Catalog Search Results
Author
Description
The Way of the Sufi presents an unparalleled cross-section of material from Sufi schools, teachings and classical writings, as a basic course of Sufi study. The author begins with the outward aspects of the teaching most likely to puzzle the student coming fresh to the subject. He considers various attitudes to Sufi ideas, and evidence of their absorption into medieval Christianity, Hinduism, Jewish mysticism and modern philosophical teachings. The...
Author
Description
Oriental Magic is recognized as a brilliant study of how, what and why people think, in territories extending from North Africa to Japan. Profusely illustrated, the book is the product of years of research and field-work in a dozen different cultural regions. Its scholarly accuracy and genuine contribution to cultural understanding have made it a key text for anyone interested in informal beliefs, and esoteric practices. The work includes material...
Author
Description
Caravan of Dreams distills the essence of Eastern thought in a feast of Sufi stories, sayings, poems and allegories, collected by one of the world's leading experts in Oriental philosophy and Sufism. Idries Shah builds up a complete picture of a single consciousness, relating Eastern mythology to reality, illuminating historical patterns, and presenting philosophical legends in this unique anthology. Its title is inspired from the couplet written...
Author
Description
A serious, yet entertaining, look at the impediments in current thought which prevent certain forms of understanding between people. The title story was made into an award-winning film with script by Idries Shah, and chosen as an Outstanding Film of the Year.
The Dermis Probe comprises a collection of extracts from the written and oral tradition of Eastern thinkers.
In his preface, Shah notes, 'In this book you can find illustrated some of the peculiarities...
Author
Formats
Description
In his writing about Sufism, Idries Shah did some revolutionary things.
Critically, and almost alone, he said that it was possible to divorce the essence of Sufi philosophy from what he insisted were secondary accretions of Islamic culture and religion. Moreover, he said, in making this material available to the West, you could not only do this, you must do it. This is because, he believed, you can only absorb materials that are designed for your...
Author
Description
Mulla Nasrudin, the wise fool of Eastern folklore, holds a special place in Sufi studies. The Sufis, who believe that deep intuition is the only real guide to knowledge, use the humorous stories of Nasrudin's adventures almost like exercises in Eastern thought. The Sufis ask people to choose a few which especially appeal to them, and turn them over in their mind, making them their own. Sufi teaching masters say that in this way a breakthrough into...
7) World Tales
Author
Description
How can it be that the same story is found in Scotland and also in Pre-Columbian America? What can account for the durability and persistence of tales? Was the tale of Aladdin and his wondrous lamp really taken from Wales (where it has been found) to the ancient East and, if so, when and by whom?
These questions and more are answered in Idries Shah's remarkable volume World Tales, which is subtitled, 'The extraordinary coincidence of stories told...
Author
Description
Sufi Thought and Action.
Previously published only as separate essays, Sufi Thought and Action – assembled and introduced by Idries Shah – covers an extraordinary diversity of Sufi ideas and activities in many countries and cultures.
Included in the volume are papers on Sufi Principles and Learning Methods; Ritual, Initiation and Secrets in Sufi Circles; and Key Concepts in Sufi Understanding.
The volume stands as a clear and simple handbook...
Author
Description
A Perfumed Scorpion.
The 'perfuming of a scorpion', referred to by the great Sufi teacher Bahaudin, symbolizes hypocrisy and self-deception: both in the individual and in institutions.
In A Perfumed Scorpion, Idries Shah directs attention to both the perfume and the scorpion – the overlay and the reality – in psychology, human behavior and the learning process.
Crammed with illustrative anecdotes from contemporary life, the book is nevertheless...
Author
Description
Many of Idries Shah's books are comprised of tales and teaching stories taken from both written and oral sources, which illustrate the instructional methods employed by Eastern wise men for thousands of years. The Magic Monastery differs from its predecessors in that it contains not only traditional tales, mostly unpublished – but also stories specially written by Shah to complete the book as a 'course in non-linear thinking'. As with all of his...
