Thinkers of the East

by Idries Shah

A collection of entertaining anecdotes and "parables in action" illustrating the eminently practical and lucid approach of Eastern dervish teachers. Distilled from the teachings of more than one hundred sages in three continents, it offers an extraordinary variety of underlying themes, from "the inner significance of outward service" to "real and imagined desire".

A book of enormous breath and depth it emphasizes experience over theory and it is this characteristic of Sufic study which provides its impact and vitality.

Valuable as it is, this book's publication in the West has only recently become possible, because only recently has the West been able to accept the fluid thinking of the East and to reject the old rigid systems that have only appearance of wisdom. As a master teacher says in these pages, "The wisdom which is invisible but which sustains is a hundred times better than the appearance of wisdom, for that has itself to be sustained."

Genres: Islam, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Religion

198 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 1971

About the author

Idries Shah (Persian: ادریس شاه), also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el-Hashimi (Arabic: سيد إدريس هاشمي), was an author and teacher in the Sufi tradition who wrote over three dozen critically acclaimed books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies.

Born in India, the descendant of a family of Afghan nobles, Shah grew up mainly in England. His early writings centred on magic and witchcraft. In 1960 he established a publishing house, Octagon Press, producing translations of Sufi classics as well as titles of his own. His most seminal work was The Sufis, which appeared in 1964 and was well received internationally. In 1965, Shah founded the Institute for Cultural Research, a London-based educational charity devoted to the study of human behaviour and culture. A similar organisation, the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge (ISHK), exists in the United States, under the directorship of Stanford University psychology professor Robert Ornstein, whom Shah appointed as his deputy in the U.S.

In his writings, Shah presented Sufism as a universal form of wisdom that predated Islam. Emphasising that Sufism was not static but always adapted itself to the current time, place and people, he framed his teaching in Western psychological terms. Shah made extensive use of traditional teaching stories and parables, texts that contained multiple layers of meaning designed to trigger insight and self-reflection in the reader. He is perhaps best known for his collections of humorous Mulla Nasrudin stories.

Shah was at times criticised by orientalists who questioned his credentials and background. His role in the controversy surrounding a new translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, published by his friend Robert Graves and his older brother Omar Ali-Shah, came in for particular scrutiny. However, he also had many notable defenders, chief among them the novelist Doris Lessing. Shah came to be recognised as a spokesman for Sufism in the West and lectured as a visiting professor at a number of Western universities. His works have played a significant part in presenting Sufism as a secular, individualistic form of spiritual wisdom.

Idries Shah's books on Sufism achieved considerable critical acclaim. He was the subject of a BBC documentary ("One Pair of Eyes") in 1969, and two of his works (The Way of the Sufi and Reflections) were chosen as "Outstanding Book of the Year" by the BBC's "The Critics" programme. Among other honours, Shah won six first prizes at the UNESCO World Book Year in 1973, and the Islamic scholar James Kritzeck, commenting on Shah's Tales of the Dervishes, said that it was "beautifully translated".
The reception of Shah's movement was also marked by much controversy. Some orientalists were hostile, in part because Shah presented classical Sufi writings as tools for self-development to be used by contemporary people, rather than as objects of historical study. L. P. Elwell-Sutton from Edinburgh University, Shah's fiercest critic, described his books as "trivial", replete with errors of fact, slovenly and inaccurate translations and even misspellings of Oriental names and words – "a muddle of platitudes, irrelevancies and plain mumbo-jumbo", adding for good measure that Shah had "a remarkable opinion of his own importance". Expressing amusement and amazement at the "sycophantic manner" of Shah's interlocutors in a BBC radio interview, Elwell-Sutton concluded that some Western intellectuals were "so desperate to find answers to the questions that baffle them, that, confronted with wisdom from 'the mysterious East,' they abandon their critical faculties and submit to brainwashing of the crudest kind". To Elwell-Sutton, Shah's Sufism belonged to the realm of "Pseudo-Sufism", "centred not on God but on man."

Doris Lessing, one of Shah's greatest defenders,stated in a 1981 interview: "I found Sufism as taught by Idries Shah, which claim

Reviews

[John Zada · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really compelling collection of stories and anecdotes featuring the wisdom of eastern sages over the last thousand years. About these Sufi yarns, also known as Teaching Stories, the late Leonard Lewin once wrote:

“It should perhaps be emphasized that these creations are highly ingenious and sophisticated works of art, though their true character is never perceived in its entirety at first glance. They have to be ‘lived’ with, and ‘worked’ with, in order to reveal their secrets: as is indeed the case with, for example, the equations of physics – who would have suspected that so simple a relation as Einstein’s famous energy E-mc2 could underpin anything so dramatic as, say, the tremendous release of atomic energy with which we are now so familiar? And so it is with construction called Teaching Stories.”

