A BUDDHIST MANUAL FOR SPIRITUAL REVOLUTIONARIES
by Noah Levine
Available in bookstores May 1st, 2007.
Against the stream is more than a just another book about Buddhist
meditation. It is a manifesto and field guide for the front lines of the
revolution. It is the culmination of almost two decades of meditative
dissonance from the next generation of Buddhists in the West. This is a call
to awakening for the sleeping masses.
Wake up, the revolution has already begun, it started 2,555 years ago, when Sid (Sidhartha Gautama, Sid for short) emerged victorious over suffering in the battle with his own mind. But as most things tend to with time, the spiritual revolution that Sid started, that we now call Buddhism, has been co-opted by the very aspects of humanity that Sid was trying to dismantle. The causes of suffering and confusion in the form of greed, hatred and delusion have continued to corrupt the masses and have even crept into the teachings of this revolutionary path. This book is my attempt to present an introduction to the radical path of awakening as I believe it was originally intended and instructed. I have done my best to leave behind the dogmatic and culturally biased perspectives that have come to be part and parcel of many of the current presentations of Buddhism.
That having been said, I must also admit that my own biases and conditioned experiences will surely color these pages with the unenlightened views and opinions that limit my ability to always see clearly. I have not attempted to be precise or historically correct in my interpretations, rather I have taken the liberty to share the path to awakening as I have been practicing it and experiencing it from the inside out.
But I am convinced that what I have presented in these pages is, for the most part, in line with the oldest recorded teachings of the Buddha, the Theravadan tradition, as preserved and practiced in Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand. Many of these teachings I received directly from the unbroken monastic lineage that leads all the way back to the Buddha. But more important is the fact that I have directly experienced these teachings and the transformative effects of this path over approximately two decades of meditative engagement. I have not attempted to present all of the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha in these pages, rather I have done my best to share the teachings and techniques that I believe will lead to the direct experiences of the Buddha's compassionate wisdom.
Against the Stream is my attempt to illuminate the path to freedom as I believe the Buddha intended it to be, as a radical and subversive personal rebellion against the causes of suffering and confusion. We have the ability to affect 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 benefit of all beings in existence.
May the teachings and techniques in this book inspire you to serve the truth of generosity, kindness and appreciation and to defy the lies of selfishness, ill-will and jealousy. May all beings meditate and destroy the causes of suffering in the forms of internal and external oppression and ignorance. And may the inner-revolution bare the fruit of freedom you took birth to experience!
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