JuBus? (Judaism/Buddhism blend)
There have been a few stories I’ve seen over the past few weeks that I was going to comment on here, but never got around to. Today, I’m getting around to one :-). From the LA Times: At One With Dual Devotion (if the LAT link doesn’t work, or asks you to log in, try this link [1] instead).
‘JuBus’ blend the communal rituals of Judaism with the quiet solitude of Buddhism. Most adherents are at peace with the paradox.
I know it’s mostly frowned on to post links without commentary, but I don’t feel I’m in a position to say much on this (being neither Jewish nor Buddhist). However, I’d love to see some discussion and commentary from those how are one (or both!) of these :-).
Not exactly relative to your piece, (4.00 / 4)
But there are lots of Jewish converts to Tibetan Buddhism. I have always wondered what the attraction is; there are many well known Buddhist teachers who have converted from Judaism, Lama Surya Das, Robert Thurman and Sharon Salzburg to name a few off the top of my head. Most of these that I am aware of are secular teachers, although Robert Thurman was a monk at one time.
In fact, Goldie Hawn calls herself a JuBu, “Jewish by tribe, Buddhist in belief.”
Tibetan Buddhism can really be an excercise for the intellect, and I wonder if this might be a part of the dynamic. This is something I have wondered about for quite some time, I hope someone will show up with some insight.
Sorry Morgan, only questions no answers.
I am That, you are That, all of this is That, and That is all there is.
by shakti on Tue May 2nd, 2006 at 11:54:26 PDT
Attraction (4.00 / 6)
I have always wondered what the attraction is
I’m not a member of the clergy or a religious scholar, so take this for what it’s worth: grossly overgeneralizing, from my perspective Judaism has a tendency to be more focused on the world we live in than on the world-to-come.
As an atheist growing up, I was fascinated with Eastern religions for their emphasis on quiet contemplation. My decision to convert to Judaism followed my developing of a personal theology that is centered very much around the same focus on inner spirituality.
I try to spend each day doing something, however small, that lets me quietly consider my place in the world. Even if it’s just stopping to take a few deep breaths and looking around me. It’s literally, “stopping to smell the flowers.” (For what it’s worth, that means believing in a god within and around us–simply a force larger than me–not a god above.)
BTW, anybody interested in the similarities between Judaism and Buddhism, may want to pick up The Jew in the Lotus: A Poet’s Re-Discovery of Jewish Identity in Buddhist India. I haven’t read it yet, but several people have recommended it to me. (Actually, now that I think about it, it wouldn’t be a bad book for the SP book club. Hmmm…)
Doug.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
by risasperson on Tue May 2nd, 2006 at 14:51:52 PDT
-
have read and talked w/author (4.00 / 3)
Roger Kamenetz
Dalai Lama had been interested in how Jews had kept “national” identify w/o a homeland, obviously an issue of some currency with Tibetans. There had been one meeting in NJ and a group was invited to Darmsala. One of the people facilitating was a childhood friend of Kamenetz who is a jubu. There was a wide span of Jewish spirituality on the trip, although the only then current Orthodox, Hyman grfeenberg, took a lot of grief from the Orthodox community for participating. Perhaps the best-known of the other Jewish figures was Zlaman Schacter-Salomi, who grew up Orthodox and wind up undefinable (that’s the only way I can put it).
The book is quite well written, and worth the time to read it.
Oh, and at the time I read it I was an active participant in an egalitarian Conservative synagogue in Alexandria Virginia.
Walk gladly across the earth answering that of God in each person you meet
by teacherken on Wed May 3rd, 2006 at 16:28:25 PDT
Buddhism merges with a lot of things (4.00 / 5)
As its tenets can be bastardized and taken to another religion rather easily.
I do wish that Jesus + Buddha had started a religion called Jebus. That woulda been awesome.
Cross+Flame, member of the Progressive Seminarians Network [2].
by Cross and Flame on Tue May 2nd, 2006 at 18:55:39 PDT
Rita Gross (4.00 / 4)
is a prominent Buddhist feminist, who grew up as a Lutheran in Wisconsin, converted to Judaism, and then later converted to Buddhism. She co-authored a great book with Rosemary Ruether that includes autobiographical bits:
Religious Feminism and the Future of the Planet.
The Wine of Youth ferments this night in the veins of God – Alfred de Musset.
by dirkster42 on Wed May 3rd, 2006 at 10:52:52 PDT
Hrrrrrm (4.00 / 2)
I’ve been pondering this, and the best I can do to explain it is. There’s a lot of wriggle room in both the definition of Judaism and Buddhism. The two religions cover different ground, and leave a lot of room for interpretation and there’s nothing specific in either that forces a denial of anything intrinsic to being one or the other.
by kraant on Fri May 5th, 2006 at 02:51:53 PDT
[1] Link was to http://ktla.trb.com/news/la-me-jubus2may02,0,878032.story?coll=ktla-news-1
[2] Link was to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/progressive_seminarians/
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