[Aubrey Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A provocative patchwork of sayings, writings and doings of more than 100 eastern sages on three continents, none of whom I'd ever met before. Otherworldly yet down to earth, this luminous book is both strange and strangely familiar. Beyond words and theories, it triggers all kinds of reactions and insights about our selves and our world. I've re-read it many times and it's always different. The words haven't changed, but maybe I have. Here's a taste:

Imam Baqir: "Finding I could speak the language of ants, I approached one and inquired, 'What is God like? Does he resemble the ant?' He answered, 'God? No, indeed! We have only a single sting, but God, he has two!'

Exclusion Rais El-Aflak, 'The Lord of the Skies', who suddenly appeared in Afghanistan and then disappeared after giving a number of cryptic lectures, said: 'Almost all the men who come to see me have strange imaginings about man. The strangest of these is the belief that they can progress only by improvement. Those who will understand me are those who realise that man is just as much in need of stripping off rigid accretions to reveal the knowing essence, as he is of adding anything. Man thinks always in terms of inclusion into a plan of people, teachings and ideas. Those who are really the Wise know that the Teaching may be carried out also by exclusion of those things which make man blind and deaf.'

[Kevan Bowkett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The subtitle of this fascinating book is 'Studies in Experientialism,' and the volume deals with the thought and experience of the Middle Eastern and Central Asian sages called the Sufis. In reading this collection of tales and teaching-narratives, one is soon aware of some differences between these thinkers of the East and more familiar intellectual workers, such as Western philosophers. The Sufis use a much greater range of impacts than discursive argument: their repertoire includes, for instance, tales, jokes, poetry, actions, experience, exercises, and situations in life. They seem to be trying to use these impacts to break down barriers to learning in the student's mind and behaviour, so that a person can begin their own learning process. And they haven't forgotten the admonition of Epiktetos that the first object of philosophy is living the good life -- which many Western philosophers appear to consider an aim subordinate to discursive reasoning and syllogistic coherence. I highly recommend this book for a taste of the real philosophy of the East -- as the Sufis say, 'He who tastes, knows.'

[Robs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book will induce much thinking, hopefully of the helpful sort. Some might find the preface particularly provocative; for instance ''... Any inspection of the 'specialist' literature on Eastern thinkers and their schools will show the ludicrous situation that the materials available have been more and more closely examined, more and more carefully arranged, in an increasingly mechanical form ... and the products have become less and less ... scholars desire to study mystics, but mystics never need to study scholars.''

[Ita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about removing the obstacles, and developing the qualities needed to allow knowledge. What Sufis mean by knowledge goes far beyond what is ordinarily understood by the word. It has been described as the very force which maintains humanity. Although it continually pours into man, if sought with anything other than our simplest and most sincere selves, it is fraught with the danger that our faults can be amplified. Books like 'Thinkers of the East' have been compiled to avoid peril, while allowing us to 'familiarise ourselves with the outward, factual appearance of knowledge' ... to ... await development when the possibilities exist.'

'Because you all love the exciting, I shall have to give you the banal,' one of the Wise tells his intending students. 'You are to learn through life. And life – the key to knowledge – is the most banal of all things.'

'Thinkers of the East' enables us to recognise a Sufi guide, one who has experienced and overcome the difficulties encountered by man. In the Age of the Internet it has never been easier to see how such a person lives life.

We have the books. Living guidance is present. Why delay?

'Those who accept what they have received and do not imagine that they have received nothing, will be given much more. Those who want other than what they are offered here will be unable to receive anything, anywhere.'

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my first books that I read about the middle east and led me to reading the Koran.

[Armands · Rating 5 out of 5]

Viedums kurš izturējis daudzu gadu simtu pārbaudi. Nesimetrisks skatījums uz lietām. Šo dizainiski skaisto, un ne tik biezo grāmatu lasīju vairāk kā pusgadu. Negribētos teikt, ka esmu šo grāmatu izlasījis, jo pie šīm atziņām var atgriezties bezgalīgi, - tā teikt lai bagātinātu prātu un pabarotu dvēseli.

