I am an atheist taking an Exploring World Religions class. I expected the course to be about the religions and what the dogmas and beliefs of specific religions would be, and it is to some extent. However instead of making the beliefs of the religions top priority I find the teacher ( he’s roman catholic) to focus more on the spiritual and mystical aspects. For example when we talk about Hinduism we focus very little on the gods such as Krishna, Brahman, Vishnu, etc and more on meditation and how meditation makes them feel.
I believe the reason for this is that the teacher has revered Huston Smith to such a high status and uses his books as textbooks for the class (they aren’t textbooks) which focus more on the feelings of the religious as well. How do you feel about Huston Smith and the way he presents his content in his books? What do you think of him?
Posted: February 23rd 2010
logicel
I, too, am unfamiliar with Huston Smith. However, I would like to respond to the following:
For example when we talk about Hinduism we focus very little on the gods such as Krishna, Brahman, Vishnu, etc and more on meditation and how meditation makes them feel.
This approach is very common and has been around for a while—it is the approach of many of the so-called sophisticated theologians like Karen Armstrong and the American mythologist Joseph Campbell (of Follow your bliss fame).
This approach emphasizes the perceived positive value of the subjective experience of believing in the supernatural over what is true and evidential. What is somewhat new, is that evolutionary/cognitive psychology is shedding light on why we are so ready, able, and willing to suspend rationality in order to be transported into a world that becomes as important (and in many cases actually more important) as the real one. If you are interested in following this angle, Andy Thomson, Pascal Boyer, and Elisabeth Cornwell are some experts in this field, while Sam Harris is interested in how mediation can be used to help people to improve how they relate to themselves and each other without embracing the supernatural.
En bref, just because a belief system feels good, does not mean it is true. And for many, truth is way more important than getting a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling.
Posted: February 26th 2010
brian thomson www
I can honestly say I’d never heard of the guy before your question, and only know what I’ve now read on Wikipedia. He sounds like he might be Pete Townshend’s inspiration for The Who song The Seeker, about someone who’s searching for “the answer” and tries everything along the way, down to dropping acid with Timothy Leary. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that as such, but since I don’t “do” mysticism, I have to say I have no interest in reading anything of his or following his activities.
Posted: February 26th 2010