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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
5) Reflections
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Small in size, but with a powerful punch, Idries Shah's Reflections is a collection of fables, aphorisms, and statements that challenge the conditioned mind. The book confronts the reader with unaccustomed perspectives and ideas, in an attempt to set the mind free, to see how things really are. As the book's foreword states, 'Do you imagine that fables exist only to amuse or to instruct, and are based upon fiction? The best ones are delineations of...
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In a darkened room a group of men once sought to examine an elephant.Taking hold of a different part – an ear, a leg, the tail – each one mistook his particular part for the whole. In the darkness, each of the men became convinced that the elephant was the object he himself had felt – a fan, a rope, a pillar – and so on. With this ancient fable, first described by the Sufi Master Jalaluddin Rumi, Idries Shah presents the Sufi perspective that...
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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...
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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...
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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...
10) World Tales
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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.
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Español
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Pensadores de Oriente es una colección de anécdotas y "parábolas en acción" que ilustran el acercamiento lúcido y eminentemente práctico de los maestros derviches orientales.
Este material, el cual es una destilación de las enseñanzas de más cien sabios provenientes de tres continentes, hace hincapié en lo experiencial por sobre lo teórico; y es justamente tal característica particular del estudio Sufi la que provee su impacto y vitalidad...
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El camino del Sufi presenta una incomparable variedad de materiales enseñantes y escritos clásicos provenientes de las principales Órdenes Sufis, los cuales conforman un curso básico de estudio Sufi.
El autor comienza con los aspectos externos de la enseñanza que probablemente resulten desconcertantes para el estudiante que recién se adentra en el tema.
Entre otras cuestiones, Idries Shah considera las diversas actitudes históricas y del...
17) Reflexiones
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PequeÃo pero impactante, Reflexiones de Idries Shah es una colecciÃn de fábulas, aforismos y afirmaciones que desafìan a la mente condicionada.
El libro confronta al lector con perspectivas e ideas inusuales, en un intento de liberar la mente para ver las cosas como realmente son.
El prefacio dice: "¿Imaginas que las fábulas existen solamente para divertir o instruir, y que están basadas en ficciones? Las mejores son trazos de lo...
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Un grupo de hombres intenta examinar un elefante en una habitacià³n oscura.
Agarrando diferentes partes – una oreja, una pierna, la cola – cada uno de ellos confunde la parte que està¡ tocando con la totalidad... y se convence de que el elefante es un abanico o una cuerda o un pilar, etcà©tera.
Con esta fà¡bula del gigante Sufi Jalaluddin Rumi, la cual tiene mà¡s de setecientos aà±os de antigà¼edad, Idries Shah presenta el punto...
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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...
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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.
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