...primal people see the objects of this world not (or not only) as solid but as open windows to their divine source. Huston Smith More Quotes by Huston Smith More Quotes From Huston Smith Not only is the destiny of the individual bound up with the entire Church; it is responsible for helping to sanctify the entire world of nature and history. Huston Smith destiny church world ...like a magnetic compass turning north, I always tried to head in the direction of the better, which is the direction to God. ...the directions that appeared to lead away from Christianity led me deeper into it. Huston Smith compass christianity god Religion teaches us that our lives here on earth are to be used for transformation. Huston Smith transformation earth religion The notion that Western religions are more rigid than those of Asia is overdrawn. Ours is the most permissive society history has ever known - almost the only thing that is forbidden now is to forbid - and Asian teachers and their progeny play up to this propensity by soft-pedaling Hinduism's, Buddhism's, Sufism's rules. Huston Smith forbidden western teacher Most of the book deals with things we already know yet never learn. Huston Smith deals knows book In order to live man must believe in that for which he lives. Huston Smith men order believe The faith I was born into formed me. Huston Smith born Exclusively oral cultures are unencumbered by dead knowledge, dead facts. Libraries, on the other hand, are full of them. Huston Smith library culture hands Reserved as he [Confucius] was about the supernatural, he was not without it; somewhere in the universe there was a power that was on the side of right. Huston Smith reserved universe sides The Sufis say there are three ways to know fire - by hearing it described, by seeing it, or by being burned. Huston Smith three fire way It has been estimated that one third of our Western civilization bears the mark of its Jewish ancestry. Huston Smith ancestry bears civilization ...the only thing that continues is the consequences of our action. Huston Smith consequences-of-our-actions our-actions action The first koan do not have rational answers. They are techniques devised over the millennia for triggering an actual experience. Huston Smith technique answers firsts With mind distracted, never thinking, "Death is coming," To slave away on the pointless business of mundane life, And then to come out empty--it is a tragic error. (116) trans by Robert Thurman Huston Smith errors mind thinking It would be good if we bore one another's burdens. Huston Smith burden be-good would-be A nation can assume that the addition of the words "under God" to its pledge of allegiance gives evidence that its citizens actually believe in God whereas all it really proves is that they believe in "believing" in God Huston Smith citizens giving believe ...conversation can be as mutually incomprehensible as foreign languages. We need the different and complementary perspectives of the various yogas - and ideally of all religions - not only to reach God but to reach each other. Huston Smith perspective yoga god Swami Ashokananda was a brilliant and accomplished spiritual teacher in the West. Huston Smith west spiritual teacher I simply wanted to experience the presence of this man who had revolutionized my understanding. After a while we sat in silence, gazing at the barren canyon walls. And the mute desert seemed to carry on our conversation for us. Huston Smith wall silence men The word translated, koan, it means a problem. But it's a very special problem. And to strip it down to the way it works, you are given a problem which has no rational solution. There is a contradiction built into it. One standard - one is this is the sound of two hands clapping. What is the sound of one hand clapping? And so on. All right, so the first thing is that it brings your rational mind to an impasse. Huston Smith two mean hands
