The Magic Monastery: Analogical and Action Philosophy of the Middle East and Central Asia

by Idries Shah

Book Overview

The Magic Monastery differs from its predecessors in that it contains not only traditional tales--mostly unpublished--but also stories specially written by Shah to complete the book as 'a course in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0863040586
• ISBN13: 9780863040580
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Octagon Press, Limited
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Further expositions on the Human Condition

About Sufism, it has been said that "in the West it's become very complicated because spiritual authority is understood on the wrong levels."Shah's delivery is often times directed toward certain constructs of the ego within this reader's psyche. Painfulness is almost always imminent because he is capable in pointing out the fractures of this reader's brittle comprehension of Life. He points out how I can be my own worst enemy that keeps me from taking necessary steps needed to live a healthy and fulfilling life. In this sense, his tone can, in some instances, become characteristic of a stern father, a strict sensei, or a tough coach helping me steer clear of self-imagined obstructions. These moments aren't really ever pleasant, as they tend to turn my insides, and I feel singed. But, with some help, I am able to understand that this is an essential prerequisite for transformation in the Sufi way; therefore, I choose to understand these types of stern approaches in terms of "tough loving" that help bring equilibrium to my egoic ratios (inflation:deflation), and step in the direction of freeing myself of myself.The Sufi stories within the Magic Monastery are, for me, the best times of diligent reading and mindful inner listening. I definitely become more aware of any inner voices compelling reactions and responses. Self-punishing? or self-rewarding? You make what you want of it.

Getting to know You

Do you want to get to know yourself? That's what I did. Each of these stories is an opportunity to discover another aspect of your personality. Like me, you will find stories which you will like or find amusing, perhaps others that will annoy or startle you. Each is a mine of possibility that enriches with subsequent readings. Spend time with Idries Shah... and get to know You.

What can't be written down

In another book called The Commanding Self Idries Shah says that the desired effect of these Teaching stories depends upon someone not knowing the intended effect. And this in a Teaching narrative that next tells us that the person he said this to, an editor for one of his books, then asked for an introduction explaining the intended effect of the stories. If you don't think thats funny, you probably won't like this book. There are no explanations here, no descriptions of spirituality, or theories about personal development. What is here, is very finely crafted Teaching stories and narratives that Shah collected from both oral and written sources, adding some of his own when "Sufic comprehensiveness demanded it". The stories are beautiful, challenging, disturbing, and often banal. And then one reads them again and finds that they are none of these things; that those were simply some of your own personal reactions to them. This book is a remarkable acheivement; a mirror for what can't be written down.

A Handbook for Inner Work

Here are 157 pieces of literature, most on a single page. Each one is like a room in a monastery; not the one in the title story, which is the product of the illusions of the greedy, but a genuine, inner one. Some rooms have windows through which to see the world around us more clearly. Some rooms have mirrors in which to see ourselves more clearly. Both windows and mirrors are specialized to help us see subtle things that we would otherwise miss. Then we realize that the windows have become mirrors, and the mirrors, windows. A handbook for inner work.

Counterintuitive Tidbits

Parables are sometimes too hard to understand. These Sufi tales tweak your mind yet they also let you in. They show the modern problem is often in the approach. We think we know what we want, how to get it, etc. These funny animal tales and disciple tales show how we don't know anything. How different real listening is from what we think it to be. How we have to learn how to learn.... They put the lie to most modern self-help.