Seeker After Truth: A Handbook

by Idries Shah

Book Overview

A treasure house of teaching materials, assembled in the Sufi manner. Seeker after Truth contains both traditional tales and stories gleaned from contemporary sources, and snippets of table talk,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0863040128
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Octagon Pr
• Length: 214 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

An Exposition of Human Perception Centers

This handbook is another fine rattle for those of us with a tenacious grip on our beliefs and habituation.Worth mentioning, as a personal observation, is how the effects of sufi dictums presented by the Shah corpus produces feedback depending on a person(s)/ culture(s)/ race(s) mental, emotional and spiritual disposition. I find that, like with most learning materials, assistance of a living teacher is often necessary. I harbor little hope of attaining a mastery in martial arts, yoga, or academia, solely from books, or even from aspirants of those books. An overt reliance on literature, or of testimonies & interactions of aspirants might make one scholarly (or pedantry) on the subject of Sufism.My own readings of this, and other Shah titles, have often prompted many inquiries and a need for clarification on presented ideas. In such cases, I much prefer seeking out a Sufi teacher, well-versed in "sufi cipher", than adopt an approach of dogged persistence. Such contact with a teacher actually helped me tune out many distortions introduced by my biases and unexamined assumptions. So, my experiences in discovering my "beingness" has definitely been enriched (even if alot of those discoveries were very painful).

Excellent Introduction to & Overview of Sufi Literature

An excellent introduction to and overview of Sufi literature: this Handbook contains anecdotes, question-and-answer interchanges, mini-lectures, and many outstanding tales including some of my favorites (The Skill that Nobody Has, Fahima and the Prince, Elephant-Meat, Intelligence and Obedience). But don't take my word for it; you really should check it out for yourself.

Reality Based Reading

A fascinating collection of question and answers and narratives of various lengths. Most of the material appears straight forward, but a rereading (especially after some time has passed) will often reveal new insights and levels which can be surprising. The breadth and depth of the material will make this a rewarding book for anyone with an interest in reality.

A mirror into ourselves

Reading Seeker After Truth is an exercise in the exploration of ourselves. The stories and narratives are designed to provoke us into seeing hidden motivations and patterns that normally go unnoticed. The stories are deceptively simple and disarming because of their emphasis on people and events that seem at first glance distant and not particularly relevant to our lives. But as the material is read and re-read, patterns begin to emerge which were previously overlooked because of our emphasis on other things. In time, the people and situations in the stories begin to take on new meanings that help us reflect on our daily activities with more insight and clarity. I would recommend this book for all people who would like a secret glimpse into the inner workings of our minds.

A must read for any seeker.

This gem of a book is what I'd call "quietly amazing." That is to say, it's neither dramatic nor sensationalistic, and its subtle impacts may not even be noticed, at least at first. But it can have a profound effect, helping the receptive reader shed many assumptions (such as that a thing's true value is in direct proportion to the degree of emotion it arouses) and other mental "bad habits" that hinder perception, and leaving him or her with a clearer idea of just what it is to seek truth and how to go about it. I say "receptive reader" because author Idries Shah makes it plain that many people who think they seek truth are really seeking excitement, attention or some other form of stimulation, and may not welcome being told otherwise. Although its format is nothing like what one might expect, Seeker After Truth more than lives up to its billing as "a handbook," and yields more each time it's read.