Judaism and Buddhism Clarified
I began writing an essay called “Why I am not a Buddhist.” It was a play on a famous title by Bertrand Russell, the English philosopher, who wrote an essay called “Why I am not a Christian.” The funny thing about this essay is that it shows how much I do love and appreciate the teachings of the Buddha, but in the end I am not a Buddhist, and this is briefly why. (You can see the full essay at the bottom of this page, so consider this an introduction.)
Buddhists and especially Zen sects wish to claim that their teaching is the most superior because it is beyond all teachings and dogma. In fact, some of the greatest Zen masters in their lives expressed their enlightenment through their rejection of priesthood and Zen temples. The famous Zen line says “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him!.”
The essential teaching of the Zen Buddhism is that there is no self. Zen is the path of all negation of dualistic conceptions until one reaches the absolute that is beyond absolutes – the inexpressible. The enlightened person is said to reach a state where he sees beyond all opposites, all distinctions, and most importantly the distinction between oneself and others and the world.
Thus Zen Buddhism is the highest teaching because it is beyond all distinctions. All other teachings remain within the realm of distinctions.
However, the Torah perspective is somewhat difference and here is a little dialogue that discusses this:
Rabbi: What is enlightenment?
Zen Master: No distinctions.
Rabbi: What does that mean?
Zen Master: No self, no other.
Rabbi: And is that why you say the Buddha’s teaching is unsurpassable?
Zen Master: Yes.
Rabbi: Because it is beyond distinctions?
Zen Master: Yes.
Rabbi: Because it is beyond distinctions?
Zen Master: Yes.
Rabbi: But isn’t “beyond distinctions” a distinction?
Zen Master: No.
Rabbi: Why not?
Zen Master: Because there are no distinctions.
Rabbi: So what is there?
Zen Master: Just this.
Rabbi: Do you know what we call that?
Zen Master: What?
Rabbi: God.
Zen Master: Ahhhh….very profound your teaching.
Rabbi: God is beyond all distinction, He is True Being. The Torah teaches us that “in the Heavens above and the Earth below, there is nothing else (but Him).” But there is something even more amazing about God…
Zen Master: What is that?
Rabbi: He Is the Creator of all distinctions. Our faith and wisdom tradition teaches that God did not create the world by creating something other than Himself, because there is nothing “other”. He created by allowing there to be distinctions, by allowing that there be other.
Zen Master: Why did He do this?
Rabbi: So that He could be known. If there is no other, then there is no wisdom, no knowing, no intimacy, no enlightenment.
Zen Master: But we say this very differently. We say that it is only when there is no other that there is wisdom and enlightenment.
Rabbi: That is because your tradition does not appreciate distinction. The Torah teaches us that we must negate our sense of self to realize that there is nothing but God. This is “no other.” But the Torah also teaches that God created distinction, God created self and other in order for there to be wisdom and knowing, and ultimately love, because love demands a relationship between two. These two are opposites: distinctions and no distinctions, and the Torah does not reject either. The Torah recognizes that this is the ultimate paradoxical nature of existence.
Zen Master: Zen also teaches this. “We say form is emptiness and emptiness is form.”
Rabbi: But that is because you don’t believe in emptiness or form.
Zen Master: That is correct.
Rabbi: But we do. In fact, we believe in emptiness, form, and no emptiness and form. We accept every aspect of reality and creation, and also that the ultimate wisdom is beyond our wisdom, because the ultimate wisdom and enlightenment belongs only to God. And most importantly, we believe that God not only created us and this world, but He gave us the path for how to live because that is the most important thing. Life is not empty, but is of the greatest value and meaning, and the Torah teaches us how to realize this.
Zen Master: I believe I understand. Your Torah teaches that there is enlightenment even within distinctions.
Rabbi: That is correct.
Zen Master: That too is a very wise teaching.
Why I Am Not A Buddhist
A Torah Perspective on the Buddha’s Wisdom
By Avraham Chaim Apatow
There is great wisdom among the Buddhists, as well as all peoples. However, it is essential to clarify the difference between the spiritual path of Buddhism and the wisdom of the Torah. My two parents are both Jewish, but were completely secular. I knew nothing about the Torah and found my way like many other spiritual seekers, to study with gurus and Zen masters. I benefited greatly from these studies and practice of meditation but have come to discover why it so essential that we define the unique teachings of the Torah and Kabbalah from the traditions of the East.
I would like to begin first by speaking of the great wisdom of the East. The sages teach us:
If any man will say to you that there is wisdom among the gentiles, believe him… [Eicha Raba 2].
The wisdom of the East is rooted in meditation training. This training allows the seeker to break through the barriers of the ego to discover the essential oneness of life.
We experience the world and distinguish between ME the perceiver and the OBJECT in the world being perceived. In the mental realm we also believe there is ME the thinker and the THOUGHT that I am thinking. This is called the distinction between the SUBJECT of perception or thought and the OBJECT.
