Huston Smith
Huston Smith
Huston Cummings Smithis a religious studies scholar in the United States. His book The World's Religionshas sold over two million copies and remains a popular introduction to comparative religion...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTheologian
Date of Birth31 May 1919
CountryUnited States of America
apart assumption began chinese factor group unit viability
The Chinese began with the assumption that the group is the fundamental unit of reality. Individuals? Sure, we can factor them out from their groups, but let us not think that they as individuals have any viability apart from their group.
You subtract Christianity from Huston Smith, and there is no Huston Smith left.
art difficulty sacred
It's often difficult for us to act compassionately, but sacred art eases the difficulty by ennobling us.
acted assumed brought god happen human jesus life orthodox thinking
I happen to be a Christian. I was brought up and drenched in that. I am very orthodox in thinking that Jesus acted in his life the way God would have acted if God had assumed human form.
across billion pure science universe
Pure science - this vision of the universe as 15 billion light years across - I am bedazzled and awed by it.
altered consciousness given history human religion
No one in human history has given as much thought to the interweaving of altered states of consciousness and religion as I have.
connection deserved morality
There is no connection between morality and disaster, Are we going to think that they deserved that? That would be atrocious.
our-actions action consequences-of-our-actions
...the only thing that continues is the consequences of our action.
islands together realization
In mysteries what we know, and our realization of what we do not know, proceed together; the larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder. It is like the quantum world, where the more we understand its formalism, the stranger that world becomes.
sides reserved universe
Reserved as he [Confucius] was about the supernatural, he was not without it; somewhere in the universe there was a power that was on the side of right.
pride needs helping
Swallow your pride and admit that we all need help at times.
religious kindness giving
A religion made up solely of heightened religious experiences would not be a religion at all. ...The major religious traditions address the mysteries (with or without entheogens), but they have other business to do: widen understanding, give meaning, provide solace, promote loving-kindness, and connect human being to human being.
self enthusiasm perpetual
The self is too small an object for perpetual enthusiasm.
civilization looks different
It is commonly said and known that each civilization has its own religion. Now my claim is that if we look deeper, the different civilizations were brought into being by the different revelations.