brianbbaker's review against another edition
5.0
I've read a lot of books about Buddhism from different authors. Noah Levine makes it readable. He writes in such a way that a new generation of Buddhists can discover themselves in the Dharma. This is a wonderful book and I'm looking forward to more writings from Noah.
jaborch's review against another edition
DNF @ 23%
So, this wasn't for me. I picked this up for one reason and one reason alone: I need to learn to manage the bullshit the public throws at me on any given day. Basically, I'm tired of taking other people's problems home with me at night. So I thought, "hey a book about meditation and compassion, that's exactly what I need!" Unfortunately, it is primarily an intro to Buddhism and no matter how well-written or accessible it makes Buddhism, I'm not looking to become a Buddhist. I also could have done without the broad generalizations of other religions and how they compare to Buddhism.
I think I may need to just seek out a guided meditation class. Before I go postal on the next parent that fails to calm their hellspawn in my work place.
So, this wasn't for me. I picked this up for one reason and one reason alone: I need to learn to manage the bullshit the public throws at me on any given day. Basically, I'm tired of taking other people's problems home with me at night. So I thought, "hey a book about meditation and compassion, that's exactly what I need!" Unfortunately, it is primarily an intro to Buddhism and no matter how well-written or accessible it makes Buddhism, I'm not looking to become a Buddhist. I also could have done without the broad generalizations of other religions and how they compare to Buddhism.
I think I may need to just seek out a guided meditation class. Before I go postal on the next parent that fails to calm their hellspawn in my work place.
klorenzo's review against another edition
3.0
If you are unfamiliar with the message of the Buddha, then I suppose this is a good place to start. However, I personally didn't really need to read this book as I have been studying the principles of Buddhism for about ten years. I didn't learn anything new and I pretty much skimmed over the whole thing. The author's other books, Against the Stream and Dharma Punx had left a strong impression on me in my late teen years so I wanted to give some of his other books a shot.
jasminenoack's review against another edition
4.0
So yesterday I wrote a really half assed review of this book because I still haven't written a review for hatter m, and I didn't want to get behind and I was super excited about starting never the face and I need to finish kraken ect ect ect. But this book deserves better than that as far as I'm concerned.
Reading this was really about getting back to my roots. Noah Levine's [b:Dharma Punx: A Memoir|128116|Dharma Punx A Memoir|Noah Levine|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1232701589s/128116.jpg|1793439] was the buddhism book I ever read, and when I decided I wanted to really check out this buddhism thing I went to a sangha for a year or two that was founded by him, although he wasn't there anymore and the teacher was this guy named josh korda. this meditation group still goes on see here and I would still be going if things like school and work hadn't got in the way. But after all this time and my strong relationship with the books of [a:Brad Warner|362020|Brad Warner|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1276977802p2/362020.jpg], [a:Stephen Batchelor|11798|Stephen Batchelor|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], [a:Lama Surya Das|5133|Lama Surya Das|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1208480064p2/5133.jpg], I could go on and on. After the first book I never sat down and read levine again because while warner was running around getting divorced and getting laid and writing books for me to read apparently levine was settling down and starting a family. I have [b:Against the Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries|476103|Against the Stream A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries|Noah Levine|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266564345s/476103.jpg|464341] I've just somehow never gotten to reading it. But even with that nothing in this book surprised me, nothing made me said "that's not what I was told". When the hungry ghosts popped up he said just was josh korda had said, they aren't actually different beings they are humans that are living unskillfully (in that case in addiction, we could talk about the definitions of hungry ghosts and all, but it isn't necessary here). He says sometimes kindness doesn't seem kind in the moment. He says no one is perfect. He says mara is in your mind. I bring this all up because it's important to me that I'm not suddenly being fed new lines about the religiousity or holiness of buddhism. I came back to the start, to a book about how he has changed using his practice that still read like the guy I stumbled upon when I picked up his first book years ago otherwise it feel a little bit like you've been taken in by a line of crap.
side note: at one point in this book he talks about a tibetan principle that there have been so many rebirths that in a previous lifetime everyone was at one point your mother, shich reminded me of how connor always says that he asks himself how he would want someone to treat his mom if she came in the store and that's how he treats customers. this made me smile.
Levine doesn't straight up say this, but this is really a book about ethics. How should you treat people, how should you interact with the world. and I think on most levels he agrees with greg, don't be an ass hole. Understand that unskillful action comes from pain and meet it with compassion.
He includes meditations that have weird instructions, including change the words of the meditation if you don't like them or don't find them meaningful, which is something I appreciate personally.
