Idries Shah, Learning How To Learn: Psychology And Spirituality In The Sufi Way Quotes
Forms are vehicles and instruments, and vehicles and instruments cannot be called good or bad without context.
The institution of teachership is there for this reason, that the learner must learn how to learn.
What you are seeking in your retreat, I see clearly in every road and alleyway.
Remember that greed includes greed for being not greedy.
When people believe that the form is more important than the Truth, they will not find truth, but will stay with form.
Correct teaching brings out human excellence.
Why did I do such-and-such a thing?' is all very well. But what about 'How otherwise could I have done it?'.
The teaching must, of course, work with the best part of the individual, must be directed to his or her real capacity.
The teacher works in accordance with the prospects of his students and the possibility of maintaining the community of Sufis.
The Sufi teacher’s mission is to be in the service of those who can learn.
One of the basic Sufi needs is to enable people to see themselves as they really are.
Most people, whatever their opinions and protestations, do not want to learn.
Real generosity is anonymous to the extent that a man should be prepared even to be considered ungenerous rather than explain it to others.
He who knows himself, knows his Lord' means, among other things, that self-deception prevents knowledge.
If you really want to learn, do not be surprised if someone tries to teach you. And do not lightly reject the method.
They say: 'Seek wisdom while you have the strength, or you may lose the strength without gaining wisdom.
You have come a long way, and you do not know it. You have a long way to do, and you do know what that means.
All approaches to a study or an individual may start with a desire for attention. However they start, they must never end up in this manner.
Why did I do such-and-such a thing?' is all very well. But what about 'How otherwise could I have done it?
...action is in fact knowledge in operation. Right action stems from right knowledge. Right knowledge is acquired through the teacher.
The real generosity is when a man does something generous when nobody knows about it.
Progress comes through capacity to learn, and is irresistible.
It has truly been said that 'Humility is not so much a virtue as a necessity, in order to learn.
Sufis are those who have expunged from their minds the human tendencies of envy and enmity.
When humility is exercised, people begin to realise that they do not, as it were, exist at all.
There can be no spirituality, according to the Sufi masters, without psychology, psychological insight and sociological balance.
One of the great Sufis said: 'A saint is a saint unless he knows that he is one.
Laziness is always your fault. It is the sign that a man has persevered in uselessness for too long.
Remember the proverb: 'A sign is enough for the alert, but a thousand counsels are not enough for the negligent.
Greed harms you: generosity helps you. This is why it has been said: 'Greed is the mother of incapacity'.
if... says: 'Do not be greedy, be generous', you may inwardly interpret this in such a manner that you will develop a greed for generosity
