Against the Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries [Paperback]

Noah Levine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2007

Buddha was a revolutionary. His practice was subversive; his message, seditious. His enlightened point of view went against the norms of his day—in his words, "against the stream." His teachings changed the world, and now they can change you too.

Presenting the basics of Buddhism with personal anecdotes, exercises, and guided meditations, bestselling author Noah Levine guides the reader along a spiritual path that has led to freedom from suffering and has saved lives for 2,500 years. Levine should know. Buddhist meditation saved him from a life of addiction and crime. He went on to counsel and teach countless others the Buddhist way to freedom, and here he shares those life-changing lessons with you. Read and awaken to a new and better life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Levine'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. (July)
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Review

Free of Buddhist-speak, with to-the-point instructions, Levine’s no-frills approach makes this book accessible for young adults. (Publishers Weekly )

“An honest, fearless sequel... this is one to thumb through again and again.” (Mandala magazine )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (May 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006073664X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060736644
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clear and Pointed, June 5, 2007

By 

Michael P. Maslanka (dallas, texas United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Against the Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries (Paperback)

Cutting through the White Noise, Levine just does not just explain the basic tenents but applies them to the lives we all lead. Dealing with sexual temptations? "Sexual suffering is caused not by the energy itself, but by our own inability to understand and skillfully deal with that energy." He suggests ways to do just that, all the while adhering to Sid's(short hand for the Buddha) blessing that while his finger may point us to the moon, his finger is not the moon. Forgiveness? Peel away the actor from the action. "An action from a confused and suffering being in the past doesn't represent who that being is forever;it is only an expression of the being's suffering." To lash out at those who hurt us because they have been hurt and are in pain only continues the cycle. A worthwhile contribution.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars punk enlightenment!, July 9, 2007

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E. Hockenberry (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Against the Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries (Paperback)

I was blessed by receiving this book as a gift from my wife. This book helped me change alot of perspectives on life. I enjoyed the stories and the techniques taught in this book. Being young and rebellious were things I held dear, now that I am getting older, I found that I can still shake up the norm just by being buddhist and respecting all life. Great read. Thank you Noah! --Eric H. Pittsburgh PA

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great read, September 9, 2008

By 

S. Kosloske (Milwaukee, WI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Against the Stream (Kindle Edition)

I wish I could give this book 5 stars, but I can't. It's a great read, and I recommended it to a lot of my friends, but something is missing.

It's a very well written story of someone who should, by his own account, be dead by now, who pretty much hit rock bottom, and was saved by the Dharma. That may sound strange, but it's not a simple "I found X, and now I'm saved" book. The author found a better way to live, a quieter way to live, and to appreciate life. He could still do the (legal) things he enjoyed, and probably even enjoyed them more. Great story, great life lesson.

But I would have preferred if he would have put as much detail into his "awakening" as he did in his juvenile life. A minor knock to be sure, but something that stuck with me after I was done.