Tales of Wonder: Adventures Chasing the Divine, an Autobiography Kindle Edition
by Huston Smith (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 out of 5 stars 70 ratings
“In this delightful autobiography, Smith tells us how he became the dean of world religion experts. Along the way we meet the people who shaped him and shared his journey—a Who’s Who of 20th century spiritual America: the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the Dalai Lama, Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary, T.S. Eliot, Thomas Merton and Pete Seeger.... A valuable master class on faith and life.”
— San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
As Stephen Hawking is to science; as Peter Drucker is to economics; and as Joseph Campbell is to mythology; so Huston Smith is to religion. Tales of Wonder is the personal story of the author of the classic The World’s Religions, the man who taught a nation about the great faiths of the world, and his fascinating encounters with the people who helped shape the 20th century.
240 pages
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Smith is America’s best-loved religion tutor.
From the Inside Flap
Smith's life is a story of uncanny synchronicity. He was there for pivotal moments in human history such as the founding of the United Nations and the student uprising at Tiananmen Square. As he traveled the world he encountered thinkers who shaped the twentieth century, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., and Thomas Merton.
In search of intellectual and spiritual treasures, Smith traveled to India to meet with Mother Teresa, befriended the Dalai Lama, and recorded music with Pete Seger. Most important, he shared the world's religions with the West--writing two bestselling books and serving as the focus of a five-part PBS series by Bill Moyers.
Huston Smith is a national treasure. His life is an extraordinary adventure, and in his amazing Tales of Wonder, he invites you to come along to explore your own vistas of heart, mind, and soul.----Anne Lamott --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
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Product details
ASIN : B001NLL1RQ
Publisher : HarperOne; Reprint edition (May 4, 2009)
Publication date : May 4, 2009
Language : English
File size : 3121 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 240 pages
Lending : Not Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #687,156 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
#43 in Houston Texas Travel Books
#84 in Biographies of Islam
#102 in Biographies of Buddhism
Customer Reviews:
4.6 out of 5 stars 70 ratings
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Biography
Huston Cummings Smith (born May 31, 1919) is among the preeminent religious studies scholars in the United States. His work, The Religions of Man (later revised and retitled The World's Religions), is a classic in the field, with over two million copies sold, and it remains a common introduction to comparative religion.
Smith was born in Soochow, China, to Methodist missionaries and spent his first 17 years there. He taught at the Universities of Colorado and Denver from 1944 to 1947, moved to Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, for the next 10 years, and then served as professor of Philosophy at MIT from 1958 to 1973. While at MIT, he participated in some of the experiments with entheogens that professor Timothy Leary conducted at Harvard University. Smith then moved to Syracuse University, where he was Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion and Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Philosophy until his retirement in 1983 and current emeritus status. He now lives in the Berkeley, California, area where he is Visiting Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
During his career, Smith not only studied but also practiced Vedanta Hinduism, Zen Buddhism (under Goto Zuigan), and Sufism for over 10 years each. He is a notable autodidact.
As a young man, of his own volition after suddenly turning to mysticism, Smith set out to meet with then-famous author Gerald Heard. Heard responded to Smith's letter, invited him to Trabuco College (later donated as the Ramakrishna Monastery) in Southern California, and then sent him off to meet the legendary Aldous Huxley. So began Smith's experimentation with meditation and his association with the Vedanta Society in Saint Louis under the auspices of Swami Satprakashananda of the Ramakrishna order.
Via the connection with Heard and Huxley, Smith eventually experimented with Timothy Leary and others at the Center for Personality Research, of which Leary was research professor. The experience and history of that era are captured somewhat in Smith's book Cleansing the Doors of Perception. In this period, Smith joined in on the Harvard Project as well, in an attempt to raise spiritual awareness through entheogenic plants.
He has been a friend of the XIVth Dalai Lama for more than 40 years, and has met and talked to some of the great figures of the century, from Eleanor Roosevelt to Thomas Merton.
Smith developed an interest in the Traditionalist School formulated by Rene Guenon and Ananda Coomaraswamy. This interest has become a continuing thread in all his writings.
In 1996 Bill Moyers devoted a five-part PBS special to Smith's life and work: The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith. Smith has also produced three series for public television: The Religions of Man, The Search for America, and (with Arthur Compton) Science and Human Responsibility.
His films on Hinduism, Tibetan Buddhism, and Sufism have all won awards at international film festivals. His latest DVD release is The Roots of Fundamentalism—A Conversation with Huston Smith and Phil Cousineau.