I feel like on some level the book is about the fact that we can't meet the world where it, we can't say it started it. To improve the world we have to rise above it and be better than that. And I mean Karen works with me she knows I get rude and grouchy and I spend plenty of time not rising above it, but failure isn't a reason to stop trying, we have to forgive ourselves and we have to step out of our minds and try again. He talks about the 1%ers and he's right. There are a lot of stories in the bible (the prodigal son, mary and martha) where there is one person that works hard and does what they are suppose to and another who's kind of an idiot but gets parties and blessings ect. And that 1% I think it's learning to be that better person not because you expect a party because someone who is good all the time is not going to get congratulated for doing the right thing it's just expected when you always act like that. And it's like the friends episode if you are just doing good things for the reward, then you still aren't doing them for their own sake. You somehow have to find the desire to act from compassion not because we will be rewarded by other people but because we want to be the kind of people that act that way, because we want to improve the world. and really that's the revolution.
Reading this was really about getting back to my roots. Noah Levine's [b:Dharma Punx: A Memoir|128116|Dharma Punx A Memoir|Noah Levine|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1232701589s/128116.jpg|1793439] was the buddhism book I ever read, and when I decided I wanted to really check out this buddhism thing I went to a sangha for a year or two that was founded by him, although he wasn't there anymore and the teacher was this guy named josh korda. this meditation group still goes on see here and I would still be going if things like school and work hadn't got in the way. But after all this time and my strong relationship with the books of [a:Brad Warner|362020|Brad Warner|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1276977802p2/362020.jpg], [a:Stephen Batchelor|11798|Stephen Batchelor|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], [a:Lama Surya Das|5133|Lama Surya Das|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1208480064p2/5133.jpg], I could go on and on. After the first book I never sat down and read levine again because while warner was running around getting divorced and getting laid and writing books for me to read apparently levine was settling down and starting a family. I have [b:Against the Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries|476103|Against the Stream A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries|Noah Levine|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266564345s/476103.jpg|464341] I've just somehow never gotten to reading it. But even with that nothing in this book surprised me, nothing made me said "that's not what I was told". When the hungry ghosts popped up he said just was josh korda had said, they aren't actually different beings they are humans that are living unskillfully (in that case in addiction, we could talk about the definitions of hungry ghosts and all, but it isn't necessary here). He says sometimes kindness doesn't seem kind in the moment. He says no one is perfect. He says mara is in your mind. I bring this all up because it's important to me that I'm not suddenly being fed new lines about the religiousity or holiness of buddhism. I came back to the start, to a book about how he has changed using his practice that still read like the guy I stumbled upon when I picked up his first book years ago otherwise it feel a little bit like you've been taken in by a line of crap.
side note: at one point in this book he talks about a tibetan principle that there have been so many rebirths that in a previous lifetime everyone was at one point your mother, shich reminded me of how connor always says that he asks himself how he would want someone to treat his mom if she came in the store and that's how he treats customers. this made me smile.
Levine doesn't straight up say this, but this is really a book about ethics. How should you treat people, how should you interact with the world. and I think on most levels he agrees with greg, don't be an ass hole. Understand that unskillful action comes from pain and meet it with compassion.
He includes meditations that have weird instructions, including change the words of the meditation if you don't like them or don't find them meaningful, which is something I appreciate personally.
I feel like on some level the book is about the fact that we can't meet the world where it, we can't say it started it. To improve the world we have to rise above it and be better than that. And I mean Karen works with me she knows I get rude and grouchy and I spend plenty of time not rising above it, but failure isn't a reason to stop trying, we have to forgive ourselves and we have to step out of our minds and try again. He talks about the 1%ers and he's right. There are a lot of stories in the bible (the prodigal son, mary and martha) where there is one person that works hard and does what they are suppose to and another who's kind of an idiot but gets parties and blessings ect. And that 1% I think it's learning to be that better person not because you expect a party because someone who is good all the time is not going to get congratulated for doing the right thing it's just expected when you always act like that. And it's like the friends episode if you are just doing good things for the reward, then you still aren't doing them for their own sake. You somehow have to find the desire to act from compassion not because we will be rewarded by other people but because we want to be the kind of people that act that way, because we want to improve the world. and really that's the revolution.
laurentguillemard's review against another edition
4.0
More focused than "Against the Stream", "The Heart of the Revolution" builds on its bases with a more traditional meditation-centered approach but always with an irreverent "don't believe the hype" punk side. I love Noah's no-nonsense secularist approach of Buddhism.
mjanemartin's review against another edition
5.0
This is the most concise, easy to read "how to" book on meditation I've ever read. Something for beginners and experienced meditators alike. I sometimes forget Buddha was a revolutionary. Very well done.
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