[Buddha-l] Buddhism in Israel

[Dan Lusthaus]

Eric,


> No, I'm not shrewd enough to make such subtle implications, certainly
> not in an email where the risc of misunderstanding is very high.

That's reassuring.

> So it is possible that the presence of Israeli tourists is a sign of
> growing popularity of Buddhism in Israel, but it is certainly not
> necessary.

The evidence for the growing popularity of Buddhism in Israel is the
increase in Buddhist centers throughout the country, and the expansion of
already good academic programs at several Israeli universities. The
popularity of Dharamsala is only an additional sign of that. But why, from
the start, assume the worst of intentions and motivations instead of the
other way around?

The motives you mention, by the way, are not that dissimilar from those
which brought western backpackers to Nepal starting in the 1960s -- from
whose ranks many of the senior researchers in Tibetan Buddhism in the
western academy hail.

If you are curious to look behind the stereotypes, do a google search for
"israelis dharamsala" -- you'll find items such as:

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=indian_summer
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/33815.html

and even a discussion of Israelis as bad tourists from the Israeli newspaper
Haaretz:
http://tinyurl.com/3d5vl

Dan