Rodger Kamenetz has been instrumental in shaping and articulating Natural Dreamwork. He is Professor Emeritus of English and Religious Studies at Louisiana State University and an award-winning author, poet and teacher. He has been working with clients who seek spiritual direction through dreams since 2003. 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.” 

Kamenetz’s best known book is The Jew in the Lotus, the story of rabbis making a holy pilgrimage through India to meet with the Dalai Lama. His account of their historic dialogue became an international bestseller, prompting a reevaluation of Judaism in the light of Buddhist thought. Now in its 36th printing overall, The Jew in the Lotus is a staple of college religion courses. The New York Times has called it a “revered text.” A PBS documentary followed, and a sequel, Stalking Elijah, won him the National Jewish Book Award for Jewish Thought. Kamenetz’s  eight books of poetry include Yonder, Dream Logic and The Missing Jew: Poems 1976-2022. His memoir Terra Infirma centered on the impact of a single dream of his mother after her untimely death.

Born in Baltimore, Rodger Kamenetz has degrees from Yale, Johns Hopkins and Stanford. He lives in New Orleans.