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About the author AndrÉ Van Der Braak

André van der Braak was born in 1963 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. From 1981 to 1986 he studied at the University of Amsterdam, majoring in clinical psychology (comparing psychoanalysis and buddhist insight meditation using Ken Wilber’s model), as well as comparative philosophy (graduating with a thesis on Nietzsche and Buddhism).

His search for a synthesis between Eastern spirituality and Western psychology led him, via TM, yoga, J. Krishnamurti, advaita vedanta and Buddhism (he was a buddhist for five years, practising meditation intensively), finally in 1987 to Andrew Cohen.

He lived in Andrew Cohen’s community for eleven years, was editing his books and was the first editor-in-chief of the now well-known magazine ‘What is Enlightenment?’. In 1998 he left the community disillusioned. Since then he has worked for several years as an IT Consultant for ABN AMRO bank and as IT manager for various internet startups. Currently he lives in Amsterdam and has just finished up a Ph.D. dissertation on Nietzsche’s sceptical ethics of self-realization. He teaches philosophy at the University of Amsterdam and at Luzac College in Alkmaar.

André van der Braak can be reached at avdbraak@xs4all.nl

EnlightenNixt was created as a companion to the WHAT Enlightenment ??! blog to make it easier to find and read its essential articles and discussion.