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Noah Levine

Noah Levine Biography

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“Religion, which was obviously created to give meaning and purpose to people, has become part of the oppression. This is true in both Eastern and Western religious traditions. The Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad were all revolutionaries who critiqued and attempted to dismantle the corrupt societal traditions of their time. Yet their teachings, like most things in human society, have been distorted and co-opted by the confused and power-hungry patriarchal tradition. What were wonce the creation myths of ancient cultures, have become doctrines of oppression. More blood has been spilled and more people oppressed in the name of religion than for any other reason in history.”

WarReligionJesusBloodTraditionCorruptionOppressionMuhammadCulturesRevolutionaries
Book:Against the Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries
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“Everything is impermanent. Every physical and mental experience arises and passes. Everything in existence is endlessly arising out of causes and conditions. We all create suffering for ourselves through our resistance, through our desire to have things different than the way they are - that is, our clinging or aversion.”

SufferingImpermanenceClingingAversion
Book:Against the Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries
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“We are born into a realm of constant change. Everything is decaying. We are continually losing all that we come in contact with. Our tendency to get attached to impermanent experiences causes sorrow, lamentation and grief, because eventually we are separated from everything and everyone we love. Our lack of acceptance and understanding of this fact makes life unsatisfactory.”

FactsCausesUnderstandingBornGriefAcceptanceSorrowLosingConstantContactTendenciesRealmsLamentation
Author:Noah Levine
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“The practice of celibacy alone was opening me up to a deeper sense of the way the mind-body connection works. I saw over and over that my mind and body could be filled with desire and that no matter how intense the craving was it would always pass. I didn't have to satisfy every desire that arose in my mind. I began to understand impermanence through direct experience rather than just intellectual theory.”

WayMindMatterBodyDesirePracticeSawsTheoryIntellectualDirectConnectionsFilledDeeperIntenseOpeningCravingMind And BodyImpermanenceCelibacyMind BodyMind Body Connection
Author:Noah Levine
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“Finally we are being told the truth: life isn’t always easy and pleasant. We already know this to be true, but somehow we tend to go through life thinking that there is something wrong with us when we experience sadness, grief, and physical and emotional pain. The first truth points out that this is just the way it is. There is nothing wrong with you: you have just been born into a realm where pain is a given.”

ThinkingKnowsWayFirstsPainGivenEasyBornGriefSadnessEmotionalBeing TrueRealmsPleasantTruth Of LifeEmotional Pain
Book:Against the Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries
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“We have the ability to effect a great positive change in the world, starting with the training of our own minds and the overcoming of our deluded conditioning. Waking up is not a selfish pursuit of happiness; it is a revolutionary stance from the inside out, for the benefits of all beings in existence.”

WorldMindAbilityExistenceEffectsBenefitsTrainingOvercomingWake UpStartingSelfishPursuitRevolutionaryWakingPursuit Of HappinessConditioningStanceDeludedPositive ChangeGreat Positive
Author:Noah Levine
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