Customer Reviews

Turning Toward the Mystery: A Seeker's Journey

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"I walked through half my life as if it were a fever dream, barely touching the ground," Stephen Levine writes in his 252-page memoir, "my eyes half open, my heart half closed. Not half knowing who I was, I watched the ghost of me drift from room to room, through friends and lovers, never quite as real as advertised" (p. 37). Levine is a Buddhist meditation teacher who also works with terminal patients. I discovered him through his 1997 book about conscious living, A YEAR TO LIVE. His memoir offers Levine's intimate account of his "wandering awareness gradually drawn toward the light. The process of a long spiritual practice steadily met by a mysterious grace" (p. xii).

In his memoir, Levine frequently finds himself "up a dark river, but not without a paddle" (p. 90). And that's really the whole point of his book. "No matter how closed the mind or frightened the heart," he tells us, "the mystery is always at play" in our lives (p. 20). Levine was "born a hungry ghost" (p. 3), carried a stolen gun throughout his youth (p. 5), and was arrested four times before he was nineteen (p. 9). After being incarcerated in Rikers Island Penitentiary for drug possession (p. 25), Levine then moved to psychedelic, tie-dyed San Francisco in 1965, where he met Allen Ginsberg, Alan Watts, Ken Kesey, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Timothy Leary, Wavy Gravy, and Neal Cassady, while the Grateful Dead jammed on (pp. 64-5). He was divorced twice before meeting his soulmate, Ondrea, at a Conscious Living, Conscious Dying retreat in 1979. "I write about early internal struugles," Levine says, "not to add to the self-serving drama of a memoir, but for the benefit of any who might find in my confusion some way out of their own" (p. xii).

Along the way, we find Levine turning inward and embracing "the way of things" through meditation practice. "Turning inward," he observes, "leads to the uncovering and healing of our small self, our personal myth, the mental construct in which we mistakenly believe our true self is housed. And as we look deeper for something yet more real, in sudden wordless understandings, levels of awareness are revealed that direct the pilgrim home" (p. xi). It is Levine's journey inward that transforms mystery into a larger-than-life memoir.

G. Merritt

Levine makes a statement about a third of the way through the book that we have to distinguish between the "action," and the "person." Indeed we have to see "pain" as not personal, but as impersonal so that we don't associate pain with our own little ego struggle, which is filled with fickle judgements, moral values, and fears -- all of which do not qualify as "universal." If pain is "our" pain, then we can't open to the wider Pain and hence cannot feel empathy for the world - which is the ultimate "goal." Our struggle is the world's struggle and our pain can parodoxically open us to the world. James Hillman, in Soul's Code and other writings comes to this through philosophical roots (phomenological) and wrote bestsellars - so there is something striking a chord here.
This is essential mid-life stuff, and I recommend it hardily. Think about someone in your life you have trouble forgiving. Then ask if you want to go to your grave not forgiving? I don't, but I can't guarantee I won't - or that it will make a difference. But somehow at the stage in my life ( I am 56) I recognize this struggle to forgive as not a moral issue ("should" message), but a basic "life" issue. It isn't about thinking thoughts, but feeling deeply. Levine lays bare the essential stuff that is being indirectly and obscurely and misguidedly being talked about today in the frame of "personal relationships." This is not the place to uncover these issues because, again, personal relationships are small and impoverished if they don't move to the the big relationship between you and the world. Sounds like mumbo-jumbo? The book isn't. This really is essential reading, particularly for those in mid-life who stand at the mid-point between looking back and looking forward. How do we do this? Levine's book demonstrates how.

What a delight to read and to savor the messages in this writing. The author clearly reveals his own journey through the somewhat messy process of becoming more fully human and holy. These revelations are minor compared to the wisdom that is distilled in wonderful reflective statements about the entire process of growth. Reading this book is a most useful and prayerful exercise

In "Turning Toward the Mystery" Stephen Levine shares his own spiritual journey - from heroin "junkie" to ardent spiritual seeker - it's quite a journey indeed!

I found Mr. Levine's writings to be very poetic - sometimes flowing, sometimes disjointed, but always leading the reader to another insight. And, although there were times when I wasn't quite sure what he was saying, I had the feeling that his words were simply planting a seed, and the greater awareness of their meaning will come in time.

Overall, I found this book to be a truly interesting, enjoyable, & insightful read. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in spirituality and/or Buddhist concepts. It has a lot to offer!

I haven't ready anything by Stephen Levine that isn't beautifully written..thoughtfully expressed. Another lovely book by a beautiful soul.

I think this was the first book of his I read. I have given this book as a gift many times. I always want to have a copy on my book shelf!

Hello. This is a classic. It is a book that you simply must buy and read. It is incredible! But he is not going to give you what you want. What he WILL give you are glimpses or snap shots of his incredible spiritual journey. He is like a spiritual mechanic. He meets something, says, "This is NOt working" and then proceeds to fix the problem. Or he says, "This IS working" and continues. He seems to have made up his mind from an early age that he wanted to discover TRUTH. And that he wasn't going to compromise with "spiritual prescriptions" for happiness. His path is service. He is a true Karma yogi and a Bodhisattva. He is also a poet and a truly great man. But in this wonderful book, he is saying, "You can do it too. Here is what I did. This is what happened. Here you go." So this book is a wonderful gift for us.

I was homeless and living in a car when I read this. I wanted to skip to the back and read some ANSWERS. Stephen does give you wonderful glimpses. Snap shots. But he is not going to give you THE ANSWERS. He will include you on his path of discovery. He's a spaceman! So you simply must buy and read this wonderful book. You may find that you want to operate a little "outside of the box". Your path may be a little different. Then, you need this book. And Steven is your man.

I'm probably not allowed to ask for anything in a book review on Amazon.com. So I will simply state the facts and let you take action. Steven and Ondrea have run into some problems. She has leukemia. He has had surgery. They mortgaged their house for the dying and went broke. Ondrea has some medical expenses paid, but this may not always be the case. So. Do what you are supposed to do. Go to Levine Talks and subscribe to their wonderful talks. Go to an "OPEN LETTER FROM JACK KORNFIELD, RAM DASS, AND SHARON SALZBERG" and find out the situation about these wonderful beings. They have reformed the hospice movement. So take appropriate action. I am not asking for anything. So I think this will get through without being edited.

Ondrea and Steven are friends of my brother and me. She is one of my teachers. She wants me to develop PATIENCE. Which is very hard for me. She really loves the movie AVATAR. So lie and tell her you like it when you subscribe to her talks. :) She's a lady. Thank you.