Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 89
Van der Braak, Andre. Enlightenment Blues: My Years with an American
Guru
Monkfish Book Company, 27 Lamoree Rd., Rhinebeck, NY 12572
(www.monkfishpublishing.com), 2003, 228 pages, ISBN 0-9726357-1-8 (pbk)
spirituality/memoir
Enlightenment Blues is the second significant memoir I have read by a former
student/disciple of the American guru Andrew Cohen—the first was by Cohen‘s mother,
Luna Tarlo, who published Mother of God in 1997. Andre van der Braak knew Tarlo as they
were ―students‖ together and shared a house briefly. He read Tarlo‘s book during his final
struggles to defect after eleven years of devotion to Cohen‘s unnerving spiritual leadership
and the idiosyncratic cult of enlightenment focused on the guru. Van der Braak currently is a
Ph.D. candidate and teaches philosophy in Amsterdam. During his hiatus with Cohen, van
der Braak rose and fell in the community ranks and became one of Cohen‘s chief editors, in
one case reading over 4,000 pages of transcripts from Cohen‘s talks, then pruning and
shaping them into the book, Enlightenment is a Secret. Curiously, for his dissertation
subject he chose Nietzsche.
Cohen, now around fifty years old, apparently has held sway over a core of one hundred
fifty students, a number that has not significantly changed over the past fifteen years
despite the continual turnover. Nevertheless, he has continued to teach that his
enlightenment is a ―revolution‖ that would change the face of planetary spirituality. Van der
Braak describes his early years as a young Catholic with a romantic, idealistic bent. He was
a good athlete but his stuttering disorder contributed to his shyness. Early on he was
attracted to Transcendental Meditation, the J. Krishnamurti teachings, and Buddhism. He
encountered the writings of the prolific transpersonal philosopher, Ken Wilber. Van der
Braak did his Masters thesis on Wilber. [Ken Wilber who is still writing and developing
remains influential among intellectually sophisticated New Age seekers. Bill Clinton and Al
Gore were both reading Wilber during Clinton‘s second term. Wilber was once a disciple of
the teachings of Da Free John, a.k.a. Da Love Ananda, if not a supporter of that American
guru‘s controversial behavior and cult following.]
According to van der Braak, Andrew Cohen once entertained having Wilber as his disciple
(not that Wilber ever reciprocated). I mention this because the reader of van der Braak‘s
book might easily react with disdain or pity for the devotees described in the book, who for
all intents and purposes follow an immature trust fund hippie with a cocky self image. I
know a part of me did, namely that part that works hard for a living and tires to be a good
husband and father. One has to wonder how anyone could fall for such a transparently
overvalued cause. Cohen had absolutely no training as a monk or a leader in the mystical
tradition he claimed to embody. Until members gave significant donations (One former
female student complained of succumbing to pressure from Cohen to give two million
dollars.), Cohen reportedly lived mainly from a trust he inherited from his grandmother
around 1985, when he left on his spiritual quest to India. In short order after some
superficial seeking (a.k.a. guru hopping), he met Poonja, a then little known follower of
Ramana Maharshi, who was an Indian ―saint‖ in the Advaita tradition. Poonja somehow
recognized that Andrew was special and ―transmitted‖ or sparked feelings of
―enlightenment‖ in him. This epiphany transformed Cohen into a driven man. He appeared
to some of his friends to exude the enlightenment he claimed to have received.
Cohen‘s group evolved over time from one of a free-wheeling band of devotees who had
personal access to the guru and directly felt both his charm and his intensity. Within the
first few years it had become, according to Cohen‘s mother Luna Tarlo, just another fascist
enterprise. Not unlike so many new religious movements, this one flourished initially due to
the enthusiasm of these first students who advertised Cohen‘s cause. The message was that
Van der Braak, Andre. Enlightenment Blues: My Years with an American
Guru
Monkfish Book Company, 27 Lamoree Rd., Rhinebeck, NY 12572
(www.monkfishpublishing.com), 2003, 228 pages, ISBN 0-9726357-1-8 (pbk)
spirituality/memoir
Enlightenment Blues is the second significant memoir I have read by a former
student/disciple of the American guru Andrew Cohen—the first was by Cohen‘s mother,
Luna Tarlo, who published Mother of God in 1997. Andre van der Braak knew Tarlo as they
were ―students‖ together and shared a house briefly. He read Tarlo‘s book during his final
struggles to defect after eleven years of devotion to Cohen‘s unnerving spiritual leadership
and the idiosyncratic cult of enlightenment focused on the guru. Van der Braak currently is a
Ph.D. candidate and teaches philosophy in Amsterdam. During his hiatus with Cohen, van
der Braak rose and fell in the community ranks and became one of Cohen‘s chief editors, in
one case reading over 4,000 pages of transcripts from Cohen‘s talks, then pruning and
shaping them into the book, Enlightenment is a Secret. Curiously, for his dissertation
subject he chose Nietzsche.
Cohen, now around fifty years old, apparently has held sway over a core of one hundred
fifty students, a number that has not significantly changed over the past fifteen years
despite the continual turnover. Nevertheless, he has continued to teach that his
enlightenment is a ―revolution‖ that would change the face of planetary spirituality. Van der
Braak describes his early years as a young Catholic with a romantic, idealistic bent. He was
a good athlete but his stuttering disorder contributed to his shyness. Early on he was
attracted to Transcendental Meditation, the J. Krishnamurti teachings, and Buddhism. He
encountered the writings of the prolific transpersonal philosopher, Ken Wilber. Van der
Braak did his Masters thesis on Wilber. [Ken Wilber who is still writing and developing
remains influential among intellectually sophisticated New Age seekers. Bill Clinton and Al
Gore were both reading Wilber during Clinton‘s second term. Wilber was once a disciple of
the teachings of Da Free John, a.k.a. Da Love Ananda, if not a supporter of that American
guru‘s controversial behavior and cult following.]
According to van der Braak, Andrew Cohen once entertained having Wilber as his disciple
(not that Wilber ever reciprocated). I mention this because the reader of van der Braak‘s
book might easily react with disdain or pity for the devotees described in the book, who for
all intents and purposes follow an immature trust fund hippie with a cocky self image. I
know a part of me did, namely that part that works hard for a living and tires to be a good
husband and father. One has to wonder how anyone could fall for such a transparently
overvalued cause. Cohen had absolutely no training as a monk or a leader in the mystical
tradition he claimed to embody. Until members gave significant donations (One former
female student complained of succumbing to pressure from Cohen to give two million
dollars.), Cohen reportedly lived mainly from a trust he inherited from his grandmother
around 1985, when he left on his spiritual quest to India. In short order after some
superficial seeking (a.k.a. guru hopping), he met Poonja, a then little known follower of
Ramana Maharshi, who was an Indian ―saint‖ in the Advaita tradition. Poonja somehow
recognized that Andrew was special and ―transmitted‖ or sparked feelings of
―enlightenment‖ in him. This epiphany transformed Cohen into a driven man. He appeared
to some of his friends to exude the enlightenment he claimed to have received.
Cohen‘s group evolved over time from one of a free-wheeling band of devotees who had
personal access to the guru and directly felt both his charm and his intensity. Within the
first few years it had become, according to Cohen‘s mother Luna Tarlo, just another fascist
enterprise. Not unlike so many new religious movements, this one flourished initially due to
the enthusiasm of these first students who advertised Cohen‘s cause. The message was that
