Customer Reviews

The People of the Secret

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This is a very strange book indeed. It challenges all the established notions of the causes of historical events. It does not read like a cultist account. After reading it I think anyone will find his thoughts about the nature of history will change, even if he thinks all or most of the contents are nonsense.
Clearly the author has been closely associated with the modern expressions of the Sufi tradition.

The references within the text give the reader links to much other material and show signs of genuine scholarship - quite different from the run of the mill cultist books which fill the shelves of so many bookshops.

Among the topics which the western reader may find startling are thoughts about the origins of western science, Shakespear, much of western literature and its relation to what is often thought of as 'eastern' literature. Even the current decline of religion and the rise of drug taking are mentioned as being possibly the results of causes quite unsuspected by the average person.

I have been reading this book since it was first published in 1983 and still find new thoughts in it.

That there are things in history that don't fall in line or don't fit a specific pattern is common knowledge. That there are many unexplained similarities in history is also common knowledge. However, so far there has not been any explication as to 'why'

This book by Ernst Scott with great clarity that there is a `why'. There is an undercurrent of knowledge that has been responsible for shaping many important moments in the history of the human race. By knowledge I don't just mean the quotidian knowledge. The knowledge referred to here is that which can raise the human consciousness to its highest potentialities.

Ernst Scott first carefully makes the case for this knowledge. Then in great detail shows its operation in history. Then Mr. Scott starts to make a case for the "People of the Secret" - the people who possess this knowledge and have been responsible for systematically injecting this into the realm of human affairs.

Whether or not one believes in or accepts Mr. Scott's final conclusion over the course of reading this book serious doubts will be cast on the history we were taught on our elementary and high school benches. If what James Joyce said is true, and History is that nightmare we are trying to awake from, then this book is a strong jolt that may start to rouse us out of that deep sleep of ages. If after reading this book one is curious or further intrigue or would like to learn more, I would recommend, The Sufis and The Way of the Sufi by Idries Shah.

Thanks

If read as a modern teaching story, this is a very good book. Not everything in it is a straightforward real event, I suspect, but a method of giving people with no experience of a 'mystical' organization a feel for happens within one. By reading it and several other of the Octagon and Ishk titles in the same vein (TRAVELS WITH A SUFI MASTER, ADVENTURES IN AFGANISTAN, ALONE IN THE ARABIAN NIGHTS, ETC.) one can get a feel for how modern Sufism is presented. This is as close as one can probably get without being a student. It is a very good read.

The previous reviewer is in error on at least one point inhis/her criticism of Scott's book. I refer readers to: a multimedialibrary article, for example, wherein the author, a literary scholar, notes that 'On the subject of God, he (Blake) even borrowed a thought from the Gnostic heresy, as he was indebted to the Jewish Cabala for his vision of the man who anciently contained all things of heaven and earth in himself.' Perhaps the most valuable parts of Scott's volume are the sections wherein he relates conversations and other first-hand and original material from genuine Sufi sources. In other books is to be found the assertion that 'a real book may be written to contain just one piece of information', the rest being, as it were, almost irrelevant; but if that one piece of information is a piece you need, that book will be more highly prized than whole libraries stuffed with unprovocative -- and unhelpful -- data. One caveat must be offered, however, with regard to Wilson's unfortunate contribution. He has obviously been taken in by the (long since admitted)hoax by the Californian prankster E.J. Gold entitled 'Secret Talks With Mr. G.' Apparently Wilson thinks it really has something to do with Gurdjieff, and it is a pity that mischief is given the opportunity to waste the time of many readers by being perpetuated in a context in which they have no opportunity of seeing for themselves that that is what it is.

The author accomplished an incredible amount of research and documentation for this book. Anyone interested in metaphysics, the occult,history,pyramidology,egytology, Alchemy....etc...etc....will find this book impossible to put down!

This book is for anyone seeking a more coherent theory as to the history of humanity, and particularly epistemological research. Many people are searching for a more palpable reason for human existence. In this book are keys to unraveling the mysteries of existence. Splendid, courageous and well written! Ernest Scott has provided the much needed data to induce the desire for further research, the re-writing of history as the common man knows it, and new views of human eschatology.

This author knows far more than he reveals. Reading this book consciously, one will see numerous glimpses of something deep, behind the words in use. Like the sun peeking through the clouds. One could spend a long time, just researching the "eight cabala" the author casually mentions. If cabalists read, and contemplated sentence by sentence what the author says in the chapter on cabala and tarot certain priceless principles will fall out of the pages. Principles which could greatly enrich ones study of these topics.
Some 45 years ago, I was allowed to begin participating in the Naqshbandi way through a person from Iran I was introduced to. If you asked me, as an outsider, some books one might read to get a closer view of real Sufi, I would name this one,The Teachers of Gurdjieff, The Sufi, and the Rules or secrets of the Naqshbandi by Sayed Omar Ali Shah. Reading books such as these will give one's mind an attunement, unattainable elsewhere, that might aid if one wishes to look further.

The author has written based on some historical facts and his arguments supported by an objective perspective. Despite of the fact there are many possible ways of things have taken place he made them exposed rather than hidden therefore it was pretty clear that we were talking about possibilities. He also demonstrated a huge knowledge about many and diverse subjects and that's why he look so reasoned. I recommend to anyone who has some interest in a big picture of some current and old theories about human history. It gives you an opportunity to rethink your position and just that makes it worth. We cannot afford to take our western scientific way of thinking as the only way to explain a world of experiences.

A remarkable account, chuckfull of verifiable information and sources, in spite of what other individuals have written in their reviews.

More of a "you-connect-the-dots" description, not for the lighthearted and lazy, no this is not tv, or USA today dear Valencia reader.

This book is a modern day version of Theosopy's and Gurdjieff's 'hidden masters.' with a make over to support Idries Shah claim that he and his associates represent the invisible guardians of the world from time immemorial and that Sufism(Shahs version) is a foreign element within Islam. However Scott's fails in the attempt to make the case.

It's easy to see and create patterns which connect supposedly diverse ideas and actions. It's another thing to prove that there is a legitimate connection. And therein lies the problem with this book.

Scott's fault lies in his approach of relying extensively on literary works of dubious merit such as "The Dawn of Magic" whose authors mix delusions with theosopy. Of making connections where there are none and lastly of not checking his assertions with other sources.

One example is the claim the Judo was 'leaked' by the ascended masters of India to the common populace. Which is complete non-sense to anyone who has studied martial-art history.

Another is the claim that William Blake was deeply influenced by the Kabbalah. Which is wrong, it was Swendenborg among others.

In other cases he asserts links where there are none and offers no references to back them up. Especially when it comes to the history of Sufism to prove it predated Islam. Like Shah, Scott fails to tell the readership there is no documented history of Sufism before the comming of Islam. Though he makes one up by asserting the certain people like Plato, Solon and the ancient Egyptian priests were Sufis! Historical revisionism at its best.

In the last portion he runs out of things to write and fills up the remainder of the book with a commentary on "The Canitcle of Liebowitz" a sci-fi story and tries somehow to tie it in with Shahs Sufism.

Save your money. If you must read it borrow it from the library or something.