Students & Initiatives

Legacy

Andrew Cohen's teaching catalyzed a generation of practitioners who went on to create books, platforms, communities, and experiments in conscious evolution. This page gathers profiles of his students and projects initiated by former members of EnlightenNext — a living map of how the work continues to unfold.

Daniela Bomatter

A spiritual practitioner, teacher, and cultural visionary who studied with Andrew Cohen from 2008 onward. She co-founded Manifest Nirvana in 2019 and, since Cohen's passing, continues to host retreats at Arunachala while extending the teaching through writing, dialogue, and new cultural forms.

Manifest Nirvana

A spiritual community and online platform dedicated to Evolutionary Enlightenment — rooted at the foot of Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai and reaching a global community through live teachings, retreats, guided meditations, and intersubjective practice.

The Viratya Myth

A visionary novel of speculative fiction — poetic, immersive, and alive with symbolic language. Not formulaic sci-fi or packaged spirituality, but a field you enter: a culture awakening from within.

Co-creating the Third Attractor

A conversation series and inquiry into meta-coherence — listening to the call from the future through dialogues with thinkers, mystics, activists, and system designers exploring what lies beyond the meta-crisis.

Vincent Drouot

Originally from France, Vincent Drouot is a trainer and instructional designer specializing in Generative AI, with a background as an entrepreneur spanning technology, training, and innovation. A senior practitioner of Evolutionary Enlightenment, he has been a dedicated student of Andrew Cohen since 2008, following a life-changing retreat where he met his teacher. Over the past 17 years, he has cultivated a close relationship with Andrew as guru, mentor, and friend. An active member of Manifest Nirvana, Vincent lives in France, where he continues his work in both technology and spiritual practice.

Manifest Nirvana

Annick Macher

A lawyer, trainer, and consultant in labor law in France, Annick Macher is deeply interested in the world of work and its evolution, facilitating social dialogue within companies. A long-term student of Andrew Cohen for 17 years, she has been passionately inspired by the teachings of Evolutionary Enlightenment and the innovative practice of intersubjective dialogue — which she now uses as a compass to help reclaim meaning in human relationships at work.

Manifest Nirvana

Sara Topsoe

An artist by profession with more than twenty years of experience leading creative processes, Sara Topsoe has served as an artistic leader in cross-aesthetic and co-creative performance productions. Since meeting Andrew Cohen in 2011 and becoming his student, she has been passionately involved in the spiritual practice, development, and facilitation of intersubjective dialogue.

Manifest Nirvana

Art of Listening

Explorations in consciousness and culture — artistic projects, workshops, and processes that change the way we experience reality through participatory, sensorial art grounded in phenomenology, collective intelligence, and the art of listening.

Tom Huston

Tom Huston began practicing Andrew Cohen's teachings in 1998. He served as an editor of Cohen's award-winning magazine EnlightenNext (née What Is Enlightenment?) and was a founding member of Ken Wilber's Integral Institute. Encouraged by Andrew to teach in 2023, Tom now works with students one-on-one and leads courses through Tantrika, a platform for actualizing the dynamic freedom of enlightened consciousness in every dimension of life.

Tantrika

Teaching programs in Integral Nonduality for those called to awaken, realize their soul's purpose, and express ever-greater goodness, truth, and beauty in the world.

Paul Bloch

A student of Andrew Cohen's teaching and a builder of cultural infrastructure — creating platforms that connect evolutionary spirituality with community, media, and the sacred landscape of Tiruvannamalai.

ICON

A global initiative at the intersection of consciousness, culture, and collective evolution — convening practitioners and visionaries around the work of awakening in the twenty-first century.

Tiru.fm

A radio and media platform rooted in Tiruvannamalai — sharing sound, culture, and the living spirit of the sacred mountain.

Nondualize.com

Meditation and spiritual teachings with Andrew Cohen — a platform for awakening, offering guided practice and dharma drawn from Evolutionary Enlightenment.

Steve Brett & Mary Adams

Longtime students of Andrew Cohen and contributors to EnlightenNext, Steve and Mary founded 3rd Space — a platform for new perspectives in critical times. Through articles, interviews, podcasts, and immersive journeys, they convene voices reshaping the future of consciousness and society.