Meditation training aims to break us free from this structure so that we can experience directly, independent of this thought construct that “I” am different than what I am experiencing or thinking.
One can talk about breaking free from this subject/object duality and perhaps even understand what it means, but it is something completely different to experience it.
When we experience the world independent of this division we open ourselves to the experience of the ultimate oneness of existence. The degree of one’s experience of this oneness, is then the degree of their so called “enlightenment.”
The Torah expresses this ultimate non-duality of life in the following way:
know this day, and lay it to thy heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is nothing else. (Deuteronomy 4:39)
Although, this may sound very far from your own experience, it is important to recognize that we all have experiences of the oneness of life free of subject/object duality. We experience this when we are truly in love. The joy we feel is the experience of unity with another. Whenever we are completely engaged in a sport, or music, or study, we reach higher states of unity. In these states we lose all track of time and “become one with what we are doing.”
Meditation is unique because in meditation we practice being in this state while doing nothing. Through this practice we gain a deeper understanding of what this oneness is and through this training it helps to build a spiritual discipline that is transformative.
All spiritual system are about understanding the process and experience of higher states of oneness. The Indian Hindu philosophers developed very sophisticated systems for understanding this path and the spiritual knowledge that it reveals.
The Buddha was a spiritual seeker who created a revolution. In truth, he was very pragmatic. He sought to liberate humans from suffering. His answer: practice non-duality. He basically taught what the other Hindus taught, that the self and ego is an illusion. Therefore, to free from suffering is to free oneself from this thought illusion. He was unique and revolutionary in that he taught that true liberation was to get rid of the concept of self or soul altogether. In fact, get rid of all conceptualizing and just practice non-duality.
The Chinese and Japanese Zen masters developed this further in their beautiful poetry and taught that the practice of this non-duality must also include acceptance of the appearance of duality. In the words of Dogen Zenji:
Before enlightenment, mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers.
With enlightenment, mountains are no longer mountains and rivers are no longer rivers.
After enlightenment, mountains are again mountains and rivers are again rivers
What this means is that before the experience of non-duality, things are perceived regularly. The experience of enlightenment or non-duality reveals that things are not how they appear (that is, they are not separate from one another). After the experience of non-duality, things are again perceived normally (as separate from one another).
The key here is that one cannot maintain the perception of non-duality constantly. Experiences of non-duality are just that, experiences, and like all experiences they come and go. Therefore, the great wisdom of the Zen masters is their emphasis on not trying to hold on to experience, and not trying to hold on to enlightenment.
Thus, the Zen masters teach that the ultimate “enlightenment” is not judging between enlightenment and non-enlightenment, between the non-dual perception of life and the ordinary perception of life. This is the teaching that ultimately “ordinary mind” is enlightenment.
The most important training in Buddhist meditation and the expression of a life of wisdom is non-judgement. This is expressed by the Zen Master and Third Patriarch Hsin Hsin Ming in his teaching called Faith Mind:
The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. When love and hate are both absent everything becomes clear and undisguised. Make the smallest distinction, however, and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.
If you wish to see the truth then hold no opinions for or against anything. To set up what you like against what you dislike is the disease of the mind.
The training in non judgment breaks the ego and our instinctive way of perceiving the world dualistically.
Over the centuries the Zen tradition has proved itself as the most effective for helping people cultivate this state of mind and being. It has attracted a great following in the West and in popular culture because there are great benefits from practicing this approach.
Firstly, it does help us alleviate our suffering and pain. Suffering and pain increase when we reject something as bad. If we don’t make this distinction, our suffering and pain is relieved.
This approach creates harmony and relieves stress because we are not mentally rejecting or fighting things in the world.
The practice of mediation and meditative breathing harmonizes the mind and body greatly improving our health and clarity of mind.
The practice of Zen and non-judgment is also the doorway to opening the creativity and full functioning of the right brain, which is the key to excellence in all forms of art and sport.
Finally, non-judgement allows us to be more accepting of others and their differences and allows for greater love and compassion in our lives.
With all the tremendous benefits, we can understand why Buddhism has been such a popular religion and why its founder was elevated an idolized. It should be noted that the Buddha himself was probably against all forms of idolatry and in no way sought to elevate himself to be idolized or a deity. However, he taught within idolatrous cultures that have transformed his pragmatic teachings into an idolatrous religion.
But the truth is that the Buddha was a wise man, and as we quoted earlier: If any man will say to you that there is wisdom among the Gentiles, believe him.
The essence of this wisdom is the recognition of the wholeness and perfection of existence. When one lets go of judgment and the subject/object dualistic mode of thinking and perceiving, the realization of the perfection of existence is manifest.
The key to this realization is the doing and not the thinking about it. “Just do it,” as the advertisement says.
