Here’s some more information on
my blog entry from yesterday, which talks about Linus’ involvement with an organization called EnlightenNext.
There is a web page (
here) which lists him as a Senior Instructor with EnlightenNext. It also includes a profile on him, a link to his Gaia Community page, and his phone number and email address. (I hope somebody screens those calls and emails to sort out all the nut jobs and stalkers.) His Gaia profile (
here) says that he is Managing Director of EnlightenNext.
Here’s the information from his EnlightenNext Profile:
"Linus Roache first met Andrew Cohen in London in 1994. In the midst of a successful acting career, he realized that the heart and source of creativity that fueled his work lay in the Evolutionary Enlightenment teachings. After taking a two-year sabbatical from acting to focus on the radical new perspective of the teachings that were changing his life, he became involved in the London EnlightenNext Revolution for over eight years. In 2002, Linus and his wife moved permanently to the U.S. to be part of the International Center for EnlightenNext in Massachusetts. Since 2003, he has been actively engaged in the New York EnlightenNext center and is now serving as its managing director.
Linus has worked extensively and globally as an actor in theater, television, and film since 1985. In the midst of his work with EnlightenNext, he continues to have a wide-ranging career. In 2003, he won the London Evening Standard Award for his portrayal of Samuel Taylor Coleridge in Julian Temple’s film Pandaemonium. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 2004 for his portrayal of Robert F. Kennedy in the FX television movie RFK. He has been involved in numerous art house and Hollywood movies, but it seems unanimously agreed upon by his EnlightenNext colleagues that playing the role of Thomas Wayne in the recent Batman Begins brought him the most
kudos.
Compelled by the critical times that we are living in and inspired by the new consciousness that Evolutionary Enlightenment is bringing to all aspects of human life and culture, Linus is passionate about working together with like-minded people in order to literally create the future.”
And here’s the information from his Gaia profile page:
"Linus
Title: Gaia Child
Gender: Male
Age: 44
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Chinese Sign: Water Rabbit
Location: New York, NY
About Me:
I'm an actor by profession and have been dedicated to spiritual evolution for the last 12 years. I'm British but I have always felt more at home in the US and New York is my favourite city in the world. As well as performing in TV and Movies, I am now the Managing Director of the New York Center for EnlightenNext. EnlightenNext is dedicated to creating a revolution in consciousness and culture and is founded on the teachings and vision of spritual teacher Andrew Cohen.
I started performing in 1985 but it was not unti I came across Andrew Cohen's and his teaching of Evolutionary Enlightenment in 1994 that I realized that the creativity that was burning to get out of me was no less than than the creative impulse itself…and consequently the seeking was over… but the journey had only just got started….
Things Linus Loves
Interests:
Meditation Contemplation Creative Communication Movies Travel
Heroes:
Real ones RFK Mahatma Gandhi. Fictional Frodo Jack Bauer
Teachers:
Andrew Cohen
Books:
Enlightenment is a secret Lord of the Rings Being There
Music:
U2 Coldplay Keane The Beatles Courtney Pine
Movies:
Twelve Angry Men Before Sunset Before Sunrise Sophie Scholl The Thin Red Line Some Like it Hot The Godfather 1&2 Baghdad Cafe Local Hero Blade Runner The Matrix 1
Goals
to help define human relationship beyond ego”
Thanks to “Samfan” who commented in my previous blog to check out EnlightenNext’s leader, Andrew Cohen, on Wikipedia. The criticisms were not flattering:
“Some ex-members including his mother view Cohen as a charismatic and manipulative cult leader. Dr. André van der Braak's Enlightenment Blues: My Years with an American Guru alleges that Cohen demanded large cash sums and extreme, unquestioning devotion from his students.
His mother, Luna Tarlo, wrote a book called Mother of God about her experience as one of his disciples. Tarlo argues that Cohen engaged in cruelty, self-aggrandizement and abuse of her and other disciples, and describes what she maintains was her struggle to free herself from his control. Another woman, Orit, says about Cohen's work: "He couldn't deliver the goods." The mother informs that it has been U.G. Krishnamurti -acting as a trigger- who helped her to free herself from the bondage to her guru son.
American journalist John Horgan questions "the myth of the totally enlightened guru", specifically in reference to Cohen and others.
Anti-guru critic Geoff Falk devotes a chapter of an online book to Cohen.”
OK, I am now even more skeptical of EnlightenNext. But in all fairness I will research into this group a little further. Full disclosure, I wonder about the value of organizations like this and find myself asking how people can buy into this kind of stuff. I suppose, though, for some people, groups like this can be helpful. Just not for an independent thinker like me. Although if there was a group with Sam Waterston as the guru, I would be a member. Oh wait, I think there's already a cult like that. It's called Law & Order, and I guess I'm a charter member.
