Why?

[metis]

With so many of us Jews, we have in recent decades developed a real interest in studying and sometimes even joining one or more of the Eastern religions, especially Buddhism or/and Hinduism. During the 1970's, especially here in the States, many young people also did much the same, even though for some it well might have been just a fad. The English and French also been very interested as well, with many French especially converting to Buddhism. I have a couple of questions for you:

1.Why do you think this has been happening in recent decades in the west?

2.Have you done any studying of any of the Eastern religions and, if you have, why?

[Lightkeeper]

I think people are reaching out to eastern religions because many of the organized Abrahamic religions seem to place God as something outside of ourselves and separate from us.

The Eastern religions place an emphasis of finding what we are looking within us and that there is no separation. They are more overt about transcending ego or the small self in order to be in touch with Self or the Divine, the Christ within, or Consciousness, whatever you want to call it.

Some factions of the Abrahamic religions do have an emphasis on mysticism, such as the Kabbalah, Sufis and Christian mysticism. Possibly these religions will stay alive if the full emphasis swings to these mystical factions.

[shaw-n]

The old story of how the Jewish people became the chosen people of God was that of all the peoples who were presented with the choice to adhere to the Torah, they were the only ones who did not ask Why. They reportedly said we will do even though we do not understand.
They thought that understanding would come with the doing.
After thousands of years, who can agree on what understanding is correct as evidenced by the the numerous factions within Judaism.
Some understandings are very different and are the cause of much vigorous debate and argument.
Small wonder the kids are looking for deeper understanding elsewhere as they are not getting it from home (in many cases).
The Jewish nation is according to the Torah to serve God as priests and teachers bringing the world into the light, yet it seems that this nation is as lost as all the rest in many cases.
Not all, but many.
So naturally people will look into things which are more ancient as some of the Eastern traditions are.
When you are lost in the branches, look for the roots.

[arthra]

I guess I'm one of those who did some study of Eastern religions some years ago.. part of the idea at the time was I wanted to investigate them for myself and get first hand experience... So I stayed in a Vedantist Ashram learning meditation.

Later I studied Theravadin Buddhism and was in contact with a Theravadin order.

Eventually I became a Baha'i around 1965 and my family is Baha'i. One of the reasons I became a Baha'i was that I accept great Founders of the world's religion such as Buddha, Krishna and Those Who went before that we have no record of...

I think people in the West have been attracted to Eastern religion as it s part of unifying humanity.. The West looks to the East for inspiration and East learns form the West as well perhaps more along material lines but all of this builds a more cosmopolitan universal humanity.

- Art

[metis]

Originally Posted by Lightkeeper

I think people are reaching out to eastern religions because many of the organized Abrahamic religions seem to place God as something outside of ourselves and separate from us.

The Eastern religions place an emphasis of finding what we are looking within us and that there is no separation. They are more overt about transcending ego or the small self in order to be in touch with Self or the Divine, the Christ within, or Consciousness, whatever you want to call it.

Some factions of the Abrahamic religions do have an emphasis on mysticism, such as the Kabbalah, Sufis and Christian mysticism. Possibly these religions will stay alive if the full emphasis swings to these mystical factions.

I tend to agree with you on this. I think there are also some other factors involved as well, which I eventually would like to mention.

[metis]

Originally Posted by shaw-n

After thousands of years, who can agree on what understanding is correct as evidenced by the the numerous factions within Judaism.
Some understandings are very different and are the cause of much vigorous debate and argument... When you are lost in the branches, look for the roots.

But it's the "roots" that is much of the cause of the divisions that we see within Judaism. IOW, we simply do not all look at Torah in exactly the same way.

Judaism has relatively few divisions, and the ones that exist all deal with differing ways of appoaching Torah, Talmud, and halacha (Jewish Law). Unlike Christianity, we generally do not splinter because of varying interpretations simply because, in Judaism, we are expected to study Torah and Talmud and draw our own conclusions as individuals. Christianity is very different in that there are almost 300 denominations and thousands of independents with most declaring themselves to have the "correct" interpretations. Whether these divisions are good or bad can be left for others to decide for themselves.

So let me ask a follow-up question: what are the "roots" that Judaism or any other religion are to look for to end their being "lost"?

[metis]

Originally Posted by arthra

I think people in the West have been attracted to Eastern religion as it s part of unifying humanity.. The West looks to the East for inspiration and East learns form the West as well perhaps more along material lines but all of this builds a more cosmopolitan universal humanity.

I'm currently reading a book by a Jewish author who feels much the same way, which I do as well btw. Most objective theologians that I have read see Kabbalah, for example, as being influenced by both Buddhism and Hinduism (and possibly others). OTOH, we also see the influence of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam on especially Hinduism and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Buddhism.

And, to me, this makes sense in that why can't we learn from each other? Most of us probably agree that no one religion has a monopoly on the Truth, so why not compare notes?

[metis]

I think part of the reason why so many are now looking at the easter religions (and they also looking at us) is that as our knowledge of other religions grow, we see more and more of the logic found within even if we don't agree with some of it. Many people are seemly less and less entrenched in their own religions and have abandoned the "I'm right/you're wrong" approach of our collective pasts.

I used to teach a comparative religions course many moons ago, and I found out in my first semester that keeping the Catholics and Baptists from killing each other had to be my first priority. However, we church hopped and listened to various speakers, and by the time we got about half-way through the course, the whole tone changed and a real curiosity set in with most of the students. Instead of asking barbed questions, they became much less intimidating. And when I had students fill out confidential questionaires at the end of the course, there was almost universal agreement that learning about others was really quite an eye opener.

[vivamis123]

That's right, as Metis mentioned eastern religions are also looking into western religions. What I see is that the lines are being washed away between the different religions. Where God dwells..... there are no lines.

[Eolas Pellor]

....has to do with the charm of the unknown; prior to the 1960s few people knew anything about eastern religions. Since then, there has been quite a bit published on them, most of it flattering, and simple increased familiarity may have led people to experiment.

My guess is, in any community, a good 20% of the people are more or less willing to experiment with new ideas and new practices, just for the sake of novelty.