Andrew Cohen was an internationally respected spiritual teacher and the founder of Evolutionary Enlightenment. Raised in a secular Jewish family in New York City, he experienced a spontaneous revelation of cosmic consciousness at the age of sixteen, which set him on a lifelong spiritual journey.

A fateful meeting with the revered master H.W.L. Poonja in 1986 sparked a life-changing awakening, after which Andrew quickly developed a unique spiritual teaching. Departing radically from traditional Eastern approaches, Evolutionary Enlightenment called not for transcendence of the world, but for a deep and heroic responsibility toward its evolution.

Andrew became known for boldly casting aside the sacred cows of the spiritual world. His teachings grappled with the challenge of bringing the revelation of enlightenment to a contemporary Western audience, integrating postmodern cultural and scientific understanding with an original and sophisticated non-dual philosophy.

In nearly four decades of teaching, he engaged with thousands of seekers worldwide, continuously evolving his teachings through direct dialogue with students, teachers, scholars, and philosophers. The community that formed around him eventually became known as EnlightenNext, establishing centers in seven countries.

From 1991 to 2010, Andrew served as the editor-in-chief of the award-winning EnlightenNext magazine, a publication exploring profound spiritual questions with contributions from some of the world’s most noted thought leaders.

In 2013, he went on sabbatical and returned to public teaching at the end of 2016 following a period of introspection and deep enquiry.

In 2019, Andrew founded Manifest Nirvana (www.manifest-nirvana.com), alongside some of his closest students. Manifest Nirvana was established as a platform dedicated to exploring and disseminating his teachings, offering ongoing dialogues, workshops, and courses designed to foster spiritual awakening and collective evolutionary consciousness.

Andrew Cohen passed away on 25th March 2025 in Tiruvannamalai, India.

You can read his Obituary here:
https://andrewcohen.com/obituary/