
Knowing How to Know
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Narrated by:
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David Ault
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By:
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Idries Shah
About this listen
Contemporary esoteric systems almost always play on the desire of mankind to seek or acquire knowledge. All but universally neglected in such systems are the often unrecognized barriers which prevent knowledge and understanding.
Before learning can take place, certain conditions and basic factors must be in place, in the individual or the group. Building on the foundations laid in Learning How to Learn and The Commanding Self, Idries Shah in Knowing How to Know illuminates those factors.
Like ultraviolet light shone onto the petals of flowers, it reveals concealed patterns, normally invisible to our customary modes of thought.
©1998 ISF Publishing (P)2020 ISF PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
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A Perfumed Scorpion
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The "perfuming of a scorpion", referred to by the great Sufi teacher Bahaudin, symbolizes hypocrisy and self-deception: both in the individual and in institutions. In A Perfumed Scorpion, Idries Shah directs attention to both the perfume and the scorpion - the overlay and the reality - in psychology, human behavior and the learning process. Crammed with illustrative anecdotes from contemporary life, the book is nevertheless rooted in the teaching patterns of Rumi, Hafiz, Jami, and many other great Oriental sages. It deals with the need for and the path to knowledge and information.
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INTERESTING
- By JK on 06-05-24
By: Idries Shah
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Learning How to Learn
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Condensed from more than three million words, these conversations involve housewives and cabinet ministers, professors and assembly-line workers, on the subject of how traditional psychology can illuminate current human, social, and spiritual problems. More than 100 tales and extracts from Sufi lore, ranging from the eighth century (Hasan of Basra) to the modern Afghan poet Khalilullah Khalili, are woven into Shah’s narratives of how and why the Sufis learn what they learn and how spiritual understanding develops and deteriorates in all societies.
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bracing and illuminating
- By Nicholas Lesiecki on 09-29-21
By: Idries Shah
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Thinkers of the East
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Thinkers of the East is a collection of anecdotes and "parables in action" illustrating the eminently practical and lucid approach of Eastern Dervish teachers. Distilled from the teachings of more than 100 sages in three continents, this material stresses the experimental rather than the theoretical - and it is that characteristic of Sufi study which provides its impact and vitality.
By: Idries Shah
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Sufi Thought and Action
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Previously published only as separate essays, Sufi Thought and Action - assembled and introduced by Idries Shah - covers an extraordinary diversity of Sufi ideas and activities in many countries and cultures. Included in the volume are papers on Sufi principles and learning methods; ritual, initiation, and secrets in Sufi circles; and key concepts in Sufi understanding.
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Thanks for the thoughts and examples of actions
- By Bryant Barber on 11-25-18
By: Idries Shah
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Special Illumination
- The Sufi Use of Humor
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 1 hr and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Special Illumination is a term used by the great poet and mystic, Jalaluddin Rumi, to stress the importance of humor in metaphysical experience. Of it, Idries Shah says, "Rumi directly contradicts such numerous sour-faced religionists as, in all persuasions, find that humor disturbs the indoctrination which is all that they usually have to offer."
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For serious students only.
- By Kahlo on 08-05-19
By: Idries Shah
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Tales of the Dervishes
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Although enormously attractive as sheer entertainment, Dervish tales were never presented merely on the level of a fable, legend, or folklore. They stand comparison in wit, construction, and piquancy with the finest stories of any culture, yet their true function as Sufi teaching stories is so little-known in the modern world, that no technical or popular terms exist to describe them. The material in Tales of the Dervishes is the result of a thousand years of development, during which Dervish masters used these and other teaching stories to instruct their disciples. The tales are held to convey powers of increasing perception unknown to the ordinary man.
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Very well done on all levels
- By Geology Justin on 01-16-22
By: Idries Shah
-
A Perfumed Scorpion
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The "perfuming of a scorpion", referred to by the great Sufi teacher Bahaudin, symbolizes hypocrisy and self-deception: both in the individual and in institutions. In A Perfumed Scorpion, Idries Shah directs attention to both the perfume and the scorpion - the overlay and the reality - in psychology, human behavior and the learning process. Crammed with illustrative anecdotes from contemporary life, the book is nevertheless rooted in the teaching patterns of Rumi, Hafiz, Jami, and many other great Oriental sages. It deals with the need for and the path to knowledge and information.
