Earlier: On Dimensions
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“Dear Victor, I have a small question about working with books by I. Shah. Can it be said that there are certain keys for perceiving the meaning of any (or most) of the parables? For example, one can consider everything happening in the parable as processes happening inside a person (microcosmic key) or consider the same parable within the scope of the whole Earth, or, say, a School. Some esoteric sources speak about existence of such keys. Could you please clarify this matter?” |
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REMARKS ON WORKING WITH SUFI
TEACHING STORIES He that writeth in blood and proverbs doth not want to be read, but learnt by heart. Nietzsche. Thus Spake Zarathustra
I don’t know if there are any keys for
perceiving any or most of the parables published by
Idries Shah, and I don’t remember coming across any explanations of such keys
or even references to their existence. Moreover, I have my doubts whether
such keys (if I have understood correctly what you have written), exist. Why
do I think so? First of all, because the tendency to
simply consider the stories within the scope or within the context of
something, arises from the work of the mind. By limiting ourselves in
this way, we cut ourselves off from that part of the message which a
particular story can carry for other parts of what Gurdjieff used to call “our common presence” (whether we know about
it or not). It seems to me, it would be too easy: apply
one of the interpretations of this sort and, as if by magic, the door will
open. There are many stories and parables which do allow application of more
or less simple decoding methods: these are allegorical stories. By taking
them in an appropriate context, or layer, it is possible to uncover the
meaning of their content, and to interpret it accordingly. However, Sufi
teaching stories are not allegories. And if they are, they are not only
allegories. Of course, many of the Sufi stories may be
interpreted as being related to psychological processes. That is a valid
consideration which is even useful for developing one’s understanding. But
even if a story is interpreted in a psychological sense, this does not mean
that its meaning is exhausted by that. It may contain a great deal more. Idries Shah himself wrote that Sufi teaching stories are works of
objective art which are used to transmit (or, more exactly, can be
used to transmit - given the right place, time and a prepared person), the
Higher Knowledge. We cannot perceive this Higher Knowledge because we are not
prepared for it. Moreover, we don’t know what it is, and often don’t even
suspect its presence. Such a preparation can be helped by not only getting to
know the stories but also by studying them and familiarizing (*01) with them. In the
light of this, even though considering stories as allegories (whenever it can
be done) constitutes a “lower” level of understanding, it can still be a
useful method. The same applies to interpreting stories as relating to states
of mind. The problem, as Shah points out, is that if
a person has “understood” (in his or her opinion) a story, then he has
understood it only at the level where he stands at present moment (which,
naturally, may be not so high). More precisely, he understands the story at the level of his conditioning. If the
person decides that “this is the meaning”, it is as if internally he
considers the problem closed and therefore he can cut off the chance of
further, deeper impact of the story on his “inner being”. Here is, by the
way, one more example of interpretation of a famous story “The blind people
and the elephant” or “The Elephant in the Dark” by Sanai
and Rumi – our different parts or our “selves”
sensing the higher, unusual and
inexplicable [teaching] material in the blindness or in the darkness of our
“consciousness”… After multiple readings the teaching
stories not only stick to one’s memory but as if “seep in”. The result of
their impact can manifest itself after a long time (*02) and in a manner quite different from what
we associate with “understanding”. For example, the manifestation can be a
certain nonstandard reaction in a right (time, place, and people) situation.
Stories also carry the teaching in such a form that we can learn by adopting
and absorbing the experience directly, without participation of our
mechanical mind (*03). By allowing our
lower, logical mind to deal with teaching stories in a way which is customary
to it, and considering the result of this as “understanding”,
we can find ourselves in a situation of a boy who had dismembered a fly into
its components and then wondered where the fly itself went. (One of the
favorite stories of Idries Shah). The essence of the
Sufi teaching stories, as well as other works of “objective art”, is the
Cosmic Laws. Knowledge of these laws is the highest knowledge available to a
human, since the laws of “our” Universe are the laws of our “description of
the world”. Whichever form is used to transmit the true Knowledge, its
essence stays the same (*04). The stories contain
in their inner structure (often invisible) fragments of these higher Laws (*05). We don’t have an
instrument for real understanding of even these fragments (more precisely, we
do have it, but it is undeveloped). Teaching stories are designed to develop
this organ or organs. In which way? By “tuning” into the Laws. Penetrating
inside the essence of a person, the special knowledge produces a kind of
harmonization of the inner world of the student, “attuning” it to the
consonance with the Infinite. This feeds the embryo of our “inner being”, our
real “Self”, our soul. That explains why an impact on the mind and the
feelings only, is not enough: one should give the higher energy an
opportunity to penetrate deeper. Of
course, this applies not only to stories, but also other types of teaching.
To quote Rafael Lefort (“The Teachers of
Gurdjieff”): ‘How were the texts studied?’ How much “power” a
Sufi story has depends on how “high” are the Laws it is intended to transmit.
