Product Description

"Where can we find what is ultimately meaningful? How can we discover what is truly worth knowing?" In one form or another Huston Smith has been posing these questions to himself--and the world--all his life. In the course of seeking answers, he has become one of the most interesting, enlightening, and celebrated voices on the subject of religion and spirituality throughout the world. The twenty-three interviews and essays in this volume, edited by cultural historian and filmmaker Phil Cousineau, offer a uniquely personal perspective on Smith's own personal journey, as well as wide-ranging reflection on the nature and importance of the religious quest.
In The Way Things Are, readers will find Smith in conversation with some of the world's most influential personalities and religious leaders, from journalist Bill Moyers to religion scholar Philip Novak, and recounting his personal experiences with such luminaries as Joseph Campbell, Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary, Daisetz Suzuki, Ram Dass, and the Dalai Lama. Throughout these engaging exchanges Smith speaks with passion and humor of his upbringing as the son of missionary parents in China, of the inspiring and colorful individuals he has known, and of his impressions of the different religious and philosophical traditions he has encountered. A fascinating view of the state of world religion and religious leadership over the past fifty years, the book also looks to the future with a final interview on the vital importance of the transcendent message of religion for the post-9/11 world. Readers will find The Way Things Are to be Huston Smith's most and accessible book to date.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #371951 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-04
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .1 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 338 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that he would gladly walk 100 miles through a snowstorm for one good conversation. Fortunately, readers don't have to trudge through a blizzard or even leave their armchairs to listen in on these 22 fascinating conversations with renowned religious scholar Huston Smith. Kudos to editor and accomplished author Cousineau (The Art of Pilgrimage) for gathering these interviews that span more than 30 years. Readers will find themselves ravenously eavesdropping on captivating discussions, such as Smith's humorous story of meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the first time or his soothing anecdote of how he became spiritually reconciled to the death of his eldest daughter to cancer. When Smith speaks about religious violence, his insight could be relevant to any era of humanity: "First of all, my persuasion is what really breeds violence is political differences. But because religion serves as the soul of community, it gets drawn into the fracas and turns up the heat." Indeed, a lifelong career of studying the world's religions has made him especially gifted in illuminating the dialogues that are timeless. As a result, his conversations touch upon many Big Questions: what is the meaning of God? Where do science and religion meet? How can we teach children about the sacred in everyday life? Why do we move toward the light? Incidentally, Cousineau's stunning preface is worth the price of admission alone.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"A remarkable autobiographical window into Smith's soul." - Library Journal "[An] engaging collection of interviews that cover Smith's rich career of inuiry into religion and the nature of consciousness." - Ions Review "Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that he would gladly walk 100 miles through a snowstorm for one good conversation. Fortunately, readers don't have to trudge through a blizzard or even leave their armchairs to listen in on these 22 fascinating conversations." - Publishers Weekly"

From the Inside Flap
"My idea of heaven (here on earth) is sitting in a room and listening to Huston Smith talk (and sparkle and sing); the next best thing, surely, is having him here, as he is in these pages, passing on his contagious delight and excitement in the Real in a voice of miraculous clarity and humanity. I can't think of a more moving and beautiful, more rigorous and wise, book to help us through these troubled times."--Pico Iyer

"In this his new book, Huston Smith gives us his readers a priceless gift during our time of struggle with the nature of good and evil, carefully differentiating between the concepts of good and perfect."--Robert A. Johnson, author of Inner Work and We

"Huston Smith, in conversation, sometimes becomes as spontaneous and radiant as the ineffable beauty he talks about. Not all the time. He admits to having a spiritual flu on some days. Wherever he is, though, a clean wind of truth blows through his presence. He always makes me feel more alive! He knows, and lives, and loves whereof he speaks."--Coleman Barks, poet and translator, Rumi: The Book of Love