UNGAGGED: EX-STUDENT BREAKS FIVE YEAR ENFORCED SILENCE
By William Yenner
WHAT enlightenment??!
July 20, 2009

Original Link

My name is William Yenner, and I am the former student who was subjected to the “gag order” mentioned in the official responses given to journalist Yonatan Levy. While I know from personal experience that most of the replies given to Levy by Andrew Cohen’s representative are false and/or misleading, this particular question and the circumstances surrounding it have been, in particular, a big presence in my life for many years, so I’m providing more information here for anyone seeking to know the truth about Andrew Cohen and EnlightenNext. I was bound by this “gag order” from 2003 to 2008, forbidden by an enforceable contract from making any public statements about Andrew Cohen or EnlightenNext.

I was a member of the “inner circle” of Cohen’s students; in fact, I lived in his personal residence for several years, was a member of the EnlightenNext Board of Directors, and was the real estate scout who located and helped arrange the purchase of the 220 acre, nearly three-million-dollar, EnlightenNext “World Headquarters” at Foxhollow, as well as the EnlightenNext Centre in London. I was a student for a total of thirteen-and-a-half years, leaving in 2001.

Like most long-term students, after years of dodging bullets, I finally incurred the wrath of my teacher (Cohen) in a form that I could not internalize and work with, and in 1999 I had my own personal version of falling out of his favor, with all its attendant humiliations and debasements. Under extreme psychological distress and in an emotionally crushed state of mind, in an effort to save myself from what seemed like a form of death-spiral, I decided to offer up all I had at the time, which was a recently received inheritance of $80,000. Giving sizeable donations at a time of spiritual and personal crisis was, after all, the solution I had witnessed countless other students resort to; and I had also witnessed how reliably this course of action brought others back into the fold after they had been similarly cast out by their teacher. Some weeks after making my offer to Cohen, I got a call from his assistant telling me to send it in, which I did.

Though my situation took a big “up-tick” following this “donation,” overall I was still treated like damaged goods, having lost the trust and belief in Cohen’s project that had guided me for so many years. My discipline, confidence and goodwill were now compromised beyond repair, though at the time I was barely aware of this as I tried to hold on to the life I had committed myself to. There is a lot more to this story, including much that I personally witnessed and also took part in, which I will go into in greater detail elsewhere. However, I did leave about a year after this “donation” was made.

Subsequent to leaving EnlightenNext, I discovered that I had a great deal of painful and extremely confusing history to deal with, and began the process of pulling myself back together and putting together a new life -- one not based on blind obedience, humiliation and abuse. This process was liberating and took me to places I’d never expected to go. One of those new places was a strong resolve to confront Cohen for what I was beginning to realize was his hidden agenda of conquer-and-control at any cost to his students -- which in my case had included the extraction of my “donation” at what had been the lowest point, psychologically, of my entire life. I realized that taking money from me when I was really broken was just wrong, and so I wrote to Cohen in the spring of 2003 to demand its return.

To my surprise, he did agree to this, but with the stipulation that I sign an agreement not to make any public statements about him or EnlightenNext for five years. What he was saying in effect was, “You can have your money back, but you must remain, like all my students in a state of muteness; keep your mouth shut, because I’m not ready to let go of you yet.” His reply to Levy denying the existence of a gag order, “or for that matter any other court order,” is utterly dishonest and disingenuous. Of course it wasn’t an official court order; he had gotten me to sign it without having to go to court because he knew that I wanted my $80,000 back. There is a copy of the original “gag order” previously posted on this site, which can also be viewed here. I got my “donation” back, and Cohen bought a few more years of my silence.

It must be emphasized that this kind of silencing is the norm at EnlightenNext; no current student would ever venture a public critique, or dare even to utter one privately in the presence of Cohen or a fellow student. There is no right of free speech even for close students of Cohen. And as is demonstrated by my case, he will try mightily to silence even former students. This also I intend describe in greater detail elsewhere. I have posted my own personal story here in support of all those who have come forward before me to help reveal the corruption that is, sadly, the norm in the world of Andrew Cohen.

Further to this discussion and investigation, I have been working on a book, along with several contributors, which will go into much greater depth and detail and which will be published soon.

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