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That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist: On Being A Faithful Jew and a Passionate (Philosophies, and Movements; 11) Kindle Edition
“How can you be a Buddhist and a Jew?” It’s a question Sylvia Boorstein, author of It’s Easier Than You Think, has heard many times. Can an authentic Jewish faith be wedded with Buddhist meditation practice? In this landmark national bestseller, the esteemed Buddhist teacher addresses the subject in a warm, delightful, and personal way. With the same down-to-earth charm and wit that have endeared her to her many students and readers, Boorstein shows how one can be both an observant Jew and a passionately committed Buddhist.
“An incisive exploration of the process of religious participation—one that will be widely read and intensely important to many people.” —Elaine Pagels, New York Times-bestselling author of The Gnostic Gospels
“A beautiful book for Jews and Buddhists alike—warm, honest, heartfelt.” —Jack Kornfield, author of The Wise Heart
Includes a foreword by Stephen Mitchell
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarperOne
- Publication dateOctober 5, 2010
- File size4522 KB
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Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Review
"Sylvia Boorstein has written a beautiful book for Jews and Buddhists alike--warm, honest, heartfelt. She shows how Abraham and Buddha, sacred prayers and mindful compassion, can speak the same tongue, can live together in one heart." -- Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart
"A valuable resource for Jews looking to bring mindfulness to their Judaism." -- Rabbi Michael Strassfeld, Congregation Ansche Chesed, New York, coeditor of The Jewish Catalogs
From the Back Cover
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
One More River
I HAVE DISCOVERED THAT THE QUESTIONS MOST ASKED of me by Jews are "how" questions. I am recognized as a Buddhist. I am also-and have become much more open about this part in the last few years-an observant Jew. No only more open, but also more observant. Because I am a Buddhist. Because I have a meditation practice. So the questions now are: "How did that happen?" "What is your practice?" "Do you pray?" "To whom?" "Why?" "Do you also do metta (lovingkindness) practice?" "When do you do what?" "Why?" "What are your'observances,'and why do you do them?" "How do you deal with the patriarchal tone of Jewish prayers?" 'What is your relationship to the Torah?" 'To Buddhist scripture?" Most of all, "How can you be a Buddhist and a Jew?" And, 'Can I?"
The answer to the "how" questions requires that I tell my personal story. Certainly not my story as a prescription for anyone else, but to explain how my Buddhism has made me more passionately alive as a Jew. And how my re newed Judaism has made me a better Buddhist teacher.
When I realized the degree of personal exposure that telling my story would require, I became alarmed that I was going to rock the boat. I had been quietly enjoying a privat life as a Jew and some new, pleasant recognition as a Buddhist teacher. I had been accepting invitations for som years to teach Jewish groups, and although I had worried initially that they would be hostile about my Buddhism, they weren't. They invited me back. Then I worried about the Buddhists.
"What if the Buddhists get mad at me for not renouncing Judaism?"
Clearly, this was my issue, not anyone else's. No one is mad at me. I've been announcing myself, regularly, at Buddhist teachers' meetings, and it causes no ripple at all. I feel anticipatory alarm, I tell my truth, and it is completely a nonevent.
Recently I was one of twenty-six teachers meeting with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India, to discuss how we are teaching Buddhism in the West. As part of the preparation for our meeting, we each answered the question, "What is the greatest current spiritual challenge in your practice and teaching?"
I thought, "Okay, this is it! These are major teachers in all lineages, these are people I respect and who I hope will respect me." And I said my truth: "I am a Jew. These days I spend a lot of my time teaching Buddhist meditation to Jews. It gives me special pleasure to teach Jews, and sometimes special problems. I feel it's my calling, though, something I'm supposed to do. And I'm worried that someone here will think I'm doing something wrong. Someone will say, 'You're not a real Buddhist!"'
It was another nonevent. I think-I hope-that was the "One Last River to Cross." I never did ask the Dalai Lama if what I am doing is okay. It had become, for me, a nonquestion by the time we got to our meetings with him. My particular group discussed "Lay and Monastic Practice in the West," and I did say, "I am a Jew, and monasticism is not part of Jewish tradition." I'm not entirely sure of the context in which I made that remark. It may not have been completely relevant to the discussion. Perhaps it was prompted by my desire to make sure I made my declaration publicly, in Dharamsala to the Dalai Lama, just in case that might emerge later as "one more river."
The three-hour return taxi ride from Dharamsala to Pathankot was occasionally hair-raising. Indian taxis are truly dangerous. Accidents, fatal ones, are common. I was sitting in front with the driver, trying to maintain some composure in the face of many last-minute reprieves. As we passed through one particular section of narrow mountain road, there were a few swerves that brought the taxi very close to the edge.
My friend Jack Komfield was sitting with Steve Smith and Heinz Roiger in the backseat.
Jack said, "I hope you are saying protection mantras, Sylvia."
I said, "Of course I am."
He said, "Are they Jewish mantras or Buddhist mantras?"
I said, "Both."
Jack laughed. "Good."
I Am a Jew and I Am a Buddhist
I AM A JEW BECAUSE MY PARPNTS WERE MILD-MANNERED, cheerful best friends who loved me enormously, and they were Jews. It's my karma. It's good karma. My parents' love included respect, admiration, high expectations, and a tremendous amount of permission. I can't remember ever being scolded.