From an outward point of view (literary, psychological, etc.) it is
impossible to determine the precise content of a story, the “power” contained
in it. (*06). Often the power
contained in a particular story is indicated by the number of its possible
interpretations. Gurdjieff mentioned that the Gospels are works of objective
art. This explains their charming influence on the people for the past two
thousand years. Until our days the
stories of the Scripture are repeated, commented upon, interpreted, and used
as a source of inspiration. And this is not surprising. Being a creation of a
higher consciousness the stories of the Gospels contain in their hidden
essence the structure of the same laws on which the Universe is built. For
example, the famous parable of the talents can be interpreted on the level of
psychology, applied to the spiritual development of a person, a school and so
on. The same story can be interpreted in the context of the physical laws of
the Universe. Why? Because it describes a certain more general law which
permeates all spheres. (*07). (This returns us to your question on “keys”). Perceiving one (or even more than one)
aspect of the story, we may not see that it contains different aspects and
level coexisting harmoniously in it. A developed person, who understands
teaching stories in full and “sees” the meaning and the laws contained in the
stories, can organize them in such a manner, that not only one but a group of
stories will bring the necessary influence. Naturally, the task gets more
complicated when the method used is that of “scattering” the ideas,
disseminating [seeds]”, e.g. when the method uses, in Gurdjieff’s
terminology, “B influences”. In this case, the matter in question is books
and their influence on wide audience over the long-term period. Since Idries
Shah used compilation and writing of books as one of the basic methods of
transmitting Knowledge (*08), he aligned stories in a particular sequence
in order to ensure the necessary and maximally optimal impact of the
Knowledge contained in them, on the consciousness of various groups of
readers. It is this aspect, in my view, which explains Shah’s recommendation,
repeated many times, to read each book from its beginning to its end, and not
selectively. This should be done regardless of the fact, whether the stories
appeal to us or otherwise, whether we remember them or not, “understand” them
or not and so on. Here are some quotes from Shah: Selective reading,
following only the things which one decides are interesting or central to
Sufi – or any other kind of – knowledge, can produce ludicrous results, if it
does anything at all. This has been called ‘making a comb without the teeth’.
I rather like one story intended to help the learner register the need to
attend to all aspects of a teaching story, or of instructions given by an
authentic teacher, or even procedures handed down (*09) from
antiquity: THE HONEYMOON A man was seen, dressed in exotic finery,
whooping it up in the streets of a city. Someone asked him why he was doing
it. “Why not?” he asked, “I am on
my honeymoon!” “But where is your bride?” “Oh, she’s been here once before, so she
stayed at home!” (*10) And also: To learn something, you may have often to
be exposed to it many times, perhaps from different perspectives; and you
also have to give it the kind of attention which will enable you to learn. In our experience, people fail to learn
from Sufi materials for the same reason that they do not learn other things –
they read selectively. The things that touch them emotionally, or
which they like or are thrilled by, they will remember or seek in greater
quantity and depth. Since these are often the last materials
which they will probably need, and since such an unbalanced attitude towards
anything makes the person in need of balance in his approach, we have
situation to which you refer. (*16) And more:
A Sufi book will have to be read in the ordinary way several times. If
the mind of the reader is not correctly prepared, he will reject the book,
read it selectively, or else indoctrinate himself with the contents. All these
results are undesirable. (*18) To ensure an impact of teaching stories on
people, which would be so important in content, wide in scope and
long-lasting, one needs to understand deeply the essence of this type of
objective art, to know the psychology of modern people and to see clearly the
goal of the Work (*11). I have no means
of judging whether or not Idries Shah was the Teacher of the Age, as it is
frequently claimed (if would be preposterous of me
to try to make any conclusions on the matter not to mention that there may be
different interpretations of this term), but the gigantic work carried out by
him is unparalleled in our time. This work by itself is also a product
of objective art, and it couldn’t be otherwise (*12). Therefore, in order to expose oneself
correctly to the higher influences conducted by Sufi stories, one should try
to follow the recommendations given by the author-compiler himself. If one tries to formulate the practical
advices or rules of working with Sufi stories, recommended by Shah, then the
following can be mentioned: (*13) 1. Every book should be read from its beginning to its end, and
not selectively. 2. Read not just once, but several times,
to memorize the stories better. 3. When
reflecting about Sufi stories, discussing them (*14), interpreting them on different levels, trying
to understand them, it is important not to consider any of the
understandings, no matter how
significant a “discovery” it may seem, as the final and only truth. One should always leave the possibility of
another interpretation, another understanding, which may turn out to be a
discovery of no smaller, and perhaps greater, importance and depth, even if
is not always formulated (and maybe not always perceived consciously). In short,
one should remain “open” to the baraka
carried by these stories. I want to give another, personal,
recommendation: read Shah in English (*15).
