I’ve heard from many sources that the book to read for an impartial look into the major religions and their teachings is The World’s Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions by Huston Smith.

The first section of Smith’s book outlines what we can expect the book to be, and what we can expect it not to be. Before we even get to this chapter, however, we can anticipate much of this book just from its subtitle: Our Great Wisdom Traditions. Smith clearly believes first, that religions are great; second, that they impart wisdom; and third, that they are traditions and, being great traditions, will be highly valued. We can see that one of Smith’s value assumptions is that tradition is important, a view that often diminishes the importance of individuality.

To his credit, Smith acknowledges this in Chapter 1. He states that his aim is to “embrace the world,” “take religion seriously,” and is “an effort to communicate.” He states that religions are an attempt to address the divine, that each does so in its own voice, and the purpose of the book is to listen to each of these voices. Further, “the empowering theology and metaphysical truths of the world’s religions are … inspired.” (p. 5)

He further acknowledges that the book ignores the negative aspects of any religion, that the book is not a balanced account of its subject because it is a book about values. He tries to defend this with an analogy. “Probably as much bad music as good has been composed in the course of human history, but we do not expect courses in music appreciation to give it equal attention.” (p. 4) Very weak analogy, as bad music didn’t start the Inquisition, create the caste system in India, or convince people to become suicide bombers. Besides, many music appreciation courses will at least address bad music, because knowing why something is bad can help you in determining what is good. Smith’s rosy look at the religions he discusses might benefit from a more critical eye.

The other assumption the reader has to consider, one that Smith does not acknowledge, is the author’s obvious Christian leanings. On the first page of Chapter 1, he states that he “attended” a Christian service, yet “observed” a service of a non-Christian religion. This subtle difference speaks volumes. In one he was a participant, while in the other he was clearly an observer. There is more evidence of this bias in the next chapter, Hinduism.

Hinduism

Smith states that if Hinduism could be summed up in one phrase or affirmation, it would be “You can have what you want.” The tricky part is discovering what exactly it is that you want. Hinduism believes there are four basic desires that appear in sequence, usually across many human lives of the same soul, or jiva.

The first desire is pleasure, the hedonistic pursuit of nothing but personal pleasure. Of this, we soon tire, and move on to the second desire, worldly success. In this stage we want wealth, fame, and power. Soon, we realize this too is fleeting, and we move on to duty. Duty to family, duty to community, we can define our lives by our service to those around us.

At this stage, many people stop, thinking that this may be what is important. But, eventually every jiva tires of this and asks, “Is this all there is?” This, according to Smith, is the birth of religion. It also moves us to the fourth desire, liberation. In this, we desire infinite being, infinite knowledge, and infinite bliss. We already have these things within us, but they are buried beneath layers of nearly eternal distraction that were created by the first three desires. Hinduism is peeling away these layers and reaching the infinite within us, called Brahman (also called the God-head, or just plain God, by Smith).

If this is the great wisdom tradition that has come out of a culture that has been contemplating human existence for thousands of years, frankly, I am a little disappointed. These 4 desires could simply be translated as the four stages of a human’s life. The first stage is childhood, where we don’t think beyond our immediate needs and do everything possible to fulfill them. The worldly success stage is young adulthood, where we try to forge our way in the world, make a name and career for ourselves. The third stage is when we have established ourselves and now begin to settle down and make a family, and contribute some of our wealth back to the community. The final stage is when we no longer care so much about the worldly material possessions, and start to contemplate our inevitable death. This is when we start looking for infinite being (freedom from death), infinite knowledge (an answer to all of the philosophical questions that we have been unable to answer during our lives), and infinite bliss (an escape from the pain, frustration, and boredom that is much of life).

Not surprising then, that this is where Smith claims the “Birth of Religion” occurs. Of course this is where it occurs, because religion promises all of these things, if you only think as its proponents think. Religion claims to have the answers to all of the questions that terrify us as we approach our inevitable mortality. This is the time people look for non-rational explanations, because the thought of their life just blinking out is often too overwhelming for them .

One redeeming aspect of Hinduism is the belief that there are “many paths up the mountain.” Further, “those who circle the mountain, trying to bring others around to their paths, are not climbing.” (p. 73) Unfortunately, this kind of tolerance is quickly overshadowed when one takes a look at the caste system.

Smith does not go into great detail about how it works, but basically defines the 4 major castes (Brahmin, managers, artisans, and workers) and offers a sort of defense of it. When told that maybe people might have ambitions greater than what their caste allows, a defender states, “What you would like is not the point. The question is what people actually are.” (p. 56) Meaning, of course, that most people would rather be told what to do than have to think for themselves. The fact that castes are considered to be self-governing would seem to belie that statement. Who acts as the administrator of the Worker caste? If they are all drones and none of them are able to be burdened with management and administration, how could they possibly rule themselves? Wouldn’t it be sheer anarchy? Every time I think about the caste system it makes my blood boil. Smith is far too tolerant of caste, especially after having stated that he would not discuss the bad about religions. This implicitly means that he thinks the caste system is good, or at least of value.

I have real questions about Smith. Throughout the chapter, he makes Christian references to saints and the bible, consistently equates Brahman with capital G God, and states that the many gods present in Hinduism are merely incarnations of the same single God. Whether this is because it is true, or because this is the way Smith interprets it is hard to say. For all I know, he could be thinking that all religions are just various aspects of Christianity, and therefore he relates everything back to his Christian frame of reference.

I have taken a break from the book for a while, as I will need the time to digest each section on each religion. At this point, I don’t think Smith can be considered the last word on any of these religions. I’m not even sure he should be considered the first word.