Book Review: Heart of the Revolution

Noah Levine's Heart of the Revolution

I admit it: I'm a "Noah Levinian". I've been to a few of his retreats and talks and generally love the guy. I also love his trained teachers (two of whom live in Vancouver and who I am honoured to call my friends). 

I first read his book Against the Stream in 2007. I was looking for more in my life and a way out of the constant battles and struggles I found myself in. Relating whole-heartedly to his writing, I dove into meditation right away. My "monkey mind" wouldn't sit still. I expected I would flip this switch and my mind would be clear and serene. It wasn't until I went on one of his retreats that I learned this was false. There is no magic switch. There is no such thing as a blank mind. The thoughts will never stop. It's just a matter of letting them arise and fall away with a friendly attitude towards yourself.

I found meditation very difficult at first. I had pain in my legs and I didn't want to sit upright. I thought it was more spiritual to sit on a cushion, legs crossed in a half-lotus position. Years later, I would finally succumb to sitting in a chair and not give a shit about being "spiritual". I just wanted to be comfortable and able to focus on my meditation than constantly shifting my position every minute. 

I found out about a local group called D.I.Y. Dharma from a participant at one of the retreats. After I returned from my retreat, my best friend and I tried to find the "Dharma Lab", located in the industrial part of the city. We walked around and around the block, finally interrupting a man working on a car in the back alley who told us the entrance was around the front. I recognized a lady from the retreat opening a non-descript green door. She invited us in. About 10 people showed up for the meditation. Having had a little instruction from the week-long retreat I was just at, I felt ready to meditate without guidance. Boy, was I wrong. I felt panicked and restless. All I could think about was that bell ringing, signalling the end of the meditation. 

It's been an interesting six years since then and I have kept up with the group, forged relationships, and my own meditation practice. I've gone deeper than just focusing on my breath and expanded my practice to having compassion, forgiveness, and tolerance for others.

That's why I was so excited when Heart of the Revolution came out. It explains the Buddha's teachings on forgiveness, compassion, and kindness in great detail. Noah calls it being "1 %s of the heart" (like the biker gangs). It's less of a memoir like Dharma Punx and more of a practical guide like Against the Stream. 

Heart includes the metta (loving kindness - universal love) sutta and breaks it down. Noah explains each verse practically in a way you can apply to your own life. He talks about personal love: love we have for our friends and family, and romantic love: love we have for our sexual partners. He talks about the clinging that accompanies each, how each type is conditional, and with expectation. It seems pretty grim: love brings pain. But a solution is presented! There are practical meditation guides for everything from forgiveness to metta. You can sit on the cushion and apply these techniques and get results. Noah says it took him 10 years of meditation practice to feel like he'd forgiven everyone everything and that it's still a struggle at 22 years. 

I especially liked the chapter "Hurt People Hurt People". Apparently it's a line from a movie that stuck with Noah. It's true: people who are suffering hurt others. I know I have. This chapter talks about having compassion and forgiveness for those who have hurt us. It also includes the forgiveness meditation. I practiced one at a retreat and cried. It felt good to forgive and let go. 

This book also tells you to question everything you hear. Question your teachers and only trust  your own experience. It also talks about the trap of religion and not getting caught up in "Buddhism" and not being that person who stares into others eyes proving how serene and meditative they are. 

Overall, this is a sweet book. It's a quick and easy read and Noah writes very eloquently and with a sense of play and humour. He also relates his own experience of pain and how meditation has given him real results in his life. Also included are experiences of his own folly; ways that he hurt others and how he amended it. 

I highly recommend reading this book if you want to learn more about your own capacity for forgiveness, compassion, and kindness. This is a way out of suffering. This is a way to help others and be of service. What better life could there be?

My Own "Skinscription"

I've gotten one facial in my life. It was at Aveda and it was very nice. It was also very expensive and I will probably not get one again for a long time. In the meantime, though, I can take care of my skin and do my own mini-facials at home.

I have friends who go to Skoah and get facials every season. They also use their products. The products aren't any more expensive than Aveda or even any high-end drugstore line like Dermalogica. One of the features of the website is that you can get a "Skinscription": you fill out a form that asks you questions about your skin type and concerns and then a Skoah representative emails you with a list of products and a regimen for you to follow. I decided to try it out. 

The person who emailed me back (let's call her Sally) said that I was doing a great job with my Aveda products (cleanser, toner, scrub), but that I needed more exfoliation and moisture. She recommended 3 products: their Face Kream, Skin Boost Serum, and AHA Mask. In total these would cost me $145 plus tax. That's a little rich for my blood right now. Especially because Sally told me I needed to use the mask 3 times a week, 2 squirts of serum a day, and the cream twice a day. The mask is only 60 g...not a lot. And the serum is $75 for 50mL. Two squirts a day would go fast.

So I decided to do a little research on Makeup Alley and find similar products for at least half the price. I also had 60,000 Shoppers Optimum points at my disposal. I asked the cosmetician at Shoppers Drug Mart for her recommendation of an AHA mask. She pointed me in the direction of Vichy Normaderm Tri-Activ Mask with glycolic and salicylic acids. It can be used as a cleanser, scrub, mask, or all three. The directions say to put it on dry skin for a few minutes and then use wet fingertips to activate the exfoliating action and rinse. It can also be used straight-up as a cleanser. It was only $20 for 125 mL. Score!

I then asked her recommendation on a serum. I had done some research and read good things about Olay Regenerist Serum ($33 for 50 mL) and was all set to purchase that. I asked her about it and she said she preferred the Vichy one (Vichy Lift-Activ Serum 10), which had won a few awards from beauty magazines. We tried both on the back of my hand and I definitely preferred the feel of the Vichy serum. It dried more matte. We also tried a Vichy moisturizer for the same price and I didn't like it as much as the serum, which I planned to use in the daytime under makeup. My BB Cream is already quite slick and I didn't want to add any more shine to my face. 

The serum was $10 more than the Olay one but because it's the end of the holidays, they were clearing out gift sets and I managed to snag a box of the serum, a cleanser, and a night cream for the same price. So that takes care of the cream and serum and I got a bonus cleanser! I tried the cleanser (Purete Thermale), but did not care for it. It contains mineral oil and left a film on my face. A boon if you have dry skin, but I'll stick with my gel cleanser for my acne-prone/sensitive skin. 

The total for the mask, cleanser, serum, and cream came to half of what I would have paid at Skoah. After redeeming my points, I paid $15 for the whole kit and caboodle. Not bad!

I immediately rushed home to cleanse, exfoliate, and moisturize. I had a nice bath, deep-conditioned my hair, and tried out the products. The Tri-Activ scrub is not as abrasive as my Aveda skin refiner, but still did the trick. It is also clay-based, so it absorbs oil and is mattifying. 

After blotting my face dry with a towel, I use a pencil-eraser size of the serum on my face and neck. It felt smooth and silky and dried quickly. I used a small amount of night cream on my face next. My skin felt soft and not greasy or sticky.

I had a little redness in my cheeks from exfoliating, like I always do, but that calmed down in half an hour. 

The results are awesome and I'm really happy with my purchases. I'll update you a little further down the road on how the products are benefiting my skin, since I can't tell much from just one use. I'll also see how the serum works under makeup and if I break out from the night cream. But, so far so good.

More to come!