The Way of the Sufi

The Way of the SufiThis was the first book of Idries Shah that I ever read. I was 21 and in my last year of college. I was married, and I found the paperback for $2.95 in the college bookstore or the equivalent of two hours work after taxes. I still own that book. But I decided to buy the new Kindle edition so I could easily take it with me when traveling. This book remains one of my favorites. I have reread it several times in the intervening 44 years. Each reading serves up fresh insights. Here is one of my favorites quotes -“You possess only whatever will not be lost in a shipwreck.”Shah, Idries. The Magic Monastery . ISF Publishing. Kindle Edition.My dad used to say something similar. “Money is worthless; you can’t take it with you when you die.”How one reacts to this passage will depend on one’s state of mind. For some this statement may evoke an emotional reaction such as fear. These readers will want to move on and look for a more pleasant passage. Others may dismiss this offering as obvious, also quickly moving on.But to get at the wisdom locked in this book, one must offer attention, allowing time for the wisdom to reveal itself. As one pauses for a moment questions arise. For example, so if it is possible for me to lose my life in a shipwreck, do I possess my life? If I don’t possess my life, what do I possess beyond life? What do I possess that lives after I die? How do I recognize that and cultivate that?Shah provides few answers. He does not demand that you linger. He only points - look over here. Something of value is there. He leaves it to the reader to see it and decide if it has merit and value. I think you will find that this wisdom does have value. Enjoy.

The Way of the Sufi...how to review a book that means so much more than one can express? I return to this book for a re-read every year or so, sometimes purchasing a fresh copy. There is much beauty here, and I'm reminded about what great mathematicians say about beautiful equations: in itself it's a sign of worth. But Idries Shah has written, too, of the need to regulate such reactions as mine, to be on the alert for a lapsing into a lesser usage of these texts, which represent a 'curated' (to use a fashionable term) selection of wisdom down the ages and calibrated for ours. And as for the greater usage, I can't help compare the overall effect of The Way of the Sufi to that of a map and a compass and, why not, a sextant and a GPS and a lodestone except that the equivalent functions and more seem to grow in the head and heart, forming insights of which this book and the Shah collection are a sine qua non for getting our psychological bearings. I can't claim to have the Philosopher's Stone in my possession, but I can truly say that these readings bring a dimension of life into view without which one would proceed in impoverishment all unbeknownst.

Given the fact that most contemporary books on spirituality are either bewilderingly vague or cater to the worst self-help vanities, the Kindle publication of “The Way of the Sufi” is a welcome occasion. Originally published in the 1970’s, the book is an exceedingly generous presentation of Sufi teaching stories, contemplation themes and much, much more.At its heart, Shah’s book puts forward a concept of spiritual development that proceeds along several main lines:1. Human beings have the potential to develop themselves and serve a higher purpose2. That purpose is concealed from us in large part by our own self-interest, greed, arrogance and other lower-level emotions.3. Only a real Teacher – someone who has completed the path - can help us complete our development.The book makes it clear that the real work starts with learning how to truly see yourself, or maybe how to see through our various selves. As such, the stories – which are frequently entertaining, even funny - serve as a kind of mirror to the many ways - both large and small - that we deceive ourselves. The stories also provide a glimpse, a foretaste of a larger, deeper and more satisfying existence that is within reach – but only if we are sincerely willing to change. Highly recommended with only one qualification: this is a book to be carefully worked with, slowly absorbed and used in your daily life.

Highly recommended for the Western reader asking, "What is Sufism?" Gives enough of a taste for the reader to have a sense of whether there is something there to pursue further. By "Western" is meant western European or American, not just US, background.Sept. 2021 -- I was getting ready to review this book and decided to read the other reviews first, when to my surprise I already had reviewed it here five-and-a-half years ago! Not a bad review, actually. Brief. To the point. I really have nothing to improve upon it, except that here five-and-a-half years later I still give it five stars. Each time I read it I seem to get a little more out of it. Like all of Shah's books it repays revisiting well.

If you've studied Western and Eastern philosophies fairly extensively and believe that you've pretty much covered all of the bases, think again. While Sufism certainly shares many key elements with other traditions, it still has a feel all its own, so a tour of Sufism is mandatory for those who are compelled to be spiritual seekers.This book provides just such a tour, and it does it very well, drawing on many sources spanning the centuries, along with providing useful overviews and commentaries by Idries Shah to help us get our bearings. In the end, we're presented not with a specific doctrine or practices, but rather with a diverse bag of rhetorical devices which nudge us from many angles towards a general attitude and orientation which foster spiritual growth.I recommend this book to open-minded spiritual seekers, particularly those who aren't averse to mysticism.

