{"title":"Stephen Levine","description":"\u003cp\u003eStephen Levine's work guides readers through profound explorations of healing and transformation, blending insights from \u003cem\u003espirituality\u003c\/em\u003e and mindfulness. His books offer compassionate reflections on grief, loss, and the path to inner peace, inviting a deep connection with the self and the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith titles like \u003cem\u003eAnimal Sutras\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eBecoming Kuan Yin\u003c\/em\u003e, Levine combines gentle teachings with poetic wisdom, providing tools for personal growth and emotional resilience. These works resonate with anyone seeking solace and understanding within the journey of life.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"animal-sutras-by-stephen-levine-9781948626064","title":"Animal Sutras","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE RENOWNED TEACHER AND AUTHOR'S SPIRITUAL MEMOIR, AS TOLD THROUGH HIS LIFELONG ENCOUNTERS WITH ANIMALS AND NATURE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis book of sutras—wisdoms—provides spiritual and practical teachings on the importance of humanity's relationship with animals and nature and how compassion benefits us and our planet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor Stephen Levine, \"animal-people\" were his greatest teachers. So, at age seventy, he began collecting animal spirit stories and transcendent moments in nature from throughout his life—from the green snake who taught him to meditate as a boy to the generous hen whom predators would not harm, and many more.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"Animals have a natural mindfulness,\" Levine writes. \"They know what they are doing. Humans, who are full of confusion and seldom wholly in touch with their mind\/body, need encouragement and technique to live in the present.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'I love this book. It feels like a secret treasure bequeathed by Stephen Levine to be opened after his death—an overflowing vessel of insight, humour and literary genius. \u003ci\u003eAnimal Sutras\u003c\/i\u003e may be the best book Stephen Levine ever wrote.' - Mirabai Starr, \u003ci\u003eWild Mercy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Stephen was a profound healer of the heart, writer, and meditation teacher. In \u003ci\u003eAnimal Sutras\u003c\/i\u003e, his other gifts shine, as a wise poet-naturalist and Dharma storyteller-philosopher, offered here in a lyrical, quirky, playful, and inviting collection.' - Jack Kornfield, \u003ci\u003eA Path With Heart\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46868009386220,"sku":"9781948626064","price":47.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/21899653482881.jpg?v=1759749065"},{"product_id":"becoming-kuan-yin-by-stephen-levine-9781578635559","title":"Becoming Kuan Yin","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn his long career as a poet, Buddhist teacher, spiritual advisor, and writer, Stephen Levine has changed our understanding of death and dying. In \u003cem\u003eBecoming Kuan Yin\u003c\/em\u003e, Levine's first new book in many years, he turns to the legend of Kuan Yin, the bodhisattva venerated by East Asian Buddhists for her compassion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eBecoming Kuan Yin\u003c\/em\u003e, Levine shares the tale of Miao Shan, born centuries ago to a cruel king who wanted her to marry a wealthy but uncaring man. This is the story of how Miao Shan refused to follow the path her father had in mind and, instead, became Kuan Yin, the first acknowledged female bodhisattva who is revered by millions. Levine weaves together story and practice and helps readers discover their own infinite capacity for mercy and compassion under difficult circumstances.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis book will have resonance for Kuan Yin's millions of followers as the friend of the dying and those who work with them. \u003cem\u003eBecoming Kuan Yin\u003c\/em\u003e follows her very difficult and remarkably beautiful path to Bodhisattva and ultimately completed Buddha nature. It is a semi-fictional tale composed of myth and the true nature of practice. She was Miao Shan, a gifted human being on an arduous merciful path, long before she came to be referenced as a celestial.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBest known for his work on dying, teacher and author Levine (\u003cem\u003eA Gradual Awakening\u003c\/em\u003e) explores the legend of Kuan Yin. This beloved Chinese manifestation of the Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion vows to help all sentient beings escape suffering. Retelling the story of her origin, Levine recounts how, when Miao Shan refused her cruel father's orders to marry, he sentenced her to harsh labour at a convent. Yet as she faced increasingly severe hardships tending the sick and dying, her compassion grew, until she finally became the bodhisattva Kuan Yin, \"she who hears the cries of the world.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHe uses Miao Shan's legend as a starting point for a meditation on compassion for self and others, noting that healing is \"to reoccupy those parts of ourselves abandoned to pain.\" Noting that Kuan Yin has been described as the \"first acknowledged female Buddha,\" Levine identifies similarities to the life of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLevine's writing isn't quite up to the task of lyrical celebration, but this short, heartfelt book offers hope in the face of extraordinary pain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47462636093676,"sku":"9781578635559","price":24.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781578635559-becoming-kuan-yin.jpg?v=1775019248"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/stephen-levine.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}