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Petros:

Frankly though, I feel uncomfortable in "commune" type settings. I often
get a sort of elitist, snobby vibe from communalists -- an ingroup/outgroup
dynamic that is unsettling to me.

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Greg:

Do you know Papaji's criticisms of Andrew? I have a
friend who has made it part of his sadhana to find this out.

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Petros:

I met Andrew in person at a talk at Harvard a couple years ago.
Personally, I find him a self-righteous prick, but that's just my opinion.

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Greg:

A minor Andrew Cohen story - that Luna Tarlo book "Mother of God" is pretty
intense. She quotes him saying privately to her, "You know, sometimes I
feel like God." The book definitely is not favorable to
Andrew!!!! Anyway, at one NYC bookstore, they display that book right
interspersed with Andrew's books. Some of Andrew's followers (he has a
small community in NYC) came into the store and demanded that the book be
shelved elsewhere. After all, they said, the overall organization of the
book section is alpha by author. "Why is T - Tarlo in with the C - Cohen
books??" But knowing their business as they do, they kept his mother's
book right there!

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Jerry:

Ya see, if I were in Andrew Cohen's position I'd be very up
front and say right off, "I'm God, I'm an asshole, and I
secretly hate each and every one of you. Now let's get down
to business." Knowing that, it's possible to have a
relationship with the guy.

Petros:

I didn't sense that he was all that bad when I met him (but briefly), but in
his writings he is somewhat authoritarian. Yet he does not speak with
"authority" as I sense someone like Da does. Andrew comes across (to me) as
someone *trying* to be authoritative but knowing he isn't cut out for it,
and this gives a whining, needling tone to his demands. In short, I sense
he doesn't fully "believe in himself" yet. But he is young -- late 30s? --
and maybe he will mellow with the years. (If he doesn't get worse.) (Damn,
thinking of Da and LRH, they *do* get worse, don't they?)

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