Favourite Quotes

“show me a man who thinks that he knows what ‘good’ is, and I will probably be able to show you a horror of a person. Show me a person who really knows what ‘good’ is, and I will show you that he almost never uses the word” - p. 238

Summary

Preface

a tale from Arabian Nights: Maruf the cobbler was day dreaming about his own caravan of riches. He mentally convinced himself of such riches. This idea was the foundation of his eventually success. The imagined ‘caravan of riches’ became real.
moral of the story: imagine your success and it’ll be manifested

Traditions of the Prophet

this chapter covers some popular hadiths of prophet Muhammad recorded by Baghawi of Herat Afghanistan
a few that stood out to me:
- “do you think you love your creator? Love your fellow creature first.” - p. 4
- “an hour’s contemplation is better than a year’s worship.” - p. 7
- “Souls which recognize one another congregate together. Those which do not, argue with one another.” - p. 8
- “Whoever is without gentleness is devoid of good.” - p. 10

Adventures of Mulla Nasrudin

a collection of extremely short stories depicting an event in Mullah Nasrudin’s life (a fictional character)
mostly they don’t contain anything deep or insightful, honestly they are mainly just funny. Little comedic stories
some good ones:

Teach Us Your Wisdom

summary of the story
- a group of people ask Nasrudin to teach them his wisdom
- he said that first we must remove the hill that is blocking the breeze into the village. He asked them to create a report long enough to surround the hill.
- once they make the rope, he instructs them to put the rope around the hill, lift it up, then put the hill on his back so he can take it away
- the people say he’s being ridiculous, “how can we lift a hill??”
- Nasrudin says “how can I carry it away unless you do? It is the same problem when you ask me to teach you my wisdom”
what I think the lesson is:
- wisdom can’t simply be taught. The same way lifting a hill is impossible, teaching ‘wisdom’ is impossible too. You must work for it yourself

Red Sea Journey

follows the story of an Arab Muslim making a journey to Mecca. He is someone of importance, the king of Saudi Arabia himself meets with him
most of this chapter just talks about the history of Saudi Arabia, the Saud family, the oil wells, etc
nothing really of note here

Pilgrimage to Mecca

“the Pilgrimage makes a good man better; but it may make a bad man better or worse” - p. 49
“it has been said time and again that the human mind needs some sort of intermediary - whether it be a man, or a stick or stone, an idol or picture - to concentrate upon (let alone comprehend) divinity, we pilgrims to Mecca felt no such need. - p. 50
- maybe this is exactly why so many Muslims are messed up and disconnected from true faith
apparently the birds never poop on the Kaaba itself - p. 61
- not sure how true this is
the pilgrimage to Mecca was an established Arab pagan practice - p. 63
the face veil was a practice copied from Christian Syrians when the Muslim conquered the country - p. 66
this chapter and the previous is just an account of Idries Shah’s experience performing Hajj. There’s not deep lessons or anything

Thoughts from Omar Khayyam

interpretations are my own

To God

Religionists do not know Thy Mercy as we know it. A stranger cannot know Thee as does a friend. Thou saidst: “Sin, and I shall cast thee into Hell!” Tell that to the person who does not know Thee! - p. 73

this poem is a critique of ultra-dogmatic people
Khayyam is implying that he has a close relationship with God, akin to a friendship. He also understands God’s mercy intimately
The last line is implying that people who don’t know God or who lack the close ‘friendship’ with God, will either simply not pay heed to God’s punishments, or they won’t truly understand it
Overall Khayyam is critiquing the traditional view of God as a punitive figure who condemns people to hell. Rather, we must strive to have a personal relationship with God

I Flew

I was a hawk. I flew from the secret world Desiring to wing at once to heights. But as I found none worthy of the Secret I went back by the door through which I came.

a hawk is an animal often associated with freedom, vision, and power
this poem is metaphorical journey of self-discovery, enlightenment, transcendence, and pursuit of higher truths or ideals (represented by “the secret world”).
but, it comes to a sad ending; the hawk is all alone, he could not find anyone worthy! He couldn’t find anyone to relate to, to share his journey with.
The overall message is that your journey of enlightenment and transcendence is ultimately a lonely one. No two people are the same, therefore everyone’s journey is unique to them
reminds me of what Ichiro Kishimi said in The Courage to be Disliked:
- “The world you see is different from the one I see, and it’s impossible to share your world with anyone else.” p. xv

Closed Eyes

Men’s eyes are closed, like blindfold mill-oxen, Seeking like ants under a reversed cup… You have not done what your forebears did - yet you want to be like them. Knock on the Door… - p. 73

mankind are searching for something, for legacy, but they are blind. The act like ants stuck under an upside down cup or blindfolded cows
we naturally have the desire to be like our ancestors, or surpass their legacy, or at least to live up to the legacy they left for us
‘knock on the door’ is an invitation to seek out knowledge/guidance from the past
the overall message is that there is value in learning from the past. The past holds a wealth of information that is ripe for harvesting, if only we’d ‘knock on the door’

Mirror

I am a mirror and, who looks in me - Whatever good or bad he speaks, he speaks of himself - p. 73

the meaning behind this poem is that when one criticizes another, it often is a reflection of their own insecurities or criticisms they have towards themselves

I am

They say that I am a wine-worshipper - I am They say that I am an adept - I am; Do not look so much at my exterior For in my interior I am, I am.

The meaning behind this poem is that a person’s true essence lies inside, not on their external self
true understanding of a person can only come by way of looking at their inner self, understanding all the complexities and depth that come with it
this poem really fits the character of Omar Khayyam well. He was someone with a rich character, yet people only looked at his external self. They called him an apostate even when they didn’t bother looking into his inner self

Follow the Guide

Read what you should read. See what you should see. Act as you should act. Feel what you should feel. Until you can do all these things, follow the Guide. When you can do these things, you will not have to be told - Follow the Guide.

