Customer Reviews

The Dermis Probe

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Those not already familiar with the works of Idries Shah have a real treat in store, a treat that includes an entirely new way to understand the sources and uses of stories. This collection is certainly entertaining--by turns hilarious and thought provoking. In addition, it provides readers with the chance to determine for themselves if carefully crafted material like this can also develop new capacities for non-linear thinking. Enjoy!

The Dermis Probe offers its readers a chance to look at the way they look at things. In so doing, restrictions that hamper thought and vision become readily apparent, and an opportunity to use the mind in a way that bypasses these restrictions becomes available. So The Dermis Probe is more than just another book one dips into to derive entertainment and enjoyment. Although the stories, extracts and commentaries are certainly enjoyable and interesting, they carry within them a kind of 'magic' that works on the mind to expose itself to itself so that it can work better and more efficiently. The Dermis Probe therefore recommends itself to any reader who wishes to explore the terrain of himself or herself to arrive at a greater understanding.

There used to be a person I knew who recommended Idries Shah for me. This was several years ago. I wasn't terribly enthusiastic, but I picked up a copy second-hand and it's been sitting there since then on my shelves, looking at me. Our trip to Switzerland this summer seemed like the perfect time to finally get to the book, so I brought it along.

First, it begins with an extremely annoying retelling of the Blind Men and the Elephant anecdote, which is presumably retold this way both to give this book a modern feel and to get the reader to Look At the Story Differently. It is really a shame that it starts there because it sets a tone for the rest of the book that was fairly hard for me to get past as a reader.

And, actually, the rest of the book is quite a bit better. Quite a bit more-- helpful, moving, even at least a little bit inspirational? I found a lot to dig out of the stories, quotations and parables and it really did make me reconsider parts of my life that I hadn't been in the process of actively questioning.

So how did I feel about it when it was finally done? How do I feel about it now? I'm honestly not sure. Like I said, I certainly got something out of it. But on the other hand there was something about it that felt a little too easy-- perhaps even a little bit slick. I nearly feel uneasy about liking it, if that makes any sense. It didn't leave me with as good of a taste as parts of the reading experience might have indicated.

I'll probably pick up another book by Shah if I get a chance. Has anyone out there read his work who has some perspective to offer? Am I just a limited thinker? Or is the evidence of my limited thinking in the parts of the book that I actually liked?

One recommendation-- read the notes along with the stories. It helps.

One of the many gems in this book is "The Legend of The Cattleman". The cattle expert arrived in a country where the local specialists in cows and oxens reported "such animals become sick and die very frequently, in spite of all our science". He asked them how did they feed and treat the animals. In the end he had to feed the cattle what the local people considered right but secretly he also fed the cattle what they really needed. Could some of these old stories anticipate contemporary science?

The Dermis Probe is a study of impediments that block high forms of understanding between people. The space-age sounding title was suggested over 800 years ago by "The Tale of Three Blind Men" who tried to describe an elephant by touching different parts of him. The tale was immortalized in Rumi's "Mathnawi". Here then are more than a hundred tales or ponderables (most as short as one page), each with a reference to Hadith (saying of the Prophet Muhammad), or Muslim sage, or oft-quoted proverb.

Teachers/Librarians: wonderful resource for 5th to adult - Social Studies/Language Arts, where Islamic civilization is covered. . . or just when some fun is required! Will delight and challenge our upper elementary and middle school students in ways they may not be access Qur'anic text, or Rumi poetry, or the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.

If you know how people think, including yourself, read this book. You will rethink your thinking! Shah has an amazing way of helping you understand things more fully, mixing teaching stories, relatively current news, and other examples that demonstrate the information. Beware... you may realize that many of us are not done growing.

Pachy-DERM PROB-oscis is, of course, an elephant! But, when you take the scientific name apart and make it the title, THE DERMIS PROBE, of a story about an elephant, it's meaning becomes veiled. Since I have given you the solution to this one mystery out of many in this volume, I have ruined it for your own self discovery. Not to worry. There are plenty of other puzzles that can tease your mind into greater self-understanding. The elephant is US!