Jewish Buddhist

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A Jewish Buddhist Jubu or Buju is a person with a Jewish ethnic and/or religious background who practices forms of Buddhist meditation and spirituality. The term Jubu, which was first brought into wide circulation with the publication of The Jew in the Lotus by Rodger Kamenetz, may also be used. In some cases, the term can refer to individuals who practice both traditions, in other cases "Jewish" is no more than an ethnic designation, where the person's main religious practice is Buddhism. In yet other cases, a Jubu is simply a Jew with interest in Buddhism. A large demographic of Jewish Buddhists, constituting its majority, still maintain religious practices and beliefs in Judaism coupled with Buddhist practices and perhaps beliefs.

Origins

The first recorded instance of an American being converted to Buddhism on American soil occurred at the 1893 exposition on world religions and the convert had been a Jew named Charles Strauss. He declared himself a Buddhist at a public lecture that followed the World Conference on Religions in 1893. Strauss later became an author and leading expositor of Buddhism in the West. After World War II, there was increasing interest in Buddhism, associated with the Beat generation. Zen was the most important influence at that time. A new wave of Jews involved with Buddhism came in the late 1960s. Prominent teachers included Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield, and Sharon Salzberg who founded the Insight Meditation Society and learned vipassana meditation primarily through Thai teachers. Some Jewish Buddhists claim that the two religions are compatible, while other Jews believe this represents a serious adulteration of both traditions. Buddhist-influenced rabbis also exist, such as Alan Lew, a Conservative rabbi in San Francisco. A number of Jewish Buddhists have found a religious home in the inter-spiritual community of Unitarian Universalism, where they lead Sanghas (Buddhist meditation groups).

List of well-known Jewish Buddhists

• Allen Ginsberg
• Goldie Hawn
• Lama Surya Das

References

Further reading

Many books have been published in the US about the Judeo-Buddhist phenomenon. Titles include:

• Jew in the Lotus by Rodger Kamenetz,
• One God Clapping by Alan Lew and Sherril Jaffe,
• That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist! by Sylvia Boorstein,
• Zen Judaism: For You a Little Enlightenment by David M. Bader,
• ''The Letters to a Buddhist Jew

External links

• http://www.nachalnovea.com/breslovcenter/articles/OY_VAY_School_of_Buddhism.pdf The “Oy Vey” School of Buddhism]
• AFC News Source - Jews by birth who practice Buddhism
• The JuBu Phenomenon
• Story of a Jewish Buddhist
• You dont look Buddhist
• A frank encounter between religious Jews and Tibetan Buddhists

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Last updated on Sunday March 09, 2008 at 17:05:38 PDT (GMT -0700)
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