Shambhala Mountain Center Blog

From Kate Linthicum’s Los Angeles Times article, “In the Stillness, Space for a Rebellious Spirit”…

Levine lives in Highland Park with his wife, Amy, and his infant daughter, Hazel. He earns a living as a psychologist but travels frequently to lead meditation workshops and retreats around the world. He founded and sits on the board of the Mind Body Awareness Project, an Oakland-based nonprofit that teaches meditation to at-risk youths in juvenile halls, clinics, high schools and group homes.

His twice-weekly meditation sessions at Against the Stream are among the best-attended in Los Angeles, and they attract a diverse crowd not limited to punk rockers.

Levine has found an especially receptive audience in recovering addicts. He speaks about his own relationship with drugs and alcohol, saying meditation helped him learn the impulse control that is crucial to overcoming addiction.

“If you can sit through the itch without scratching it, then you can sit through the craving for drugs and alcohol,” he said.

Members say they come because they like his simple style.

“He doesn’t speak in riddles or parables. He’s straightforward,” said Duane Dinham, 46, who has been coming to the meditation center for the last five months — in part, he says, because he likes how Levine doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously.

“I came here because it’s non-dogmatic,” Dinham said. “He has a certain irreverence that I like.”

Before starting his meditation session on a recent evening, Levine walked into the large, airy meeting room carrying a takeout box from the vegan restaurant across the street. “Hey,” he called to the people straggling in. “Anybody want to try fried pickles?”

After the session, he cracked jokes and talked about sex and drugs.

Levine runs things with a casualness that might make a Tibetan lama cringe, but that’s what attracted Holly Brown, 39, a self-described “goth girl” who has belonged to Against the Stream since it opened.

“We all respect the Dalai Lama, but we’re living a totally different life than him,” she said. “Noah’s living our same life.”

Noah Levine’s Shambhala Mountain Center weekend retreat, The Buddhist Path to Freedom: Breaking the Addiction to the Mind, is open to all levels of experience and will provide an opportunity to learn and practice several different forms of Buddhist meditation oriented specifically toward breaking free of old ways of thinking. People in 12-step recovery programs are especially welcome. Contact the Shambhala Mountain Center to learn more.