6 Views with Noah Levine

6 Views with Noah Levine

What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? In this talk from Against The Stream, Buddhist teacher Noah Levine brings classic dharma teachings right into messy, modern life, with a special nod to trauma, family history, and addiction. If you're sober or trying to get there, you'll hear plenty that feels uncomfortably familiar – and surprisingly practical.

Noah walks the group through the Buddha’s “six views of self”, asking everyone to look honestly at what they actually believe: “I have a self”, “I have no self”, “This is myself permanent, stable, eternal”, or something in between. He reads the traditional text that calls belief in a permanent soul “an utter fool’s doctrine”, then gently asks: if there’s no fixed self, does that feel meaningless and hopeless to you, or does it feel liberating?

There’s a guided meditation where people are invited to sit with the breath and then question the very idea of “I am meditating”. Noah asks, “What is it that is aware of the body? Is the body in awareness, or is awareness in the body?” It’s not a puzzle to solve, but a way of loosening the tight grip of I, me and mine.

From there, he brings it down to ground level: impermanence, insecurity, and the “wisdom of insecurity” in a world where anything can and will happen. He contrasts useful questions (What is suffering? What causes it? What ends it?) with “unprofitable questions” about past lives, future lives and cosmic theories that can distract from actually healing addiction, trauma and everyday misery.

If you’re curious about Buddhist ideas like karma, rebirth and no-self, but also care about real-life suffering, recovery and relationships, this talk offers a down‑to‑earth, occasionally funny, and deeply honest look at them. Which self-view are you living from, and is it helping you suffer less?