“Clearly, all fear has an element of resistance and a leaning away from the moment. Its dynamic is not unlike that of strong desire except that fear leans backward into the last safe moment while desire leans forward toward the next possibility of satisfaction. Each lacks presence. (29)”
Stephen Levine“Quoting son, Noah Levine: Once you see what the heart really needs, it doesn’t matter if you’re going to live or die, the work is always the same. (25)”
Stephen Levine, A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as If It Were Your Last“Go to the truth beyond the mind. Love is the bridge.”
Stephen Levine“Love is not what we become but who we already are.”
Stephen Levine“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.”
Stephen Levine, A Gradual Awakening“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.”
Stephen Levine, A Gradual Awakening“[D]etachment means letting go and nonattachment means simply letting be. (95)”
Stephen Levine, A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as If It Were Your Last“Simply touching a difficult memory with some slight willingness to heal begins to soften the holding and tension around it. (74)”
Stephen Levine, A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as If It Were Your Last“Letting ourselves be forgiven is one of the most difficult healings we will undertake. And one of the most fruitful. (79)”
Stephen Levine, A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as If It Were Your Last“[D]on’t cling to your self-righteous suffering, let it go. . . . Nothing is too good to be true, let yourself be forgiven. To the degree you insist that you must suffer, you insist on the suffering of others as well. (90)”
Stephen Levine, A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as If It Were Your Last“Until we find out who was born this time around, it seems irrelevant to seek earlier identities. I have heard many people speak of who they believe they were in previous incarnations, but they seem to have very little idea of who they are in this one. . . . Let’s take one life at a time. Perhaps the best way to do that is to live as though there were no afterlife or reincarnation. To live as though this moment was all that was allotted. (132)”
Stephen Levine, A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as If It Were Your Last