Quotes from Stephen Levine

Because noting states of mind as they arise keep us present, it allows us to meet difficulties at their inception – before they become more real than we are.

Often when we hear people speak about meditation, we hear about wisdom, we hear about knowledge. But what, actually, is the effect, what's the use, of wisdom or knowledge? Understanding. When you understand mind, you're not at its mercy. When you don't understand, you're lost in the midst of it.

What we describe as "our life" is not the sum total of what has passed through our hands but what has passed through our minds. Our life isn't only a collection of people and places, it is a continuum of the ever-changing feelings they engender. It isn't only what you've touched, it's what you've felt of what you touched.

Naming of things as they are, without embellishment, make approachable those afflictive emotions and heavy states that obscure the heart. We know that we can't let go of anything we don't accept, the noting brings us into the presence of that which often distracts us from the present. It allows the healing in. And as we observe the appearance of things, we more easily acknowledge their subsequent disappearance, and some come to an appreciation of impermanence.

Once we can see the major shifts from liking to disliking, from opened to close, we will be able to acknowledge them before they gain momentum.

Meditation is for many a foreign concept, somehow distant and foreboding, seemingly impossible to participate in. But another word for meditation is simply awareness. Meditation is awareness.

remember that what will die in a year's time is not our essential being but our ability to interact physically with those we love and cherish. You

We have allowed ourselves very little space for not-knowing. Very seldom do we have the wisdom not-to-know, to lay the mind open to deeper understanding. When confusion occurs in the mind, we identify with it and say we are confused…Confusion arises because we fight against our not-knowing, which experiences each moment afresh without preconceptions or expectations.

The mind divides the world into a million pieces. The heart makes it whole.

The body takes about seven years to replace all its cells. As we age original factory parts get harder to come by. We accept seconds and rebuilds. Some are even transplanted with recycled parts. We get less miles to the gallon, and eventually, after several towings, we must abandon the body by the side of the road. From there we must go the rest of the way alone with just our heart for guidance.

the third eye... our sacred Cyclops... our good eye, the only one that can see beyond our conditioned ways of seeing. It is, of course, a knowing eye, not a seeing one. It is the eye through which we look within to experience the universe unfolding. It is the single eye that concentrates duality into the One: the eye of insight, the locus of the point of remembrance on the ascent to death, as well as the point of forgetfulness on the descent into birth.

The mind is in a constant state of flux. No thought, no feeling, no sensation lasts for more than an instant before it is transformed into the next state, next thought, the next sensation. Note those moments... As they pass through, note such states as confidence, bewilderment, effort, trust, distrust, pleasure, discomfort, boredom, devotion, inquiry, pride, anger, desire, etc.

Note which states of mind accompany each moment of like and disliking. When we recall the statement, "Physician, heal thyself," this is where the healing begins. It is particularly important to notice that this constant liking and disliking that leaves us exhausted at the end of the day. It is from this mechanical response / reaction that our actions and reactions arises.

fear leans backward into the last safe moment while desire leans forward toward the next possibility of satisfaction. Each lacks presence.

Pity arises from meeting pain with fear. Compassion comes when you meet it with love.

As Nisargadatta said, 'The mind creates the abyss and the heart crosses it." Often

When reading this book, Listen to it with your heart. Let it be a mirror of your own great nature. Understanding is the ultimate seduction of the mind. Go to the truth beyond the mind. Love is the bridge. 1

Having written extensively about the practice of mindfulness in A Gradual Awakening I suggest that you refine your practice with this book as well as Jack Kornfield's excellent A Path with Heart. We

When being loving becomes even more important than being loved, true devotion is experienced. A loving that does not depend on getting what we want but on offering what the world and our hearts cry out for.

Healing is to reoccupy those parts of ourselves abandoned to pain; to enter with mercy and awareness those areas withdrawn from in fear.

For all of us there is an approach to the seemingly unapproachable. This is the life-affirming work of learning to stay present even under difficult circumstances, to embrace mental, physical, and spiritual pain using techniques suitable for each particular level of discomfort.

We see not just that which is uninjured, but that within us which is uninjurable.

she wept and revived its meaning in the teachings of her way.

Because we never know whether our next breath may be our last, being prepared for the immediate unknown becomes as practical as applying for a passport while still uncertain of our destination or time of departure.