The meaning behind this poem is about self-improvement and having a guide. Read what you SHOULD read. See what you SHOULD see, so on and so forth
- meaning, read what is beneficial to you, will help you grow, will increase your knowledge, etc
- same goes for seeing, acting, feeling, etc
- Reading = knowledge
- Seeing = perceiving the world in a way conducive to understanding and growth
- Acting = abiding by proper ethics. Or applying your knowledge in your life
- Feeling = emotional maturity (be authentic and real with your emotions)
a ‘guide’ could be a mentor, a spiritual teacher, a religion, etc. Khayyam is saying that you should have a guide to help you with knowledge, perception, acting, and emotions
eventually, through hard work, effort, self-awareness, self-reflection, self-improvement, etc, you’ll progress towards self-mastery and no longer require a ‘guide’

Meditations of Rumi

commentary is my own
“First you were mineral, then vegetable, then man. You will be an angel, and you will pass beyond that too”
- the evolution of man!
“To the ignorant, a pearl seems a mere stone.”
“What bread looks like depends upon whether you are hungry or not.”
- Perception is such a flimsy thing. Our mere emotional state can completely alter it
“You may seek a furnace, but it would burn you. perhaps you need only the weaker flame of a lamp.”
- 2 ways of looking at this:
  - the solution to a problem: you must make effort to understand the problem at hand, only then can you determine the best solution.
    - at first, the furnace might be the best solution, but something smaller, something you may have overlooked, such as the lamp, may be the ideal medicine for your ailment
  - ambition/chasing a goal: the furnace represents a lofty goal, one that may lead to negative consequences. instead, aim for more manageable goals
“Counterfeiters exist because there is such a thing as real gold.”
- Newton’s third law: for every action in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction
“Whoever says everything is true is a fool, whoever says all is untrue is a liar.
- everything cannot be true, such is impossible. There will always be liars. Therefore someone who says or thinks everything is true is simply stupid
- at the same time, there has to be some truth around. The person claiming everything is untrue is likely concealing some truth. Knowledge is power, and they are hiding the knowledge for themselves
“They say: ‘He cannot be found’… Something that cannot be ‘found’ is what I desire.”
- the truth can’t be 100% found… maybe that’s what mankind desires! Maybe it’s the process of attempting to discover the truth that really matters

Short Stories

The Tale of Melon City

quite a funny short story. Summary:
- the king ordered a great arch be built for his city. When he passed through it, the arch knocked his crown off due to how low it was.
- he ordered the build-master be hanged. But the build-master blamed the builders.
- The builders then blamed the masons who built the bricks. And the masons blamed others, and it went on like this for a while, with one group blaming another
- finally the king called upon a wise man to settle it. The wise man said the arch itself is to be blamed!
- the arch wouldn’t fit due to the structure of the hanging platform. So they had to find a random person in the community to hang due to the fact the people were becoming impatient
- the only one who could fit was the king himself!! And so he was hanged
- according to tradition, the next person to enter the city is to declare the next king. When he came, and they asked him who shall be king, he replied “a melon!”
- the man was an idiot: he replied “melon” to everything!
- And so it was decided; the new king was a melon!
meaning: hard to tell, but maybe it shows how stupid the king can be sometimes, and how stupid tradition can be

Haughty and Generous

this was an alright short story. Not worth writing a summary

The Chests of Gold

story of a man swindling a merchant. Alright story

The Lowliest of the Arabs

story of a man claiming to be the noblest of all Arabs due to being a Sayed. When the Caliph questioned him on it, he switched up and said he’s the noblest because he’s in the presence of the Caliph

The Man, the Snake, and the Stone

a story of a man and a snake. The snake wants to kill him but they agree to approach various animals to decide. The sheep says the snake should kill the man. So does the horse. Finally they go to a fox who is on the human’s side. The trap the snake with a stone and in return the human gives the fox a chicken, but actually leads him into a trap to be killed
moral of the story: people with the disadvantage will plead mercy or tell you to be reasonable, yet when they gain the upper hand all reason and mercy goes out the window. Be careful who you deal with.

The Value of Kingdoms

quite a funny story. Summary:
- King Bayazid was defeated and brought to Tamerlane the Conqueror (Timur the Lame)
- Bayazid had one eye and Tamerlane laughed at him
- Bayazid warned that he should not laugh because he’s laughing at God’s will. It is God who presides over the destiny of thrones. God can choose who is king, and he chose Tamerlane in this particular instance
- Timur replied that that is exactly the reason he’s laughing: God handed the kingdom from a one-eyed person to a one-legged person. God presides over kingdoms, yet cares so little for them!
moral of the story: I guess God doesn’t care about kingdoms, so humble yourself? This is directed towards the king.

The Magic Horse

Summary:
- follows the story of Prince Tambal. His brother is Prince Hoshyar and dad is King Mumkin
- the king orders that the best inventions be brought to him. The smith brings him a metal fish that can swim and fly and transport goods. He hails this as the best invention ever
- the wood-worker brings a wooden horse that is magical, but the king thinks it’s a play-thing. Tambal requests that he be given the horse
- the horse allows Tambal to go anywhere he is thinking about
- one day Tambal requests to the horse that he would like to find his heart’s desire
- the horse takes him to a far away magical kingdom and he falls in love with the princess there. But the king of this kingdom would never allow such a union because the princess is betrothed to the prince of a neighboring magical kingdom
- Tambal has to run away because his horse is confiscated. He tries to go back home but gets lost in the desert. He finds an oasis with fruit, but when he eats the fruit he turns into a monster
- a wise man passing by tells Tambal to eat the dry fruit (not fresh) and he’ll become human again. It works
- the prince of the other kingdom, the one betrothed to the princess, prince Jadugarzada, passes by and asks Tambal to give him the fruit. Tambal accepts because he knows he’ll turn into a monster and won’t marry the princess.
- Jadugarzada becomes a monster and his councilors ask Tambal to pretend to be the prince and marry the princess on Jadugarzada’s behalf. He accepts.
- Tambal and the princess run away together on the horse back to Tambal’s home kingdom
notes:
- Hoshyar says to his brother Tambal that carrying a horse is a fit occupation for you, but as for me, “I am working for the good of all, toward my heart’s desire!“. Tambal responds with “I wish I knew what was the good of all. And I wish I could know what my heart’s desire is.”
the moral of the story:
- follow your heart’s desire.
- be authentically yourself: Tambal and Hoshyar were brothers but completely different. Hoshyar was involved with the fish and thought the horse was silly and useless. Tambal had the opposite opinion

