Noah Levine

Fueled by the music of revolution, anger, fear, and despair, we dyed our hair or shaved our heads ... Eating acid like it was candy and chasing speed with cheap vodka, smoking truckloads of weed, all in a vain attempt to get numb and stay numb.

This is the story of a young man and a generation of angry youths who rebelled against their parents and the unfulfilled promise of the sixties. As with many self-destructive kids, Noah Levine's search for meaning led him first to punk rock, drugs, drinking, and dissatisfaction. But the search didn't end there. Having clearly seen the uselessness of drugs and violence, Noah looked for positive ways to channel his rebellion against what he saw as the lies of society. Fueled by his anger at so much injustice and suffering, Levine now uses that energy and the practice of Buddhism to awaken his natural wisdom and compassion.

While Levine comes to embrace the same spiritual tradition as his father, bestselling author Stephen Levine, he finds his most authentic expression in connecting the seemingly opposed worlds of punk and Buddhism. As Noah Levine delved deeper into Buddhism, he chose not to reject the punk scene, instead integrating the two worlds as a catalyst for transformation. Ultimately, this is an inspiring story about maturing, and how a hostile and lost generation is finally finding its footing. This provocative report takes us deep inside the punk scene and moves from anger, rebellion, and self-destruction, to health, service to others, and genuine spiritual growth.… (mais)

At 17, Noah Levine was a mess. A drug addict and minor felon, he was in juvenile hall again. It was then that his father suggested he meditate to escape from his shame about his past and fear about his future. Levine's book is a spiritual autobiography of how he went from an angry and rebellious punk rocker to founder of Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society. It's a quintessential American story, an example of how the Dharma looks in the context of Western phenomena like punk rocking. Levine sees the same thread in Buddhism and punk culture, both of which are dissatisfied by the mainstream and seek to change. But the punk culture of his youth wants to change it with anger and violence, while the Buddha wants to change it with mindful compassion. Levine is also an example of the frequent mixture of Buddhism and 12-Step, which was hard for him to accept because of its teachings on a Higher Power. It was a great read, and it was very sad to see how many of Noah's young punk friends died of drugs or suicide.… (mais)