Neglected Aspects of Sufi Study : Beginning to Begin [Hardcover]

Idries Shah (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1977

Traditionally categorized as a form of mysticism largely centered in the Middle East, Sufism has intrigued Eastern and Western scholars for many centuries. Powerful traces of its ideas have been found in the ideas of such diverse people as Dante, the Troubadours, Shakespeare and Spinoza.

Recently, however, attention has shifted to the literary and psychological heritage of the Sufis. Idries Shah has shown, to the widespread approval of modern scholars, the affinities of Sufi sages with the sociologists, psychologists and anthropologists of today.

Based on lectures at the New School for Social Research, New York, and the University of California, San Francisco "Neglected Aspects of Sufi Study" deals with many of the problems of Sufi methods of study, especially those which militate against its effective progress in the modern world: notably the unrecognized assumptions which we make about ourselves and about learning and its processes.

In this essential book, Shah examines the psychology of his readership - our demand for cults, the consumer society, and prevailing cultural responses, East and West.

This book provides a companion to the twenty volumes of Sufi studies and literature which Shah has extracted from the literature and practice of Sufis over the past one thousand years.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"... contains serious warnings about the dangers of facile cult-formation ... most lucidly written ..." -- Asian Affairs, February 1979

"... showing the reasons why Sufis say what they say and do what they do ... an extraordinarily effective learning tool." -- Psychology Today, June 1979

"...Shah provides the unique perspective that allows us to assess real motivations and social biases in a more accurate light." -- E. Neilsen, Attorney at Law

"...contains serious warnings about the the dangers of facile cult-formation...most lucidly written..." -- Asian Affairs, February 1979

"A major psychological and cultural event of our time." -- Psychology Today

"Extremely useful in teaching students about management and computers." -- Thomas Malone, MIT

"It elaborates points found particularly difficult in our culture because of sets of mind." -- Books and Bookmen

"It presents a blueprint of the human mental structure." -- Robert Ornstein, Ph.D.

"One is immediately forced to use one's mind in a new way." -- New York Times

"The most interesting books in the English language." -- Saturday Review

About the Author

As the urgency of our global situation becomes apparent, more and more readers are turning to the books of Idries Shah (1924-1996) as a way to train new capacities and new ways of thinking. Shah has been described as "the most significant worker adapting classical spiritual thought to the modern world."

Shah was educated in both the East and West, by private tutors and through wide-ranging travel and personal encounters - the series of journeys which characterize Sufi education and development. In keeping with Sufi tradition, his life was essentially one of service. His knowledge and interests appeared limitless, and his activities and accomplishments took place in many different countries and in numerous fields of endeavor.

Shah was Director of Studies of the Institute for Cultural Research, an educational organization sponsoring interdisciplinary and crosscultural studies of human thought; a founding member of the Club of Rome; a Governor of the Royal Humane Society and the Royal Hospital and Home for Incurables; and the founder of publishing house Octagon Press.

Shah's landmark book, "The Sufis", invited readers to approach Sufi ideas and test them out. The evident and common sense made it clear that here was a sane, authoritative voice in the wilderness of the gobbledegookish mysticism of the sixties. The lively, contemporary books on traditional psychologies, literature, philosophy and Sufi thought that followed established a broad historical and cultural context for Sufi thought and action. These have so far sold over 15 million copies in 12 languages worldwide and have been awarded many prizes. They have been reviewed by The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Times, The Tribune, The Telegraph, and numerous other international journals and newspapers.

University and college courses throughout the world are employing Shah's books, or works based on them, in a wide variety of disciplines including sociology, psychology and literature.

In 1969, Idries Shah was awarded the Dictionary of International Biography's Certificate of Merit for Distinguished Service to Human Thought. Other honors included a Two Thousand Men of Achievement award (1971), Six First Prizes awarded by the UNESCO International Book Year (1972), and the International Who's Who in Poetry's Gold Medal for Poetry (1975).

According to his obituary in the London Daily Telegraph "it is impossible to assess his influence, and his legacy is incalculable".

He was, it is said, the Sufi Teacher of the Age.

"The most interesting books in the English language." Saturday Review

"A major psychological and cultural event of our time." Psychology Today

"One is immediately forced to use one's mind in a new way." New York Times

The instrumental function of Shah's work is now well established among people from all walks of life. Stockbrokers, scientists, lawyers, managers, writers, physicians, and diplomats have found Shah's literature for human development "extraordinary".

"It presents a blueprint of the human mental structure." Robert Ornstein, Ph.D.

"Extremely useful in teaching students about management and computers." Thomas Malone, MIT

"Idries Shah provides the unique perspective that allows us to assess real motivations and social biases in a more accurate light." E. Neilsen, Attorney at Law

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 71 pages
• Publisher: Octagon Pr (December 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0900860561
• ISBN-13: 978-0900860560
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 3.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,366,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sufi 101, September 19, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Neglected Aspects of Sufi Study : Beginning to Begin (Hardcover)

This book is absolute required reading, SUFI 101, for anyone seriously interested in learning in the Sufi way. It contains important information on the potential student's requirements for approaching the Sufi enterprise and finding one's way through the groups of phonies and sensation mongers. It is also a strong introduction to the Sufi style of scatter: 71 pages of continuous text with no breaks or separations. The book is so dense with content that it requires a high degree of attention to maintain contact. That attention is definitely rewarded in the reading.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Small in size, but huge in content, March 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Neglected Aspects of Sufi Study : Beginning to Begin (Hardcover)

The title of this unassuming little book is not nearly as attention-grabbing as some of author Idries Shah's other works - such as WISDOM OF THE IDIOTS, LEARNING HOW TO LEARN and A PERFUMED SCORPION. But I found it to be every bit as worthwhile. Based on lectures Shah gave at the New School for Social Research in New York and the University of California in San Francisco, NEGLECTED ASPECTS OF SUFI STUDY covers many of the problems facing those interested in the kind of learning the Sufis have specialized in for centuries, which aims at greater perception and a higher form of understanding. Prominent among these problems are "the unrecognized assumptions which we make about ourselves and about learning and its processes." Among other things, Shah shows how such assumptions, which conventional education seems to have largely overlooked, constitute barriers to learning that are every bit as hindering as are high walls and locked doors - and perhaps even more so, since they are far less obvious to those whom they hold back. If a book's true value was reflected in its weight, this one would weigh a ton.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Key Book, July 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Neglected Aspects of Sufi Study : Beginning to Begin (Hardcover)

Despite having been published across a broad span of time, Shah's books work best taken as a whole -- and this book arms the self-styled student with a critical tool for measuring his or her development and can help to make the leap from "here" to "there". Those unfamiliar with Idries Shah are unlikely to begin with this book, but would be well-advised to study it carefully.