In researching JFK and Ken Wilber, I came across the Andrew Cohen question. Andrew Cohen is an controversial American spiritual leader who is often connected with Ken Wilber. I’m not the only one who has been concerned about Wilber’s endorsement of a potentially very shady character.

Here is a blog post from Integral Options Cafe on this very topic. The author’s concerns are very similar to my own:

It really hurts Wilber’s image to be associated with such a person as Cohen. It makes anyone who thinks about it skeptical of Wilber’s ability to distinguish good teachers from bad. And failing that, it makes one wonder — assuming KW knows Cohen is awful — if he is only associated with Cohen for the exposure he gets for himself and I-I in WIE?

Personally, I think Ken Wilber has more than enough exposure, but I do wonder why he would recommend a teacher like Cohen. Here is another criticism of Cohen and still another on the Wilber/Cohen connection.

So what is the big deal? There is a lot of documentation on Andrew Cohen’s questionable practices. From books by former students, to online chronicles of his shortcomings, even Cohen’s mother joins in the criticism. But maybe it all comes to down different strokes for different folks?

I checked out the foreward Ken Wilber wrote for Cohen’s book Living Enlightenment. Wilber is very upfront about Cohen being a “Rude Boy” who will shake you out of your complacency:

I have often heard Nice-Guy teachers say that Andrew Cohen is rude, and I think, “You don’t know the half of it.” I have often heard it said that Andrew is difficult, offending, edgy, and I think, “Thank God.” In fact, virtually every criticism I have ever heard of Andrew is a variation on, “He’s very rude, don’t you think?” And I smile the biggest smile you can imagine. If it weren’t for the Rude Boys and Nasty Girls of God Realization, Spirit would be a rare visitor in this strange land.

In fact, “rude” was the first word I used to describe Cohen when I told Laura about the video of him I watched last night. As you can see, he is not particularly articulate or gracious during the presentation, however, I really liked what he had to say. He explained my own frustrations with Buddhism better than I ever could.

This Andrew Cohen business (and criticism of Ken Wilber in general) is of particular interest to me as I applied to grad school in Integral Psychology. I will keep you updated on my findings, but I highly recommend watching the video here as a quick intro to Andrew Cohen. You can also find his official website here.