The Prince of Darkness

Summary:
- there lived a goldsmith who was good at his job. One day Iblis, prince of darkness, visited him and said he would like to take all artifacts from the window. The goldsmith was scared so he agreed
- the goldsmith revealed this wish to his wife and his wife said that their daughter was in the window so Iblis wants to take their daughter too!
- Iblis leaves but says he’s going to come back in a few years to collect on the goldsmith’s promise
- as a way to trick Iblis, the goldsmith builds a wax life size figure of his daughter with a machine inside to make it walk and talk
- Iblis collected on the goldsmith’s promise and took the ‘fake’ daughter to his underground kingdom of fire
- a big feast was thrown with Iblis and his minions
- very quickly the fake daughter melted. Iblis was still tricked at this point and said “well these humans are a fragile lot. That wretched girl had only been with us a short while. What chance had she of lasting down here as my bride for eternity? I was mistaken. Build up the fire!
- the feast went on and the prince of darkness never thought of the girl again
the moral of the story:
- the prince desired the girl, he even waited for her for years. He eventually got it but then let her go without any fight. Did he really want her to begin with?
- I think the lesson here is know what you truly want. Don’t waste your time and your life trying to get something that isn’t important to you.

Encounter at a Hermitage

Summary
- a man goes to a hermitage in the Hindu Kush. He is greeted by the doorman, who also happens to be ‘The Ancient, The Guide’
- he is greeted with “welcome brother”. The Ancient uses the same greeting for a dog a few minutes later and the man is a bit upset because he feels equated to a dog
- the Ancient recites a poem: “a puff of smoke against a mountain - the heart grows glad. A kind word to a little dog - the heart grows sad.”
- the Ancient basically read the man’s thoughts! The man asks him to teach him these powers
- the Ancient says “I seem acceptable to you… but are you acceptable to me? People never bother to think that the doctrine may not accept them”
  - i.e. the man was quick to be amazed and asked to be taught the powers of reading minds. The Ancient calls him out for it, saying that although you may want to be taught, the thing you are seeking may not accept or reveal itself to you
- the Ancient further says to the man “you must go away. You are still too raw for a teacher to develop; a fruit must be touched by the right things, by those elements which ripen it. Go away, strive, work in every possible way.”
  - i.e. as said in the previous point, the thing or knowledge you are seeking may not open itself up to you, because it depends on your current state
  - reminds me of the quote from Tolstoy:
    - “The highest wisdom and truth are like the purest liquid we may wish to imbibe. Can I receive that pure liquid into an impure vessel and judge of its purity? Only by the inner purification of myself can I retain in some degree of purity the liquid I receive.” p. 376
      
      Link to original
- the Ancient relates the story of his master, Ben-Adhem, who gave up the throne of Balkh to become a wise-one/monk
  - Ben-Adhem was walking along a road and saw a rock with the following written on it, “turn me over and read”, so he turned it over and it said “WHY DO YOU SEEK MORE KNOWLEDGE WHEN YOU PAY NO HEED TO WHAT YOU KNOW ALREADY?”
- the man was shocked at this teaching. It was the greatest thing he’s ever heard.
- later on as the man continued to work on himself had he realized the true value of his encounter with The Ancient Shah Firoz
the moral of the story
- the Ancient was calling out the man for trying to seek more knowledge when he isn’t fully taking advantage of his current knowledge.
- “go away, strive, work in every possible way” you must learn in the world, learn from experience. Only then can you learn from the wise teacher because at that point you’d already be on your way to become a ripe fruit ready to be developed further by the teacher

The Shrine

This was a funny one
Summary:
- Mullah Nasrudin’s father is the keeper of a holy shrine. Nasrudin one day will inherit it, but before he wants to explore the world and see knowledge per the ancient maxim “seek knowledge even if it be in China”
- Nasrudin is gone for a dozen years. His donkey dies and he is distraught because this was the only creature with him for the entirety of his journey
- he buries his donkey and weeps for him for many months at the grave. Many people see him and believe Nasrudin’s teacher must’ve been buried there, a holy man no doubt
- the people build a shrine over the spot and it becomes a place of great fame and pilgrimage
- Nasrudin’s father hears about it and departs to visit it and finds his son is there. Nasrudin tells his father what had happened and his father exclaims and reveals to him that the shrine that he takes care of, that Nasrudin was born and raised in, in the burial spot of his own donkey who had died 30 years ago!
the moral of the story
- man is easily deceived and easily a follower. You see someone who you believe is a good and true man, and you instantly follow him. That’s how these ‘false’ shrines were built
- another opinion stated in the introduction to this story is that this story presents the parallel between real religion and what man understands by it:
  - true religion is that of the tomb of a real and true saint
  - what man understands by it is equal to the burying of the donkey instead of a saint
  - what this means is that true religion is that which you discover on your own via your own senses and volition, not just something that you follow others doing

Mushkil Gusha

this is an introduction to the next section
it discusses the “high event” as opposed to the very humanly “lesser event”
I honestly didn’t understand this part

The Story of Mushkil Gusha

not worth the summary
I think the message is to be grateful? Honestly wasn’t a good story

