Evolutionary Enlightenment Day

The following is a repost from my blog. I went up to Lenox, MA for Evolutionary Enlightenment Day. The event was hosted by Enlighten Next magazine and featured a talk between HH Swami Chidanand and Cohen, followed by food, media and then live music. Overall it was a great experience. I met some interesting people and got an in depth look at Enlighten Next's headquarters. Here goes:

Arrived! Here's a first look at the headquarters of the magazine.

A hallway featuring all past editions of Enlighten Next magazine, formerly What is Enlightenment?

The new "model" or framework for Cohen's philosophy. Focus is on "what is to come."

The water bottle is out. Starting in 5. Swami Chidanand and Andrew Cohen. Swami Chidanand & Andrew on Stage. Andrew opened with a brief introduction to his ideas and what they were going to talk about. The Swami unfortunately had a sore throat and only spoke at the end of the talk. His student spoke for him (very eloquently, a teacher in her own right).

At the end, when the Swami did speak, boy was it worth it! One often speaks of a "transmission" effect happening in the presence of a realized being. There was definitely something happening. There was an energy or presence that filled the room just as the Swami said, "This is heaven." Definitely a great experience. I was able to explore just about the whole property (I think?) There are a number of houses on the estate.

The Meditation Hall and the Library (one floor below). The building smells older (in a good way), like something from the turn of the century. Love that! The picture on the wall is a symbol of Cohen's philosophy. Would love to just Sit here for a day. This place has a powerful sacred presence. More so than a regular hall. It feels almost like a Church? Interestingly, the Swami noted the same thing in his talk! On the other side of the estate, there's a beautiful lake. I think this area is shared with others. Here, I tried my hand at photography. That's my attempt. Kinda looks like a wallpaper. Cool! Finally, I'd like to share a cool room Tom, an editor, showed me. It's a lineage wall, listing certain philosophers and realized beings in the history of "evolutionary spirituality." Forgive the finger smudge in the top left. Still getting the hang of the iphone's camera. Enjoyed this very much. Wilber, Gebser, Aurobindo and a great number of other writers are featured here. Not everyone though! Would have liked to see Steiner, Thompson, etc.

Finally, here's a brief video capturing a few more images and part of the talk between Swami and Cohen

Well that's it for now. More thoughts on the content of the talk and the subject of "evolutionary spirituality." Later! For more pictures and coverage of the day, check out Douglas Turner's posterous! I was going to use this as well but the wordpress app ended up being easier.

Check out the official website for a full audio recording of the talk.