Orientalism..Edward Said

Quote: As a young man, after suddenly turning to mysticism of his own volition, Smith set out to meet with then-famous author Gerald Heard. Heard responded to Smith's letter, invited him to his Trabuco College (later donated as the Ramakrishna Monastery) in Southern California, and then sent him off to meet the legendary Aldous Huxley. So began Smith's experimentation with meditation and association with the Vedanta Society in Saint Louis under the auspices of Swami Satprakashananda of the Ramakrishna order. Via the connection with Heard and Huxley, Smith eventually experimented with Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert Ram Dass, and others at the Center for Personality Research, of which Leary was Research Professor. The experience and history of the era are captured somewhat in Smith's book Cleansing the Doors of Perception. In this period, Smith joined in on the Harvard Project as well, an attempt to raise spiritual awareness through entheogenic plants. Smith has been a friend of the XIVth Dalai Lama for more than forty years and met and talked to some of the great figures of the century, from Eleanor Roosevelt to Thomas Merton. Smith developed an interest in the Traditionalist School formulated by Rene Guenon and Ananda Coomaraswamy. This interest has become a continuing thread in all his writings. In 1996, Bill Moyers devoted a 5-part PBS special to Smith's life and work, "The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith." Smith has produced three series for public television: "The Religions of Man," "The Search for America," and (with Arthur Compton) "Science and Human Responsibility." His films on Hinduism, Tibetan Buddhism, and Sufism have all won awards at international film festivals. Smith's latest DVD release is The Roots of Fundamentalism - A Conversation with Huston Smith and Phil Cousineau. His most recent book is Tales of Wonder, an autobiographical review of his life and associations.