Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1217191 in Books
• Published on: 1971-12
• Original language: German
• Binding: Hardcover
• 198 pages

The Times Literary Supplement, May 7, 1971
"... main appeal to the modern man who finds current materialistic outlooks and attitudes insufficient to his needs."

Methodist Recorder, March 18, 1971
"... a valuable and illuminating book."

New Society, April 15, 1971
"... an intensely contemporary application of specialised knowledge."

Customer Reviews

An exposition of narrative psychology
"Thinkers of the East" is a compilation of timeless Sufi teaching stories hand-picked by the late Idries Shah. These potent teaching narratives, traditionally, have been prescribed based on time/awareness/development of a student, by a competent Sufi teacher as a means of facilitating the interminable process of self-discovery. Treading the Sufi path without a guide is as advisable as trying a critical case in court without the guidance of expert lawyer; doing heavy excercising at a gym without a well-respected trainer; taking an examination without any time spent getting clarifications from an esteemed professor; or performing life-altering surgery on oneself by oneself. It is certainly possible to do these things by oneself and avoiding trusting another with one's best interest. But which would produce better results?

Listening to a teacher reciting these stories in real-time (replete with pauses, inflections), or receiving them as a written/ or visual message, is a very different experience than reading these linearly by oneself. Nevertheless, this title, like most other writings on Sufism, is a wonderful "snapshot" in the picture album labelled "Sufism".

In my understanding of Sufism, "Trust", "Leaps of Faith", and "Surrender" are critical in progressing on this path, as much as excercising "care" and "good sense" are. This much cannot be easily executed in the framework of minds that have known only to trust their own limiting, relativist perceptions. It is quite likely there is a well-reasoned fear that the assumed end-result of such talk is likely some crazed idolization of a teaching figure-head. What's more, in the real world, this type of thing happens all the time -- Shah speaks of this frankly and frequently.

Nevertheless, there still exist cases, wherein, those attained on the Path are freed from idolizing anyone or anything because the focus of their world-view isn't only about their egoic selves. Sufism is all about "Love", a state which does not adhere consistently with any mental constructs, or help one escape from any other unmentioned aspect of life. It is all about living Life, experiencing all aspects of it, finding the lessons, and recognizing "The Face of The Beloved".

newton PA precisionism
ah, mr. PA has shown PRECISELY how much more he needs to develop. that he "sees" it shows how much he has "progressed"...bravo. but freud is no connection. link instead the acasual, not casual...jung. (n)either-(n)or...

Spiritual Freudianism
Sufism is a depth psychology like the largely discredited systems of Freud and Jung. It similarly maintains we have a "hidden depth," and that our development depends on recognizing and integrating with it. In this case, the story goes, we all have an "essential self" which is buried under layers of social conditioning and emotionalism. Sufis therefore say they know people better than people know themselves, and that they can "prescribe" for others in a variety of ways which strike me as highly manipulative (lying, or at least withholding information, is not uncommon according to Shah's accounts). This is almost the very definition of condescending; Sufis will not treat you as if you exist--according to them, you barely do. That's a great pretext for gaining an almost hypnotic control over certain people.

As an example, anger is considered prehuman. If I were to become angry at Mr. Shah for trying to pull a fast one on me, it would only demonstrate how immature I was from the (correct and enlightened) Sufi perspective. Yet the basis of such assumptions is not anything like real scientific study, but rather certain a priori religious beliefs which are not discussed directly in Shah's book.

The title "Thinkers of the East," is attractive because one would like, coming from a pluralistic background, to understand different kinds of people. Insofar as this book presents a strikingly different point of view, one can use it in that way. However, don't approach Sufis expecting them to extend the same courtesy to you, since they are unavoidably patronizing and authoritarian, for the reasons stated. If they seem otherwise, you can safely assume it's a bait and switch.