''Knowledge and Understanding'' is a 1955 recording of

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxle ...

giving a lecture at the

Vedanta Society of Southern California ''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, t ...

's Hollywood temple. The lecture was originally recorded on a

wire recorder Wire recording or magnetic wire recording was the first magnetic recording technology, an analog type of audio storage in which a magnetic recording is made on a thin steel wire. The first crude magnetic recorder was invented in 1898 by Valde ...

and digitally transferred to CD. Huxley was a student of

Swami Prabhavananda Swami Prabhavananda (December 26, 1893 – July 4, 1976) was an Indian philosopher, monk of the Ramakrishna Order, and religious teacher. He moved to America in 1923 to take up the role of assistant minister in the San Francisco Vedanta Society. ...

, who founded the Society. Along with Christopher Isherwood and other notable disciples of the Swami, Huxley would occasionally give lectures at the society's temples in Hollywood and Santa Barbara. In the lecture, Huxley goes into some depth about the difference between knowledge and understanding and the practical need for both. Included in the CD is a recording of a question and answer session between Huxley and the audience held after the lecture. The lecture was given just a year after the publication of Huxley's book, ''

The Doors of Perception ''The Doors of Perception'' is an autobiographical book written by Aldous Huxley. Published in 1954, it elaborates on his psychedelic experience under the influence of mescaline in May 1953. Huxley recalls the insights he experienced, ranging ...

'', and he discusses the significance of the drug experience. In 1956 an article with the same title based on the lecture was published in ''Vedanta and the West'',

- Huxley's bio the bi-monthly magazine produced by the

. The recording was licensed by mondayMEDIA from

Vedanta Press Vedanta Press is the publishing wing of the Vedanta Society of Southern California, founded in 1930 by Swami Prabhavananda. It publishes a number of important books in Indian philosophy and the Vedanta tradition, both original works and translati ...

and released on the GemsTone label.

References

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External links

Official Website
2000s spoken word albums Spoken word albums by English artists Works by Aldous Huxley Aldous Huxley albums