Here is a unique study of all the world's great religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity. This book is neither a history or a critique. Instead it explains, simply and sympathetically, the basic tenants of each religion and the reasons why it attracts millions of devout followers. As the author explains in the first chapter, “This is a book about religion that exists . . . . not as a dull habit but as an acute fever. It is about religion alive. And whenever religion comes to life it displays a startling quality; it takes over. All else, while not silenced, becomes subdued and thrown without contest into a supporting role.  The Religions of Man is a thoroughly researched, informative, fascinating presentation of both the differences and the similarities in the major religious traditions. It is essential reading for anyone who would understand peoples of other lands, other cultures, other religions.

Religions of Man

Huston Smith

Religion & Spirituality

Harper Colophon

The Religions of Man

Originally titled The Religions of Man, this completely revised and updated edition of Smithâ€²s masterpiece, now with an engaging new foreword, explores the essential elements and teachings of the worldâ€²s predominant faiths, including: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and the native traditions of the Americas, Australia, Africa, and Oceania. Emphasising the inner -- rather than institutional -- dimensions of these religions, Smith devotes special attention to Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, Sufism, and the teachings of Jesus. He convincingly conveys the unique appeal and gifts of each of the traditions and reveals their hold on the human heart and imagination.

Religious Studies

Harpercollins

In this collection of illuminating conversations, renowned historian of world religions Huston Smith invites ten influential American Indian spiritual and political leaders to talk about their five-hundred-year struggle for religious freedom. Their intimate, impassioned dialogues yield profound insights into one of the most striking cases of tragic irony in history: the country that prides itself on religious freedom has resolutely denied those same rights to its own indigenous people. With remarkable erudition and curiosity―and respectfully framing his questions in light of the revelation that his discovery of Native American religion helped him round out his views of the world's religions―Smith skillfully helps reveal the depth of the speakers' knowledge and experience. American Indian leaders Vine Deloria, Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux), Winona LaDuke (Anishshinaabeg), Walter Echo-Hawk (Pawnee), Frank Dayish, Jr. (Navajo), Charlotte Black Elk (Oglala Lakota), Douglas George-Kanentiio (Mohawk-Iroquois), Lenny Foster (Dine/Navajo), Tonya Gonnella Frichner (Onondaga), Anthony Guy Lopez (Lakota-Sioux), and Oren Lyons (Onondaga) provide an impressive overview of the critical issues facing the Native American community today. Their ideas about spirituality, politics, relations with the U.S. government, their place in American society, and the continuing vitality of their communities give voice to a population that is all too often ignored in contemporary discourse. The culture they describe is not a relic of the past, nor a historical curiosity, but a living tradition that continues to shape Native American lives.

Seat at the Table: Huston Smith in Conversation with Native Americans on Religious Freedom

History

Gary Rhine

Americas

University of California Press

The internationally revered authority on world religions confronts the current crisis of the human spirit.

Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief

Literature & Fiction

Short Stories & Anthologies

HarperSanFrancisco

Used in both Religious and Sociology majors.

The World's Religions 50th Anniversary Edition

The World’s Religions

RecordedBooks

An inspiring chronicle of life-changing encounters, personal transformation and a vision of love that transcends the everyday definition, to embrace universal kindness and compassion, based on the knowledge that all beings are one family and that our capacity to love is one of the world's most hidden yet powerful resources. The book is groundbreaking in its affirmation of love as a pathway for people of widely differing viewpoints.
 Unexpectedly changed by love, Fran Grace went on a journey to learn more about its power to transform and heal. She interviewed renowned spiritual teachers, scientists, activists and artists, all chosen with the help of her spiritual teacher. Each encounter helped her overcome obstacles on her path.
 The book gives readers a direct encounter with teachers of love in the world today. From diverse faiths and fields of work, they reveal the power of love to be the next frontier of global consciousness, suggesting many ways to uncover it and live it.
 The book includes photographs and unique contributions from: Dr. David R. and Susan Hawkins - H. H. the 17th Karmapa - Father Pavlos of Sinai - Llewellyn and Anat Vaughan-Lee - Mona Polacca and The International Council of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers - Betty J. Eadie - Belvie Rooks &amp; Dedan Gills - Dr. William and Jean Tiller - Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo - Huston Smith - Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity - Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev - Dr. Viktor Frankl (with grandson Alexander Vesely and Frankl family representative Mary Cimiluca) - Swami Chidatmananda.
 Fran Grace's personal narrative is pulsed by her encounters with the pioneering teachers of love listed above, each of whom has a chapter that includes a brief biography, excerpts from their dialogue with the author, and her sense of how the encounter helped her to overcome the many obstacles to love.
 The book takes readers on a journey into Buddhist and Hindu monasteries in India, an Indigenous Grandmothers' fire circle in the Black Hills, Mother Teresa's Homes for the Poor in Rome, Calcutta, and Tijuana, laboratory of a Stanford physicist, home of a Sufi sheikh, largest meditation hall in N. America, and a college classroom in California. She interviews those familiar with the stark Sinai desert, slave dungeons in Ghana, and near-death experiences. In the end, love is found to animate every moment of ordinary life.
 Inspiring story of personal transformation. Compelling account of how the world is transformed through everyday acts of kindness. A rich resource of teachings on love, healing and compassion from a wide range of spiritual traditions, with a rare inside view of some of the world's most respected teachers. Includes index, biographical profiles, bibliography, endnotes.

The Power of Love: A Transformed Heart Changes the World

SADHGURU

MOTHER TERESA

Fran Grace

David R. Hawkins

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

Viktor Frankl

Belvie Rooks

Dedan Gills

Swami Chidatmananda

Mona Polacca

The Karmapa

Tenzin Palmo

Betty J. Eadie

William A. Tiller

Father Pavlos

Inner Pathway Publishing

Said to help occasion direct spiritual experience, entheogens include such psychoactives as ayahausca, the peyote used by the Native American Church, and psilocybin mushrooms. What place might psychoactive sacramentals have in contemporary spiritual practices? Can the careful use of entheogens aid in spiritual development? What cautions ought to be considered? 25 new essays from leaders in religion, mental health, and allied fields address these questions.

Psychoactive Sacramentals: Essays on Entheogens and Religion (The CSP Entheogen Project Series, 3)

Charles T. Tart

STANISLAV GROF

Alexander T. Shulgin

Mike Young

Roger N. Walsh

Frances Vaughan

Albert Hofmann

Council on Spiritual Practices

The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions

Suhail Academy Lahore

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Books by Huston Smith