512 pages paperback, 2 illustrations

It is rare for a new book and its author to create such excitement among philosophers and spiritual thinkers, but Michael Wombacher’s 11 Days at the Edge is doing just that. Heralded by Barbara Marx Hubbard as “epic in scope and purpose”, Michael Wombacher’s chronicle of his encounter with one of the great spiritual masters of our time takes the reader to the edge and beyond, to the understanding of consciousness, to the threshold of “evolutionary enlightenment”.

Wombacher spent 11 days in retreat in Montserrat, Spain, chanting, meditating and attending lectures with spiritual teacher Andrew Cohen. He has written an authentic retelling of his experiences, using his journal, notes and tapes made during the retreat. 11 Days at the Edge conveys what it is really like to be in the presence of Andrew Cohen and why he is revered as such a uniquely transformative teacher. Wombacher takes us through each day, describing how Andrew Cohen leads him and his fellow students to an awakening – a realization of a universal consciousness that exists free of ego and desires. As each day unfolds, so too do Cohen’s revolutionary ideas about the true purpose of Self and its relationship to the universe.

Wombacher is the perfect conduit through which to communicate Cohen’s theories. He writes clearly, with humor and a knack for making complex thoughts easy to understand. Wombacher describes discovering what Cohen calls the “Authentic Self”, a collective consciousness from which true motivation stems: a motivation not about personal desire but one that arises from awakening to our radical significance as actors in an evolving consciousness. Clearly, the radical nature of Cohen’s teaching and Wombacher’s honest and lively explanations of it has created a wave of excitement among spiritual seekers everywhere.

Endorsements

11 Days at the Edge is an unusual narrative about evolution and enlightenment, as presented by spiritual teacher Andrew Cohen and as received by his student, Michael Wombacher. The teacher, the teaching and the taught come together in a highly engaging manner via Wombacher's clear prose, honest journaling and insightful commentary.

Andrew Cohen places his teaching of enlightenment in a context of evolutionary development for the entire human race, as well as a context of cosmic laws, which operate impersonally and influence us as individuals and as a species.

The clarity, simplicity and integrity of Andrew Cohen's teaching offer important guidance for modern spiritual seekers. Michael Wombacher captures it in a lively, honest account of his experience during an eleven-day retreat with his teacher and fellow students.

John White, author of, The Meeting of Science & Spirit, What is Enlightenment?

Do you want to know what religion (the search for ultimate meaning) might look like in the year 2100? Then read this book. Are you spiritual but not religious, interested in spirituality but estranged from the mythologies, metaphysical doctrines and the cultural baggage of the spiritual traditions? Then read this book. Do you want to directly experience God? Then read this book. 11 Days is spirituality at the cutting edge of human evolution.

Jim Marion, author of Death of the Mythic God: The Rise of Evolutionary Spirituality

VirtualLight interview by Sandra Sedgbeer o