Introduction
I have come to write this book in response to numerous phenomena. First, out of recognition that in the twentieth century on an international scale, the Jewish people, particularly Jewish youth and the spiritually inclined are encountering Eastern religion. There is every indication that this encounter is only going to continue. The world is becoming a global village both through the Internet and international travel. Classes in Eastern Mysticism are the norm in Religious Studies departments in Western and Israeli universities. Numerous books have been published in just the last three decades that discuss from one perspective or the next, the academic to the anecdotal, the relationship between Eastern Religion and Judaism. This encounter while occurring on an international level is dominant in two parts of the world the Unites States and Israel. These two countries are also notably the two centers of Jewish life and culture as we begin the 21st century.
When we examine the origins and the results of this encounter we find the following picture. The results of the Western European emancipation and enlightenment of the modern era among other results has lead to radical assimilation and intermarriage. Countless Jews have grown up without the privilege of an inspiring and informative Jewish spiritual education. With the spiritual awakening that dawned in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s and still continues we have seen and continue to see the following pattern. Jews with the most sensitive of souls, keenest of intelligence and highest aspirations, Jews both men and women young and old, descendants of Chassidic and Kabbalistic masters, descendants of the patriarchs, matriarch’s, prophets and priests adopt Eastern faiths and practices as their own. This has also occurred within families that are quite affiliated even Orthodox. This particular phenomena of spiritual conversion is usually due to the lackluster spiritual dimension of observance and or, psychological traumas of a variety of natures, from the personal to the gender specific. No doubt that the decimation of European Jewry and its rich faith communities many of a mystical nature contributed to the inability of our people to fully respond to the awakening and yearning of these Jews souls. Additionally, the focus on Jewish Nationalism, survival, expansion and the resulting constant warfare has kept our resources committed and focused elsewhere. We also find Jews who after their encounter with Eastern faiths regardless of their point of departure embrace a more mystical Judaism. This spans the spectrum from the Jewish Renewal movement of Reb Zalman Shachter-Shalomi, Lubavitch and Breslov Chassidut, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, Rabbi Kook’s and many other paths to long to list. If we were to guess, the numbers are close to equal in terms of Jews who embraced Eastern faiths and Jews who were inspired from them and returned to Judaism. This might seem contrary to one’s experience in a Synagogue or Israeli Yeshivah, but not contrary to one’s experience in a Zendo, Yoga class, Mindfullness meditation retreat and on an on and on. Jews have not only become followers of Eastern Mysticism they have become leaders who rival in success the alternatives in Jewish Mysticism let alone in being a light unto the nations.
We see another phenomena today after forty years of this polarizing pattern of spiritual conversion. We see the beginning of a literature and trend to that seeks either to identify the aims of Eastern faiths with that of Kabbalistic Judaism or seeks to integrate the techniques of these faiths particularly that of the meditative kind into normative Judaism and Kabbalistic/Chassidic practice. Generally speaking, this trend has expressed itself under the umbrella of the Jewish Renewal movement. This integrationist and monistic religious tendency has manifested in the teachers and followers of Jewish Renewal voicing to the public in literature, public talks and their example their perceptions of the relationship between Judaism, Kabbalah and Eastern Mysticism. This vision is bearing fruit in the form of meditation retreats where Vipassana meditation a popular and what is today Buddhist meditation in particular, is being taught to Rabbi’s or to the public at large. There is an annual Jewish-Buddhist dialogue as well and the recent publication of a book that promises the possibility of, ”Being a Faithful Jew and a Passionate Buddhist.”
Along with this it is common for Israeli youth to travel to India and the Far East after their tour in the Israeli Army in the hundreds and on a yearly basis. Many of these souls travel in search of spiritual meaning and fulfillment and peace of mind after a difficult tour in the army and suffering the tension that makes for life and the messianic birth pangs in Israel. We see in Israel, what in America is a full blown phenomena, the sprouting of a variety of centers of Eastern Mysticism that dot the country offering Eastern meditation, Yoga, Medicine and Philosophy.
In light of all this I thought it my duty and my souls calling to share with this sincere and sacred community of seekers a perspective on Buddhism that is based on Traditional Kabbalistic and Judaic sources as a point of departure. The first chapter of this work deals with the question of whether Jewish and Buddhist mystical aims are identical, similar or contradictory. The second chapter addresses the issue of whether Buddhism is Strange Worship or Evil. The third chapter formulates a perspective on the issue of the integration of Buddhist meditative techniques into Judaic life.
As my audience is a variety of souls each in their respective place along the spiritual journey this work will hopefully be received in a variety of ways. For some it will be a guide as to how to navigate the next step of their journey in relationship to the embrace of Buddhism or Kabbalah. For others it will be food for thought to help them understand the path they are on and the path of the other and hopefully this work will increase the level of debate and dialogue between Buddhism and Judaism and Buddhists and Jews.
Lastly, let it be said that I write this work for myself and to G-d as a method of integrating and resolving my own experience and modest learning in both these traditions. May G-d bless me that I shine the light of his wisdom, understanding and knowledge that he has with utter kindness and compassion graced me. May the path that I have paved with tears and suffering, make it easier for others to travel on to their ultimate destination to the source of life via the path of the Tree of Life.
