The Jew in the Lotus: A Poet's Rediscovery of Jewish Identity in Buddhist India

Abstract

From matzos to mo-mos and yarmulkes to yaks, despite their apparent differences, Buddhists and Jews have shared a tradition of oral teaching, the experience of diaspora and a long-standing contemplation of survival in the midst of suffering. While accompanying eight contentious Jewish delegates to Dharamsala, India, for a historic Buddhist-Jewish dialogue with the Dalai Lama, Rodger Kamenetz comes to understand the convergence of Buddhist and Jewish thought. Along the way he encounters Allen Ginsberg, Blu and Yitz Greenburg, and other dissafected Jews. This journey through Tibetan Buddhism leads poet Rodger Kamenetz to a renewed appreciation of his living Jewish roots.

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