Stephen Levine

Poet, dharma teacher, and companion to the dying and the bereaved, Stephen Levine embodied his own exhortation to "keep your heart open in hell." Born in 1937 to a secular Jewish family, Stephen spent his adult life exploring, practicing, and sharing the traditions of the East, weaving a tapestry of seemingly disparate but ultimately harmonious elements of bhakti yoga (the Hindu path of devotion) and Vipassana (Buddhist mindfulness practice). He died in 2016 in the home he shared with his...See more

Poet, dharma teacher, and companion to the dying and the bereaved, Stephen Levine embodied his own exhortation to "keep your heart open in hell." Born in 1937 to a secular Jewish family, Stephen spent his adult life exploring, practicing, and sharing the traditions of the East, weaving a tapestry of seemingly disparate but ultimately harmonious elements of bhakti yoga (the Hindu path of devotion) and Vipassana (Buddhist mindfulness practice). He died in 2016 in the home he shared with his beloved wife and co-teacher, Ondrea, in the mountains of northern New Mexico. A longtime friend of iconic spiritual teacher Ram Dass, and of the pioneer of the conscious dying movement Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Stephen shifted the cultural conversation around death. By embracing both dying and grieving as opportunities for awakening, Stephen and Ondrea helped countless beings approach their own deaths as the ultimate spiritual experience and their bereaved loved ones to be blessed with transformation. Among Stephen's many books, Who Dies? , Unattended Sorrow , and One Year to Live endure as classics and continue to serve as vital guides to those seeking support for navigating the mystery of the human condition. In their work with both the dying and the living, Stephen and Ondrea reclaimed the concept of "mercy" as an essential element in self-forgiveness, enabling people on a conscious path to leave this world unburdened by guilt, and to dispel the legacy of shame in the hearts of those left behind. These teachings, though simple, were revolutionary. Stephen's book Becoming Kwan Yin draws on the Chinese Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion as an exemplar for this liberating practice. For several decades, Stephen and Ondrea lived in relative isolation in the high desert of rural New Mexico (where Ondrea continues to live), raising children and animals, in close connection with the land. Their solitary life in the wilderness made their outpouring of loving attention to the dying and the bereaved possible. One of Stephen's lesser-known passions was his deep connection with animals, both domestic and wild. A consummate storyteller, Stephen conveyed his relationships with dogs and horses, his encounters with snakes and skunks, and his visitations by mockingbirds and hummingbirds with the artfulness of a bard and the insight of a Buddha. See less