Review of Learning how to Learn: 100 Conversations with Idries Shah.

These extraordinary conversations with ordinary people apply traditional psychology to contemporary problems of humanity. The book contains over 100 ancient & modern Sufi tales & extracts detailing how, what and why Sufis learn and more. It’s a surprisingly practical assortment of delicious mental exercises: invigorating, challenging & necessary. I felt obliged to read more openly, without assumptions or expectations; to be patient & watchful. Here are a few tantalizing tidbits:

“If you cannot laugh frequently and genuinely, you have no soul.”

“There is no wisdom where there is no common sense: it cannot under those conditions find any expression.”

“When a belief becomes more than an instrument, you are lost. You remain lost until you learn what ‘belief’ is really for.”

“Study the assumptions behind your actions. Then study the assumptions behind your assumptions.”

“The person that you feel yourself to be, according to the Sufis, is a false person, which has no true reality.”