-
-
INTERESTING
- By JK on 06-05-24
By: Idries Shah
-
Learning How to Learn
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Condensed from more than three million words, these conversations involve housewives and cabinet ministers, professors and assembly-line workers, on the subject of how traditional psychology can illuminate current human, social, and spiritual problems. More than 100 tales and extracts from Sufi lore, ranging from the eighth century (Hasan of Basra) to the modern Afghan poet Khalilullah Khalili, are woven into Shah’s narratives of how and why the Sufis learn what they learn and how spiritual understanding develops and deteriorates in all societies.
-
-
bracing and illuminating
- By Nicholas Lesiecki on 09-29-21
By: Idries Shah
-
Thinkers of the East
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thinkers of the East is a collection of anecdotes and "parables in action" illustrating the eminently practical and lucid approach of Eastern Dervish teachers. Distilled from the teachings of more than 100 sages in three continents, this material stresses the experimental rather than the theoretical - and it is that characteristic of Sufi study which provides its impact and vitality.
By: Idries Shah
-
Sufi Thought and Action
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Previously published only as separate essays, Sufi Thought and Action - assembled and introduced by Idries Shah - covers an extraordinary diversity of Sufi ideas and activities in many countries and cultures. Included in the volume are papers on Sufi principles and learning methods; ritual, initiation, and secrets in Sufi circles; and key concepts in Sufi understanding.
-
-
Thanks for the thoughts and examples of actions
- By Bryant Barber on 11-25-18
By: Idries Shah
-
Special Illumination
- The Sufi Use of Humor
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 1 hr and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Special Illumination is a term used by the great poet and mystic, Jalaluddin Rumi, to stress the importance of humor in metaphysical experience. Of it, Idries Shah says, "Rumi directly contradicts such numerous sour-faced religionists as, in all persuasions, find that humor disturbs the indoctrination which is all that they usually have to offer."
-
-
For serious students only.
- By Kahlo on 08-05-19
By: Idries Shah
-
Tales of the Dervishes
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Although enormously attractive as sheer entertainment, Dervish tales were never presented merely on the level of a fable, legend, or folklore. They stand comparison in wit, construction, and piquancy with the finest stories of any culture, yet their true function as Sufi teaching stories is so little-known in the modern world, that no technical or popular terms exist to describe them. The material in Tales of the Dervishes is the result of a thousand years of development, during which Dervish masters used these and other teaching stories to instruct their disciples. The tales are held to convey powers of increasing perception unknown to the ordinary man.
-
-
Very well done on all levels
- By Geology Justin on 01-16-22
By: Idries Shah
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The Magic Monastery
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 4 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Many of Idries Shah's books are comprised of tales and teaching stories taken from both written and oral sources, which illustrate the instructional methods employed by Eastern wise men for thousands of years. The Magic Monastery differs from its predecessors in that it contains not only traditional tales - mostly unpublished - but also stories specially written by Shah to complete the book as a "course in non-linear thinking".
By: Idries Shah
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Seeker After Truth
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A treasure house of teaching materials, assembled in the Sufi manner. Seeker After Truth contains both traditional tales and stories gleaned from contemporary sources, and snippets of table talk, discussions and teachings, letters, and lectures by Idries Shah. Taken together, it constitutes a handbook of materials designed to provoke a different kind of thought.
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A treasury of wisdom for all of us
- By George R. Collison on 05-14-22
By: Idries Shah
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The Commanding Self
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Commanding Self, in Sufic terminology, is that mixture of the primitive and conditioned responses, common to everyone, which inhibits and distorts human progress and understanding. This audiobook was described by Shah as the key to understanding his entire corpus of work. While complete in itself as an anthology of hitherto unpublished work, it serves to illustrate and amplify Idries Shah’s preceding books on the Sufi Way.
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Fantastically relevant for our times.
- By George R. Collison on 07-28-22
By: Idries Shah
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World Tales
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
How can it be that the same story is found in Scotland and also in pre-Columbian America? What can account for the durability and persistence of tales? Was the tale of Aladdin and his wondrous lamp really taken from Wales (where it has been found) to the ancient East and, if so, when and by whom? These questions and more are answered in Idries Shah’s remarkable volume World Tales, which is subtitled “The extraordinary coincidence of stories told in all times, in all places.”
