Noah Levine on Buddhism

DaltheJigsaw

Bhogakapala

I ran into this guy during a period of my life in which I was actually ideologically hostile to Buddhism (aggressive leftist radical ideologue days). I had just finished reading Dharma Punx, and I just randomly bumped into him at a coffee shop. I hadn't liked his book, and when I encountered him I got the impression that being hip and getting laid were really way high up on his list of priorities. But to his credit, he didn't get pissed off or defensive when I was patronizing and critical.

At the time, I predicted that his Buddhism was just another phase in his pursuit of identity, but that was a long time now. Seven or eight years. Seems like he's focused and sincere. Makes me realize what an unbearably negative prick I was at the time.

DaltheJigsaw

I ran into this guy during a period of my life in which I was actually ideologically hostile to Buddhism (aggressive leftist radical ideologue days). I had just finished reading Dharma Punx, and I just randomly bumped into him at a coffee shop. I hadn't liked his book, and when I encountered him I got the impression that being hip and getting laid were really way high up on his list of priorities. But to his credit, he didn't get pissed off or defensive when I was patronizing and critical.

At the time, I predicted that his Buddhism was just another phase in his pursuit of identity, but that was a long time now. Seven or eight years. Seems like he's focused and sincere. Makes me realize what an unbearably negative prick I was at the time.

Thank you for sharing!

Dakini

I've gotten mixed reviews on Noah. Former members of his sanghas say he's turned Buddhism into a 12-step program, and that he's about making money off it. idk, maybe this is one way Buddhism is adapting to Western culture: 12-step programs.

And I'm really tired of learning of Buddhist movement or sangha leaders who are into it for sex. : s Dharma Punx has a code of teacher conduct that's very strict, actually. So maybe Noah limits his extra-curricular activities to partners outside the sangha. Maybe he's matured by now.

Bhogakapala

And I'm really tired of learning of Buddhist movement or sangha leaders who are into it for sex. : s Dharma Punx has a code of teacher conduct that's very strict, actually. So maybe Noah limits his extra-curricular activities to partners outside the sangha. Maybe he's matured by now.

I think he mentioned having a wife in that video, so that probably means that his students and cute hipster girls at coffee-shops (same thing? ) are safe from his advances.

Regarding the 12-step thing, that would make sense, as I think he has a background in that. Noah's approach might be very helpful to people from the social-demographic which he emerged from: drug addicted, sub-cultural people who live on the street part time. That probably sounds sarcastic, but I don't mean it that way. There's a whole dismal underworld of intelligent, creative people who have fallen into a subculture based on intoxication and near-homelessness. It's a lot of fun for a while, but people have trouble stopping and end up in a living Hell that tends to culminate in imprisonment, permanent homelessness, death, etc.

One thing that still rubs me the wrong way about Noah, personally, is what I perceive as the "anti-religious" slant that he exhibits: this suspicion of iconography, ritual and so on. To me that looks like a hangover from the punk-rock subculture. I guess I can understand why these things would be alienating to a lot of people from that background, but I wish there was a little more willingness to understand how such things might function for other people.

Dakini

Your middle paragraph puts it in perspective for me, thanks, Bhoga. And lots of Buddhists are anti-religion, look at Stephen Batchelor. many people get into Buddhism because it appears at first to be anti-faith (as in: test everything for yourself. Also, much of it is based on logic.) I think Noah's style probably brings people into Buddhism who otherwise would never discover it, so that's not a bad thing.

buddhajunkie

While his "style" may be hip and punk rock, the core of his teaching seems to be very much in line with standard Western Theravada teaching.

People keep talking about how he's out for money, yet they never support this with evidence. How? Is he charging too much for retreats? Is $50 for a daylong too much? Or selling books? Does he charge more than other Buddhist book writers?

PookDoo71

I actually fell asleep watching this the other night. Not that he is boring I was just really tired. I like the Motorhead t-shirt . I'm still waiting for the Metal Buddhist teacher. Maybe that can be me

Prometheus

Your middle paragraph puts it in perspective for me, thanks, Bhoga. And lots of Buddhists are anti-religion, look at Stephen Batchelor. many people get into Buddhism because it appears at first to be anti-faith (as in: test everything for yourself. Also, much of it is based on logic.) I think Noah's style probably brings people into Buddhism who otherwise would never discover it, so that's not a bad thing.

Yes. I do think that Buddhism's core philosophy dealing with suffering, is really the only part of Buddhism that makes Buddhism relevant in the modern world. The rest of it makes Buddhism 'just another religion'. I'm not 'anti-religion' (neither is Batchelor), I'm just non-religious (at least, non-religious in the sense that most people use the word 'religion', for there are other senses in which I would certainly deem myself religious... but that's an aside).

andyZ

I think that in the history of Buddhism there have always been people like Noah, who seemingly fall out of your typical Buddhist stereotype. I can think of Bodhidharma in Zen who certainly turned many things upside down with his "transmission outside scriptures". I'm not saying he's like Bodhidharma, but he's certainly pushing the limits of what we call Buddhism today.

shanyin

The book Dharma punx was the reason I started meditating and in a large sense the reason I am here now .