Awakening to Light through Relationship

“Mindfulness teaches us the nature of the shadow. Heartfulness teaches us the nature of the light. Without these qualities in balance, we will evolve either eyeless in the darkness or blinded by the light. Unable in either case to perceive the subtle idiosyncrasies of mind or motion in the shimmering blur of our eagerness for more and our longing not to suffer. But to see straight ahead, one needs to embrace the shadow with the light. To put our world-weary and self-interested head on the shoulder of the divine, our suffering dissolving in tears as we embrace and are embraced by the Beloved. Light is self existent, shadow an interruption of the light by something seemingly solid. Investigating the seeming solidity of things, the shadow too dissolves, melts at the edge and disperses, disappearing into the present heart.”

Levine, Stephen. Embracing the Beloved: Relationship as a Path of Awakening (pp. 22-23). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

I am not nor do not advocate Buddhism or any other organized form of Philosophy or Religion. However,  I have appreciated the Levines since the 1990s. They have lived a life of love and shared their trials and tribulations as well as gleaning the essence of being available to true love from their hearts with each other and in their Death and Dying workshops.

I became interested in their work as leaders in the field of Awareness and Awakening Heart, Body and Mind with their tape cassette series To Love and Be Loved: The Difficult Yoga of Love* when they presented that series to the world. I went out and bought the same tape series for family and very close friends. I felt this authentic presentation of the nitty gritty intimacy from within their relationship was both professional and heart touching. I can admit that their recordings of their workshop on the Yoga of Love touched  my heart forever. I have always been an advocate of their work in the field of relationships. My only caveat about the Levines is that I do not agree with their definition of Lucid Dreaming. For a more precise definition and experiential instruction, I advocate The Travel Guide to the Other Side for Gatekeepers of Death and Rebirth, Jodell Bumatay.

The Endless Heart – Relationship as Spiritual Healing (part 1)

1.  Introduction

• 2.  Relationship with Self
• 3.  Dying Into Life
• 4.  The Importance of Daily Practice
• 5.  Ham & Eggs: Service Starts at Home
• 6.  Forgiveness in Family Relationships
• 7.  Grief and Unfinished Business
• 8.  Opening the Heart
• 9.  Learning to Love

The Endless Heart – Relationship as Spiritual Healing (part 2)

1.  Take Tea With Fear

• 2.  The Vessal is Already Broken
• 3.  Precious Collaboration
• 4.  Save The Box
• 5.  Forgiveness Meditation
• 6.  Allowing Forgiveness to Unfold

The Endless Heart – Relationship as Spiritual Healing (part 3)

1.  Brahmachari and Monogamy

• 2.  Short Term Contracts
• 3.  Wedding Vows
• 4.  Q&A – Forgiveness
• 5.  Q&A – Parenting
• 6.  Ending Poetry

*Description of the original To Love and Beloved audio series from Sounds True, Co. at Amazon:

Twenty years ago, two spiritual seekers met at a workshop about conscious dying. What happened next is the extraordinary foundation for To Love and Be Loved – a life-changing program about what it means to be alive and in love. Together ever since that first day, Stephen and Ondrea Levine poured all of the wisdom, compassion, and courage they gained from their work with the suffering and grief stricken into the mystery of their own relationship. The result is a beautiful, unexpected unfolding, a teaching that transcends the anguish of existence to show us the way to God – through the darkest nights of our most intimate relationships.

In the rich and forbidding depths of our personal pain, the Levines teach, lies the essence of intimacy, not only with one another but with God. This is why true commitment requires us to “swim across the reservoir of each other’s grief”. Stephen and Ondrea lead you beyond psychological explanations and show how couples together can immerse themselves in the “ocean of compassion” – where you will discover how to face and overcome the fear that closes your heart and replace it with mercy: the key to creativity, freedom, and love.

Through honest, real-life sharing, To Love and Be Loved teaches you how to discover the greatest gift you can ever have: forgiveness – for yourself and your lover.

The Difficult Yoga of Relationship

Why are so few yogis and mystics committed to human partners? The Levines suggest that it’s because they haven’t recognized the profound value of so high a practice as the difficult yoga of partnership. Our intimate relationships, they teach, actually contain complete blueprints for spiritual realization. With exercises, meditations, and examples, they demonstrate how to decipher and use this priceless map. To Love and Be Loved brings you the crowning insights from these pioneering teachers.

A Tribute to Stephen Levine: 1937-2016