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A Jewish Buddhist is a person with a Jewish background who practices forms of Dhyanam
Buddhist meditation Buddhist meditation is the practice of meditation in Buddhism. The closest words for meditation in the classical languages of Buddhism are ''bhāvanā'' ("mental development") and '' jhāna/dhyāna'' (mental training resulting in a calm and ...
,
chanting A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of n ...
or
spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape ...
. When the individual practices a particular religion, it may be both
Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...
and
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
. However, in many cases their ethnic designation is Jewish while the individual's main religious practice is
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
.
Rodger Kamenetz Rodger Kamenetz (born 1950) is an American poet and author best known for '' The Jew in the Lotus'' (1994), an account of the historic dialogue between rabbis and the XIV Dalai Lama. His poetry explores the Jewish experience and in recent years ...
introduced the term JewBu or JUBU in his 1994 book '' The Jew in the Lotus''.


Origins

At the 1893
Parliament of the World's Religions There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World's Religions, the first being the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. The event was celebrated by another c ...
, a Jewish man named Charles Strauss declared himself a Buddhist following talks by Buddhist delegates Soyen Shaku and Anagarika Dharmapala. After
Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
's rise in popularity with the
Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Genera ...
, a new wave of Jews became involved with Buddhism in the late 1960s. Prominent teachers included Joseph Goldstein,
Jack Kornfield Jack Kornfield (born 1945) is an American writer and teacher in the Vipassana movement in American Theravada Buddhism. He trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma and India, first as a student of the Thai forest master Ajahn Chah and Maha ...
, and Sharon Salzberg who founded the Insight Meditation Society, Sylvia Boorstein who teaches at
Spirit Rock Meditation Center Spirit Rock Meditation Center, commonly called Spirit Rock, is a meditation center in Woodacre, California. It focuses on the teachings of the Buddha as presented in the vipassana, or Insight Meditation, tradition.Van Biema, David, "Buddhism in ...
, all of whom learned
vipassana ''Samatha'' ( Pāli; sa, शमथ ''śamatha''; ), "calm," "serenity," "tranquillity of awareness," and ''vipassanā'' ( Pāli; Sanskrit ''vipaśyanā''), literally "special, super (''vi-''), seeing (''-passanā'')", are two qualities of ...
meditation primarily through Thai teachers. Another generation of Jews as Buddhist teachers emerged in the early 2000s, including author Taro Gold, expounding Japanese traditions such as
Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism ( ja, 日蓮仏教), also known as Hokkeshū ( ja, 法華宗, meaning ''Lotus Sect'') is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one ...
.


Notable people

*
Alfred Bloom Alfred H. Bloom is an American psychologist and linguist. He was the executive vice chancellor of Duke Kunshan University from 2020 to 2021. Before that, he was the vice chancellor of New York University Abu Dhabi from 2008 to 2019 and the presid ...
* Bhikkhu Bodhi * Sylvia Boorstein * Tara Brach * Thubten Chodron *
Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
* Surya Das * Robert Downey Jr. *
Mark Epstein Mark Epstein (born 1953) is an American author and psychotherapist who integrates Shakyamuni Buddha's teachings with Sigmund Freud's approaches to trauma. He often writes about the interface of Buddhism and psychotherapy.Mark Epstein''Freud and B ...
*
Anthony Ervin Anthony Lee Ervin (born May 26, 1981) is an American competition swimmer who has won four Olympic medals and two World Championship golds. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal in the men's 50-meter freestyle, and earned a silver med ...
* Zoketsu Norman Fischer *
Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...
*
Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive ...
* Tetsugen Bernard Glassman * Craig Taro Gold *
Natalie Goldberg Natalie Goldberg (born January 4, 1948) is an American popular author and speaker. She is best known for a series of books which explore writing as Zen practice. Life Goldberg has studied Zen Buddhism for more than thirty years and practiced wit ...
*
Yuval Noah Harari Yuval Noah Harari ( he, יובל נח הררי ; born 1976) is an Israeli historian and professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of the popular science bestsellers '' Sapiens: A Brief History ...
* Joseph Goldstein * Julius Goldwater *
Daniel Goleman Daniel Goleman (born March 7, 1946) is an author, psychologist, and science journalist. For twelve years, he wrote for ''The New York Times'', reporting on the brain and behavioral sciences. His 1995 book ''Emotional Intelligence'' was on ''Th ...
* Dan Harris * Goldie Hawn * Jon Kabat-Zinn * Ayya Khema *
Jack Kornfield Jack Kornfield (born 1945) is an American writer and teacher in the Vipassana movement in American Theravada Buddhism. He trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma and India, first as a student of the Thai forest master Ajahn Chah and Maha ...
* Jay Michaelson * Ethan Nichtern *
Mandy Patinkin Mandel Bruce Patinkin (; born November 30, 1952) is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television and film. He is a critically acclaimed Broadway performer, having received three Tony Award nominations, winning ...
* Jeremy Piven *
Linda Pritzker Linda Pritzker (born September 1953) also known by the name Lama Tsomo is an American lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. She is a spiritual teacher, author, philanthropist, and co-founder of the Namchak Foundation and Namchak Retreat Ranch i ...
Forbes: The World's Billionaires - Linda Pritzker
July 2018
* Nick Ribush *
Jonathan F.P. Rose Jonathan Frederick Phinneas Rose (born 1952)BuildingNY: "The Life of Jonathan F. P. R ...
IN PERSON; Developer With Eye To Profits For Society" By TINA KELLEY
April 11, 2004 * Larry Rosenberg * Sharon Salzberg *
Morrie Schwartz Morris S. "Morrie" Schwartz (December 20, 1916 – November 4, 1995)Nyanaponika Thera *
Helen Tworkov Helen Tworkov is founding editor of '' Tricycle: The Buddhist Review'', the first and only independent Buddhist magazine, and author of ''Zen in America: Profiles of Five Teachers'' (North Point Press, 1989; Kodansha, 1994). She first encountered ...
*
Adam Yauch Adam Nathaniel Yauch ( ; August 5, 1964 – May 4, 2012), better known under the stage name MCA, was an American rapper, bass player, filmmaker and a founding member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys. Besides his musical work, he also directed ...
*
Shinzen Young is an American meditation teacher. He leads residential and phone-based meditation retreats for students interested in learning the Vipassana (insight) tradition of Buddhism. Shinzen was originally ordained in Japan as a monk in the Shingon (Jap ...


See also

* '' Jews and Buddhism'' * List of converts to Buddhism


References


Further reading

* * * * * * *Musch, Sebastian. ''Jewish Encounters with Buddhism in German Culture. Between Moses and Buddha(1890-1940)''. Palgrave 2019. .


External links


The “Oy Vey” School of Buddhism





You don't look Buddhist


* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20091003025908/http://www.targum.com/excerpts/letters_to_a_buddhist_jew.html Excerpt from ''Letters to a Buddhist Jew''by Akiva Tatz {{Buddhism topics
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
Religious syncretism