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Most poetically described in his spiritual travel odyssey The Jew In The Lotus , Rodger Kamenetz , reports on a historical meeting between a group of rabbis and Jews and the Dalai Lama and Tibetan monks. One of the rabbis in attendance was Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi , founder of the Jewish Renewal movement, who has incorporated ideas and practices from Buddhism into the Renewal movement. Other Jews practicing or influenced by Buddhism are Sylvia Boorstein , Rabbi David Cooper , and Rabbi Alan Lew . Many dharma teachers are of Jewish heritage including Joseph Goldstein , Sharon Salzburg , Jack Kornfield , Bernie Glassman , Lama Surya Das , but they have tended to move completely into the Buddhist world and not practice any form of Judaism, meditative or otherwise. Jews are often drawn to Eastern Religion s in general because they feel something is lacking in their inherited tradition. The mystical and meditative practices of Judaism, known as the Kabbalah , have been either destroyed in the Holocaust , reserved only for married men in their forties, or have been fairly inaccesible through overly complicated writing. Because some Jews feel the spiritual practices of their tradition are missing, they have drawn upon Buddhism for inspiration and guidance in terms of living a healthy spiritual life. Some Jews are critical of this practice. They consider Buddhism an Idol -worshipping practice and condemn those Jews who they feel have left the fold in search of some Pagan tradition, much like Moses ' followers in the desert often resorted to different forms of idol worship. Some scholars believe there is actually very little in common, theologically, between the two traditions. One reason the Dalai Lama has shown in interest in Judaism, and more specifically Jews, is their long standing tradition of preservation. The Dalai Lama is interested in learning their secrets of survival. With the recent surge of interest in Eastern Meditation practices in the West there has also been an interest in resurrecting or at least finding meditative traditions from Judaism and other Western traditions ( Sufism in Islam, and Gnosticism and Esoteric Christianity ). Some feel that Jewish meditation has simply become Buddhist Meditation with a new name and so are critical of people who so readily mix traditions. Others, claiming more historical roots, are practicing Kabbalah and Jewish meditation outside of the context of Eastern ways. One particularly strong group of Jews practicing meditation are Breslov Hasidim, and Hasidic Jews in general. HISTORICAL CULTURAL INTERACTIONS Sufism has taken some of its influence from Eastern practices. There are also some interesting theories on Jesus having lived in India for a while and possibly learning meditative techniques from high Lama s in Tibet . Emperor Ashoka , one of the most respected leaders in the Buddhist tradition, who took to heart the Buddha's teachings in his governance supposedly sent his son or nephew as far West as he could go, to spread the Dharma. This took him all the way to Egypt , but apparently Buddhism didn't catch on. Alexander the Great came as far East as India and the Hellenized culture he brought with him had an influence on at least one part of the Buddhist culture of the time. The artisans of the time had been visualizing their master, Siddhartha Gotoma , as a lotus flower. When Alexander came and brought the influence of Greek art, it was only then that the Indian Buddhists began representing the Buddha as a human form. More recently because of the diaspora of Tibetans due to the Chinese Occupation of Tibet in the 1950's, many Tibetans have come to America and many teachers have come too sharing what they know of the Dharma . American Jews and Jews from many other countries, including Israel, have gone to the East to look for "answers." By Alexander EXTERNAL LINKS
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