Huston Smith (1919–2016)
Author of The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions
About the Author
Huston Cummings Smith was born in Suzhou, China on May 31, 1919 to Methodist missionaries. He attended Central Methodist University and was ordained a Methodist minister. He soon realized that he would rather teach than preach. He received a Ph.D. in 1945 from the University of Chicago. He taught show more at several universities including the University of Denver, the Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Chicago Divinity School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of California, Berkeley. He wrote numerous books during his lifetime including The Religions of Man (the textbook title was later changed to The World's Religions), Cleansing the Doors of Perception: The Religious Significance of Entheogenic Plants and Chemicals, and Tales of Wonder: Adventures Chasing the Divine. In 1955, he turned his popular college lectures into a series of programs on world religions for the National Educational Television network. In 1996, he was the focus of a five-part PBS series entitled The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith. He died on December 30, 2016 at the age of 97. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: photo by Gregg Chadwick
Series
Works by Huston Smith
Cleansing the Doors of Perception: The Religious Significance of Entheogenic Plants and Chemicals (2000) 169 copies
A Seat at the Table: Huston Smith in Conversation with Native Americans on Religious Freedom (2005) 41 copies
And Live Rejoicing: Chapters from a Charmed Life — Personal Encounters with Spiritual Mavericks, Remarkable… (2012) 16 copies
A essência das religiões 5 copies
The Religious Other: Towards a Muslim Theology of Other Religions in a Post-Prophetic Age (2008) 3 copies
Accents of the World's Philosophies 2 copies
Mystic's Journey: Requiem for a Faith - Tibetan Buddhism [1979 documentary] (1979) — Narrator — 1 copy
Jesus at 2000 : concluding panel: presentations and discussion [video recording] (1995) — Speaker — 1 copy
Is it possible to live with total lucidity? : Krishnamurti in dialogue with Dr. Huston Smith [video recording] (1968) 1 copy
أديان العالم 1 copy
Cleansing the Doorways of Perception: The Religious Significance of Entheogenic Plants and Chemicals 1 copy
The Essential Rumi 1 copy
Two Kinds of Teaching 1 copy
Death and Transformation: The Personal Reflections of Huston Smith, Autumn 2006 (2007) — Speaker — 1 copy
Dialogue on science 1 copy
Associated Works
The Way of a Pilgrim / The Pilgrim Continues His Way (1884) — Introduction, some editions — 1,900 copies
The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism (1995) — Introduction, some editions — 1,474 copies
The Tibetan Book of the Dead: First Complete Translation (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (2005) — Introduction, some editions — 1,110 copies
The Cloud of Unknowing: and The Book of Privy Counseling (1973) — Foreword, some editions — 984 copies
The World's Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World's Religions (1900) — Foreword, some editions — 520 copies
The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker's Guide to Making Travel Sacred (1998) — Foreword, some editions — 397 copies
Meister Eckhart Vol 2: The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense (1981) — Foreword, some editions — 364 copies
The Illustrated Rumi: A Treasury of Wisdom from the Poet of the Soul (2000) — Preface, some editions — 107 copies
Higher Wisdom: Eminent Elders Explore the Continuing Impact of Psychedelics (2005) — Contributor — 40 copies
A crisis of faith the series four films : crisis of faith, state of the union, quest for the grail, portrait of a… (2004) — Contributor — 3 copies
The mystic's journey : three classic films: Islamic mysticism - the sufi way; Requiem for a faith - Tibetan Buddhism;… (2003) — Narrator — 3 copies
The roots of fundamentalism : a conversation with Huston Smith & Phil Cousineau [video recording] (2006) — Contributor — 2 copies
Tradition in the modern world Sacred Web Conference : September 23-24, 2006 (2007) — Presenter — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Smith, Huston Cummings
- Birthdate
- 1919-05-31
- Date of death
- 2016-12-30
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Suzhou, China
- Place of death
- Berkeley, California, USA
- Places of residence
- Suzhou, China
Berkeley, California, USA - Education
- Central Methodist University, Fayette, Missouri, USA
University of Chicago - Occupations
- Professor (University of Colorado|1944–1947)
Professor (University of Denver|1944–1947)
Professor (Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri|1947-1957)
Professor (Philosophy | MIT | 1958–1973)
Professor (Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion and Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Philosophy | Syracuse University | 1973-1983)
Professor (Visiting Professor of Religious Studies | University of California, Berkeley) - Organizations
- Vedanta Society
Washington University in St. Louis
Syracuse University
University of California, Berkeley
Perennialist School - Awards and honors
- Courage of Conscience Award, Peace Abbey, Sherborn, MA
Members
Reviews
Illustrated Worlds Religions by Huston Smith
Retaining all the beloved qualities of Huston Smith's classic The Religions of Man and the current fully revised and updated The World's Religions, this stunning pictorial presentation refines the text to its wonderful essentials. In detailed, absorbing, richly illustrated, and highly readable chapters on Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity and primal religions, we find refreshing and fascinating presentations of both the differences and the similarities among the worldwide religious traditions. The approach is at once classic and contemporary, retaining all the empathy, eloquence and erudition that millions of readers love about the earlier editions, while being edited and designed for a contemporary general readership. This delightful marriage of winsome text and remarkable pictures vividly brings to life the scope and vision of Huston Smith's expertise and insight.… (more)
One of the best guides out there on many of the kinds of religions that exist in the world.
Smith's treatment of indigenous, animistic, pagan, and traditional practices were less complete than I had hoped to find.
Smith's treatment of indigenous, animistic, pagan, and traditional practices were less complete than I had hoped to find.
Huston gives a thoughtful perspective on how "metaphysics" has become confused with "cosmology." Because science provides such a compelling cosmology, it has also become a world view, as if it can explain the meaning or origin of existence. The book takes pains to refer to a wide range of other writers and thinkers, which can create a dizzying effect, but the general effect is compelling.
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Statistics
- Works
- 69
- Also by
- 39
- Members
- 7,686
- Popularity
- #3,167
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 72
- ISBNs
- 128
- Languages
- 11
- Favorited
- 8