A Classic for students of theosophy. Full of wonderful and profound statements and stories that help the reader develop some understanding of Sufism. A reference book for life.

Outstanding awakening book for me.. I saw myself, my questions, concerns, feelings..Here is The Way..

All of his books are great. Such an inspiration!

Eight centuries after El Ghazali wrote about it, Ivan Pavlov announced the results of his experiments on dogs, and was credited with the discovery of conditioning. Ghazali – a Sufi’s – work even exceeds contemporary knowledge, according to Idries Shah. He is one of a number of scientists and writers of astounding achievement, who depended for their accomplishments, not on the scientific method as we know it, or even on the intellect, but on the Sufi Way. ‘Man is made for learning,’ wrote El Ghazali. The educational system which allowed him to develop involves the whole person. Another Sufi, Baba Tahir Uryan, referred to it as the Celestial Science. Others saw it as the Science of Man, and the Science of Knowledge. The dying words of Mansur al-Hallaj, who accepted stoning rather than abandon it, were, ‘I recommend you to seek something of which the smallest part is worth more than all goodness: the Knowledge of what is true – true science.Sufi writers produced, and still produce, work considered impossible by our experts in literature. In the 13th century, Saadi of Shiraz spent most of his time as a wanderer, but succeeded in writing two great classics within three years. These books contain the whole range of the deepest Sufi knowledge which can be put in writing, the different layers interwoven to produce a seamless whole. Hakim Sanai was the author of The Walled Garden of Truth, in which there are several passages that can be read in more than one way. Shah tells us how ‘this effects a shift in the perceptions which is analogous to a change of focus on one and the same object.’Work of this calibre was possible because the Sufis had developed techniques for raising human consciousness. They employed the enlightened use of music, and became expert in the induction of spiritual states. Shah stresses that techniques such as these must be used within the context of the development of the whole person, under the guidance of one who has travelled the entire Sufi Way.‘Teachers should be studied,’ is the advice offered by Musa Kazim. In Part Four of this book, Among the Masters, we are shown, through the words, and records of the actions of numerous Sufis, how teachers, each one unique but conscious of a Unity, perform their function. ‘My duty,’ wrote Ibn el-Arabi, one of the great Sufis of the Middle Ages, ‘is the debt of love.’Study materials are found in the last one hundred pages of this most enjoyable book. They include letters and lectures, contemplation themes, and fifteen timeless, and priceless, teaching stories.

The Way of the Sufi might be an ideal introductory book to the present day Sufism.It is a relatively small book but covers a fair amount of ground. The way of the Sufi is a book about learning how to approach the Sufism, and in a way how not to.Book draws from the past, Islam, historical exemplars, world cultures, but It is modern, refashioned for our situation and western mentality. For somebody who is not much informed about the Shah’s work, it might come as a surprise that stories, jokes and humour play a significant part. That is not to say that material is not serious, but it is a multilayered process that allows almost any method to be used for the required result.Stories scattered in this book and others of Shah’s are like One Thousand and One Nights, they intersect and mix, mingle and might continue somewhere else in the material.The most perplexing realization is that Sufism can be thought and probably is very often non-verbally. Art, music, literature, architecture, science, psychology, sociology, worldly affairs and domestic chores can be used as method or tools.The book also makes clear that the kernel of the way is the teacher who is stabilizing and nurturing force behind the design.So it could probably be called as well the way to the Sufi.For best results approach the book with no expectations but more like a bread crumbs path. Follow the stories. It might lead to something or someone.

The author begins his introduction to this work with the statement - ''So many people profess themselves bewildered by the Sufi lore that one is forced to the conclusion that they want to be bewildered. Others, for more obvious reasons, simplify things to such an extent that their 'Sufism' is just a cult of love, or of meditations, or of something equally selective. But a person with a portion of uncommitted interest who looks at the variety of Sufi action can see the common characteristic staring him in the face'' - in the following,lines, pages, chapters, he does much to illustrate, expound and explain what that 'common characteristic' is...

This book contains the astounding idea that all true religions come from a single source. Further, it says that what we ordinarily take to be religion is the worn-out remnants of something else entirely: a special kind of science by which humanity can reach a greater truth. And, perhaps most remarkably of all, it says that science is alive and well today, and that it is relevant to all of us.

I wanted to know what Sufism is really about and now I'm none the wiser really.