Cheating Death

Summary:
- follows the story of a man named Omar, a wealthy merchant.
- one day his entire fleet of ships get destroyed in a storm and his house robbed of all possessions
- he becomes depressed and tries killing himself but fails
- one day he saves the king and the king gives him back all his wealth and ships. He is fully restored to the position he once had
- one day the Angel of Death comes to take him, but Omar requests that he go to the Mosque first and pray, then the Angel can take him. Once the Angel leaves, Omar never goes near a Mosque so as to live a bit longer. He tricked the angel!
- years later the king requests Omar to become the new Imam of the Mosque and Omar was forced to agree
- he is leading the prayer and truly begging God for forgiveness for he knows his time is up.
- Angel of Death comes and Omar accepts his fate, mentioning that “Paradise after all is the just reward for all True Believers”
- The Angel says that Omar is going to Hell, not Heaven, because he tricked the Angel and already had his paradise on earth
Moral of the story:
- don’t deceive others because eventually it will fire back at you

The Three Perceptives

Summary
- follows a group of 3 Sufis called “The 3 Perceptives” due to their keen detail-oriented and attentive nature
- one day a man asks them if they’ve seen his lost camel
- the Sufis ask a series of questions, exactly describing the nature and circumstances of the man’s camels. Yet they deny every seeing the camel
- the man takes the Sufis to court, claiming they’ve stolen the camel for how else could they know so much?
- The Sufis are imprisoned but the man finds his camels soon after. He asks the judge to release them
- the judge asks the Sufis why they didn’t vouch for themselves before they were imprisoned?
- the Sufis say that chances are the man would’ve found his camel eventually and freed the Sufis, and then the judge would launch an inquiry to find the real truth for himself
- the Sufis then say:
  - first Sufi: “Discovering the truth by his own inquiries would be better for all than for us to claim that we had been impatiently handled
  - second Sufi: “It is our experience that it is generally better for people to arrive at truth through what they take to be their own volition”
Moral of the story:
- you must discover your own truth! Similar to the story “The Shrine” a few chapters earlier

Extracts

these are basically like “mini-short-stories”, typically just a single page in length
I did not include them all here, only the ones with good content

Definitions from Mulla Do-Piaza

these are a collection of terms with contemplative definitions. I’ve only written down the ones I like
all explanations/commentary are my own
Sickness = the messenger of death
- sickness often comes before death, hence why it’s the messenger of death
Patience = a support for the disappointed
- disappointed people often need to exercise patience for whatever misfortune came their way. Patience is a support mechanism for them
- this also means: BE PATIENT, in order to not become disappointed
Worry = something to make you unnecessarily ill
- worry is often unwarranted. Save yourself a headache and stop worrying
Poverty = the result of marriage
- LMAO
Intellectual = one who knows no craft
- often the intellectual has no hands-on skills
Wisdom = something you can learn without knowing it
- as opposed to knowledge, which is learned via knowing it
A fool = a man trying to be honest with the dishonest
- you can’t be honest with the dishonest for they will just trick you
Supporter = someone who will say anything
- don’t be a supporter. Be a leader. Don’t blind follow at least
Truthful man = he who is, secretly, regarded by everyone as an enemy
- people don’t like hearing the truth

The Two brothers

Summary
- 2 brothers ran a farm together. One was single, the other had a family
- one night the single brother woke up and felt it was unfair that he had the same amount of crop yield as his brother, who had the responsibilities and anxieties of having a family, so he moved some of his crops to his brothers share
- the married brother also woke up and felt a similar way, that it’s unfair that his brother lacks the pleasure of having a family life, so he moved some of his crops to his brother’s share
- they both woke up the next morning amazed that they both had the same amount of crops
- year after year, they would give each other some crops secretly but when they awoke it would always still be the exact same, because they both were giving to one another. They never figured out why
Moral of the story
- your kindness may be repaid

The Angel and the Charitable Man

Summary
- an angel approaches a hermit and tells him to tell a certain charitable man that he is to die in 6 months and go to heaven
- the hermit tells the charitable man and the man is joyful of his coming fate, and even further increases his charities
- 3 years pass and the man is still alive. People call the hermit a false prophet and the hermit feels stung by his negative reputation now. He becomes more and more sour and no one can stand his company.
- the angel visits him again and says “you see, how frail a thing you are. True enough, the charitable man has gone to paradise, and has in fact ‘died’ in a certain manner known only to the elect, while he yet enjoys this life. But you, you are still almost worthless. Now that you have felt the strings which vanity brings on, perhaps you will be able to make a start on the road to spirituality”
Moral of the story
- the hermit descended into a negative state because he had too much vanity (inflated pride in oneself), he felt hurt by the fact his ‘prophecy’ didn’t come true. This made him sour, and the angel calls him worthless
- this story is warning against vanity. Be spiritual for yourself, it’s all about your inner state and inner purification. Vanity is evil.

Hospitality

Summary
- Anwar Beg, a Turkestani, had a great horse that everyone wanted to buy, including his friend Yakub. Anwar loved the horse and didn’t want to sell it
- Anwar had fallen into hard times financially so his friend Yakub thought it was the best time to try to buy the horse
- as per Turkestani customs, Anwar had to be very hospitable for his guest Yakub and they ate a nice meal together
- as the day went by, Yakub finally brought up the subject of buying the horse. Anwar replied saying that unfortunately they cannot discuss such matter because “hospitality comes first” and he had to kill the horse to provide a meal
Moral of the story
- hospitality is above all us, including something you care deeply about like your horse
- Anwar refused to sell the horse for money, but he had no issue killing it for meat to fulfill the obligations of hospitality

Letter from a Queen

Summary
- when the Persian ruler of Iraq died, his wife the Queen took over as ruler
- Mahmud of Ghazni sent a letter demanding tribute or else he’ll invade
- she sent him a letter highlighting the possible outcomes:
  - I (the Queen) win, and will achieve great fame
  - you, Mahmud win, and people will say you merely defeated an old woman
- Mahmud read the message and swore to never invade Iraq while the Queen lived
Moral of the story
- examine all the possible outcomes before you take action. This will help you determine whether or not that action is worth taking

