Stuart Davis had a quick post,on WhatEnlightenment  without commentary, today.

I had thought of posting on this, but hadn't gotten around to it - or was pretty reluctant, for a variety of reasons, the main one being that a "bad" spiritual authority/student relationship breakup, resembles nothing more than the worst sort of divorces - with all the deepest emotional layers of betrayal, abuse, accusations, etc, exposed.

You can get a fuller sense of the controversy either at What Enlightenment? or at a couple of excellent forums on the controversy at Integral Naked.  I highly recommend, if you have any interest in this topic, to read through these threads.

There are a couple of thoughts that occur to me, that I haven't seen brought up at the above places. So, I'll make these thoughts explicit here.

1.  Like it or not, this is one of the things that blogs excel at - the takedown (justified or not, make your own decision).  From Dan Rather, to Trent Lott, etc, every sets of eyes, ears, feelings, can now be a potential and enduring broadcaster to any of the teeming millions on the internet who wish to read, and listen. 

These type of controversies, and any teacher abuses (and probably some false claims) will get aired far, wide, and efficiently.

Expect more of this, in the future - like anything, this ability will be used for good and bad.

2.  Changing nature of expertise - where goes the hidden knowledge? 

I'm not sure that there is, or can be an "open source spirituality" (should I register this domain?), but it is important to remember that the essential claim of spiritual knowledge, is that the holder of such knowedge HAS it - and by definition the seeker doesn't. 

This "knowledge gap", or perhaps "being gap", depending - will get more and more separated from the corresponding "power gap" that traditionally is associated with the knowledge gap.  This is, simply, inevitable.  (This may not be a universally good thing.  One aspect of surrendering to universal truth, from a place deep in the gut, is to COMPLETELY SURRENDER.  Without challenge by an other, this is very difficult.)  The point is that the tension between modern power relationships and differently defined spiritual power relationships will be exposed. This exposure will be by the people IN their spiritual communities, who feel this tension in themselves, and their relationship to the power structures in their spiritual community.

4.  The nature of profound awakenings, and a note of caution.

Profound awakenings are, really, overwhelming to the ego.  From my own experience, there is a sense of KNOWING what is so - and you can see it, like seeing the red of an apple in your hand.  It is OBVIOUS. 

If the revelation you are seeing is at odds with "what is expected" in society, so what?  You see the truth.  Your vision is clear.  You are "doing the right thing". 

While I've heard stories of Andrew Cohen over the years, I've never met the man.  But even given the stories on What Enlightenment and other places, I don't get a sense that he isn't being true to his vision.   But how does a person "temper" in some sense, the spiritual visions that fill him, and what those visions ask one to do?

It would be useful to have some type of epistemology for REVEALED TRUTHS, but of course, there isn't.  There are individuals, attempting to put the truths they know and see, into practice.  Heroically, even.  Even if the world doesn't understand, and they hurt other people in the process.