The Healing I Took Birth For: Practicing the Art of Compassion

by Ondrea Levine, Stephen Levine

Overview

For more than 32 years, Stephen and Ondrea Levine have provided emotional and spiritual support to those who face lifethreatening illness and their caregivers; deeply affecting hundreds of thousands of people in the process. The Healing I Took Birth For, which was begun after Ondrea's own medical prognosis that foretold the end of a lifetime of spiritual exploration, is the culmination of her work. Their collaboration, in the service of the dying, especially during the height of the AIDS epidemic, set them both more deeply on the path of compassion—compassion for self, for others, for all.

The Healing I Took Birth For is the heartfelt sharing of Ondrea's life of service and a deeply inspiring example of how one faces illness and great personal difficulties, with a deep spiritual practice and grace. It is the most "intimate collaboration" she and Stephen have worked on and it will inspire readers to find their own way toward living a life of compassion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781578635634
Publisher:	Red Wheel/Weiser
Publication date:	05/01/2015
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Ondrea Levine and Stephen Levine are close collaborators in teaching, in practice, in life. Together they are the authors of more than eight books, some of which bear Stephen's name only as author, but all of which Ondrea had a hand in. Together they are best known for their work on death and dying. They are also the parents of Buddhist teacher and writer Noah Levine. Visit them online at www.levinetalks.com.

Stephen Levine is an American poet, author ,and teacher best known for his work on death and dying. He is one of a generation of pioneering teachers who, along with Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, Ram Dass, and Sharon Salzberg, who have made the teachings of Theravada Buddhism more widely available to students in the West. He is the author of Who Dies?, Healing into Life and Death, and Turning Toward the Mystery. Visit him at www.levinetalks.com.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction Stephen Levine xvii

1 What's Happening? 1

2 Seeing and Hearing 13

3 Lifting the Brain Veil 23

4 Call Waiting 33

5 Not the Body 47

6 As "My" Heart Becomes "The" Heart 55

7 Journey to the Top of My World 59

8 A Wild and Simple Coincidence 71

9 Peaceable Kingdom 85

10 A Shared Mind 99

11 Is This That? 115

12 Advanced Teachings 129

13 A Year to Live 141

14 Healing Is Our Birthright 157

15 Hermit Lovers in the Spirit World 169

16 Gratitude Grows in the Ripening Heart 185

Epilogue 191

Editorial Reviews

04/13/2015
Fans of Stephen Levine (One Year to Live) know that his wife, Ondrea, is always part of the creative process behind his many popular books. In this seeker’s memoir, Ondrea’s voice is the one in the spotlight, as Stephen transcribes her story. Stephen writes in the first person as Ondrea, with less ease and intimacy than readers have come to expect. Her voice seems to have traveled some distance to Stephen’s pen. While there’s an unavoidable remoteness inherent in writing on someone else’s behalf, the effect may also be intentional. Ondrea’s childhood with her undemonstrative parents and her struggles with dyslexia have made it challenging for her to communicate clearly and intimately; Stephen has preserved Ondrea’s distancing by passively describing watershed moments rather than showing us directly how Ondrea experienced them. Details of the exceptional life the two have shared in their work with the dying and grieving, such as their interactions with Ram Dass, are more vivid. While reading Ondrea’s secondhand memoir is not a true “getting to know you” experience, it’s still inspiring to see how she has transformed her unhappy early experiences into a life’s work of helping others. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"...enlightening and heart opening." —Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Happiness

Reviews

"...enlightening and heart opening." —Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Happiness

"In this exceptional book, Ondrea uses the depth of her mind and heart to heal her body and finds, in her suffering, compassion." —Ram Dass, author of Be Here Now and Still Here

"Interweaving her own story with perennial teachings on mindfulness practice and devotional yoga. This book is a profound healing." —Miribai Starr

"Ondrea Levine's book reveals her courageous willingness to face the inner linings of her heart and the fearful caverns of her egomind. The honesty and transparency of her selfexploration is filled with a sensitivity, grace, gentleness, and wisdom that represents the One. Ondrea paves the way for the reader to follow her in an amazing commitment to a uniquely beautiful journey of the heart. This book is truly a love story of how two extraordinary people become one heart as they face the challenges of illness, pain, and death—not seeing them as enemies, but as an exploration of their way to freedom." —Gerald. G. Jampolsky, M.D., founder of Attitudinal Healing; Diane V. Cirincione, Ph.D., CEO of Attitudinal Healing International

"I have been a huge fan of Stephen and Ondrea Levine's work for many years. Their deep, healing and transformative teachings have had a profound impact on my life. They are authentic teachers of great wisdom and heart." —Marci Shimoff, New York Times bestselling author, Happy for No Reason

"I read this wise and loving journal avidly, with deep gratitude and delight. These intimate old Dharma friends share how broken hearts, nakedly encountering death and mortality, can catalyze open hearts and selfless service. Their grace-full co-meditations and very special brand of partner spirituality will edify and enrich us all." —Lama Surya Das, author of Awakening the Buddha Within and Buddha Standard Time

"In The Healing I Took Birth For, Stephen not only autobiographically accounts Ondrea's life, her selfless service, bouts with illnesses, writings, workshops and more, but takes their teachings to a more intimate place than ever before. Through implementing the insights, wisdom, and knowledge shared in The Healing I Took Birth For, I can unequivocally say that I am a better human being because of it." —Chris Grosso, www.TheIndieSpiritualist.com

"This is a brave and intimate, tender and healing story. Great love, strong medicine, just what the heart needs." —Jack Kornfield, author of The Wise Heart

"What a story! And how amazing it seemed as I followed the growth or maturation or . . . or expansion of mind and spirit of someone already so obviously ready, 33 years ago, to hop aboard the same spiritual train where you were punching tickets." —Lee Quarnstrom, writer-practioner-prankster

"Rarely are we offered the privilege of sharing in the rigorously honest, humbly genuine, and deeply authentic inner pilgrimage of another human being. This is the story of how Ondrea was shaped by a symphony of forces—broken open by people, events and winds that blew both harsh and gentle; punishing and uplifting; through darkness and light. Ondrea is a gift to us all. She shares remarkable clarity, insight and counsel for us to hold dear, to cherish, and to pass on to those souls brave enough to follow Love wherever it may take." —Wayne Muller, best-selling author of Sabbath, and A Life of Being, Having, and Doing Enough

"This book is an enheartening masterpiece. I have never felt my heart so close to the surface when reading a book. Ondrea Levine is living proof that grace is not something that pours down from the heavens; it is something that rises up from within us. Reading her story is a blessing not in disguise. This book is the perfect preparation for an enheartened life." —Jeff Brown, author of Soulshaping: A Journey of Self-Creation

"The steadfast union of Ondrea and Stephen that forged a path of healing for so many over the past decades now takes us on an unparalleled inner journey. Her story offers guidance for all those who have been wounded in life, and all those who strive to keep their hearts open. Life events alternating with poetic teachings catalyze both the mind and spirit. Wise, touching, tender and pure, her generosity and honesty will be a source of inspiration for all." —Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., originator of EMDR therapy, author of Getting Past Your Past

From the Publisher