However, the Buddhist tradition and especially the Zen tradition has made this dharma (teaching) their dogma. The truth is that the Zen tradition is not a philosophical system. It is a system of spiritual discipline and training. There is no dogma in Zen.
The authentic approach of the Zen Buddhist to questions of religion should essentially be agnostic.
The second part of the Torah quote from above continues and says:
If he will say that there is Torah among the Gentiles, do not believe him [Eicha Raba 2].
The Torah is God’s wisdom. In its outer form it is the 613 commandments for the people of Israel and the Seven Laws for the Gentile nations.
In the kabbalistic teachings of the Torah explain in more detail the purpose of creation and our role in it. The primary teaching of the Torah is that God is a beneficent creator and therefore everything in creation has an ultimate purpose that is good. This includes even suffering.
The Chassidic masters speak about an important distinction between expanded consciousness and restricted consciousness. Expanded consciousness is when we see the perfection of existence, as we described above, its wholeness and unity. In a state of restricted consciousness we feel our separation from this wholeness and our lack.
So why would God create a world in which there is restriction, lack, and therefore suffering?
The simple answer is that God created a world in which He could have a relationship with people, and He did this in order to benefit us by revealing His own divine qualities of Oneness, Goodness and Supreme Justice and Compassion.
The purpose of life is to strive to come close to God, who is the source of all Life and Goodness. The lack and imperfection we feel from the separation from God is there to provide the impetus for us to strive through prayer and meditation and good deeds to come closer to the Creator. This striving and yearning is the very process that builds our vessel to receive God’s gifts, both in this world and the eternal world. The Torah teaches us therefore that our individuality and our very suffering are deeply meaningful. It is the very earth from which our spiritual life grows.
From a Torah perspective, meditative training is essential for many reasons. One is that the non-judging state of mind allows us to accept the will of God. The Torah teaches us “My thoughts are not your thoughts.” In other words, there are many things about life (both in general and in our particular lives) that we cannot understand and therefore are not in a position to judge or completely understand. We have to accept them.
However, on the other hand, the development of keen judgment is essential for fulfilling God’s commands. And indeed this is one of the main purposes of Torah study, to sharpen the mind so that we can make the appropriate judgments in our lives regarding what is permitted and what is forbidden.
The Buddha taught that there is no soul, no individuality, no separation – only non duality. This is Buddhism.
The Torah also teaches that there is “nothing but God.” This is our statement of existence’s non-duality. This is the very meaning of the Jewish declaration of faith that we recite every morning and evening, “Hear Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.”
However, on the other hand, the Torah teaches that there is One God and that He created the world and breathed the breath of life in man. Each of us has that breath of life, which forms our individual soul. This soul goes through physical life and is judged after death by God and granted reward and punishment according to our deeds.
This may appear contradictory. How can there be individual souls and judgment when there is nothing but God? This is the ultimate Jewish koan. (Koan is the spiritual question that Zen students meditate on, like “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”)
There is famous story of a rabbi who kept two Torah quotes, one in each pocket. In one pocket it said a teaching from the sages “Every person should say [to himself] the whole world was created only for me. (Sanhedrin 37)” In the other pocket was a verse from King David that says, “I am a worm and not a man.” (Tehillim 22)
The reason is because both have an aspect of truth and we need to consider both perspectives to be complete in life.
A similar teaching is expressed by Hillel:
If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am for myself, what am 'I'? (Pirke Avot 1:14)
In other words, a person must build his own self, his own life. This is his or her responsibility in this world. However, if one is only centered upon oneself, then there life lacks true meaning and virtue.
We can look at our relationship with God in a similar way. From one perspective there is nothing but God, but from another perspective, God allows that there be a created world with individuals. The reason is that God is the very life of the worlds. He is our very life. However, the Torah preserves the essential distinction: We are not His life. It is not a relationship of equivalence. There is a Creator and a Creation and they are separate. The great Kabbalists have explained in remarkable detail how we can understand this apparent paradox between Unity and Duality in creation, which I will not aim to summarize here. The key point is to understand the consequence of this distinction: It means that this world is not an illusion. God created the world with a purpose and the events of each individual’s life are a vital part of the entirety of all existence. It means your life and actions matter.
From this foundation, we can then understand the Kabbalists’ teaching that every action that we take in this world is part of a process of elevating spiritual sparks to their source in the heavenly realms. Each person comes into this world as part of a process for unifying heaven and earth, the physical and the spiritual. The movement between expanded and restricted consciousness is part of that process.
God gave us the responsibility to be partners in the process of creation, and fulfill this role by helping in the spiritual repair of the world. The manual of this spiritual repair is His Torah and mitzvot (commandments), and through the work commanded in the Torah we help to transform the world to a place in which this repair is completed and complete enlightened consciousness is revealed to all people, as the prophet Isaiah says: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.