{"id":1960,"date":"2017-01-10T00:01:15","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T08:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/wrestlingwithgod\/?p=1960"},"modified":"2017-01-09T16:06:31","modified_gmt":"2017-01-10T00:06:31","slug":"huston-smith-a-spiritual-companion-to-millions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wrestlingwithgod\/2017\/01\/huston-smith-a-spiritual-companion-to-millions\/","title":{"rendered":"Huston Smith — A Spiritual Companion to Millions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Religion<\/a>
Religion scholar Huston Smith. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

By Barbara Falconer Newhall<\/em><\/p>\n

Huston Smith was well into his 90s. His mind was sharp. His last books, though slender, were inspired. But his hearing was going, and he had taken to a wheelchair. Finally on December 30, at the age of 97, Huston Smith left his millions of fans and readers behind.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m just one of the countless believers, seekers and skeptics who admired \u2014 loved \u2014 this wise and compassionate man. Huston Smith didn\u2019t know it, but he\u2019s been my mentor for the past two decades \u2014 ever since I took a job as religion reporter at the Contra Costa Times in Walnut Creek, California.<\/p>\n

The religion beat has a steep learning curve, so when I discovered Smith\u2019s authoritative book, \u201cThe World\u2019s Religions,\u201d it quickly became my bible. It has remained so all these years.<\/p>\n

Reading Between Huston Smith\u2019s Lines<\/h5>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Studying Smith\u2019s book, I often found myself trying to read between the lines \u2014 who was this man who spoke so fluently of Islam and Judaism, Hinduism and Taoism? What did he personally think of the many disparate religions he studied? Was he still a Christian? Did he ever practice any of the religions he studied?<\/p>\n

I finally got some answers to my questions when an autobiography, \u201cTales of Wonder: Adventures Chasing the Divine,\u201d written with Jeffery Paine, was brought out by HarperOne in 2009.<\/p>\n

In a chapter entitled \u201cMy Three Other Religions\u201d Smith revealed that he \u201cnever met a religion I did not like.\u201d Indeed, he practiced Hinduism unconditionally for ten years, followed by ten years of Buddhism<\/a>, and ten years of Islam \u2014 all this without ever forsaking the Christianity of his missionary parents.<\/p>\n

He was not following a checklist, Smith writes. He simply found these wisdom traditions, each in its turn, fitting.<\/p>\n

And, \u201cthe proper response to a major spiritual tradition, if you can truly see it, may be<\/p>\n

\"Religion<\/a>
Huston Smith in 2012 at Sagrada bookstore, Oakland, California. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

to practice it. With each new religion I entered into, I descended (or ascended?) into hidden layers within myself that, until then, I had not known were even there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe World\u2019s Religions\u201d was first published in 1958 under the title \u201cThe Religions of Man.\u201d It was given its gender-neutral title in 1991. Over the years, the two editions have sold some 3 million copies.<\/p>\n

During his long academic career, Smith taught at the University of Chicago, University of Denver, Washington University in St. Louis, MIT, and most recently at the University of California, Berkeley.<\/p>\n

Good-bye, Dear Reader<\/h5>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTales of Wonder\u201d was published when Smith was 90 and living in an assisted living facility in Berkeley, not far from the house in the hills he had shared with Kendra, his wife of 65 years. In it he reports that he\u2019d finally found a mantra that suits him. He repeats it under his breath in the bathroom and in the assisted living elevator.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s \u201cGod, you are so good to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a lifetime of studying and teaching, investigating and deliberating, how simple it has finally become, he writes. \u201cI have forgotten more about the various religions than I knew in the first place. All that is left of my study of them is . . . me.\u201d<\/p>\n

But for me, as Huston Smith\u2019s anonymous mentee, the most wrenching words in this book are in the epilogue:<\/p>\n

\u201cSoon it will be time to say good-bye,\u201d Smith writes. \u201cGood-bye to you, dear reader . . . Although we never met in person, you were like a friend, the thought of whom spurred me to my best efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those last words brought me to tears.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2017 Barbara Falconer Newhall. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you enjoyed this post, you might want to read \u201cWhere Islam and Christianity Meet \u2014 and Clash.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 More about Huston Smith at\u00a0\u201cHuston Smith: \u2018Be Happy\u2019\u201d<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

For a really interesting read, check out my religion reporter colleague<\/a> Don Lattin\u2019s book, \u201cThe Harvard Psychedelic Club:\u00a0How Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Barbara Falconer Newhall Huston Smith was well into his 90s. His mind was sharp. His last books, though slender, were inspired. But his hearing was going, and he had taken to a wheelchair. Finally on December 30, at the age of 97, Huston Smith left his millions of fans and readers behind. 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