I am a prayerful, devout Jew because I am a Buddhist. As the meditation practice that I learned from my Buddhist teachers made me less fearful and allowed me to fall in love with life, I discovered that the prayer language of "thank-you" that I knew from my childhood returned, spontaneously and to my great delight. From the very first day of my very first Buddhist meditation retreat, from the very first time I heard the Buddha's elegant and succinct teachings about the possibility of the end of suffering-not the end of pain, but the end of suffering-I was captivated, I was thrilled, and I was reassured. The idea that it was possible, in the middle of this very life, fully engaged in life, to live contentedly and compassionately was completely compelling. I felt better even before I was better.
It took me a long time, even after I had begun to teach Buddhist meditation, to get ready to say, "I am a Buddhist." I often hesitated. I circumlocuted. I said, when pressed to identify myself, "I am a Dharma teacher," or "I teach Buddhist psychology," or "I am a Buddhist meditation teacher." To say, "I am a Buddhist" seemed too much like taking a plunge that I didn't need to take.
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Product details
- ASIN : B003YCOOR6
- Publisher : HarperOne; Reprint edition (October 5, 2010)
- Publication date : October 5, 2010
- Language : English
- File size : 4522 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 196 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #36,294 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
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Customers find the book insightful and interesting. They appreciate the thoughtful writing style and warm narrative voice of the author.
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Customers appreciate the book's insights and bridging of spiritual practices. They find it interesting and humorous, with a compassionate and understanding teacher. However, some readers found the book boring and didn't finish it.
"Superbly written and enlightening book...." Read more
"...Ms Boorstein's writing is warm and insightful: reading each new chapter reminds me of spending time with a compassionate, understanding teacher...." Read more
"...Once the book arrived, I set out to read it. While there were wonderful elements, I didn't finish the book. Boring!..." Read more
"Excellent book; wonderful insights. This book is a must for those of us who layer Buddhism with other spiritual traditions." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's writing style. They find the tone thoughtful and warm. The author, Sylvia Boorstein, is a well-known writer and teacher on Buddhist meditation.
"Superbly written and enlightening book...." Read more
"...Ms Boorstein's writing is warm and insightful: reading each new chapter reminds me of spending time with a compassionate, understanding teacher...." Read more
"...The truth is very different, of course. Boorstein has a gentle, kind narrative voice...." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2016Superbly written and enlightening book. A short easy read, but not sure 20-something and 30-somtheing young kids have lived long enough to understand it when they read it. She explains that "Life is a DOG," (my words not hers), but it is a DOG that you can deal with even though you know you are going to get bitten from time to time. Those of us who try to go through life without getting bitten, and then scream and cry when we do, make ourselves more miserable than we need to. We need to employ mindfulness and gracefully manage our wounds.
I love this book. I taped Sylvia Boorstein on "New Dimensions Radio" with the legendary Michael Toms in the early 1990's and have listened to the tape on and off all these years and finally decided to buy this book along with some of her other books. Folks, I'm telling you that I struck GOLD.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2014Sylvia Boorstein is a well-known writer and teacher, and the author of several books on Buddhist meditation. In this book--really a series of short essays-- she looks at her return to Jewish observance, and how it is shaped by and how it shapes her Buddhist practice. I was particulary drawn to the book as someone who is both Jewish and a very novice student of mindfulness meditation--never mind to the droll title! While I can't say that I learned much about either tradition per se, I thoroughly enjoyed the conversational, thoughtful tone of the book. Her essays were not so much analytical as contemplative or reflective. They offered me a model for living a life that combines the two practices, and a sense that it would be not only possible, but deeply rewarding. Ms Boorstein's writing is warm and insightful: reading each new chapter reminds me of spending time with a compassionate, understanding teacher. I recommend it highly for anyone looking for encouragement and insight into their own spiritual practices.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2012Whenever you search for categories like non-dual Judaism, Sylvia Boorstein's That's Funny, You Don't Look Jewish, keeps coming up. For years I steered clear of the book, thinking that the gag title would treat the subject irreverently, or at least, be the outward marker of an inwardly frivolously book about the conjunction of Buddhism and Judaism.
The truth is very different, of course. Boorstein has a gentle, kind narrative voice. She is a Buddhist, after all, and her compassion shines through in her voice. She takes her subject seriously and calmly. For Boorstein, Buddhist practices led her back to Judaism. This odd premise worked well for her. She began to see Judaism as a discipline, much as the practice of Buddhism is a discipline, and was able to renew her Jewish life.
For many, the interconnection with Judaism and other religions is far more problematic. There are Messianic Jews who believe Jesus was the Messiah, but still follow Jewish law. Jews usually condemn this fusion religion, while maintaining a neutral stance about Buddhism. Christianity was long a foe of Judaism, and old antagonisms die hard. Buddhism appears to be more neutral to many Jews. But there is still a tension between Buddhism, Buddhist practice, and Judaism. This is explored in Boorstein's book, but is not the central concern. Buddhism and Judaism work for Boorstein. In this book she explains how.
For a book that outlines the problems of being Jewish and Buddhist, read Tatz's Letters to a Buddhist Jew, where challenges of being Buddhist and Jewish are detailed in abundance.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2022This book is in great shape and it came more quickly than I expected --thank you!
- Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2019I heard the author interviewed on Fresh Air and thought her book would be a valuable addition to my library. Once the book arrived, I set out to read it. While there were wonderful elements, I didn't finish the book. Boring!
If I wanted to read an academic journal, I would have purchased one.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2014Excellent book; wonderful insights. This book is a must for those of us who layer Buddhism with other spiritual traditions.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2019Another gem by Sylvia Boorstein.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2017very interesting and humorous.