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huston smith world religions tales of wonder major religions many books well written assisted living years ago well worth life well book is written well lived read huston life is a life well-lived life story read a book smith has illuminated my life book on world smith smith autobiography
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DR Mackenzie
3.0 out of 5 stars Huston 30 years lateReviewed in the United States on November 21, 2018
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Before recently reading Phil Goldberg's American Veda, I had never heard of Huston Smith. It turns out that he was the author of the 'go to' textbook at tertiary level for comparative religion - The World's Religions. Goldberg reveals that Smith not only wrote engagingly and with insight about each of the major religions, he actually lived and practised each one of them himself, for around a decade each, forsaking his native Christianity for the duration each time. Now that sounds like an interesting guy, I thought, which is why I bought his autobiography Tales of Wonder.
Unfortunately it failed to live up to my expectation. Smith is obviously a very humble guy, and it seems pretty obvious he's consciously trying to avoid 'blowing his own trumpet'. Unfortunately, if you want to write an interesting autobiography, blowing your own trumpet comes with the territory.
Smith's forays into each of the major religions are given only the most cursory treatment, while domestic and family matters receive far more attention. I would have preferred it the other way round. I bought the book because I wanted to know what he experienced practising zazen in Kyoto for hours and days and weeks and months, and how that compared with his experience as a Sufi or a Hindu, in practical terms.
Smith was introduced to Alan Watts by their mutual friend Aldous Huxley. The occasion elicited what was for me the most interesting sentence in Tales of Wonder, where Huxley described Watts to Smith as a cross between a philosopher and a racetrack operator. Which is quite stunningly (and cuttingly) revealing of both Watts and Huxley.
Alan Watts of course wrote an autobiography called In My Own Way, in which he extravagantly, and without a trace of false modesty, 'blows his own trumpet' from the first page to the last. The contrast between Watts' work and that by Smith couldn't be more stark. It's like comparing a ten-course banquet with egg on toast. There is never a dull moment in In My Own Way, and a few too many in Smith's.
I think a big part of the problem is that Smith was already over 90 and in an assisted living facility when the book was written. Perhaps if he had undertaken to write it 30 years earlier, it might have contained more of the detail I had been expecting when I bought Tales of Wonder.
6 people found this helpful
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K. Bliss
5.0 out of 5 stars An important read on religion and spirituality and living life to its fullest.Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2017
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While there were brief sections I didn’t enjoy much, the balance was deeply informative and at times deeply moving. I am profoundly grateful to the author for sharing his story and learned wisdom with me. And thanks to Bev for introducing me, so to speak, with the indomitable Huston Smith!
2 people found this helpful
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Marina Oppenheimer
4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Interesting LifeReviewed in the United States on July 13, 2017
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Houston Smith's book on his life was a delight to read, not only because a biography allows the reader to peek into a person's intimate life, but because it describes in detail the role of religion in his daily business. Furthermore, the book is written with humour and abounds in deep reflections about existence.
5 people found this helpful
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Jennie Sydney
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Stroryteller with Amazing StoriesReviewed in the United States on September 8, 2013
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Huston Smith has lived an amazing life so far and it's truely wonderful that he has shared these "tales of wonder" with us. From growing up in China to the search for religion in the Middle East, his amazing way with words kept me glued to everyone of them. I finished the book in one sitting because it was so wonderful and enlightening.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to discover the world through a person's life that has not only been well-lived, but lived with passion, inspiration and abandon.
5 people found this helpful
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David W.
5.0 out of 5 stars It is nice to read an autobiography that is not ego-centricReviewed in the United States on May 28, 2018
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This man was as enlightened as one can get. It is nice to read an autobiography that is not ego-centric. I wish I could have met him before he died a couple years ago.
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Starving Student
5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the WaitReviewed in the United States on July 11, 2009
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In hopes that this is not the last work of Huston Smith, I readily advise any follower of Smith's lifetime of adventures and learning to pick this up. The photos and stories of specific influential individuals is well worth the investment of time and money. A strong picture of his wife emerges, as does his stylish embrace of aging. I close the back cover admiring this man as much, or more, than ever. Charming, impish, fascinatingly brilliant and amazingly open, Smith is one of a kind. We are fortunate to still have him with us as he is a storehouse of knowledge, a friend to icons inaccessible in the new millennium.
8 people found this helpful
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N. Weisman
5.0 out of 5 stars A man with a heart living through the heart of the centuryReviewed in the United States on October 4, 2013
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Huston Smith is an extraordinary man - kind and balanced. A family man, with deep commitments and the wisdom that comes from living them, and an adventurer to India to Thomas Merton, tripping with Timothy Leary. Helps to see the upheavals of the 60's and the (false) hopes of spiritual growth through psychedelics. (Talk about wrong turns.) Dr. Smith is a wonderful guide and companion on this "trip".
