E-Book Overview
While accompanying eight high–spirited Jewish delegates to Dharamsala, India, for a historic Buddhist–Jewish dialogue with the Dalai Lama, poet Rodger Kamenetz comes to understand the convergence of Buddhist and Jewish thought. Along the way he encounters Ram Dass and Richard Gere, and dialogues with leading rabbis and Jewish thinkers, including Zalman Schacter, Yitz and Blue Greenberg, and a host of religious and disaffected Jews and Jewish Buddhists. This amazing journey through Tibetan Buddhism and Judaism leads Kamenetz to a renewed appreciation of his living Jewish roots.
E-Book Content
The Jew in the Lotus A POET’S REDISCOVERY OF JEWISH IDENTITY IN BUDDHIST INDIA
Rodger Kamenetz
For Mo, kindness on her tongue For Anya and for Kezia, my daughters and my joy
Contents
Acknowledgments
v
Introduction
1
1
Sparks
5
2
Flames
17
3
Roadblocks
32
4
Heights
42
5
Blessings
56
6
Contact
65
7
The Angel of Tibet and the Angel of the Jews
72
8
Always Remind
91
9
Debating Monks and Angels
109
10
Shabbat and Shalom and Tashe Delek
117
11
Jewish Buddhists, Buddhist Jews
128
12
JUBUs in America
147
13
Tibetan Intellectuals, Tibetan Orphans
158
14
An Interview with the Oracle
170
15
Secret Doors
184
16
Tantra and Kabbalah
198
17
Survival Strategies
211
18
One Last Question
226
19
A Buddhist Jew—The Allen Ginsberg Story
235
20
A Synagogue in Delhi
242
21
Buddha’s Jews
254
22
A Last Secret
264
23
In a Pool of Nectar
277
Notes and References
291
Glossary
299
About the Author Cover Copyright About the Publisher
Acknowledgments My deep thanks to Dr. Marc Lieberman, for bringing the dialogue together, and for asking me along. His intelligence, energy, innate kindness, and deep fund of knowledge are valuable in themselves, but I especially treasure them in my longtime friend. Thanks too to all the participants who were generous with their time and themselves, both in Dharamsala and since. Dr. Nathan Katz, Rabbi Joy Levitt, Dr. Marc Lieberman, Dr. Blu Greenberg, Dr. Moshe Waldoks, Rabbi Jonathan Omer-Man, and Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi gave generous postdialogue interviews and shared with me photographs, documents, tape recordings, and videotapes. Special thanks to my fellow reporter, Shoshana Edelberg. I am also grateful for interviews and conversations with Rabbi Irving Greenberg, Michael Sautman, Marc Lieberman, Joseph Goldstein, Rabbi David Wolfe-Blank, Rabbi Leah Novick, Joseph Mark Cohen, Greg Burton, Robert Esformes, Andy Gold, Nancy Garfield, Rabbi Paul Caplan, and Dr. Arthur Waskow. Elie Wiesel was kind enough to share a few anecdotes with me that were of great help. Several Western Buddhists were very generous with their time, Ven. Thubten Pemo, Dr. Alex Birzen, Ruth Sonam. I want to particularly thank Ven. Thubten Chodron for a lengthy interview at my home.
vi / The Jew in the Lotus
Also gracious in providing time for an interview was David Rome. I want to thank Allen Ginsberg for taking time from his busy schedule for our interview sessions. I also want to thank Ram Dass for a very generous and stimulating interview. While working on this book I’ve had the opportunity to consult informally with a