Stephen Levine, American poet, Died at 78

  Writers

Stephen Levine was born on July 17, 1937, and January 17, 2016.

He an American poet, author and teacher.

He was best known for his work on death and dying.

Mr. Levine is one of a generation of pioneering teachers who, along with Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg, have made the teachings of Theravada Buddhism more widely available to students in the West.

Levine published his first work, A Resonance of Hope, in 1959.

After working as an editor and writer in New York City, he was one of the founders of the San Francisco Oracle in 1966.

As the writings of his colleague and close friend, Ram Dass (formerly Richard Alpert), Stephen’s work is also flavored by the devotional practices and teachings (also known as Bhakti Yoga) of the Hindu Guru Neem Karoli Baba.

In this aspect of his teaching can be considered one way in which his work differs from that of the more purely Buddhist oriented teachers named above.

Since Buddhism is largely conceived to be a non-theistic faith, his allusions in his teachings to a creator, which he variously terms God, The Beloved, The One and ‘Uugghh’, further distinguish his work from that of other contemporary Buddhist writers.

Stephen Levine passed away at 78yrs old.