Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Wisdom of the Idiots by Idries Shah ISBN: 0-86304-046-2 Publisher: Octagon Press, Limited Pub. Date: 01 June, 1991 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.43 (7 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Don't expect your food to be masticated for you
Comment: Sufi stories have, for centuries, been recognized as techniques in applied/narrative psychology. Their design, as I understand, is to subtly de-amplify the "noise" that is introduced by egoic distortions in order for us to "liberate" our pure, inner dynamism. IMO, the notion is for the introspecting seeker to tone up (or down) the amplitude so that there is harmonization with Truth. A caveat, however, is that one cannot perform this feat by oneself. A guide is necessary for there to be any "sweet fruit" to "taste".
Through "Wisdom of the Idiots", and other similar titles, Shah delivers these ancient stories (techniques) into the English language for a modern readership. There is alot of spiritual territory to explore here, and it behooves us, at least to try, finding proper guidance so that our "adventure of Being" doesn't become darkly-complexioned as a "waste of time."
Rating: 2
Summary: Puzzling Stories
Comment: Idries Shah has a wonderfully entertaining way of offering puzzles which he never clears up. He writes things like "the right time, place and people equal success" or "the perfect master can only accept the perfect student" or "he who tastes, knows" or "you must learn how to learn how to learn." Such statements beg the question of what is right or perfect, or what "taste" or "learn" mean in the specific contexts mentioned. Instead of elucidating such points in any detail, however, Shah apparently assumes his audience either should already know what he means or should be willing to puzzle it out from the clues given. Too often this takes a great deal of work and sympathy with the author's intentions. Yet the result of such dedication may still be continued confusion, as it was in my case.
Rating: 5
Summary: Such Idiots!
Comment: Sufis have been called idiots because their knowledge can appear idiotic to peole who are limited to appearances. To learn from this "idiocy" one must go deeper into matters. Wisdom of the Idiots seems to me a course on how to be a successful student. It is also an introduction to Sufi experience. Shah has crafted his book from teaching stories, essays, explanations and quips of Sufi teachers of the last 1,000 years. He works with and through this material producing a Sufi document usable and useful to people of our times and culture.
The material is non-dogmatic and non-moralistic, by turns gentle and gritty. It is thought provoking and funny. I recommend Wisdom of the Idiots if you are a student, formal or otherwise, or if you are considering becoming one.
Excerpts:
Fidelity
Najmaini ('The Man of the Two Stars') dismissed a student with the words: 'Your fidelity has been tested. I find it so unshakeable that you must go.'
The student said: 'Go I shall, but I cannot understand how fidelity can be a ground for dimissal.'
Najmaini said: 'For three years we have tested your fidelity. Your fidelity to useless knowledge and superficial judgments is complete. That is why you must go.'
Fantiasies
O man! If you only knew how many of the false fantasies of the imagination were nearer to the Truth than the careful conclusions of the cautious. And how these truths are of no service until the imaginer, having done his work with the imagination, has become less imaginative. Shab-Parak
Scraps
The scraps from the meal of the Emir are larger than the gifts of halwa from the merchant. Timur Razil
 |
Title: Tales of the Dervishes: Teaching-Stories of the Sufi Masters over the Past Thousand Years by Idries Shah ISBN: 0140193588 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1993 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin by Idries Shah ISBN: 014019357X Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1993 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin / The Subtleties of the Inimitable Mulla Nasrudin by Idries Shah ISBN: 0863040403 Publisher: Octagon Press, Limited Pub. Date: 01 June, 1989 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
 |
Title: Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way (Arkana S.) by Idries Shah ISBN: 0140195130 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: The Sufis by I. Shah ISBN: 0385079664 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 05 February, 1971 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