The Artillery

I laughed out loud at this one. This one is straight jokes
Summary
- Jan-Fishan Khan (great-great-grandfather of Idries Shah) was invited to British India to see some of their weapons
- each time the artillery hit their target, the British officer shouted excitedly and enthusiastically
- Jan-Fishan invited the British officers to his land in Paghman later on
- while eating, one of Jan-Fishan’s men came up and whispered something in his ear and Jan said excitedly “did you hear that?!” to the British officers and they asked what he said, and Jan-Fishan replied “it’s not about what he said, but rather that we both understood each other!!”
- the officers were confused about why Jan-Fishan was excited about this
- later on they see some horses and Jan-Fishan pointed out that the horses can walk and even run! And he clapped his hands in excitement! At this point the British officers thought Jan-Fishan was a madman.
- as the British were leaving, Jan-Fishan told them “as you see gentleman, if you have guns that do exactly what they were built to do - hitting the target - I too am surrounded by things which fulfill their function quite adequately. What I have learned from you is to get excited about it”
Moral of the story
- no need to get excited when a particular thing is doing exactly what it should be doing

Jan-Fishan Khan’s Favour

this was very short, like 1/5 of a page
Summary
- a man approached Jan-Fishan to ask for a ‘small favour’
- Jan-Fishan ordered he be thrown out “until he learns that you insult Jan-Fishan by asking him for anything small!”

Omar and the Wine-Drinker

summary
- the Caliph Omar was out one night looking for people up to no good when he heard singing coming from a house
- he climbed in via the wall and saw a man drinking wine
- Omar called him out for drinking wine when it is a sin
- the man cried back saying he has in fact sinned once, but Omar sinned thrice
  - Omar eavesdropped
  - Omar entered the house without a salutation to the occupants
  - Omar entered the house without going through the door
- Omar accepted his rebuke
Moral of the story
- we’re quick to identity sins in others, but rarely look upon ourselves
- this is a great story at highlighting Psychic Projection in action

The Proper Channels

summary
- a beggar asks Caliph Marwan for money. the Caliph tells him to ask Allah
- the beggar says that Allah told him to refer to Marwan
- the Caliph says “here at last is a man who realizes that everything must have a channel. It would be well if all you people here present were to realize it”
- the beggar was rewarded
Moral of the story
- you must approach the appropriate person/channel for your ask/need.
- example: you don’t ask your co-worker for a raise, you ask your manager

Commander of the Faithful

moral of the story
- everyone’s logic and reasoning is based on what they already know.
- Yes, the Sufi was very wrong, but he used the same reason and logic based process as the Caliph’s intellectual advisors
- this teaches us that we need to be careful when employing our own logic and reasoning for we have base it on untrue facts

The Ball of Marzipan

moral of the story
- very similar to the above story
- basically the village man could only determine what marzipan was using the knowledge he has gained from his own village. In order for him to be taught what marzipan is, he’d need to be given more information and more bases of understanding it

Ahmad Hussain and the Emperor

Summary
- Mahmud of Ghazni was walking with the sufi Ahmad Hussain who has the power to read people’s minds, but he rarely displays it and Mahmud has never seen it
- Mahmud asks him a series of questions about a nearby man and Ahmad answers them all correctly, thus apparently exposing his powers
- Ahmed reveals that he did not employ any powers, but rather he simply observed the man very carefully and came up with those answers using his reasoning and inference
moral of the story
- sometimes things aren’t as they seem. You might witness something crazy or phenomenal, but in reality there is a much simpler explanation

The King, the Sufi, and the Surgeon

this is the same story found in The 48 Laws of Power that inspired me to read this book!
moral of the story
- the advice from the Sufi to the king was “never begin anything until you have reflected what will be the end of it”
- the Sufi implemented this advice when asking for the money BEFORE giving the advice to the king, a smart move indeed because the Sufi likely reflected on the “end of it” and figured the king may not give him any money
- also, this advice saved the king’s life

Maulana Dervish

summary
- someone called the Maulana a dog, rather than get offended he viewed it as a good thing
- a dog obeys his master (God), and shows the sheep (the Maulana’s students) the right path. A dog infuriates thieves and criminals, just as a pious man should. A dog wags its tail in pleasure when his master’s friends come near, just as a pious man should when Godly men come near
moral of the story
- don’t get easily offended

Pleasant and Unpleasant

“people say that they want help, when they want attention”
“they say that they want to listen, when they want to be heard
“if you think that we are unpleasant, you holding up a mirror to yourself, and saying ‘look at them!’ ”
- classic case Psychic Projection

Saadi: On Envy

this story is about envious people and how they will criticize anyone for anything no matter what
they criticize the poor man for being poor, and the rich man for being rich, etc

Prayer

summary:
- a man asks another pious man for help, the pious man says “I cannot help you, I have to say my prayers”
- the man complains to Bahaudin Naqshband who says that “the best prayer is useful action”
- Bahaudin explains that although on the surface it looks like the pious man comitted a wrong by not helping, it could be that the pious man thought he had no good solution to the man’s problem, and therefore felt prayer was the best solution
moral of the story
- don’t be quick to judge or interpret someone’s intention. You never know what they really meant by their word/action

