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This pocket-size collection of sayings and stories from real life, and from the author's observations of our mental processes, is a perfect gift book. It's contemporary, fun to read--like a splash of ice water for the mind.
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
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A delightful tonic for the brain,
By A Customer
This review is from: Reflections (Hardcover)
In its own quiet way, this pocket-size gem of a book offers something that's often claimed but rarely found: a true means of rousing the sluggish brain from its customary, comfortable state of automatic-pilot torpor. Comprised of bite-size sayings and stories, it avoids the emotional, the obvious and the sententious in favor of an entirely different approach that nudges the attentive reader in new and unexpected directions, chipping away at assumptions and habitual thought-patterns that screen us from seeing things the way they really are. I found it thought-provoking, bracing and a pleasure to read as well as a real eye-opener. Its size and format also make it an ideal gift.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful Punch,
By Leonard Robichaud (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Reflections (Hardcover)
Despite its diminutive size, this book packs a powerful punch and is probably unlike anything you have read before. Although it is well-written and entertaining, it is by no means a comfortable or easy read. Be prepared to be taken in different directions and to be confronted with unaccustomed perspectives. There is a passage from the book which gives an indication of its effect: "A pungent thought is a corrective to deterioration of the thinking: like cold water helping slack muscles to work again..." This book is full of such pungent thoughts...
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book changed my life,
By
This review is from: Reflections (Hardcover)
And here's one clause among many that changed my life: "...I and my associates have,instead of taking people's actions at face value, assumed that people are trying to score a point, or to assuage anxiety, or to manipulate." It's not the sentimental mush one finds in other books with similar titles. It's practical, bracing and interesting. (For practice, try to not take the above at face value.)
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