3rd Space

A home for alternatives — new ways of thinking, being, and doing beyond polarising ideologies. A refuge for depth, intercultural communication, and sensemaking for a world in transition.

Dr. Elizabeth Debold & Dr. Thomas Steininger

Elizabeth Debold, a former senior editor of EnlightenNext (née What Is Enlightenment?) magazine, having long worked alongside her partner, the late Thomas Steininger, former editor-in-chief of Evolve magazine in Germany, continues to carry forward a dialogical approach to cultural transformation — making visible the movements of conscious change across philosophy, politics, art, and psychology.

evolve Magazin

A voice of a new culture of consciousness emerging across society. evolve tracks innovative visionaries and activists, offering a dialogue forum for those bringing more spirit into the world through their own development and the transformation of culture.

evolve World

A human hive of co-creative emergence — a growing community of inquiry and practice catalyzing new consciousness and culture through magazine, podcast, salons, live events, courses, and the Communiverse membership community.

Interbeing Monastery

A global online community of practice where the sacred opens between us — offering weekday meditation, Open Interbeing Lab, tea dialogues, and quarterly days of practice for cultivating emergence through interbeing and dialogue.

Amir Freimann

An Israeli researcher and author, Amir Freimann spent over twenty years in intensive spiritual practice in Andrew Cohen's EnlightenNext community — following two years of Zen training in Japan — before returning to Israel and academia. His work bridges spiritual search and academic research, exploring spiritual transmission, living transcendence, and the Experience of Being through interviews, books, and doctoral research at the University of Haifa.

Spiritual Search and Academic Research

A meeting place for spiritual seekers with rational sensibilities and academic researchers with spiritual sensibilities — exploring the Experience of Being, living transcendence, spiritual transmission, and enlightening each other.

Emergence Foundation

A fund created from EnlightenNext by former members, the Emergence Foundation supports those engaged in social justice, activism, and making the world a better place — offering grants, retreats, and spaces for regeneration, contemplation, and enquiry.

Emergence Foundation

From grant-giving to hosting retreats and events, the Foundation creates spaces where activists and changemakers can remember and re-engage with the deepest parts of themselves — and return to their work renewed.

Craig Hamilton

A pioneering spiritual teacher and founding member of Ken Wilber's Integral Institute, Craig Hamilton spent eight years as Senior Editor of What Is Enlightenment? magazine. His contemporary approach to direct awakening has transformed seekers in over 85 countries.

Craig Hamilton

Online courses, guided meditations, and a monthly membership program integrating decades of intensive practice with a revolutionary approach to meditation — bringing enlightenment down to earth and unlocking the codes to our highest human potential.

Jeff Carreira

Author, teacher, and founder of The Mystery School, Jeff Carreira has dedicated over thirty years to spiritual liberation, soul development, and transdimensional spirituality — exploring the invisible dimensions of reality and our inner capacities for transformation.

Emergence Education

A publishing house and educational platform dedicated to spiritual awakening and paradigm-shifting ideas — featuring books, The Artist of Possibility magazine, programs, and The Mystery School.

Jeff Carreira & The Mystery School

Programs, retreats, books, and an online community for spiritual transformation and mutual evolution — liberating ourselves from the limits of ordinary selfhood and exploring higher realms of being.

Carter Phipps

A visionary writer, thought-leader, and student of Andrew Cohen from 1991–2013, Carter Phipps served as a senior editor of EnlightenNext (née What Is Enlightenment?) magazine from 1999 to 2011. His award-winning journalism and books have helped articulate the emerging conversation at the intersection of evolution, consciousness, and culture.

Carter Phipps

Thinking ahead about leadership and culture — writing, speaking, and consulting at the intersection of business, personal development, and evolutionary change.

Evolutionaries

A groundbreaking guide to the movement of scientists, philosophers, and spiritual thinkers illuminating the secrets of our past and expanding the vistas of our future.

Thinking Ahead

A podcast exploring the movements, trends, people, and ideas shaping the future — from business and politics to science, technology, consciousness, and spirituality.

Institute for Developmental Philosophy

A nonprofit advancing humanity's understanding of cultural evolution — renewing society's commitment to truth, beauty, and goodness through developmental politics and integrative policy.

