The Dermis Probe is named after Idries Shah’s award-winning film based on Sanai’s and Rumi’s ancient tale: The Blind Men and the Elephant. I’ve read this book many times. Often I’ve had a strange feeling that this exotic mind-bending hodgepodge of tales and aphorisms formed a comprehensive expression of Sufi thought and action. It’s all there. It is an “Elephant” of a book. Like a blind man I’ve used “touch” to try to understand it: making assumptions, associating it to what I think I know. From time to time, I realize I can’t “see”, something the sightless men in the tale never do. Yet this book also has useable bits that have helped me find balance, perspective & effectiveness from time to time. Here are a few examples:
The barren branches may appear inelegant: They are, to the cook, the means to make his fire.
Patience is a garment which has never worn out.
If you have no troubles – buy a goat.
Call yourself unlucky only if you take up coffin-making and people stop dying.
The Dermis Probe is unique, unexpected and bracing. It seems to come from another world and yet speaks to us here. The bulk of it is hidden but it beckons us to search for the eyes to see.