[Michael David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of aphorisms from notable Sufi practitioners. It's a collection that is fabular in nature, but it's one that is just as weighty as Aesop's - and more philosophical at that. I think (in my limited understanding) that the connecting thread to these fables is that there is more than one Truth. One can have a different interpretation of a certain idea or philosophy, but that doesn't mean one is wrong: one can only keep on learning. There is no singular path toward Truth.

I love this collection because it reminds me of my own hypocrisy and makes me face my own misplaced pride. One of the best fables, in my opinion, was that of Hasan of Basra. He wrote:

'I had convinced myself that I was a man of humility and less than humble in my thoughts and conduct to others.

'Then one day I was standing on the bank of a river when I saw a man sitting there. Beside him was a woman and before them was a wine-flask.

'I thought, "If only I could reform this man and make him like I am instead of the degenerate creature which he is!"

'At that moment I saw a boat in the river, beginning to sink. The other man at once threw himself into the water where seven people were struggling, and brought six of them safely to the bank.

'Then the man came up to me, and said:

'"Hasan, if you are a better man than me, in the Name of God save that other man, the last remaining one."

'I found that I could not even save one man, and he was drowned.

'Now this man said to me:

'"This woman here is my mother. This wine-flask has only water in it. This is how you judge, and this is what you are like."

'I threw myself at his feet and cried out:

'"As you have saved six out of these seven in peril, save me from drowning in pride disguised as merit!"

'The stranger said:

'"I pray that God may fulfil your aim."'

Since that aphorism efficiently made a hole in my self-created pride, I knew I was reading something meaningful. We are, after all, sometimes so blinded by our preconceptions that we fail to see what is truly real.

Sakit, bes.

[Stuart Bathgate · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of Shah's shorter books, this is mainly a collection of tales and anecdotes by or about some of the great Sufi teachers of the past. There are also brief sections which might be deemed more factual or analytical, such as the 'Counsels of Bahaudin' or the last chapter, 'The Sufi Quest' by Ustad Hilmi.
A paragraph in the latter sums up one of the main themes of Sufi teaching, and perhaps the purpose of books such as this: "Man has the opportunity of returning to his origin. He has forgotten this. He is, in fact, 'asleep' to the reality."
The key to understanding this and other Sufi works may lie in neither eagerly consuming story after story (something I'm guilty of) nor in, to use a phrase of Shah's, "cudgelling one's brains" to try and discern the meaning of each tale. Instead, we should perhaps allow the material to sink in, then calmly observe how it relates to our real lives.
I've read Thinkers Of The East a few times, but I'm sure there is a wealth of material in it that has passed me by. I hope that others read it and are able to profit from it.

[Hakim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insightful collection of one-page parables into the world of Sufism. It's hard to dismiss the effort and quality that comes with the meticulous compiling and structuring of such a book but having said that, I can't help but think that books like these are what drive the reduction of Sufism to a mere spiritual and humanistic thought, devoid of any tradition or metaphysical foundations that essentially brought it to life.

[Neil Ramshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Studies in Experientialism’ is the subtitle given to this amazing concentrated distillate of teachings from over one hundred sages. One may well question how a book can give experience. The answer might be indicated in this book and in others by the same author.
There are at least seventy ‘Subjects Dealt With in Thinkers of The East’. Considering two of the themes: ‘self-observation’ and the ‘need to digest material at a certain rate’ could be illustrative of how this book can relate to experience.
Several stories in the book explain the need for the guide to approach indirectly or at one step removed so that certain ways of thinking can elude the ‘self’ that prevents perception.
The book also contains more than a handful of tales where the potential seeker in the story is shown their true inwardness, revealing their false assumptions, motivations and incapacitating attitudes. Is the reader being invited to apply these self-observations to them self by such passages as this?
‘It has become customary for people, when they read prescribed books and accounts of the doings of the Masters, to say, “This is an analogy that doesn’t apply to me.” It also enables them to say, “This is an encounter with a stupid man. I could never think like the man in the tale; therefore the Teacher is in his instance dealing with a completely different type of person.”’
Such a book demands close and repeated reading over time but with a dispositions that lets insights be revealed to the reader when time and experience allow.