Amy Edelstein

A transformative educator, author, and close student of Andrew Cohen from 1986–2013, Amy Edelstein served as a senior editor of What Is Enlightenment? magazine and Communications Director for EnlightenNext. She now directs her work toward youth and education as the founder of Inner Strength Education and cofounder of Emergence Education Press.

Amy Edelstein

Transformative educator, author, and school mindfulness leader — offering courses, award-winning books, the Conscious Classroom podcast, and guided practice for personal and cultural change.

Inner Strength Education

A proven teen mindfulness and social-emotional learning program bringing mindfulness and systems thinking to classrooms — empowering students with calm, curiosity, and care across Philadelphia and beyond.

Gia Mantra Global Village

An experimental eco-village at the foot of Arunachala in Tamil Nadu. Andrew Cohen, Alka Arora, and Daniela Bomatter were among its early investors — supporting a global community dedicated to sustainable living, spiritual growth, and holistic wellness.

Gia Mantra Global Village

A peaceful eco-village offering wellness retreats, organic farming, spa services, and sustainable real estate — nurturing a life of harmony in community and nature.

Tim Mansfield

A longtime member of Andrew Cohen's EnlightenNext community for nineteen years, Tim Mansfield lived at Foxhollow and participated deeply in the life of the sangha through its rise, creative flourishing, and eventual collapse. His book offers a committed first-hand account of the vision, endeavour, and complexity of Cohen's spiritual community.

Invoking the Authentic Self

The life and work of Andrew Cohen's spiritual community — a first-hand account of EnlightenNext's pioneering experiment in consciousness, its remarkable achievements, and its dramatic collapse in 2013.

Pete Bampton

A British-born spiritual teacher who studied with Andrew Cohen for over a decade as a member of EnlightenNext. With Cynthia Lea Rose, he co-founded the Awakened Life Project in Portugal — hosting silent retreats devoted to meditation and evolutionary spirituality. His book The Fire of the Heart articulates a direct, contemporary approach to awakening.

The Fire of the Heart

An approach to spiritual awakening that is direct, contemporary, and integral in its embrace of the human condition — exploring the radical immediacy and evolutionary potential of the heart.

Morgan Dix

Morgan Dix is a cofounder of AboutMeditation.com, where he hosts the OneMind Meditation Podcast. He offers meditation coaching for new and seasoned meditators, drawing on fifteen years of formal meditation training in a contemporary yoga and meditation ashram focused on the non-dual teachings of Ramana Maharshi, and holds Mindfulness Meditation Teacher certification through Tibet House and Dharma Moon.

Meditation Coaching

One-on-one meditation coaching to help new and seasoned meditators discover meaning, purpose, and life-changing positivity through meditation.

About Meditation

A home for building a vibrant meditation practice — free courses, the OneMind Meditation Podcast, and guided resources for shifting from stress to inner calm.

Aterah Nusrat

Aterah Nusrat is Senior Program Manager and Director of Programming in Integrative Medicine and Planetary Health at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. She holds an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College, University of London, and describes herself as a seasoned meditation practitioner with more than twenty-five years of experience in program and event management, marketing, communications, and grant management.

ICON — Integral Conference of North America

ICON 2026 — Supporting Collective Spiritual Emergence

Supporting Collective Spiritual Emergence: From Laboratory Lessons To Planetary Wellbeing — a presentation at ICON 2026.

Osher Center for Integrative Medicine

Senior Program Manager and Director of Programming in Integrative Medicine and Planetary Health — integrating environmental sustainability, meditation, and integrative medicine programming.

Faheem Nusrat

Faheem Nusrat has explored Eastern culture and practice for over thirty years, with lived experience in intentional community, alongside many years of work in the tech industry. A long-standing collaborator with 3rd Space, he co-leads the Living with Uncertainty learning pathway and has shared reflections on Andrew Cohen in Conversations from the Heart.

3rd Space — Living with Uncertainty

A twelve-session learning pathway for thinking clearly about AI — drawing on evolutionary biology, philosophy of technology, and the study of consciousness to navigate a disorienting time.