Letters

summary
- everyone writes letters in a different way
  - the ordinary man writes the letter however he wants (it doesn’t matter the state of the recipient)
  - the thoughtful man writes with the state of the recipient in mind, being careful not to offend
  - the learned man doesn’t write many letters because he cannot anticipate the state of the recipient
  - the Sufi writes no letter until he deciphers the state of the recipient
  - the adept (expert) writes any letter as needed (lays down the facts as is, no fluff, no beating around the bush)
  - the gnostic has no need of writing or receiving letters
- all of these are problematic though, except for the ordinary man
  - the gnostic will come across either very great or very heedless for not writing any letters
  - the adept will be judged as an emotionalist or propagandist
  - the Sufi would write unsuitable letters because no one can divine the state of the recipient
  - the learned man will be thought as not caring about letters and more occupied with other things
  - the thoughtful man would write incomprehensible or strange-worded letters because he’s so worried about potentially offending
  - the ordinary man, writing ordinary letters, would certainly have some letters that resonate with some people, and other letters that resonate with other people. Therefore he’d be styled as a saint
moral of the story
- be yourself. Write in an ordinary way. Write how you would like to receive a letter. There is bound to be some people who would like your letters
- this is actually a good lesson if you’re pursuing some sort of creative endeavor; don’t worry about what other people think, just do what you think is cool. Certainly someone else out there also feels the same way

The Four Men and the Interpreter

summary:
- 4 men were gathered and given some money to share
- the Persian said I want to buy ‘angur’
- the Arab said I want to buy some ‘inab’
- the Turk said I want to buy ‘uxum’
- the Greek said I want to buy ‘stafil’
- they started fighting
- “they had information but no knowledge”
- a wise man came and reconciled them. He told them he’ll use their money to buy all their wants, and their four distinct wants will become as one united.
- this wise man obviously knew that all four men wanted the same thing: grapes
moral of the story
- knowledge is important, not just information. Knowledge starts off as information, but as information becomes useful that is when it becomes knowledge
- the wise man had knowledge because use skill over language was useful

Seeing Double

summary:
- a father tells his double-seeing son, “son you see two instead of one”
- the son replies, “how? if that was, then I’d see four moons instead of two”
moral of the story
- if you’re used to a specific way things are, how would you know that is it wrong?
- example: if you’re color blind and see pink instead of blue, how would you ever know that you color vision is messed up without someone telling you? In reality, colors are simply determined by the majority. If 99% of people say the sky is blue, then that is it.
- this teaches us that our senses are so inherently faulty. We rely on others for knowledge too.

Yusuf, Son of Husain

summary:
- Yusuf, a disciple of a Sufi master, asks him to reveal to him “the Most Great Name”
- the Sufi master gives him a dish with a cloth tied around it and tells him to give this to the dervish on the other side of the river, but do NOT untie it
- Yusuf, while on his way, becomes curious and unties it and a rat jumps out and runs away
- he arrives to the dervish and the dervish tells him he failed the test
  - “you could not bear a rat in a bowl: can you therefore protect the Great Name?”
moral of the story
- you must have discipline
- if you can’t complete something small, how do you expect to complete something big and daunting? Instead, focus on improving in small ways then you can tackle the big problems

Encounter with the Devil

summary
- a devout man who is on a life long journey of truth seeking was meditating when a devil sat beside him
- he cried “away demon!”
- a wise man passed by and told him that was actually an angel, not a demon
moral of the story
- don’t let your preconceived notions or your arrogance cloud your judgement.
- try to look at situations with an unbiased lens

The Beard of the Dervish

summary:
- a dervish spent a lot of time caring for his beard. One day he asks Moses to ask God why despite his constant worship he never reaches spiritual fulfillment
- God says it’s because the dervish spends too much time worrying about his beard. Moses relays that message.
- The dervish decide to pluck out his beard based on God’s words.
- Gabriel approached Moses telling him that now the dervish is even more occupied with his beard, plucking it out one by one
moral of the story:
- just because one knows what NOT to do, doesn’t mean it knows what TO do
- also, the world isn’t made of binaries. Caring for your beard is not the opposite of plucking out your beard, like the dervish believes. There’s a middle ground to be taken.

The Ants and the Pen

summary:
- an ant discovers a piece of paper with a pen writing on it
- the ant views it as beautiful and shows other ants
- one ant discovers that the pen is not the master of the beautiful writing, but fingers! Overtime the ants discover more and more: not fingers, but a hand, not a hand, but an arm, not an arm, but a body, etc.
- eventually the ants grasped the mechanics of writing at a deep level, but they were unable to discover the meaning and intention of the writing, because to discover that goes beyond their customary method of investigation
moral of the story:
- we can use the scientific method to discover a lot about the world, but it’s not enough.
- Allegory is required for the human mind to understand ideas that cannot be understood by any other method, like the scientific method
- this is why Sufis and many other spiritualists try to discover the ‘inner’ meaning behind things, i.e. ‘batiniyyah’ or ‘esoteric’

Confessions of John of Antioch

John is talking about Sufis
he says regarding Sufis: “these are the men who love mankind, and whose love enables people to find the road to their own home” - p. 218

Three Things

3 things cannot be retrieved:
- the arrow once sped from the bow
- the word spoken in haste
- the missed opportunity
attributed to Caliph Ali, son-in-law of Muhammad

Table Talk by Idries Shah

these are a collection of very short stories (extracts) or small passages about a specific idea or topic

Broadcasting

people often will ignore what you say until it is dramatized.
example: you may live with someone smart and ignore all that they say, but once you hear they are about to appear on TV you rush to view it and listen to their words
it is an unfortunate fact that most today do not take interest in something unless it is dramatized (by TV for example) or ritualized

Prison

summary:
- a man has to rescue people from a prison without getting caught. He decides to get arrested and imprisoned himself then break out that way
- when he gets to the prison, the inmates believe there is nothing in existence outside their prison, as if they’ve been brainwashed. So ‘escaping’ the prison means nothing to them
- when the man died, the inmates turned his ‘strange’ words into a cult and use it to comfort themselves and use it as arguments against the next ‘liberator’ who comes among them
meaning:
- this explains how religion could’ve turned out
  - a prophet comes with some ‘strange’ knowledge or words. The people barely comprehend it because they are so below the prophet in spiritual development in wisdom
  - eventually they make a religion out of his words
- in reality, as Ibn Sina said, religious words and teachings are dumbed down so the mass populace can understand it

A Motto of the Human Race

“Tell me what to do; but it must be what I want you to tell me.”

