Huston Smith : Wisdomkeeper : Living The World's Religions

the long version

What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? Is there a God? Can there be authentic mystical experience? Are Hindus and Buddhists correct that we can attain a state of enlightenment? Can psychedelic drugs give us a glimpse of it? Does religion have a viable place in the modern world? Is there a common core of values and insights among the world's religions? Huston Smith spent his career in a search for answers to these and other questions. Born in China in 1919, the son of Methodist missionaries, Smith followed a life-long spiritual quest that led him around the world many times. He studied the world's religions and mystical traditions directly with Aldous Huzley, D.T. Suzuki, J. Krishnamurti, Alan Watts, Paul Tillich, Reinhold Biebuhr, the Dalai Lama, Joseph Campbell, Ram Dass, and a host of others. Huston, as a renowned philosopher of religion, taught at Washington University, M.I.T., Syracuse University and the University of California at Berkeley, and during his career helped shape the contemporary face of comparative religion, interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance. As a seeker, he became a citizen of the world, plunging into its various spiritual traditions. His many insights and adventures fill this compelling and edifying book, the authorized biography of a 21st century spiritual giant. (Publisher).