STEPHEN W. LEVINE

STEPHEN W. LEVINE American author, poet and teacher, Stephen Levine died in his home in Chamisal, New Mexico after a long illness on January 17, 2016. Levine was born in Albany, New York on July 17, 1937. He is survived by his wife, Ondrea Levine, and his children Tara Levine, Noah Levine and James Valentine. Levine's work and writings focused on spiritual growth, death and dying, grief and trauma healing, and the preservation and celebration of the beauty and mystery of the natural world. Thousands of people attended workshops given by the Levines and thousands more have read his books and listened to recordings of his talks, most of which were done in collaboration with his wife and partner of forty years, Ondrea Levine. After working as a writer and editor in New York City, Levine co-founded and served as the editor of the San Francisco Oracle in 1966. Levine's first book was a collection of poems, A Resonance of Hope, published in 1959. His spiritual autobiography, Turning Towards the Mystery, was published by Harper Collins in 2002. Thirteen books by Levine are currently listed on Amazon. Levine was one of a generation of pioneering teachers who, along with Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg made the teachings of Theravada Buddhism more widely available in the west. Levine also worked closely with Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and Ram Dass, aka Richard Alpert, using meditation and mindfulness techniques as a means for coping with death and dying, grief, chronic illness and loss. Levine and his wife, Ondrea, ran a 24 hour free telephone hotline for the dying and for those in need of support for several years and they regularly corresponded with thousands of people seeking support and guidance over several decades. Buddhist author and teacher, Jack Kornfield wrote the following words on his blog last week after learning of Levine's passing: "I can hear Stephen Levine's loving voice counseling healing awareness, soft belly, compassion, and mercy within mercy to all who came to see him and his beloved partner, Ondrea. Their students brought everything, their spiritual longing and beauty along with trauma, loss, brokenness and encounters with death. Stephen and Ondrea welcomed them all with unbounded tenderness and heartfelt courage...as a beloved friend and colleague, Stephen perennially inspired me, deepened my understanding of how to practice in the fire and how to stay open to love. He sat with death a thousand times, wrote poems for a year in the wilderness, created whole new forms of healing, and spoke to several generations through his writings and recordings." A memorial celebration of Stephen's life will be held at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA on February 19th.