Jain (Deemed-to-be University)’s School of Social Sciences and the Centre for Research in Social Sciences and Education (CERSSE) jointly organized a guest lecture on the theme ‘How to find spiritual meaning, purpose, and independence in the midst of the material world’ on 18 January 2018. The guest speaker of the day was Mr. Andrew Cohen, spiritual teacher, and Founder of Evolutionary Enlightenment and former editor-in-chief of the award-winning magzine EnlightenNext.
During the session, Mr. Cohen perused how these traditional teachings of enlightenment that promise happiness and inner freedom that are five thousand years old are relevant and are equipped to meet the spiritual and practical needs of the contemporary era.
Mr. Cohen speaking about his journey over past 30 years as a spiritual teacher, highlighted the discovery of a new kind of enlightenment, one rooted in the timeless transcendent ground of being, and yet also embracing the unique challenges of our time and the scientific knowledge of evolution.
Mr. Cohen called his approach “Evolutionary Enlightenment” which is compelling and provocative vision of spiritual evolution and one that is catching the attention of more and more people at the leading edge of spiritual thought today.
During the session, the speaker spoke about an authentic spiritual innovation which is a comprehensive philosophy, path, and practice forged through more than two decades of transformative spiritual work with men and women around the world and in serious conversation with leading luminaries from almost every religious and spiritual tradition, both ancient and modern.
At the juncture, he also spoke about embracing change as a spiritual practice. According to him, through his five fundamental tenets for living an enlightened life, one should participate in the process of change as own spiritual practice which will help to make deep sense out of own life in today's ever complexifying world thus playing a vital role in shaping the world of tomorrow.
Mr. Cohen's thought-provoking talk was followed by Q&A session in which students and faculty raised a range of important issues which were answered articulately by Mr. Cohen.
