Judaism tends to be a very external religion.
Obedience to the Law is freedom.
So we have all these Laws and observances which are all outward things.
The result was that the Rabbi's started working at deciphering the deeper meanings contained within Torah which has produced some remarkable items such as Gematria and Kabbalah, which are very mystical and inward.
Still the people are not all satisfied, still they look for something more.
So they look at the other more ancient traditions like Buddhism and Hinduism etc.
Still the roots are within us and can be found IMO if one is very intent on finding them.
I believe that there is a Universal Mind (so to speak) which can be connected to.
There was a guy at the Jerusalem University who was doing some groundbreaking work with tribal peoples in Brazil and the Ayahuasca.
Not that this is what I am talking about, but there are good parallels.
I would like to say more but I have to go now.

Actually, I do tend to agree with you. I think this is also one of the reasons why the chasidim put so much emphasis on internalizing Torah. Nachman of Braslav taught, for example, that the scholarly study of Torah and Talmud could only take one so far, but what was far more important was seeking God with your entire emotion.

The synagogue I belong to is involved with the Jewish Renewal movement. I don't know how familiar you might be with our approach, but my rabbi, for example, has studied Buddhism and Hinduism in Thailand, Vietnam, India, and Nepal. Also, we have a shared pulpit with three churches and one mosque, and I'm involved with setting up joint visitation this winter with a Hindu temple.

Anyhow, I enjoyed your response above.

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"The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."-- Einstein

The synagogue you are attending sounds interesting.
I could be labeled as being Bnai Noach, I attend a local synagogue occasionally and have interesting discussions with my friend who is Jewish, but calls himself an atheist who spent some time traveling in India. His beliefs are very similar to mine in that we both are kind of a mix of zen buddhist/hindu/jewish with a good dose of skeptic.

Then we must be at least somewhat kindred spirits. I also have spent a great deal of time (over 30 years) delving into Hinduism and Buddhism, but instead of joining either, I'd rather incorporate some of the teachings I find usefull into my non-theistic approach to Judaism (please note that when I say "non-theistic", I am not saying I'm "atheistic" but am more along the line of being "agnostic").

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"The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."-- Einstein

After reading more Eastern thought, the Bible (especially many of the statements attributed to Jesus) makes ALOT more sense.

I think there are alot of reason we're embracing different religions:

-Information has exploded since the mid-1900's; the world is now a global entity. Who knew anything about Buddhism a hundred years ago in our country?

-Also about 100 years ago, the world of psychology came into being. We started to become more interested in looking inward (at least in the West). I think in many ways, Eastern thought is more advanced than Western. But perhaps we all have something to offer to the mix....

-Mass production made it possible for sacred books to be available to everyone. (Study things for a while, and questions are sure to come up!)

-And then there's the technology that gives us time away from just surviving to be able to consider other things.....etc. etc.

These are just a few thoughts that came to mind. Personally, I decided to read outside Christianity because I felt that the hell-fire stuff just didn't make sense.

First of all, nice post. Secondly, I want to just mention on what you wrote above is all too familiar in that this was very similar to what the Catholic monk and author, Thomas Merton, said about his study of Buddhism and how it very much helped him with his Christianity. I have found that it has helped me a great deal with my Judaism as well.

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"The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."-- Einstein

I think that judaism in particular has a lot in common with eastern religions, it is completely unlike most western religions: There is not a linear view of time, rather time is seen as cyclic (like a slinky, at the same point, the slinky overlaps itself with each twist around). Also, there is not as much emphasis on the afterlife but on living a life of goodness: l'chaim tovim as they say. I'll post again when I've had some sleep and time to consider my thoughts fully.

I agree in general, but Judaism also tends to be somewhat of a combination of cyclic and linear.

BTW, how are those mosquitoes down there in northern Wisconsin. They're flying off with us up here near Marquette because of all the rain we have had although, fortunately, I don't have too much at my place since I'm up on a hill whereas the wind keeps them at bay most of the time. Those people who have homes in heavily wooded areas are starting to look awfully shriveled.

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"The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."-- Einstein