From Library Journal
Boorstein is an accomplished and respected teacher of Buddhist Insight Meditation and has also remained an observant Jew. Here she thoughtfully and clearly discusses how she resolved these two aspects of her life in a fulfilling and complementary way. (LJ 2/1/97) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
In THAT'S FUNNY, YOU DON'T LOOK BUDDHIST, Boorstein explains why she finds no conflict in embracing Judaism and Buddhism. Her twenty years of meditation have, in fact, deepened and enriched her Judaism. As in her other audio programs, Boorstein relies on a wealth of personal anecdotes to draw the listener into her story. Her presentations is pleasant and heartfelt, the voice of the kindly Jewish grandmother bodhisattva, as she's known in meditation circles. The program has the feel of kitchen table wisdom. It ends with an afterward by Stephen Mitchell, which adds little. P.B.J. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Boorstein, author of It's Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness (1995), is a wonderfully commonsensical Buddhist teacher and an observant Jew. This combination of faiths is not uncommon; in fact, so many Jews are drawn to Buddhism, it is becoming a genuine spiritual movement. Rodger Kamenetz examined this phenomena in The Jew and the Lotus (1994), and now Boorstein devotes her newest book to answering the question, "How is it possible to be both a Jew and a Buddhist?" Warm and direct, she expresses her gratitude for knowing "two vocabularies" of faith: Buddhism is her "voice of understanding," and Judaism is the voice of her heart. Uneasy, at first, about this unsought "dual citizenship," Boorstein slowly realized that she became a more observant Jew because she has a meditation practice, that meditation brought her closer to her spiritual essence, which is, by birth, Jewish. Boorstein's mindful elucidation of her balance of faiths is inspiring and enriching. When it comes to spirituality, more is more. Donna Seaman


From Independent Publisher
Author Sylvia Boorstein is an observant Jew and a committed Buddhist who sees religion as a matter of the heart rather than the mind. This book is an engaging and thoughtful explanation of how she makes these two seemingly disparate faith stances work in her life and, more than that, how in tandem they seem to complement and strengthen each other. Boorstein is proud of her Jewish heritage which offers rich imagery, poetry, ancestry and four thousand years of continuity. She admits, however, that the most profound teachings of Judaism do not seem to be universally accessible. In Buddhism she finds what's missing...much-needed contemplative space. She characterizes the Buddhist practice as a complete, mature, sophisticated, spiritual path. The book includes many brief insightful reminiscences and substantial commentary on prayer and prayer forms. Sylvia Boorstein is a practicing psychotherapist. She leads retreats on mindfulness and meditation throughout the United States. In this recording, she reads an abridged version of her book; her gentle, conversational delivery makes for easy listening. This book and another Boorstein title, Its Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way To Happiness, are excellent choices for anyone who is searching for spiritual practices that offer peace and meaning and continuity in a troubled and fragmented world.


Rabbi Michael Strassfeld, Congregation Ansche Chesed, New York, coeditor of The Jewish Catalogs
"A valuable resource for Jews looking to bring mindfulness to their Judaism."


Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart
"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."


Elaine Pagels, Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion, Princeton University; author of The Gnostic Gospels
"An incisive exploration of the process of religious participation--one that will be widely read and intensely important to many people."


Book Description
In this landmark book, esteemed Buddhist teacher Sylvia Boorstein addresses this incisive question 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.


About the Author
Sylvia Boorstein, teaches mindfulness and leads retreats across the United States. She is a co-founding teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California, and a senior teacher at the Insight Meditation Center in Barre, Massachusetts. Boorstein is also a practicing psychotherapist. Her previous books are It's Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness and Don't Just Do Something, Sit There. She lives with her husband, Seymour Boorstein, a psychiatrist. They have two sons, two daughters, and five grandchildren.


Excerpted from That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist: On Being a Faithful Jew and a Passionate Buddhist by Sylvia Boorstein, Sharon Lebell, Stephen Mitchell. Copyright © 1998. 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.

ANNOTATION

Why do Jews make up such an astonishing number of today's Western Buddhist leaders and practitioners? Sylvia Boorstein--beloved author of It's Easier Than You Think--and writer Sharon Lebell explore one of today's hottest religious topics--the encounter between Jews and Buddhism.

FROM THE PUBLISHER