Customer Reviews

Sufi Thought and Action (Sufi research series)

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A hard book to put down! It's a collection of recent writings about contemporary Sufi activities in the West, introduced by Idries Shah, who is generally recognized as the most reliable source of information on this spiritual teaching. Sufi books tend to be short on specifics about how Sufi training methods operate, possibly due to so much variation for the local culture and times. The essays in this book will answer a lot of questions about such specifics. The presentation sequence isn't the ordinary A through Z - there's no chapter, for example, on how to contact a Sufi organization today, or how a person might go about applying for study. But it's all there. Also included is a list of characteristics to be expected in deviant self-proclaimed Sufis, which is likely to be help earnest seekers, since misdirected and deluded practitioners the world over appear to be all too ready and all too willing to waste people's time, or worse.

A forthright discussion and presentation of some aspects of the Sufi enterprise that reveals something of the instrumental nature and operational infrastructure of that work on both a personal and community level. A perhaps startling book for those persons who imagine that Sufis are "hairy-footed metaphysicians" or mysterious mystics from the East. Like all of Idries Shah's books, it is of enormously practical value.

Amazon.com has erroneously labled SUFI THOUGHT AND ACTION "by Idries Shah", when Idries Shah merely assembled the twenty-nine essays written by others! He did write the introduction. Judging by the style, however, one would almost suspect that he did write most of the rest of the book himself under various pseudonyms (with both Eastern and Western names). Certainly, most of the contributions are of the same high, mysterious quality one finds in books "by" Idries Shah, e.g.: THE SUFIS and KNOWING HOW TO KNOW (two of about thirty). My conclusion is that most of the book MAY have been written by one man, but more likely that it was written by members of an inner circle who surrounded the late Sufi teacher (d. 1996). Shah openly stated that he sometimes used pseudonyms as one of his Sufi teaching tools, and I have guessed this to be so of THE PEOPLE OF THE SECRET and SECRET SOCIETIES. But SUFI THOUGHT AND ACTION gives one the feeling of a close-knit group of friends whose deep association suggest a "circle" (Sufi technical term) whose members are trying to communicate the AMBIANCE of a genuine, living Sufi "school" (another technical term).

If the reader is more interested in an impeccably documented, more conventional anthology of writings on Sufism, read SUFI STUDIES: EAST AND WEST, where the publically prominent contribuors are clearly identified complete with brief bios. But SUFI THOUGHT AND ACTION is more popular, I'm told, perhaps because readers enjoy finding themselves in their own search for the truth about the book...and so in a search for ultimate Truth.

Still jaw-dropping amazing to me how we all see what we want to see, even when we read words. The cover of this book clearly tells you what it is -- so why was there surprise by some readers of its contents. Would love their reactions on The Book of the Book... This particular book does what it promises, and I highly recommend it. But if you're looking for religion, don't look for it here -- just the beginning of wisdom.

What I noticed from reading this book is that it is mostly a rehashing of Shah's old views and arguments done by other people. Some points are valid up to a point and some seem only to be repeated viscious attacks against all 'Sufi's' who are not related to Idries Shah, his family and his publishing company. Everone else who is not related to his mysterious organization is termed not 'true sufi's', cultists and shallow seekers. This is done so frequently that it is almost too obvious what the author's intention is. It is actually quite funny to see the bibliography at the end of each chapter, all repeatedly refer to Idries Shah and the books his company has published. If someone is interested in Idries Shah, who does in fact has alot of material and idea's of worth to share. Should read 'the Sufis', 'Learning how to learn' or some of his story compilations.

yes, Mr. Canada below is another naysayer missing the point that Repetition is one of the methods of the work...and obviously, if all his apertures were open, he would notice that the exterior connections that he THINKS he sees(regarding mr. shah's "brand" of sufism) are but TRANSPARENT holograms floating above the sand of his own metaphysical ruins. A-HO!
but he is he for whom these books are "written"...sufism, being the "interior" of islam, is in itself, the Exterior of the (trans-islamic, trans-all-orthodoxies) Interior.