General Gordon

in Sudan there was a statue of General Gordon mounted on a camel. A small boy really loved it and when his family was leaving Sudan he stopped by the statue once more. He said goodbye and asked his nanny, “who is the man sitting on top of General Gordon?”
the boy was under the assumption that the camel was General Gordon!
this teaches us that we all have assumptions, sometimes even silly ones, and we never even consider that our assumptions could be wrong.
this also teaches us the power of asking questions. Just one simple question can clear up all misconceptions.

Good

“show me a man who thinks that he knows what ‘good’ is, and I will probably be able to show you a horror of a person. Show me a person who really knows what ‘good’ is, and I will show you that he almost never uses the word”
the person who claims to know what ‘good’ is likely is a very rigid, self-righteous, moralistic, and maybe dangerous person
the person who TRULY knows what good is doesn’t use the word because they’d rather display good through their actions. They also avoid using the term because ‘good’ is a complex concept and can’t be fully fleshed out using words.

Man

“Kick him, he’ll forgive you. Flatter him, he may or may not see through you. But ignore him and he’ll hate you, even if he conceals it until he dies”
this was in Law 36 Disdain Things You Cannot Have Ignoring Them Is The Best Revenge
this sums up the condition of mankind. People crave attention, be it positive or negative. That’s why the “silent treatment” is so effective, everyone hates it.

Teaching

“please do not start to teach the blind until you have practiced living with closed eyes”
if you want to teach someone something, you must first understand their current situation, their perspective, problems, circumstances, struggles, etc
without doing that, you run the risk of presumptuous teaching or guidance

Lessons Learned & Analysis

Notes and Quotes

Proverbs

throughout the book, various proverbs are scattered around. Here are some of them (commentary is my own):

He would break his teeth on a lettuce leaf - p. 16

describes a weak man; someone who is so weak that something as harmless as a lettuce leaf could harm him

To an ant, a drizzle is torrential rain - p. 16

Perception is everything, as we know very well by now!

Do you want both egg and omelette? - p. 46

this means that sometimes in life we have to make a choice and we cannot have everything we desire
the fact that both eggs and omelettes are very similar conveys the importance of truly understanding your needs/wants and prioritizing your choices accordingly. You must determine which you truly want: the egg or the omelette?

The dead depend upon the living - p. 46

this could mean a plethora of things, but personally I think it relates to the idea of legacy
the dead can only have a legacy if the living choose so. If all living people chose to forget about a dead person, even if he was very famous, then his legacy would disappear

A snake’s child is precious to the snake - p. 74

parental love and instincts are very powerful. Even an animal that carries such negative connotations, the snake, shares in these parental instincts

Others sowed for me: I sow for others to come - p. 74

this is talking about the idea of reciprocity and ‘paying it forward’
there’s always someone who ‘bled’ for the path you’re taking, whether it be a parent, a sibling, a teacher, a co-worker, etc. Therefore you must be grateful and ensure you pay the kindness forward
in other words, don’t take advantage of the efforts of those who came before you; you must also actively contribute to the betterment of the future and society, i.e. sow the seeds of the future

The answer to a fool is silence - p. 78

you cannot win an argument with a fool, so why bother engaging?

If you regret kissing me - take back your kiss - p. 85

A kiss is something you cannot undo. Once the kiss is done, it’s done.
rather than regretting it and wanting to take it back, just move on. Don’t be a fool and try to take back your kiss

May your shadow never grow less - p. 85

this is a saying of well-wishes (had to look this up online)

Now that it is gone, does it matter whether a cow ate it or not? - p. 89

what’s gone is gone. Who cares what happened to it. Just let it go

A drum is not beaten under a coverlet - p. 94

a drum, when beaten under a coverlet (a thick blanket) doesn’t produce loud sound, it is muffled.
this means that important matters (represented by the drum) should be done openly and not concealed. Transparency, openness, and honesty are valued.

He who has made a door and a lock, has also made a key - p. 117

if a door and a lock exist, therefore the key must exist also
every problem has a solution

Learn to behave from those who cannot - p. 117

do the opposite of those people and you’ll likely be behaving a lot better than them

Salt is not attacked by ants - p. 120

salt is known as a natural deterrent for ants. It has inherent qualities that makes it disliked by ants
this proverb means that we as humans can also adopt qualities that will help us deter negative influences, similar to salt with ants.
we must learn to become the ‘salt’ to whatever harm or adversity is coming our way

No answer is in itself an answer - p. 135

sometimes the best way you can answer someone is by providing no answer. This is simply true

A nut has a sweet kernel: a date has a useless stone - p. 135

this contrasts the difference between internal and external appearances or benefits
a nut has a hard un-edible shell, but a sweet nutritious kernel (the nut itself)
a date has a sweet exterior while inside it has a hard un-edible shell
both nuts and dates are great and provide different benefits. The date is more obvious, while the nut requires a little bit more digging. Neither are useless - they both provide great benefit in their own way

He discards a quilt for fear of bugs - p. 142

some people take a severe action/measure (discarding the quilt) to avoid or remediate a small problem (presence of bugs), thus resulting in a loss or sacrifice
we must not overreact to small problems or make disproportionate decisions
don’t let paranoia dictate your action. Instead use your rational judgement.

If you have no troubles - buy a goat - p. 142

a goat is a worthy investment: it can provide milk, cheese, wool, and meat. If you are not occupied with anything currently, invest in something like a goat so you can have a good investment on your hands
another way to look at it is that a goat is a lot of work to take care of, therefore if you need to occupy your time with something, buy a goat

Be a dog, but don’t be a younger brother - p. 143

younger brothers are associated with being dependent and subordinate to their family members
this proverb encourages us to be more self-reliant and independent, while also remaining loyal, just like a dog, i.e. you must strike a balance between loyalty and independence

You will never reach Mecca, I fear: for you are on the road to Turkestan - p. 149

highlights the fact that you need to be clear on your goals and objectives. If your goal is Mecca, why are you heading in the opposite direction to Turkestan?

