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36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a book that exists to 'do' something, 25 Jun 2004
This is not a book that primarily exists to impart information, although it is full of fascinating, unexpected and useful information. It is a book that exists to 'do' something. Yet it is not easy to describe what this action is - one might say that it begins to restructure our perceptions, or that it enables us to recognize a 'taste' or a 'scent' of something, or that through its technique of 'scatter' it feeds us with pieces that slowly begin to form into some kind of whole. None of this makes much sense unless one has experienced it - and if one has experienced it there is little need to describe it. Nor is this experience automatic: one has to allow the book time to work on one - a process that may take years and decades rather than days and weeks.If you find this description off-putting, it is most likely that you won't like the book either. That's fine - Shah wasn't in the business of convincing anyone, and 'The Sufis' works for those for whom it works. If that sounds high-handed, it is because we in the West are not used to thinking about books as instruments - as tools that require patience and respect and the acquisition of a certain amount of skill to get any benefit from. Instead we expect authors to make a sales pitch for their ideas, and we reserve the right to make consumer judgments as to whether to buy their product or a rival brand. But if you are prepared to put in the time, the effort, and a measure of goodwill you will undoubtedly find this book rewarding - and in many different ways, too. If I had to choose a single book to take to a desert island, it would be this one. For the last twenty five years it has proved an admirable companion and guide and it still astonishes me with its ability to be waiting ahead of each new experience. Its beauty and subtlety and insight reveal themselves little by little, in the same way that life itself does. When it was first published in 1964, 'The Sufis' served as a call to those who were seeking a real path of spiritual development. Shah's caravan set off many years ago, and it is now nearly two decades since he announced that his work had been completed. If you are among those who are wondering where to pick up the trail, you might like to take a look at Juan Sgolastra's 'The Way' or Marco Santello's 'Between Heaven and Earth' (both listed here on amazon) for indications of a new phase of teaching.
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by Idries Shah
by Idries Shah
by Idries Shah
by Idries Shah
by Robert Frager