Translations can be better or worse but a part of the meaning (energy,
influence) is unavoidably lost. This
message does not pretend to be an attempt to cover teaching stories from all,
or many, sides (I am definitely unequal to such a task). I have simply tried
to give an answer to the question according to my understanding of the
subject matter, mostly using the material provided by Idries Shah. |
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Notes *01 ”Familiarize yourself” is an expression used repeatedly by Shah in
connection with the study of Sufi stories. (The original Russian comment
emphasizes “familiarizing” in the sense of “becoming akin”). “Groups for the intensive
study of this and other material proceed by a thorough familiarization with
the contents of these writings: the student is asked to 'soak' himself in
them, as rain soaks into the earth.” (“The
Diffusion of Sufi Ideas in the West”) Clearly, this requires
a special attitude to the material. This is why, when speaking about his
books, Idries Shah mentions “…asking interested people to read them
carefully” (“Learning How To
Learn”, chapter “Thinking in Terms of Supply-and-Demand”) *02
The patient needs time, as well as pomegranates (A story about pomegranates
known to the readers of Shah) *03 Rumi’s story about a merchant and a bird
which pretended to be dead. *04 It is the knowledge of the basic laws of Cosmos which allows
applying them to completely different areas. Many stories about sages mention
their intuitive ability to deal correctly with the matters of which they knew
very little (or nothing at all). This is another aspect of “seeing”. *05 This
is what Shah calls inner dimensions. See the
article On dimensions *06 For
example, why “The Story of Mushkil Gusha” from “Caravan of Dreams”
has such an importance. *07 It is not surprising how many interpretations were given,
and can be still given, to the Seven Churches of the Revelation, considering
the significance of the Law of Seven. In short, this is all mathematics. In a
manner of speaking, Higher Mathematics,
even though not the usual one … *08 Even though the books were not the only methods; it is the
books which are the subject of this article. *09
“handed down”: (The original comment in Russian emphasizes different
shades of meaning of this expression) *10 “Special
Illumination”
by Idries Shah. *11 A special difficulty in the work of Shah was that sometimes
there was a lack of traditional material which would be applicable at present
time in the West, and to build a necessary chain of influence he had to
compose his own parables as missing links.
*12
In the light of the tasks carried out by him, during the last years of his
life Idries Shah has prepared for publication a series of children’s books, containing teaching
stories selected by him, and having excellent illustrations. Some of these
books have already been published, but not all. *13 Naturally, this excludes the methods that could be prescribed to an
individual or a specifically selected groups by a real “seeing” teacher. *14 By no means all stories are intended for discussion,
especially in a random circle, on the Internet etc. Instead of absorbing the
correct impact of the story one can get subjected to conditioning by a
random, alien, incorrect (and, most importantly, unnecessary) opinion.
It should be also taken into account that
in a “wide” discussion, besides you and “your circle”, there are
others who may not benefit from falling into dependence on interpretations
expressed by those people whom they may consider
as authority, for one or another reason (for example, because of a longer
“track record” of reading or being interested). But these are more
complicated questions related to working in groups and so on. *15 Yes, yes, the objections are known (I’m like that myself!):
no time to learn the language; I understand better in Russian, I am not
[very] good at languages; boring etc, etc… But the issue can be formulated
for oneself as a question of effort and payment. Besides, one does not have
to learn the language separately, and in an academic setting. There are
accelerated methods. And one can invent a method to learn a language through
reading book(s). To sum up, given a serious desire…
Even in the Russian version of such an apparently easy to translate book as
"The Teachers of
Gurdjieff" by Rafael Lefort one can find idiotic distortions
which cloud or change the meaning of the text. And this book, in my opinion,
is invaluable in its concentration of the very aspects and principles of the
Sufi work. *16 Idries Shah, “Learning
How To Learn”, chapter “Learning and non-Learning” *17 A similar thought is stated by Shah in a
different place: “He [a person] must realize that merely
supposing that he understands the foregoing is often simply a prelude to
forgetting it.” (“Learning How To
Learn”, chapter “The Levels of Service”) *18 Idries Shah, “Learning
How to Learn”, chapter “The Number of Readings of a Book” ============================================================= Sources Besides the already sited books “The Teachers of
Gurdjieff” by Rafael Lefort and “Special
Illumination” by Shah, information on Sufi teaching stories
can be found in some of his articles: In an article about Idries Shah
and
Material on this topic can also be found in the book “Learning How To Learn” by Idries Shah (chapters “Some Characteristics of Sufi
Literature”, “Idiot’s Wisdom”, “The Numbers of Readings of a Book”) and other books by him (see bibliography), on tapes (“On
Learning from Stories”), in Robert Ornstein (Robert Ornstein on
Teaching Stories) and others. |
Translated from Russian by Vladimir
B.
