Against the Stream

April 23, 2007
L
evine’s first book, Dharma Punx
, was the autobiography of a young hell-raiser. Having escaped juvenile hall and drug addiction through the slow discipline of Buddhist practices, the son of Buddhist author Stephen Levine is now a spiritual teacher. In this book he presents what he has learned about and through Buddhism. The compelling personal narrative may be gone, but the disarming, frank tone that made the first book persuasive remains. He writes about the challenge of celibacy, for example, a different kind of difficulty than that posed by intimate relationships. Levine has taken the Buddha’s teachings to heart—he would call it “heart-mind”—and clearly returns to such central ideas as impermanence and suffering, giving his thinking simplicity and consistency. Considering there’s a lot of Buddhism here, the book is free of a lot of Buddhist-speak. An appendix includes to-the-point instructions for a variety of meditations that relate to essential Buddhist qualities and ideas. Levine’s no-frills approach makes this a short book that will be accessible for young adults with little or no experience of Buddhism. Whether the book is about a revolutionary way of life is arguable, but it is an honest book—what Buddhists would call right speech—driven by right intention.

October 1, 2007
Adult/High School-Levine's "Dharma Punx" (HarperCollins, 2004) tells the compelling story of the author's self-destructive early years, showing him mired in the culture of drugs and violence, and how the principles of Buddhism turned his life around. The author's second book works as a manual that is free of jargon and introduces readers to the most basic concepts of Buddhism: escape suffering, live simply, and treat yourself and others with respect and love. Levine uses these tenets to tackle issues like drug abuse, sexuality, the difficulties of abstinence, and being an active member of a community. Back matter has point-by-point instruction on Buddhist meditation. In contrast with similar titles, like Brad Warner's "Hardcore Zen" (Wisdom, 2005), this book offers little in the way of cultural references, humor, or other hooks to reel in readers who normally ignore philosophy books. Nevertheless, it is an excellent, concise resource for those who have found other works too daunting."Matthew L. Moffett, Pohick Regional Library, Burke, VA"

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