News Highlights “Torah and Dharma”: Miller Center hosts dialogue with Jewish and Buddhist scholars

(Pictured left to right) Rabbi Or Rose, founding director of the Miller Center; rev. seigen johnson, Soto Zen Buddhist priest in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki and associate director of the BILI launchpad fellowship; Dr. Amelia Hall, Core Assistant Professor, Wisdom Traditions Department Chair at Naropa University; Dr. Judith Simmer-Brown, Distinguished Professor Emeritx of Contemplative and Religious Studies at Naropa University.

On Jan 17, 2024, the Betty Ann Greenbaum Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership of Hebrew College hosted “Torah and Dharma: A Renewed Conversation,” a panel conversation building on the legacy of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (of blessed memory), His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, and other bold Jewish and Buddhist practitioners in relationship with one another.

Panelists discussed the seminal texts, profound relationships, and spiritual practices that brought together Buddhist and Jewish practitioners in the twentieth century; how to continue this spiritual collaboration in our time and for generations to come; and the living relationship between the mindful, spiritual, and embodied practices of the traditions. Each discussed their formative relationships with each other, with texts, and with religious figures like Reb Zalman (z”l), Bishop Desmond Tutu (z”l), and his holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso–each of whom engaged deeply across traditions and practices with a spirit of joy and sincere desire for building a better world.