TRUE TEACHING which ultimately can only be the perception in silence of ourBEING."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Moksha Press; 2 edition (June 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883929075
• ISBN-13: 978-1883929077
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #820,045 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Andrew Cohen is a spiritual teacher, cultural visionary, and founder of the global nonprofit EnlightenNext and its award-winning publication EnlightenNext magazine. His original teaching of Evolutionary Enlightenment redefines spiritual awakening within the context of cosmic evolution and highlights a new understanding of God or Spirit as the creative impulse toward change in both self and culture. After a transformative meeting with the renowned Advaita Vedanta master H.W.L. Poonja in 1986, Cohen began teaching internationally and almost immediately started reshaping the larger cultural conversation about the purpose and significance of enlightenment in our time. He founded EnlightenNext magazine almost twenty years ago as a forum for serious spiritual and philosophical inquiry, and has since become known for his unique capacity to foster culture-changing dialogues among leading thinkers from a wide array of traditions and disciplines. 

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shelley Souza, March 30, 2009

By 

Shelley Souza (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Master is My Self (Paperback)

I read My Master Is My Self shortly after meeting Andrew Cohen in 1994. I had been with a teacher for almost ten years and in a sudden and irrevocable moment our relationship ended. The details are unimportant but the result of our break catapulted me into an experience of awakening. I didn't know it was that at the time. I only knew that my entire history had fallen away including that with my family and that I had to find the answer to why my spiritual search had gone wrong.

A friend had mentioned Andrew Cohen to me about six months before, saying I should see him when he came to New York. My friend described Andrew as a master teacher but I thought I had it all, already. I listened but without much interest to my friend as he extolled Andrew's virtues as a teacher and an enlightened human being. I saw no reason to go and see another spiritual teacher: after all, I already had one.

But then came the break (mentioned above). I was bereft. It was one of the most devastating experiences of my life. I knew without a doubt that my relationship with my teacher was over and at the same time I was heartbroken.

A couple of days after the parting of ways with my teacher, I started to feel compelled to see this person, Andrew Cohen. I called my friend and got the information of where Andrew would be teaching in New York.

When I arrived at the place where the teaching would take place I was struck by the liveliness of the crowd gathered to hear him speak. But more than the crowd I remember his entrance. It was quiet, understated, I sensed I was witnessing something I had never experienced before. There was an utter simplicity to this man, no fuss, no drama, almost as if he was invisible.

In those days, Andrew would ask new people to wait 45 minutes before speaking. I listened intently. I had to find out what had gone wrong with my search for enlightenment.

A young woman began with a question related to something Andrew had said the night before. It was about the boxer Evander Holyfield. Andrew had apparently observed that Holyfield would pray to God before beating up his opponent. The woman wanted to know why Andrew didn't see the good in praying to God for comfort. Andrew's response was very simple, he said: "There are two types of seekers, those who want to wake up and those who want to escape." In that instant I knew what had gone wrong with my search. Over the next two hours, without ever speaking to me directly (because I never raised my hand to speak with him), Andrew answered every important question I had about how to wake up permanently, and what it would take.

I recently re-read My Master Is My Self to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of Andrew's awakening through his last teacher, H.W.L. Poonja. Reading Andrew's description of his fleeting (but it turned out permanent) insight of Freedom upon hearing Poonja tell him that he didn't need to make effort, I realized I had experienced the same Freedom upon hearing Andrew's answer to the young woman that night in New York. At the time I didn't understand the full significance of what I was recognizing, nonetheless, I knew (without understanding how) that the man I was listening to was speaking the truth with a capital T in a way I had never heard another living person speak it.

My Master Is My Self is, first and foremost, a testament of Love between a student and a teacher, a disciple and a guru. It is not for everyone. But for anyone who wants to know what it takes to achieve permanent enlightenment this book is the answer, a guide and touchstone for that most noble endeavour: to wake up from the dream of ignorance, selfishness and delusion and surrender to the Absolute.

This book has tremendous power. It brought thousands of seekers who read it to the feet of H.W.L. Poonja, who would have remained an obscure Indian Master of Enlightenment without its publication.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected, July 8, 2011

By 

roberta peck (florida) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: My Master is My Self (Paperback)

I really lked the author's "Heaven and Earth" book and "11 Days on the Edge",a 500 page account by M. Wombacker of his time at an Andrew Cohen retreat. However I think readers may think the title suggests more than the contents so I am giving it a 3 star rating.
I did find interesting the letters of love written between Andrew and his Guru interesting, they were so flowery and adoring, like from another time period.This is really what the book consists of, the love between student and guru.
Yet,I am glad that I read this book because James Swartz is critical of Papaji's teachings on his Website-shiningworld under the title: From The Horse's Mouth. It relates how Papaji, Andrews guru, gave out spiritual clichés, like candy, to seekers he thought too ignorant to even begin to grasp anything worthwhile. However, these letters certainly reflect this gurus respect for Andrew's awakening. It may be noted that Andrew was later very disappointed in the sexual conduct of Papaji after Andrew left. The fame Papaji experienced after the wake of Andrew's leaving followed by Andrew's teaching seems to have corrupted Papaji.
Much has also been written about the corruption Of Andrew Cohen himself,still my oppinion is that he is an excellent teacher. All of the charges against him seem to be from his earlier days of teaching and aggresively interacting with students in a way which was supposed to help them overcome the ego. If you are reading this review I am suggesting 'How to Attain Enlightenment' by James Swartz

5 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars drivel, November 28, 2007

By 

kuffar harbi (switzerland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Master is My Self (Paperback)

This a masterpiece of glibness and plausability. It resides in the world of the seemingly-true and therefore, as spiritual teaching, should be avoided like the plague.Only a psychically marginalised and cathectically needy lost soul would gravitate towards such brainless piffle and that is precisely the kind of victim that Cohen is targeting. Shame on him and his arrogant deluded hubris!