Seeing into the Life of Things

Imagination and the Sacred Encounter

Rodger Kamenetz

Paperback
9781958972915
US $22.99
eBook available
October 2025

Rodger Kamenetz, author of international bestseller The Jew in the Lotus, about a pilgrimage of rabbis to see H.H. the Dalai Lama (a historic dialogue between Jewish and Buddhist masters), watched as the rabbis asked H.H. in Dharamsala, “How does your spiritual practice purify afflictive emotions?” Rodger explains in this book, “This is the most fundamental question we might ask of any spiritual practice, any religion or philosophy of life. How do your practices help you purify afflictive emotions such as anxiety, envy, resentment, and shame?”

Kamenetz sets out to answer this question experimentally, in spiritual practice, through the contemplation of images in memory, dreams, perception, and prayer. These practices lead to a life of feeling which displaces negativity and reactivity.

Seeing into the Life of Things will help readers cultivate these skills—perception, memory, dreams, and prayer. The book is structured as a commentary on these practices building step-by-step from the simple “count your blessings” to more difficult images in dreams. Kamenetz shows how to use dreams as prompts and scripts, in order to learn how to experience feelings by acting them out.

Memoir and narrative threads also run through the book, revolving around the author’s relationship with Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi—the most important Jewish teacher of the 20th century and the anchor of that trip to Dharamsala in 1990.

Rodger Kamenetz is an award-winning poet, author and teacher. His best known book is The Jew in the Lotus. His account of historic dialogue became an international bestseller, prompting a reevaluation of Judaism in the light of Buddhist thought. The New York Times called it a “revered text.” A PBS documentary followed, and a sequel, Stalking Elijah, was awarded the National Jewish Book Award. Kamenetz has also authored many books of poetry and has been called “the most formidable of the Jewish-American poets.” And when his book, The History of Last Night’s Dream appeared in 2007, Oprah Winfrey interviewed him on her “Soul Series” program, saying, “What’s so exciting about this book is that it talks about how there’s a whole other life that we are living when we sleep and that our dreams are there as offerings and gifts to us if we only recognize what the dreams are there to teach us.” He lives in New Orleans, LA.

For the author’s earlier books:

“A book for anyone who feels the narrowness of a wholly secular life ….” —New York Times Book Review

“It’s fascinating to see what is good and true and real in terms of different religious sensibilities.” — E. L. Doctorow

“A highly entertaining personal account of one man’s surprising journey into the mystical heart of Judaism.” —Kirkus

“A profound discussion of religion, exile, and survival in our time.” —Andrei Codrescu, poet and NPR commentator

“A feast of truth sharing, self-examination of lineage, humor, and good will.” —Ram Dass