Noah Levine

Noah Levine
Religion	Buddhism
Personal
Nationality	American
Born	1971 (age 46–47) Santa Cruz, California, U.S.
Religious career
Teacher	Jack Kornfield
Website	DharmaPunx.com

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Noah Levine (born 1971) is an American Buddhist teacher and author. As a counselor known for his philosophical alignment with Buddhism and punk ideology, he identifies his Buddhist beliefs and practices with both the Theravada and Mahayana traditions.^[1]

He has written the books Dharma Punx: A Memoir (2004), Against the Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries (2007), The Heart of the Revolution: The Buddha’s Radical Teachings on Forgiveness, Compassion, and Kindness (2011), and Refuge Recovery: A Buddhist Path to Recovering from Addiction (2014).

Early life

Noah Levine is the son of American Buddhist author Stephen Levine. His parents had a history of addiction and, when he was very young, they divorced.^[2] He states he has had a "core distrust of authority" his whole life, which led him to reject the teachings of his father.^[2][3] At the age of five, Levine began exhibiting suicidal behavior and the next year began smoking marijuana. He discovered punk rock through the boyfriend of his older sister and the first time he heard the Sex Pistols "was like hearing the voice of God" because it expressed all the dissatisfaction he felt.^[3] His teenage years were filled with drugs, violence, multiple suicide attempts and detentions at juvenile halls, which was encouraged by the punk scene.^[3] In 1988 and after three felonies and one suicide attempt while jailed, he hit "an emotional rock bottom" and "realized" his addiction; in a desperate attempt to relieve his fear and uncertainty he tried to apply the anapanasati techniques his father taught him, and saw for the first time how this practice worked.^[2][4] Shortly afterward, he became highly involved in the straight edge scene (a hardcore punk associated movement whose members avoid drug and alcohol use), attended the twelve-step program and began a meditation practice.^[3]

He was trained by Jack Kornfield of Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California. Later, he earned a masters degree in counseling psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies.^[5]

Career

He currently leads Dharma and vipassana meditation retreats and workshops across the United States and teaches weekly meditation classes in Los Angeles.^[6] A member of the Prison Dharma Network, Levine works with juvenile and adult prison inmates, combining meditation techniques with psychotherapy. He "[explores] how they can have a deeper understanding of what has happened and what they need to do in order to be free, on many levels—free from prison, free from the trauma of the past."^[4]

He has helped found several groups and projects including the Mind Body Awareness Project,^[7] a non-profit organization that serves incarcerated youths, and Refuge Recovery, an addiction recovery community ^[8].

Allegations of sexual misconduct

In March 2018, Against the Stream released a statement that they were investigating allegations of sexual misconduct on the part of Noah Levine. "It is with great regret we announce that we have received reports of sexual misconduct by Noah Levine which require an investigation. During the investigative process we are required to suspend Noah’s teaching activities with Against the Stream and his membership on the Board of Directors." Levine denied the accusations, stating in a letter to the community "This never happened."^[9]

The ATS Grievance Council retained attorney Roberta Yang to independently investigate the accusations against Levine. In August 2018, ATS released a statement announcing that Yang and the Board of Directors had concluded that the preponderance of evidence indicated that Levine had likely violated the Third Precept of the ATS Teacher's Code of Ethics, which requires teachers to "avoid creating harm through sexuality," with multiple women. Levine was removed from the ATS Board of Directors, and the Board announced that its centers in Melrose, Santa Monica, and San Francisco would close as a result of financial difficulties stemming from the allegations against Levine.^[10]

In a Facebook livestream shortly following the announcement of the closing of ATS, Levine clarified that there were no accusations from ATS students.^[11]

Books and beliefs

One notable aspect of Buddhist Dharma is the path of our choices, the actions past and present and the intention for future action (Buddhist Law of Karma). Levine's past—addiction, incarceration, violence, initial rejection of Buddhism and meditation—are all defining characteristics of his writings and teachings. "We all sort of have a different doorway to dharma or spiritual practice. Suffering is a doorway. For me it was the suffering of addiction, violence and crime which opened me at a young age, 17 years old. I was incarcerated, looking at the rest of my life in prison and thought, 'Maybe I will try dad's hippie meditation bullshit.' Suffering opened me to the possibility of trying meditation."^[6]

In Levine's second book, Against the Stream, released in April 2007, "he presents what he has learned about and through Buddhism"^[12] and "clearly returns to such central ideas as impermanence and suffering".^[12]

Bibliography

• Levine, Noah (2004). Dharma Punx. HarperOne. ISBN 978-0060008956.
• Levine, Noah (2007). Against the Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries. HarperOne. ISBN 978-0060736644.
• Levine, Noah (2011). The Heart of the Revolution: The Buddha's Radical Teachings on Forgiveness, Compassion, and Kindness. HarperOne. ISBN 978-0061711244.
• Levine, Noah (2014). Refuge Recovery: A Buddhist Path to Recovering from Addiction. HarperOne. ISBN 978-0062122841.

Subject of documentary

Levine is the subject of the feature-length documentary, Meditate and Destroy,^[13] directed by Sarah Fisher of Blue Lotus Films.^[14] The documentary was shown in film festivals and independent screenings from 2007 to 2008. Meditate and Destroy was released on DVD in 2009 by Alive Mind Media.

See also

• Vipassana movement

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Noah Levine

• Noah Levine's Official Website
• Noah Levine audio from the DIY Dharma website
• Zen and the Art of Slam Dancing article by David F. Smydra, Jr. in the Boston Globe, 9/19/04.
• An article about sexuality and desire on the spiritual path featured in ascent magazine.
• An interview with ascent magazine.
• Audio Interview Series on Buddhist Geeks
• Meditate and Destroy- Documentary film website
• Daphne L. Rankin. "AGAINST THE STREAM BUDDHIST MEDITATION SOCIETY". Virginia Commonwealth University.