A GRADUAL AWAKENING

by Stephen Levine ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 26, 1978

Thirty pleasant, rambling beginner's lemons in Buddhism by a leading light of the Santa Cruz sangha. Some of the chapters are based on transcriptions from tape-recorded classes taught by Levine at Soledad prison, but they all sound ""live,"" i.e., spontaneous and disconnected. Levine talks in soothing, informal tones about developing mindfulness, about letting go of the thinking and judging self, seeing through the illusion of the separate self, reaching enlightenment-by not reaching for it, etc. He spends a little time discussing meditation techniques, postures and so forth, but he mostly skips the mechanics. His message is straightforward and tremendously, perhaps unbelievably, positive: just let the ""unwholesome qualities"" of greed and hatred drop away, and one's ""natural state of loving kindness and generosity"" will stand revealed. What the newcomer to Buddhism will make of all this is hard to say. He might, conceivably, be sufficiently intrigued to seek out formal training in Buddhism, and become a convert. Which is what Levine, in his modest way, is trying to get him to do.

Pub Date: Jan. 26, 1978

ISBN: 0385262183

Page Count: -

Publisher: Anchor/Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1978

Categories: NONFICTION