Common Experience: Signposts on the Path to Enlightenment

by John Michael Cohen

Anthology of the spiritual experiences of ordinary men and women and those of philosophers.

Genres: Spirituality

281 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 1979

About the author

John Michael Cohen was a prolific translator of European literature into English.

Cohen launched his translation career with the first English translation of poems by Boris Pasternak, then unknown outside the Soviet Union. His translation of Pasternak garnered praise from American poet John Ashbery, in his book Other Traditions.

In 1946, on the strength of a commission from Penguin Books for a major translation of Don Quixote, Cohen quit his teaching job to dedicate himself full-time to writing and translation.

In addition to his translations of major works of Spanish and French literature for Penguin, Cohen also edited several important anthologies of Spanish and Latin American literature, as well as many of the Penguin Classics.
He played an instrumental role in the Latin Boom of the 1960s by translating works by Jorge Luis Borges, Octavio Paz, and Carlos Fuentes, and by bringing the works of Gabriel García Márquez to the attention of his future English publisher.
He also wrote a number of works of literary criticism and biography.

Reviews

[Mame · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably hard to find now, this book addresses the concept and experience of heightened consciousness. It reports some of the results from a research project done in England, specifically about peoples' direct experiences of the sacred. Another powerful read that lingers long after itthe book is put down.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Common Experience covered the path to enlightenment propounded by different groups of thought -- namely Hindu, Sufi, Buddhist (various branches), and various Christian mystics. The authors arranged the book by topic. Thus, they have an example on, for example, death and rebirth, and the authors used various excerpts from various realms of thought to treat the topic. Although this provided a diverse set of perspectives, it also induced some ambiguity and confusion because of often contradictory views on a given topic. I recommend reading this book if you have an interest in seeing how various groups of thought approach the world and assign meaning to existence. I present here one of the many excerpts I enjoyed from the book:
We are transformed by what we accept. We transform what we have accepted by understanding it. We are transformed by the act of giving, and we contribute to the transformation of other by what we are giving.
He who opposes the process of transformation will die the death of rigidity; he will be expelled and rejected from all that lives, like dead matter from a living organism. Death is a deficiency of the faculty of transformation.
(Creative Meditation and Multi-dimensional Consciousness by Lama Govinda)

WARNING: This book might challenge the reader greatly.

[Elizabeth Lozano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is compelling and well researched. I would have appreciated one final chapter or even epilogue in which the authors reflect more thoroughly on the implications of their research and reflection on the "topography of enlightenment." That being said, the final page provides a wonderful, super smart ending...

[Amy Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating examination of transcendental experiences, covering Christian mystics, Buddhists seeking enlightenment and ordinary peoples’ accounts of episodes outside of ‘ordinary’ life. Even as a non-religious skeptical person, I found this book to be fascinating, particularly with regards to the Eastern traditions explored.