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Nicholas Romanek
4.0 out of 5 stars Gentle and Relatable PhilosophyReviewed in the United States on November 6, 2016
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Being raised a Christian has left me with more questions than answers. The more I read about these theologians/philosophers the more I understand about the oneness of all religions, how they are all a means to an end. Some are more suitable for a particular individual but I believe there is wisdom to learn from them all. I've never heard of Huston Smith until I stumbled onto this book, from reading it I've gathered a list of other books that I'd like to do further research on.
On the Trail of Buddhism
Language of the Self - Frithjof Schuon
Understanding Islam
Transcendent Unity of Religions
One nation Under God - Reuben Snake
Black Elk Speaks
The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith (this was a TV show)
Return to the Spirit - Martin Lings
Sorry I don't have the authors for all of these. Those interested in understanding what inspired Huston Smith may find this list of value. Thank you.
8 people found this helpful
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Bodhi Heeren
5.0 out of 5 stars moving and profound autobiographyReviewed in the United Kingdom on March 23, 2011
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Having turned 90 this significant scholar of Religion and Philosophy looks back on a rich and eventful life. Growing up in rural China with his missionary paraents. Getting academic succes and meeting the likes of Aldous Huxley, Gerald Heard, Timothy Leary and becoming life long friends with the Dalai Lama.
Like Jung in his famous reminiscenses Huston Smith focuses just as much on his inner life as the outer events. Having practised religion and not just written about it - such a far cry from dominating figures in the field today - he chronicles his adventures and experiences with yoga, sufism, zen and psychedelics.
A rich and rewarding read bout a rich and blessed life. Though not without it shadow sides: a daughter dying from cancer and a granddaughter being killed. And ofc lots of opposition from 'rational' colleges who ould only shake their head at his authentic religious quest.
Very well written as one would expect and full of depth and interesting viewpoints. And though I might not agree with his views on drugs or his deepfelt praise of Christianity this is one of the books I feel grateful came my way.
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Rev. Richard F. Boeke
5.0 out of 5 stars Journeys with Kendra and other MastersReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 8, 2009
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Tales of Wonder: Adventures Chasing the Divine, an Autobiography
Reading TALES OF WONDER by Huston Smith is spending an afternoon with an old friend. A bit like Perry Miller's biography of Jonathan Edwards, the book separates the "externals" of his life from what he calls, THE VERTICAL DIMENSION, LIVING IN SACRED TIME.
The External starts with his childhood in China, coming of age in a Sacred Universe. We go through his education at Chicago, his friendship with Aldous Huxley, and lessons from a Swami in St. Louise that opened the door to teaching THE RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD (almost 3 million copies sold). Huston was doing Public TV interviews decades before Bill Moyers. Smith's series, THE SEARCH FOR AMERICA is wonderful interviews of the spiritual leaders of America in the middle of the 20th Century. He starts with Eleanor Roosevelt and ends with Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich.
One of the moving parts of the book is "Family, an Operetta." He confesses to being such a "workaholic" that his wife Kendra said, "You know, I am thinking of leaving you." He suffers the loss of a daughter to cancer,and a granddaughter to probable murder in the South Pacific.
Yes, he becomes a friend of the Dalai Lama. He moves from World Religions to Primal Religions. He goes to Australia to learn the Dreamtime of Aborigines. This is a book of TALES OF WONDER.
Richard Boeke, Vice President, World Congress of Faiths
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Kaif Mahmood
3.0 out of 5 stars A lively but eventually shallow memoir of a fascinating lifeReviewed in India on November 22, 2014
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Although lively and somewhat fascinating to read, this book was disappointing. Having known of Huston Smith's body of work and a bit about his personal ventures into the world's religions, I expected to read a more profound, wise account of a life that was by no means ordinary. What the book offers, however, is a light, skin-deep tour of all the places Smith has been to and all the interesting people he has met. Before the book can take us into the deep wisdom of one episode, it is over and we are on the next adventure.
As a memoir it also lacks intimate accounts of the joys and sufferings that make a life, and that make memoirs so valuable to read. Even though Smith shares some personal moments from his life, there is a certain reserve about exploring them fully.
Perhaps it is not Smith's style to expose his intimate life to public view. Perhaps, in his 90s, Smith does not find it suitable to put in the effort to write something more philosophically inclined. Those are perfectly understandable reasons although they make this book much less than what it could be.
Having said that, Tales of Wonder does live up to its name, evoking a sense of wonder, albeit mild, at the author's explorations of the world's wisdom, not merely through books but through personal experiences the world over. It is a quick and animated experience to read about the life of a man who is ambitious but humble at the same time, who achieves a lot, but instead of appropriating his fame for himself, lets the light shine on the subject he has devoted his life to - the world's religions. Although the book is marked by a certain lack of depth, it shows Smith to be a very endearing human being.
Those interested in Huston Smith may also enjoy the documentary - Death and Transformation: Reflections of Huston Smith by Virginia Gray Henry-Blakemore.
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