Customer Reviews

Reflections

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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.

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...

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.)

Idries Shah's reflections make you think further, they have a catalytic effect. Some have the quality of pointing out different or additional "takes" on current truisms. Others have the aspect of parables. And then others seem wholly original and unique in themselves. Any one of many of the reflections in this memorable book would justify a hearty recommendation to read it, and read it again, and again.

Aptly titled, "Reflections," is a collection of fables, aphorisms, and statements that challenge the conditioned, assumptive manner we use when thinking of and interacting with others and ourselves. These reflections-whose effect is similar to being shaken out of sleep-offer insight on many levels.

The most insightful comment about this collection appears in the book's forward, written by Idries Shah: "Do you imagine that fables exist only to amuse or to instruct, and are based upon fiction? The best ones are delineations of what happens in real life, in the community and in the individual's mental processes."