Editor's Foreword and Introduction

Editor's Foreword 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 but few ever have the good fortune to experience, defying the limits of what most believe possible. Yet the diaries 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. First published in 1989, it has become a modern underground spiritual classic. Introduction Nothing I had previously been involved with prepared me for the remarkable events which are described in this book. In the early 1970s I began seeking for Enlightenment. I spent eight years in India, meditating, seeing teachers, and reading spiritual books. In 1980 I went to live in England and this search was still the primary focus in my life. After five years, I felt frustrated and returned to India. I had planned on going to meditate but somehow wasn't satisfied with that. There was a longing for something else. When I met H. W. L. Poonja, a disciple of Sri Ramana Maharshi, I had a sense that my search could actually come to an end. When I met Andrew Cohen that possibility became a reality. The meeting between Guru and disciple is a mystery. It is a mystery that can only be known by those involved and even then only its intimations can be felt. This book is a detailed account of such a meeting. I was asked to write a brief narrative to help introduce the material in this book. This appears throughout in italicized print. Murray Feldman March 1989