[Toni]

‘If you were to ask a traditional Eastern sage for his 'system', he would look at you as a modern physician would if you asked for his 'panacea for all ills'. He might invite you to apply to a seller of nostrums on a fair ground. He would certainly diagnose you as a primitive who had still to learn the first lesson about knowledge.' First page of the preface: the second paragraph. Given the present and prevalent panacea of 'systems' we might take heed. The Secret Teacher page 131. 'A man found the secret teacher working as a ferry man. Khidre read his thoughts and said to him: 'If I approach people in the street and tell them what to do they will think I am mad, or am doing it for myself, and they will not do it. If I dress like learned or rich man, and advice them, they will disobey or else simply try to please me, instead of trying to please that which I represent. But if I mix with people and say a word here and a word there , some will listen just as you yourself recognised me and a thouand others did not.'' Someone ( I think) described this book as remedial.
I cannot recommend the full corpus of Idries Shah's books enough: in every one of them there is a profundity of which one comprehends the various smidgen.

[Leonard Robichaud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another of Shah's priceless collections, covering an enormous range and depth of teaching material. The thinkers alluded to in the title are not the limited sort we in the modern West have come to expect, nor are their methods of communicating their teaching. Subtitled "Studies In Experientialism", do not expect a standard linear (and dry) exposition of ideas. Like Shah's other works, this book repays careful and repeated reading.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read the Old Testament, parts of the book scared the bejesus out of me. In terms of applicable wisdom, I find the parables of the Sufis are more my style. Compiled/written by Idries Shah, "Thinkers of the East" is, among many things, a reminder that actions speak louder than words. The last eighth of the book is more outrightly instructional and may open your mind even more to what precedes. (Such was my case.)

[John Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one of Shah's excellent books reflecting the wisdom of the east into our day and age. A collection of amusing and interesting stories, and parables - most, not more than one page long - that add up to a coherent whole, and suggest a way to truly live. Shah's corpus of books is itself a complete whole, but each book, including Thinkers of the East, is a jewel.

[Alejandro Teruel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read this book several times, at intervals of many years. It is a book to be dipped into; some stories will illuminate or underscore an insight at one time, at another time, other stories will be the ones that draw the open-minded reader; some of them are quite reminiscent of Zen koans. I confess however that many of the stories have yet to interest me -but this may because I lack the patience to medidate on them rather than hurry through them.

Here is one of the stories that struck me this time round (2023), an example of Aristotles golden mean filtered through Sufism:

'I visited a Sufi,' says Ibn Halim, ánd he gave a long discourse.

'There were many people there, for he attracted hearers from everywhere.
'Each discourse was a model of erudition.
'Í said:
'"How do you have time to read so many books?'"
'He said:
'"I have time for what I do read."
'Then I realized that he had no books. I said to him:
'"How do you obtain all this information?"
'He said, admitting it, "By telepathy."
'I said:
'" Why do you conceal this from your disciples?"
'He said:
'" To make them concentrate on what is said, not on who is saying it, or how he acquired it."
'I said:
'"It seems such disclosures spoil one's chances of knowledge. Then why do you tell me this?"
'He said:
'"Your chances were already spoilt before you came to me."
'I said:
'"Is there no hope for me?"
'He said:
'"Not while you try to induce Sufi to speak your jargon. If you use your jargon, you will become more and more dissatisfied for you use the tongue of the dissatisfied."
'I said:
'"Does dissatisfaction not lead to a desire to change?"
'He said:
'" Too little dissatisfaction means no desire to change. Too much means no ability to change."'

A more pithy story:

A rich braggart once took a Sufi on a tour of his house.
He showed him room after room filled with valuable works of art, priceless carpets and heirlooms of every kind.
At the end he asked:
'What impressed you most of all?'
The Sufi answered:
'The fact that the earth is strong enough to support the weight of such a massive building.'

[Radonja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fenomenalna potraga za Istinom, kratke priče, metafore, mudrosti, može promeniti pogled na svet, plus prilagođeno zapadnjacima, vredno delo za koje mi je drago da je deo moje biblioteke i verujem da će proći kroz ruke mnogih mojih prijatelja

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teaching stories from the Sufi tradition. Excellent.

