''Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way'' is a book by the writer

Idries Shah Idries Shah (; hi, इदरीस शाह, ps, ادريس شاه, ur, ; 16 June 1924 – 23 November 1996), also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el- Hashimi (Arabic: سيد إدريس هاشمي) and by the pen name Ark ...

that was first published by Octagon Press in 1978. Later editions by

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

(1981) and

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

Winner Doris Lessing. Shortly before he died, Shah stated that his books form a complete course that could fulfil the function he had fulfilled while alive. As such, ''Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way'' can be read as part of a whole course of study.

Content

Written in response to enquiries about the Sufi tradition, ''Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way'' presents traditional

teaching stories A teaching story is a narrative that has been deliberately created as a vehicle for the transmission of wisdom. The practice has been used in a number of religious and other traditions, though writer Idries Shah's use of it was in the context of Su ...

and anecdotes and articles from newspapers to illustrate prerequisites to Sufi learning. One such prerequisite is that the learner should organise their basic human needs so as to be able to give adequate attention to their studies. The second section of the book is dedicated entirely to Shah's theory on the human need to give and receive attention.

Reception

The theory on attention presented in the book has influenced the school of psychology and psychotherapy known as the Human Givens Approach. In ''Human Givens: A New Approach To Clear-Thinking and Emotional Wellbeing'' by Ivan Tyrrell & Joe Griffin, the authors state that in their view Shah's theory represents “a profoundly more subtle understanding of the importance of attention than found in Western psychology till now” and go on to quote in full the 21 principles of attention that Shah considered worthy of study.

Richard Smoley Richard Smoley is an author and philosopher focusing on the world's mystical and esoteric teachings, particularly those of Western civilization. Early life and education Smoley was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, in 1956. He attended the Taft Sch ...

and

Jay Kinney Jay Kinney (born 1950) is an American author, editor, and former underground cartoonist. Kinney has been noted for "adding new dimensions to the political comic" in the underground comix press of the 1970s and '80s. Kinney was a member, along w ...

, writing in ''Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions'' (2006), described ''Learning How to Learn'' as one of Shah's best works. They noted that the book provided a solid orientation to Shah's "psychological" approach to Sufi work and added that Shah, at his best, provides "insights that inoculate students against much of the nonsense in the spiritual marketplace." In September 1978 '' Psychology Today'' described the book as "the watershed in studies of the mind" and elsewhere as "a textbook of method and attitude."Octagon Press page on ''Learning How To Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way''

References

{{reflist

External links

Official Idries Shah website

Octagon Press website
Sufi literature Sufi psychology Books by Idries Shah 1978 books Psychology books