Huston Smith is widely considered today's pre-eminent scholar of world religions. He is the author of many books including The World's Religions and Why Religion Matters. In his most recent work, The Way Things Are, Smith converses at length with journalists and religious thinkers about his vast experience in his field of life-long study. Smith has influenced multiple generations of readers, scholars and students. He has been profiled by Bill Moyers and appears frequently on TV and radio. Meet Houston Smith at East Weet Bookshop in Mountain View, February 13.

Susanne Spitzer: You have stated that one must "find some tradition and steep one's soul in it," yet your morning routine contains practices from three different traditions: a prayer to Allah, Hatha yoga exercises and a reading from the Bible.

Houston Smith: The tension between religious exclusivism and pluralism is among the leading unresolved issues shaping the 21st century. We're in an age of multi-culturalism and that forces this issue to the forefront.

What I have found, not only personally, but also in my research in religion, is that it is good to have solid ground on which to stand. I think there are detriments in spreading oneself too thin. I have quoted what an Indian teacher said to me, "If you are looking for water, it's better to drill one 60-foot deep well rather than ten six-foot wells."

On the other side, I have found great value in opening myself to the wisdom of other traditions. Christianity from the start has been my main meal, but I'm a very strong believer in vitamin supplements. The vitamins I have received from other religions are incalculable.

SS: You said that different temperaments reflect an individual's quest, and that it's a matter of living one's type to the fullest.

HS: One of the "vitamin supplements" I've received is the Hindu doctrine of the four yogas. The way to God is first through knowledge, second through love, third through good works, and fourth through meditation. I married into this difference because I am very clearly in the first yoga, whereas Kendra, my wife, is a virtuoso in the fourth yoga. She teaches meditation. It would just be futile for us to try to convert the other into one's own type. It's like playing a hand in cards. You lead with your strong suit.

SS: Your perspective can be quite inspirational. You have stated, "Do not underestimate the possibilities and resources in this life that each one of us has been privileged to be given," and that we are in "good hands and that in gratitude for this we should bear one another's burdens." How has your life shaped this understanding in you?

HS: It really begins with my heritage, my upbringing. In my case, it happened to be in having missionary parents in China. It was a very good experience. We were the only Westerners in a small rural town. I was fortunate. I was empowered by my heritage.

I wouldn't say it has shaped this understanding, but it has furthered the trajectory that it was already on because of my heritage. My practices are three-fold as you said earlier, and I do that in order to keep pushing ahead on the same trajectory.

SS: When it comes to science and religion you say that we need not be without either, but that we must understand the value of science and see where it is bounded. If I understand you correctly, you feel we must use science like a hammer, but not think it is the only tool in the box.

HS: That metaphor is good, and it captures the point. The most important single point we need to know is that science is wonderful with quantities but has a tin ear to qualities. Three hundred years of modern science hasn't been able to tell us anything about qualitative issues, which, of course, is where lives are lived.

Science is brilliant at accessing what one might call the horizontal part of life; where "horizontal" means how to deal with the physical world, but the vertical arm always, in every culture, symbolizes values, meaning, purpose, and the like. Science cannot help us one bit on the vertical.

Plato's allegory of the cave is superb. Science is wonderful in helping us understand and measure the shadows on the wall of the cave, but it has no power to release the prisoner. Science can't spin the prisoner around so that he can see the light at the end of the cave and then go out into a 3-dimensional Technicolor world with the sun shedding its light on everything.

SS: You say, "It is not religion, but atrocities unavenged that are a source of conflict."

HS: Just look at the two most inflamed parts of the world — Iraq and Israel. Why are they doing these acts of violence? At the start we like to characterize the war in Iraq as a religious war. If it were essentially that, it would mean the Muslims with the Christians. The Muslims don't give a hoot about what we believe. They're doing these things because of what we did to them. That's the atrocities unavenged. Also, they feel that they're letting down those who perished in those atrocities if they don't get back at the people who did them. It's the same dynamic at work in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

SS: I loved it when you said, "The goal is not in altered states but altered traits."

HS: I make this statement in relation to what used to be called psychedelics. The point is not peak experiences, but a noble, fulfilling, and fulfilled life. As Alan Watts said about the substances, "When you get the message, hang up." That's so wise. That is what I did, because these substances can give you a glimpse, but they cannot carry your life there, and if you keep taking them, they become like a revolving door. You lean on it and you just go round and round.

SS: How may we best keep our wits about us in these challenging times?

HS: Is that ever a heavy one! Kendra was just reading to me today's harvest of atrocities from the morning paper. There is no formula for how to do this, except to keep informed and talk with others, because constructive dialogue can advance our thoughts. Those who really study conflict resolution, say the first step is always to acknowledge your own part in the action because it takes two to tango.