A Fresh Perspective on AI and What It Means to Be Human

A free Emergence Education conversation introducing the Living with Uncertainty course — exploring what this moment in human history might be asking of us.

Rabbi Igal Harmelin

Rabbi Igal Harmelin offers sessions for healing developmental trauma, spiritual direction, and mental health coaching. He conducts meditative attunement workshops for therapists and is a certified practitioner of the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM).

Rabbi Igal Harmelin

Spiritual direction, developmental trauma healing, mental health coaching, and meditative attunement workshops for therapists.

Mike Kauschke

Mike Kauschke lives in the Chiemgau region of Germany as an author, editor, translator, dialog facilitator, poet, and photographer.

Mike Kauschke

Author, translator, editor, photographer, and dialog facilitator — sharing books, translations, editorial projects, and a newsletter on poetic and dialogical ways of engaging life.

Peter Mitchell

Peter Mitchell is a writer and teacher inviting inquiry into presence, nonduality, and awakening in relationship. Through Facets of the Diamond — essays, poems, and audio — he explores what it means to wake up, stay awake, and be available. He co-founded the Between-Us initiative with Anne Sweet, including the book The Space Between Us and small facilitated groups where shared presence becomes ground for transformation.

Facets of the Diamond

Writings revealed in the silence of presence — essays in The Heart of the Diamond, the poem series Refractions, the book The Space Between Us, and Between-Us Groups for shared inquiry and transformation.

Anne Sweet

Anne Sweet is an artist, writer, speaker, and spiritual innovator whose work bridges insight and real-world transformation. After twenty-five years of spiritual study — including seven years in a community devoted to collective and interpersonal awakening — she created The End of Seeking, a free self-study library for clarity and autonomy on the path; Everyday Enlightened Living, mentoring for integrated, fulfilling life now; and Between-Us Groups™, co-facilitated with Peter Mitchell, exploring awakening in the shared field of relationship.

Anne Sweet

Three pathways — personal, relational, and cultural transformation — through free resources, mentoring, and collective practice grounded in lived insight rather than ideology.

The End of Seeking

A free, self-study library hub — a practical, dogma-free guide to self-knowledge that promotes autonomy and self-trust on the spiritual path.

Between-Us Groups

Small facilitated groups exploring the shared field of consciousness — where insight, intimacy, and transformation extend beyond the individual into collective awakening.

Charlotte Jigen Juul

Charlotte Jigen Juul (Jigen Sensei) is a Zen teacher and somatic practitioner integrating direct awakening, psychological depth, and relational practice. She trained full-time within EnlightenNext under Andrew Cohen from 2000 to 2008, focusing on collective awakening, before encountering Zen through Genpo Roshi — receiving Dharma transmission in 2024. A certified Somatic Experiencing practitioner and Big Mind facilitator, she teaches with Kanzeon Big Mind and founded CoreWork, exploring how sangha and culture awaken beyond individual insight.

Kanzeon Big Mind

Teaching schedule and profile for Jigen Sensei — Zen practice, Big Mind facilitation, and inquiry into sangha awakening within the Kanzeon Big Mind community.

CoreWork

Integrative spiritual and psychological work — one-to-one Zen-CoreWork sessions, meditation instruction, and small retreats on the Oregon Coast.

Vidya Jacqueline Heisel

Vidya Jacqueline Heisel is a senior yoga teacher who studied with Andrew Cohen from 1993 to 2005 — thirteen years in his spiritual community in Lenox, Massachusetts, including years as one of the ashram cooks. Since leaving, she founded Frog Lotus Yoga (2002) and its international teacher-training programs, and created Suryalila — an award-winning retreat centre in Andalusia, Spain — where she directs retreats, trainings, and the Danyadara organic farm. Named OM Yoga's Favourite Yoga Teacher Trainer (2024), she has certified over 3,500 instructors worldwide.

Suryalila

An award-winning yoga retreat centre in the Andalusian hills — world-class yoga, organic vegetarian cuisine, holistic wellness, teacher trainings, and the Danyadara permaculture farm.

Frog Lotus Yoga

International yoga teacher training founded by Master Trainer Vidya Heisel — 200-hour and continuing-education programs that have certified over 3,500 instructors worldwide.