Huston Smith in Newsweek

The May 18, 2009 edition of Newsweek features the highly influential American religious studies scholar Huston Smith. At 90 years old, Smith is retired and living in Berkeley, CA but is about to publish a memoir, Tales of Wonder, of his life steeped in the study and practice of the world's religions.

The book is to recount his life: growing up in Dzang Dok, China in a Methodist missionary family; becoming a philosophy professor; meeting Martin Luther King, Jr. and befriending Aldous Huxley and H.H. the Dalai Lama; participating in Acid experiments with Timothy Leary; spending 30 years going out and practicing many different religions with people in their culture; and introducing Americans to religious traditions U.S. culture largely knew little about through academic writing, popular books, and public television and speaking.

Smith has said that he ascribes to the so-called "perrennial philosophy," which argues that though there are apparent differences with the world's religions they are nonetheless the same at their mystical core. Smith's scholarly work is often dismissed or even derided by top scholars in religious studeis today (in an academic environment where particularization and specificity of scholarly interest is the rule of the day) for allegedly being overly focused on the sameness or similarities among the world's religions and not acknowledging enough of their obvious and important differences that make them unique traditions in their own right.

While they certainly have a point, I still believe Smith is relevant today because of the need to make the American public more aware of the plurality and diversity of religions in the world (especially in the U.S.) and to do this in a way that is sensitive and approachable to this audience. This means the task must be done with practicality, liveliness, comparison, and conciseness, all of which Huston Smith exudes immensely.

Lisa Miller writes the feature of Huston Smith in Newsweek.

(Photo by Robyn Twomey of Newsweek.)