READING HALL

Noah Levine, Against the Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries (New York: HarperOne, 2007) ("We have all been seduces by the world's enchanting offers of happiness through pleasure and accumulation, but they are lies, shams, fallacies. In order to find the true happiness and freedom that are available, we must understand this clearly. We must experience a revolution in our perception of the material world. Inside each one of us resides the truth; and however deeply buried or obscured that truth has become, we have the ability to uncover and experience it for ourselves--and happiness and freedom will follow." Id. at 118.).

Noah Levine, The Heart of the Revolution: The Buddhas's Radical Teachings on Forgiveness, Compassion, and Kindness (New York: HarperOne, 2011) ("Forgiveness--the journey and practice of intentionally letting go of the stuff of the past that has caused us emotional suffering and feeling anger and resentment--begins with the understanding that all harm caused comes out of suffering and ignorance. There is no such thing as wise abuse or enlightened betrayal. This is the core truth of harm: it always comes from confusion and suffering. Anger, violence, and all forms of abuse and betrayal are always motivated by an ignorant or confused intention. When the mind is unconfused--awakened--it cannot intentionally cause malicious harm. The awakened heart/mind acts with only wisdom and compassion. That understanding is essential as we practice forgiveness, in that it forces us to distinguish between the confused, suffering actor and the actions themselves.... Most of the time the anger and resentment we hold are directed against the actor; in our minds we don't instinctively separate the abuser from the abuse. But this is exactly what we must do. We must come to understand that confusion comes and goes. An action from a confused and suffering being in the past doesn't represent who that being is forever, it is only an expression do that being's suffering. Furthermore, if we cling to resentment over past hurts, we simply increase our own suffering. By holding on to our anger and resentments, we make our own lives more difficult than need be." Id. at 62-63.). 

Noah Levine, Dharma Punx: A Memoir (New York: HarperOne, 2003, 2004) ("My search for happiness, which first led me to drugs and punk rock, is the same search that eventually brought me to spiritual practice. The truth is, going against the internal stream of ignorance is way more rebellious than trying to start some sort of cultural revolution. It's easy to hate and point out everything that is wrong with the world; it is the hardest and most important work in one's life to free oneself from the bonds of fear and attachment. Compassion is our only hope, wisdom our weapon. The inner revolution will not be televised or sold on the Internet. It must take place within one's own mind and heart." Id. at 247.).