HUSTON SMITH AND VEDANTA

Born May 31, 1919, Huston Cummings Smith is a religious studies scholar. His book The World's Religions (originally titled The Religions of Man) has sold over two million copies and remains a popular introduction to comparative religion.

Influenced by the writings of Gerald Heard and Aldous Huxley, Smith, while a young man, turned from traditional Methodist Christianity to mysticism.  In 1947, before moving from Denver to St. Louis, he set about meeting with then-famous author Gerald Heard.  Heard responded to Smith's letter, inviting him to his Trabuco College, which Heard later donated to the Vedanta Society of Southern California. 

Heard arranged for Smith to meet the legendary author Aldous Huxley.  Heard and Huxley, both initiates of Vedanta, then recommended that Smith, once he settled in St. Louis, look up Swami Satprakashananda.  Swami Satprakashananda was the founder and head of the Vedanta Society there. So began Smith's experimentation with meditation and the philosophy of Vedanta.

Smith practiced Vedanta, Zen Buddhism, and Sufi Islam for more than ten years each.