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ENJOYABLE
- By JK on 03-18-24
By: Idries Shah
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Oriental Magic
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Oriental Magic is recognized as a brilliant study of how, what and why people think, in territories extending from North Africa to Japan. The book is the product of years of research and fieldwork in a dozen different cultural regions. Its scholarly accuracy and genuine contribution to cultural understanding have made it a key text for anyone interested in informal beliefs and esoteric practices.
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INTERESTING
- By JK on 03-10-24
By: Idries Shah
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Wisdom of the Idiots
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 3 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In Idries Shah's Wisdom of the Idiots, the "idiots" are Sufis, called this because their wisdom penetrates to a depth which renders it inaccessible to the merely intelligent or academically knowledgeable. The stories of the Sufis are tools prepared for a specific purpose. On this level the movements of the characters in a story portray psychological processes, and the story becomes a working blueprint of those processes.
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Great Experience
- By Haresh Raichura on 01-24-18
By: Idries Shah
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The Sufis
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 18 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When it first appeared in 1964, The Sufis was welcomed as the decisive work on the subject of Sufi thought. Rich in scope, author Idries Shah explained clearly the traditions and philosophy of the Sufis to a Western audience for the first time. In the five decades since its release, the book has been translated into more than two dozen languages, and has found a wide readership in both East and West. Containing detailed information on the major Sufi thinkers, and literary characters, such as Nasrudin, it is regarded as a key work on both Sufism and Eastern Philosophy.
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The Sufis is laudable and audible and readable
- By Ulrika Eriksson on 06-24-16
By: Idries Shah
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The Way of the Sufi
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Way of the Sufi presents an unparalleled cross-section of material from Sufi schools, Sufi teachings, and classical writings as a basic course of Sufi study. The author begins with the outward aspects of the teaching most likely to puzzle the student coming fresh to the subject. He considers various attitudes to Sufi ideas and evidence of their absorption into medieval Christianity, Hinduism, Jewish mysticism, and modern philosophical teachings.
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Would Not Recommend.
- By Uniqleeme on 04-06-16
By: Idries Shah
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Caravan of Dreams
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Caravan of Dreams distills the essence of Eastern thought in a feast of Sufi stories, sayings, poems, and allegories collected by one of the world's leading experts in Oriental philosophy and Sufism. Idries Shah builds up a complete picture of a single consciousness, relating Eastern mythology to reality, illuminating historical patterns, and presenting philosophical legends in this unique anthology.
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Awesome Narrator
- By Ulrika Eriksson on 11-26-15
By: Idries Shah
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The Secret Teachings of All Ages
- Complete Edition | (Hermetic Tradition)
- By: Manly P. Hall
- Narrated by: Anthony Starks
- Length: 35 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Manly P. Hall was a noted Canadian author and mystic. He is most famous for The Secret Teaching of All Ages. It is a marvelous collection of writings on ancient mysteries, secret societies, alchemy, and more.
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Great info - distracting mispronunciation
- By Lauren on 07-03-21
By: Manly P. Hall
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The Qur'an
- A New Translation by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem
- By: M. A. S. Abdel Haleem - translator
- Narrated by: Ayman Haleem
- Length: 19 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Qur'an, believed by Muslims to be the word of God, was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad 1,400 years ago. It is the supreme authority in Islam and the living source of all Islamic teaching; it is a sacred text and a book of guidance that sets out the creed, rituals, ethics, and laws of the Islamic religion. It has been one of the most influential books in the history of literature. Recognized as the greatest literary masterpiece in Arabic, it has nevertheless remained difficult to understand in its English translations.
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Missing chapter 44
- By Anonymous User on 05-29-19
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The Tibetan Book of the Dead
- Liberation Through Understanding in the Between
- By: Robert Thurman - translator
- Narrated by: Robert Thurman
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The so-called Tibetan Book of the Dead has been renowned for centuries as a cornerstone of Buddhist wisdom and religious thought. More recently, it has become highly influential in the Western world for its psychological insights into the processes of death and dying - and what they can teach us about the ways we live our lives. It has also been found to be helpful in the grieving process by people who have recently lost their loved ones. This authoritative translation preserves the form and spirit of the original and was prepared especially for Western audiences.
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Richard Gere version on DVD way better
- By Dr Purple on 11-18-20