Healing into Life and Death

"This book is one of the most thought-provoking and illuminating reads of our time on the subject of death. It was first published in 1987 but did not come across my radar screen until after the sudden loss of my own parents just a few years back. Stephen Levine has taken a taboo subject (the thought of our own demise) and reshaped it into something glorious and spectacular. I love the many beautiful life stories that anchor this book along the way, particularly the letter from Bill in Chapter 11 and his analogy, "soon my body will drop away from me like a cocoon and my spirit will fly like a butterfly- beautiful and perfect." Other favorite and poignant passages (of which there are many) include, "truly we have been waiting our whole life to hear I love you in our own voice", "making a cup of green tea, I stop the war", and "we become who we have always been, that which preceded birth and survives death." For anyone who is looking to find comfort in the midst of illness, loss, and grief, this book is simply exquisite and in a league all it's own."
~ Written on 2007-07-08

"Often the most profound healing took place in those who did eventually die, but their deaths were transformed into experiences of beauty and grace. Levine concluded that real healing occurred when the heart was opened and there was a balanced integration of body, mind, heart, and soul."
~ Written on 2006-04-27

"Like all stephen's books we should all be given them at school!The person who hated the book because they cried should maybe read it again....and again...."
~ Written on 2006-03-10

"This is a very interesting book, however, very difficult to understand. If your looking for something easier to digest, look elsewhere. The Tibetan book of living and dying by S. Ripoche is probably a better choice."
~ Written on 2005-01-17

"This book is fantastic. Stephen Levine is an amazingly gifted writer. Everything he writes has the flavor of poetry. His ability to express things which come very close, by their very nature, to being inexpressible is stunning. Like I said, his writing has the flavor of poetry. But GOOD poetry. Like Rumi. As one reviewer said, this is NOT a "new agey" book. I totally agree with that. This is a book about the Truth. Does it get "touchy-feely" at times? Yeah, but those moments are more than balanced by the overwhelming feeling that "this guy knows what he's talking about!". He's been "in the trenches" and LIVED this stuff. It's not theory to him.... it's life.
You may resonate more powerfully with this book if you have even a passing familiarity with Zen/Buddhist philosophy. But it is certainly not a prerequisite. This is a book for everyone. "Sick" or "well", "happy" or "depressed", "contented" or "fed up". It speaks to the HUMAN condition in all it's manifestations. Almost anyone would classify this book as being a "spiritually" oriented book but it is so grounded in the "suchness" (as Stephen puts it) of everyday life that it comes closer to being a nitty gritty Ultimate Guide to Living A Human Life than it does any airy, ungrounded "spiritual" read.
I'm not a big fan of guided meditations either. And I've found that all "techniques" will fail you eventually if you see them as an end in themselves. But Stephen does an EXCELLENT job of not just suggesting some things to try but explaining WHY YOU ARE DOING THEM! You understand why he is telling you to "breathe with a soft belly"... he doesn't just hit you over the head with.... "Enlightenment in 30 days through the use of the amazing Soft Belly technique" which is the take of so many books. After reading Healing into Life and Death, you will have such an expanded view of yourself and "illness" vs. "health" that you will easily be able to use whatever feels right to YOU... the things that will take you more and more deeply into yourself, where True healing lies. Yeah, he gives you some tools, but makes it clear that they are just that.... TOOLS.... like rafts you use to cross the river and then leave on the banks.
This book is filled with hope but NOT promises (just like life). It never gives the impression that if you will just do as it suggests, you will get well. But it does make it clear that to be with yourself... look deeply at your own experience... refuse to run away and actually LIVE your life are ALWAYS better than the alternatives. After all.... we've all tried the alternatives ad nauseum. If you want to see how far that has gotten us as a species..... take a look at this world.
This isn't a book about "illness", it's a book about Life. This is the book we all should've been given when we were born. The world would be a much better place for it."
~ Written on 2003-04-30