The Jew in the Lotus Part 1
I am currently reading The Jews in the Lotus by Rodger Kamenetz. It is the author's personal account of the first interfaith dialogue between the Dalai Lama, leader of the Tibetan Buddhists in exile, and various members of the greater Jewish community. This historic event took place in October 1990. Among the Jewish participants were Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, his wife Blu Greenberg, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Paul Mendes Flohr, editor of The Jew in the Modern World.
I will begin with some specific observations of the event from 13 years ago and then, in another post I will discuss some of what I believe to be relevant issues pertaining to the subject. The Dalai Lama's primary goal was to learn how to improve the chances of Tibetan Buddhist survival in exile.
Quick history lesson: In 1959 Communist China drove the Tibetan Buddhists out of their homeland, Tibet. For the past now 44 years, this religion has been trying to preserve its legacy. The Dalai Lama resides in the Indian city of Dharamsala. This is the current spiritual center of their exile.
Anyway, the Dalai Lama figured that the perfect people to ask about survival in exile are the Jews. Considering the 2000 years of being outside our homeland, it makes perfect sense. Of course, much of the dialogue, as with any good Jewish discussion, was tangential. Zalman Schachter-Shalomi presented his take on Jewish Spirituality, discussion Jewish mysticism and often comparing it to Buddhist doctrine. One should be aware that Buddhism does not have a concept of G-d like we do.
Yitz Greenberg, in his discussion of Judaism in exile, decides to emphasize the destruction of the Second Temple and the resulting religious changes that were implemented. He feels this will help the Buddhists understand how to survive. After explaining how Judaism adapted to being a religion without a country, he does slightly touch upon the post-Holocaust/establishment of the state of Israel world. However, he does not really touch upon how this era changes or doesn't change Judaism (He does discuss this in his essay "The Third Great Cycle of Jewish History [which will be discussed at a later time].")
Well, since I havent finished the book, i cannot comment on some of the other specific discussion between the two delegations. However, there is a second dimension of the book, the issue of how come so many Jews became Buddhists. Kamenetz interviews certain Jewish Buddhists currently residing in Dharamsala. As will be discussed over and over again in this blog, this results from the inability of people to find Judaism fulfilling. Why they don't find it fulfilling is multi-faceted and hence will not be dealt with at the moment.
OK, more will follow at some point in the very near future.
I will begin with some specific observations of the event from 13 years ago and then, in another post I will discuss some of what I believe to be relevant issues pertaining to the subject. The Dalai Lama's primary goal was to learn how to improve the chances of Tibetan Buddhist survival in exile.
Quick history lesson: In 1959 Communist China drove the Tibetan Buddhists out of their homeland, Tibet. For the past now 44 years, this religion has been trying to preserve its legacy. The Dalai Lama resides in the Indian city of Dharamsala. This is the current spiritual center of their exile.
Anyway, the Dalai Lama figured that the perfect people to ask about survival in exile are the Jews. Considering the 2000 years of being outside our homeland, it makes perfect sense. Of course, much of the dialogue, as with any good Jewish discussion, was tangential. Zalman Schachter-Shalomi presented his take on Jewish Spirituality, discussion Jewish mysticism and often comparing it to Buddhist doctrine. One should be aware that Buddhism does not have a concept of G-d like we do.
Yitz Greenberg, in his discussion of Judaism in exile, decides to emphasize the destruction of the Second Temple and the resulting religious changes that were implemented. He feels this will help the Buddhists understand how to survive. After explaining how Judaism adapted to being a religion without a country, he does slightly touch upon the post-Holocaust/establishment of the state of Israel world. However, he does not really touch upon how this era changes or doesn't change Judaism (He does discuss this in his essay "The Third Great Cycle of Jewish History [which will be discussed at a later time].")
Well, since I havent finished the book, i cannot comment on some of the other specific discussion between the two delegations. However, there is a second dimension of the book, the issue of how come so many Jews became Buddhists. Kamenetz interviews certain Jewish Buddhists currently residing in Dharamsala. As will be discussed over and over again in this blog, this results from the inability of people to find Judaism fulfilling. Why they don't find it fulfilling is multi-faceted and hence will not be dealt with at the moment.
OK, more will follow at some point in the very near future.
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