[Muneera Salem-Murdock · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was given to me by Tahir Shah while living in Morocco.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book before in a previous edition, but am very pleased to get hold of the new edition published by ISF. It looks good and is very pleasant to handle. And the content is as sharp as ever, short stories, a page or two at most, beautifully written, some of them have been at the back of my mind for years, on occasion coming to the front as now I think of the story that says the teaching is like air, we live in it but are unaware of it and its vital role until deprived of it.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘If you were to ask a traditional Eastern sage for his 'system', he would look at you as a modern physician would if you asked for his 'panacea for all ills'. He might invite you to apply to a seller of nostrums on a fair ground. He would certainly diagnose you as a primitive who had still to learn the first lesson about knowledge.' First page of the preface: the second paragraph. Given the present and prevalent panacea of 'systems' we might take heed. The Secret Teacher page 131. 'A man found the secret teacher working as a ferry man. Khidre read his thoughts and said to him: 'If I approach people in the street and tell them what to do they will think I am mad, or am doing it for myself, and they will not do it. If I dress like learned or rich man, and advise them, they will disobey or else simply try to please me, instead of trying to please that which I represent. But if I mix with people and say a word here and a word there , some will listen just as you yourself recognised me and a thouand others did not.'' Someone ( I think) described this book as remedial. I cannot recommend the full corpus of Idries Shah's books enough: in every one of them there is a profundity of which one comprehends only a smidgen.

[John Edward Handfoth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Subtitled, Studies in Experientialism, Thinkers of the East is a fascinating and wide-ranging exploration of the 'action philosophy' of the Sufis. The book contains fables, stories, anecdotes, mini histories, biographical fragments, and short treatises on a wide variety of topics which are, nevertheless, related. Fans of Mulla Nasruddin and his illustrative tales will be interested in a section on his origins, early history, and role in Sufi studies. Though more concerned with content and effectiveness than style, there is always an impressive lucidity and precision to Shah's prose, admired by many writers, including legendary American storyteller Jim Harrison (Legends of the Fall). The book remains relevant since currently more people than ever are talking about the dangers of emotionalism, as well as the downside of religious, political, and cultural indoctrination, and the necessity for more rational behavior and critical thinking. Thinkers of the East introduces the reader to (among other things) ways of thinking and behaving aimed at defeating conditioned responses and shallow behavior.

[Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Misleci z Vzhoda je zbirka poučnih sufijskih zgodb, ki pomagajo prebuditi človeka. Zgodbe poudarjajo predvsem izkušnjo pred teorijo, ki je značilna za sufizem. Pri prebiranju se nam odpirajo novi pogledi na svet, ki zavračajo ustaljeni način razmišljanja. Nemalokrat so zgodbe polne humorja, prikazujejo relacijo učitelj – učenec ter razne dogodivščine. Nekatere je moč razumeti nemudoma, nekatere pa zahtevajo večkratno branje, vse pa nam z različnimi interpretacijami razširjajo dojemanje sveta. Zadnji del knjige obsega Bahaudinova pravila in predvsem nasvete, s katerimi si lahko pomagamo izpopolniti svoje življenje. Avtor Idries Shah je bil učitelj sufijske tradicije in njene filozofije. V svojih delih se je ukvarjal predvsem s sufizmom kot vsesplošno obliko modrosti, ki se prilagaja trenutnemu času, okolju in ljudem

[Dan Sperling · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, because it forces the reader think rather than to coast along on automatic pilot. It’s a collection of short Sufi anecdotes and “parables in action,” and the “thinkers” referred to in the title are Sufi teachers whose words and actions, as recounted by author Idries Shah, show that their philosophy is wholly practical in nature rather than of the theoretical, ivory-tower sort. THINKERS OF THE EAST is a fitting complement to Shah’s other books on Sufi thought, and I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in achieving a greater understanding – of one’s self and of the surrounding world.

[Ulrika Eriksson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first reading of this beautifully bound version from the Idries Shah Foundation. This is ancient wisdom that Idries Shah presents, selected because of its relevance for our time and the reader of today. To be read as an antidote to the dumbing down that surrounds us all, difficult to escape. But, as can be read on page 165: knowledge taken out from a society can be brought back by literature, like the seed from a plant long gone can bring the plant back.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘If you were to ask a traditional Eastern sage for his 'system', he would look at you as a modern physician would if you asked for his 'panacea for all ills'. He might invite you to apply to a seller of nostrums on a fair ground. He would certainly diagnose you as a primitive who had still to learn the first lesson about knowledge.'

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of charming Sufi teaching stories to help wake a person up.

[Phleghm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Offers an insight into a completely different culture and mentality. Honestly, it would take me a lifetime to understand it bit better.

Very refreshing.

[Ratri Dian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sebenernya baca versi bahasa Indonesianya sih.
Sangat menemani mereka yang hendak berperjalanan. :))

[Dean Paradiso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great compilation of short teaching stories, anecdotes and literary devices aimed at delivering a conscious "shock" to the reader/student.