Wisdom of the Idiots

http://dailynationalcourier.com/national_courier/jun2009_daily/21-06-09/artical/artical1.htm

(Published 21.6.2009)

Born in Simla, the famous Hill Station resort of India , to an Afghan-Indian writer-cum-diplomat father and Scottish mother in 1924 he grew up for the most part in London .
His early writings, as the name of his first book "Oriental Magic" (published 1956) suggests centred around witchcraft and magic. He published his second book "Magic: Book of the Sorcerers and a travelogue "Destination Mecca " a year later.
In 1960 he established a publishing house and with the passage of time his writings started presenting Sufism as a universal form of wisdom. He not only translated classic Sufi fables into English but also published titles of his own. He stressed that Sufism was not static but always adapt itself to the current time, place and people. Directed at the developed English speaking world he used terms and technologies that could best appeal to its civilized logic. He not only made Sufism, which he presented as universal wisdom, acceptable in the Western world but also helped made it its "˜demand'. One of his best recognized book The Sufis (published 1964) received overwhelming response internationally. He used eastern fables and parables extensively in his writings to introduce Sufi teachings for the benefit of discerning minds in the West. His writings contain multi-tier meanings aimed at triggering insight and self-reflection. He died in November 1996 leaving behind over three dozen critically acclaimed books in English, many of them about Sufism including The Sufis, Tales of Dervishes, Thinkers of the East- Studies in Experientialism, The Hundred Tales of Wisdom, Neglected Aspects of Sufi Study, The Elephant in the Dark "“ Christianity, Islam and The Sufis, Wisdom of the Idiots, The Way of the Sufi, Knowing How to Know. He has also written fiction, travel and books for children. By the time he died his books had sold over 15 million copies in a dozen languages worldwide and were reviewed in numerous international journals and newspapers.He presented Mulla Nasruddin in a totally different way from the idiotically funny nincompoop as he was and still being treated as in our part of the world. He cast him in a totally different light altogether by giving an altogether meaning to jokes attributed to him. His collections of humourous stories which he penned down ina series of book including The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin, The Subtleties of the Inimitable Mulla Nasrudin, The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mullah Nasrudin and The World of Nasrudin were smashing hits in the West.
The subtle message and multi-layered meanings of his writings could be judged from this short fable about a man that we treat as good-for-nothing nincompoop: "Nasrudin dreamt that he had Satan's beard in his hand. Tugging the hair he cried: "The pain you feel is nothing compared to that which you inflict on the mortals you lead astray." And he gave the beard such a tug that he woke up yelling in agony. Only then did he realise that the beard he held in his hand was his own."
His writings, particularly about Sufism, are succinct mix of humour and reason aimed at therapeutic treatment of mind, though, meaning , perception and reasoning. However, he cautioned against administering wisdom, knowledge and reason in quick doses saying that "Enlightenment must come little by little-otherwise it would overwhelm".
He compared Sufi story to peach: "A person may be emotionally stirred by the exterior as if the peach were lent to you. You can eat the peach and taste a further delight ... You can throw away the stone "“ or crack it and find a delicious kernel within. This is the hidden depth." He disapproved the bent of Western focus on appearances and superficialities saying it merely reflected fashion and habit and preferred appealing to the unconscious.
Reading the following jokes may give an insight what he meant. "One woman says to another, "'Poor Maisie really has suffered for what she believes in.' "˜And what DOES she believe in?' asks the other. "˜She believes that you can wear a size six shoe on a size nine foot.'" And this one, "People ran to tell the Mulla that his mother-in-law had fallen into the river. "˜She will be swept out to sea, for the torrent is very fast here,' they cried. Without a moment's hesitation Nasrudin dived into the river and started to swim upstream. "˜No!' they cried, "˜Downstream! That is the only way a person can be carried away from here.' "˜Listen!' panted the Mulla, "˜I know my wife's mother. If everyone else is swept downstream, the place to look for her is upstream.'"
Responding to a question that "what would he like to see happen for the sake of humanity" by Psychology Today in 1975, she asked him he replied "What I would really want, in case anybody is listening, is for the products of the last 50 years of psychological research to be studied by the public, by everybody, so that the findings become part of their way of thinking "¦ they have this great body of psychological information and refuse to use it."
He influenced Canadian Nobel-prize winner Doris Lessing immensely, "I found Sufism as taught by Idries Shah"¦ suitable for this time and this place. It is not some regurgitated stuff from the East or watered-down Islam or anything like that".
He was/is Idries Shah, whom we seem to know almost nothing about.