Author
Description
In Idries Shah's Wisdom of the Idiots, the 'idiots' are Sufis, called this because their wisdom penetrates to a depth which renders it inaccessible to the merely intelligent or academically-knowledgeable. The exercise-stories of the Sufis are tools prepared for a specific purpose. On this level the movements of the characters in a story portray psychological processes, and the story becomes a working blueprint of those processes. Wisdom of the Idiots...
Author
Description
The appeal of Nasrudin is as universal and timeless as the truths he illustrates. His stories are read by children, by scientists and scholars, and by followers of philosophy. Idries Shah assembled this collection of Nasrudin's trials and tribulations from ancient manuscripts and oral literature, from sources in North Africa and Turkey, the Middle East and Central Asia. Many were known to the great Sufi masters, Rumi, Jami, and Attar the chemist.
Author
Description
Utilizado durante más de setecientos años como cuento-enseñante, El libro del libro es uno de los textos más asombrosos y fascinantes que jamás hayan emergido de Oriente. Su premisa central es la simple frase: "Cuando te des cuenta de la diferencia entre el contenedor y el contenido, tendrás conocimiento".
Cuando el libro apareció por primera vez en ingls hace treinta y cinco años, sus editores cuestionaron cómo eso podía ser un libro,...
Author
Description
Traditionally known as The Hundred Tales of Wisdom, this collection comprises excerpts from the life, teachings and miracles of the Sufi teacher Jalaluddin Rumi, together with certain important stories from his works.
As well as being part of the bedrock of classical Persian literature, these tales, anecdotes and narratives are believed, by Sufis, to aid in the development of insights beyond ordinary perceptions. Here, they are translated and presented...
Author
Description
Special Illumination is a term used by the great poet and mystic Jalaluddin Rumi to stress the importance of humor in metaphysical experience.
Of it, Idries Shah says, Rumi directly contradicts such numerous sour-faced religionists as, in all persuasions, find that humor disturbs the indoctrination which is all that they usually have to offer.
Author
Description
Many countries claim Nasrudin as a native, although few have gone so far as Turkey in exhibiting a 'grave' of the wisest fool who ever lived, and holding an annual Nasrudin Festival. He is the greatest, most intriguing, character of folklore found in any Eastern land. Versions of his back-to-front thinking can be found in Morocco, Egypt and Russia, in Turkey, Greece, Albania and Afghanistan. Since Idries Shah made Nasrudin's genius available to mainstream...
Author
Description
First published in 1957, The Secret Lore of Magic contains within it a series of major source-books of magical arts. Many of them translated into English for the first time, these works are annotated and fully illustrated. The book's title in itself signalled the fact that the bulk of material in this bibliographical study had never been published openly before. Together with Oriental Magic which appeared in the preceding year, it provided a complete...
Author
Description
A 'Veiled Gazelle', as the great mystic Ibn Arabi explains in his Interpreter of Desires, is a subtlety, an organ of higher perception. Sufi experientialists refer to the activation of these centres of awareness as the awakening of real knowledge of Truth beyond form.
A Veiled Gazelle considers the symbolic and instrumental employment of its literature in Sufi studies. Seldom didactic, and never meant only as entertainment, such works are regarded...
Author
Description
Anteriormente publicados solo como ensayos separados, Pensamiento y acción Sufi - recopilado y prologado por Idries Shah - cubre una extraordinaria diversidad de ideas y actividades Sufis en muchos países y culturas.
En el volumen se incluyen documentos sobre principios y métodos de aprendizaje Sufis; ritual, iniciación y secretos en círculos Sufis; y conceptos clave en la comprensión Sufi.
El libro se presenta como un manual claro y simple...
Author
Description
A treasure house of teaching materials, assembled in the Sufi manner.
Seeker after Truth contains both traditional tales and stories gleaned from contemporary sources, and snippets of table talk, discussions and teachings, letters and lectures by Idries Shah.
Taken together, it constitutes a handbook of materials designed to provoke a different kind of thought.
Didn't find it?
Can't find what you are looking for? Let us know! Suggest a Title