What goes into a salt-mine becomes salt - p. 152

in a literal sense, items placed in salt-mine can become fused with the salt due to its pervasive nature
metaphorically this means that people are a product of their environment. You put someone in a negative environment and they’ll turn out negative too
this is a warning to be careful where you hang out, who you are friends with, what you are influenced by, etc

Man has less than he suspects of: Time, friends, hopes, qualities - p. 152

time: this is why we naturally procrastinate so much, we think we have so much time on our hands but we really don’t
friends: specifically TRUE friends. Most of our friends would probably abandon us in times of need
hopes: dreams and hopes are what motivate us to do the things we do, it is what often drives our productivity. Often times we are not motivated or productive because we don’t actually have a strong enough hope or dream, or too few
qualities: we naturally want to think we have so many good qualities, talents, and skills, but the reality is upon deep self-reflection we may not have as many as we think
Overall this proverb teaches us that we must be cognizant of the time, friends, hopes, and qualities that we do have and to use them all wisely

No colour comes after black - p. 154

black commonly has a negative meaning associated with it. It represents ‘rock-bottom’. Once you’ve hit that point you can’t go down further.
the proverb expresses that things can’t get worse and you’ll be on a upwards trajectory soon

You make me a sinner if you stop me giving you hospitality - p. 155

this is why people don’t allow others to pay for the dinner bill

Take the straight path, even if it is long: marry no widow, even if she is a houri - p. 158

the straight path is the moral, upright path. Sometimes it is hard to walk along such a path, but it is the better one to take
the second part of the proverb means to look beyond external features. Yes, houri are beautiful and you might encounter a woman here on earth that is “houri-like”. But you must exercise wisdom and caution in your actions especially one as big as marriage

The power of God: no sound, no shape, no form. But when it manifests, none can resist it - p. 167

God is the all-powerful. He is beyond shape, sound and form. He needs none of that. Yet when manifested, no one can resist his power

Dye your hair, certainly. But what can you do for your face? - p. 167

nowadays you can do plastic surgery lol
self-acceptance: you can change your hair, but you can’t change your face as easily. A better way to cope with an ‘ugly’ face is to simply accept it for what it is and be proud of it.
reminds me of what Tyrian says to Jon Snow about being a bastard: wear it proudly and no one can use it to hurt you

hit your hand on a stone and expect it to hurt - p. 172

as they say, play stupid games win stupid prizes
don’t be surprised at an obvious outcome

Life: sometimes the man on the saddle, sometimes the saddle on the man - p. 173

life sometimes goes by smoothly, like you are on the saddle. Other times, life is very hard and tough as if you’re a horse and the saddle is on top of you
also it can mean times where you are in control (on the saddle), and times when external factors are in control (saddle on the man)

My leg is not lame, God’s earth is not small - p. 176

the first part means that you are fully healthy and capable
the second part means that the earth is full of oppurtunities
since you are fully able-bodied, you have so many opportunities at your disposal to take advantage of

Because sugar is not arsenic, many graves are full - p. 177

sugar, in moderation, is very harmless. Which makes people think it’s not a bad thing at all. The reality is that sugar is very harmful when eaten in excess, sometimes leading to death
this proverb shows us that just because something is not obviously toxic as arsenic, doesn’t mean it’s not also bad for us
we need to exercise caution when indulging in anything that has any possible negative impact on us

Pick up a been from kindness, and learn the limitations of kindness - p. 185

this was in The 48 Laws of Power
if you pick up a bee, it’ll sting you. This proverb is teaching us that being infinitely kind is not a good strategy in life. Sooner or later you will get stung.

Have the nature of a dervish: then wear a stylish cap - p. 185

this proverb highlights the importance of inner transformation first before trying to externally portray whatever it is you think you are

Much travel is needed before the raw man is ripened - p. 186

ripened = experienced, maturity
you need to travel the world, or least experience lots of different things before you can truly be mature, grow as a person, and develop wisdom

Patience is bitter, but bears a sweet fruit - p. 187

being patient is hard. No one likes to be patient. Especially in modern times since we live in such a fast paced world
the outcome of being patient is always rewarding

One day the cub will become a wolf, even if it has been reared among the sons of man - p. 189

your environment only matters to an extent, your genetics, birth, and biology matter too
a cub, once it is a wolf, still has the biology of a wolf. No matter how it was raised it will fall back on that biology when needed. For example, it’ll eat the humans who raised it if it’s starving

Better the demon which makes you improve than the angel who threatens - p. 190

‘demon’ means adversity. It’s better to go through very difficult situations if they help you improve rather than something desirable (the angel) that makes you complacent or stagnant

For every Pharaoh there is a Moses - p. 199

reiterates the principle of “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”
similar to when people say “there is someone for everyone”
every force has an opposing force

Your magic talisman is powerful: but are you a Solomon to make it work? - p. 200

to use a tool, you must be capable of using it.
example: if you have no experience with drilling, simply having a drill won’t do you any good. You need the knowledge and expertise on how to use it

Be in the world, but not of the world - p. 200

play your role in society, but don’t become too attached to worldly affairs

the reading of the ignorant: like a donkey eating a melon which it has stamped into the mire - p. 207

similar to how a donkey doesn’t appreciate the value of a melon, and thus tramples it into the mud, an ignorant person doesn’t value the knowledge they are receiving and therefore may not truly understand, respect, or appreciate it
this proverb cautions us to acquire knowledge with understanding and respect

Main Idea of the Book

There is no main idea. This book is a collection of stories, passages, and proverbs about a wide variety of topics

One common theme/teaching was that you must ensure your knowledge is free of underlying assumptions and preconceived notions. We often don’t realize this so it’s something we have to really reflect on.

Wandering Meditations

Explorer

Caravan of Dreams