Idries Shah
Idries Shah
Idries Shah, also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el-Hashimiand by the pen name Arkon Daraul, was an author and teacher in the Sufi tradition who wrote over three dozen books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies...
NationalityIndian
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth16 June 1924
CountryIndia
educational thinking goal
There is a succession of experiences which together constitute the educational and developmental ripening of the learner, according to the Sufis. People who think that each gain is the goal itself will freeze at any such stage, and cannot learn through successive and superseding lessons.
spiritual enlightenment littles
Enlightenment must come little by little - otherwise it would overwhelm.
mind veils
Knowledge is not gained, it is there all the time. It is the "veils" which have to be dissolved in the mind.
real people right-time
Right time, right place, right people equals success. Wrong time, wrong place, wrong people equals most of the real human history.
trying way force
Trying to force something is the best way to stop it happening.
action assumption study
Study the assumptions behind your actions. Then study the assumptions behind your assumptions.
remembers-you remember-you people
You have not forgotten to remember; You have remembered to forget. But people can forget to forget. That is just as important as remembering to remember - and generally more practical.
belief instruments lost
When a belief becomes more than an instrument, you are lost. You remain lost until you learn what 'belief' is really for.
running long silence
The proverb says that 'The answer to a fool is silence'. Observation, however, indicates that almost any other answer will have the same effect in the long run.
religious pride attachment
Materialism, attachment to things of the world, includes pride. Many religious people suffer from pride: taking pleasure or even delight in being good, or religious.
mean generosity gains
A generous person may not have wisdom: but, unlike others, he has the means to gain it.
attitude causes culture
From imperial, economic and ideological causes, many cultures are the inheritors, and hence the prisoners, of attitudes of scorn and disdain for other faiths – outlooks which are not ennobling to anyone.
important firsts said
It is not important to have said a thing first, or best - or even most interestingly. What is important is to say it on the right occasion.
distrust
One cannot learn from someone whom one distrusts.