The Self Knowledge Symposium (SKS) is an educational nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging people to consciously develop their own personal, moral and spiritual values and to live according to them. It has been praised as "the hottest thing happening in higher education today", by Dr. William Willimon, Dean of the Duke University Chapel, ranked by Newsweek as one of the top ten preachers in the English-speaking world. The SKS focuses their work with young people on college campuses and found the idea to invite Cohen to speak, irresistible. "This is an excellent opportunity for Andrew Cohen to experience the issues young people are working on spiritually," says SKS Director Mary Alice Scott. "Andrew's book goes right to the heart of the matter and speaks directly from experience. He is simple and insightful at the same time. Young people appreciate that."

Over the past fifteen years, Cohen has become a provocative voice in the spiritual world, challenging the self-centeredness of so much of modern spiritual pursuit. He has also earned a reputation for promoting interfaith dialogue through his meetings and discussions with spiritual teachers from almost every tradition. As the founder of What Is Enlightenment? magazine, Cohen has initiated dialogue with some of the most extraordinary spiritual leaders of our time, including: Father Thomas Keating, H.H. the Dalai Lama, Rabbi Zalman Schachter, Swami Chidananda and Sheikh Tosun Bayrak. Cohen has brought his message to such prominent universities as the Harvard Divinity School, Brown University, the University of Rome, and the University of Sydney. In reference to his new book, Publishers Weekly wrote: "Plainly written and free of religious jargon, [Embracing Heaven and Earth is] about one thing, enlightenment... explaining what is required to attain it, what prevents it, and its effects." "We're very excited that Andrew has this opportunity to talk at an SKS sponsored event," says Daniel Piatek, Marketing Director of Moksha Press, the publisher of Andrew Cohen's books. "It gives him the chance to speak to a group of people who appreciates the enormous potential of spiritual pursuit to transform the individual."