A Gradual Awakening

Stephen Levine is an extremely compassionate person who transmits this ability to the reader. He inspires the reader to be loving and patient with others and him/herself. Hope and love are inspired and it's an all together useful and reachable path that he shows us. This book is a must for any seeker or traveler on the spiritual path.

In 1989, I was in drug-rehab where I was given this book by one of the psychologists. It literally changed my whole point of view on many issues and introduced me to Spriituallity and Meditation. I still practice Vipasanna and Chakara Meditation to this day. The book itself is written very simply with passion and will appeal to all levels of intellect. I have since then bought every book that Stephen Levine has published and I recommend all of them highly!

The message in this book has the unmistakable ring of Truth to it. You will find yourself returning again and again to it. I have many books on Buddhism and Vipassana meditation, and I have to rate this as the most helpful.

This, and Swami Muktananda's brilliant "Where Are You Going?" are the two books that have given me the most practical information on meditation in the most accessible way, especially as a beginner. Without these two books, I never would have begun a path that I'm so grateful to have embarked upon. Get them both!

I have read this book more than once and plan on reading it again. To me, it truly captures the essence of meditation, clearly articulating its various nuances and developmental stages. Levine is from the Theravada (Vipasanna) tradition, whose methods I find very practical and somewhat similar to Zen. The only fault I find in Levine's book is that it is a little short on detail of the actual mechanics of meditation (i.e., sitting techniques, breath control, etc.). The best book I have found for technique is: "Mindfulness in Plain English," by H. Gunaratana, which offers precise instruction.