The late Huston Smith was emeritus professor of philosophy at Syracuse University. He has also taught at M.I.T. and at U.C. Berkeley. He is author of The World's Religions, The Primordial Tradition and Beyond the Post-Modern Mind.

In Part 1 of this program Huston Smith describes his journey from his childhood in China to the American mid-west and his discovery of Western scientific philosophy and his deep explorations of the Eastern mystical traditions as a student of Vedanta, the Hindu philosophical tradition. He describes the notion of the deity as conceived across various religious traditions.

In Part 2 he describes his journeys to India and the Far East, his visits to various ashrams and places of worship, the people of India and teachers he encountered.