Wisdom of the Idiots
 

Wisdom of the Idiots

by Idries Shah

Because what narrow thinkers imagine to be wisdom is often seen by the Sufis to be folly, the Sufis sometimes call themselves 'the Idiots.'
The stories of these self-styled "idiots" are in fact skillfully designed exercises in which the movements of the characters portray psychological processes. The result is a working blueprint of the mind. (read review)

Top tags: religionsufismspiritualityeastern philosophyidries shah (all tags)

Overview: Groups

Mystery 424 books / 244 members / 423 posts A group to discuss and recommend mystery novels.
libraries and librarians 316 books / 459 members / 255 posts librarians, directors, library assistants, library school students.. anyone who works (or will be working) in a library! (or those who just enjoy libraries)
And I Quote... 70 books / 456 members / 475 posts I'm constantly dog-ear-ing pages of books because of a line that has the potential to be a wonderful quote. We need a place to share the quotes. Feel free to contribute a great line (or couple of sentences). Any genre, any age, anything G-rated. C'mon there are plenty with that restriction.
Philosophy 119 books / 324 members / 114 posts
Biographies & Autobiographies 383 books / 460 members / 207 posts So why are we interested how other people lived and died? What can we learn from them? How much research goes into writing a biography?
50 Book Challenge! 3132 books / 3137 members / 18419 posts When asked about the new Amazon Kindle product, Steve Jobs CEO of Apple computer had this to say:

“It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.”

Welcome to the the 50 Book Challenge, where we fly in the face of Steve Jobs.

Basically .... the challenge is to read 50 books in one year. OR ... establish a goal for yourself more or less, it's up to you, just because we say 50 books doesn't mean that has to be your goal too.

Start a thread, WITH YOUR NAME IN THE SUBJECT OF YOUR ORIGINAL POST, and log your books. It is a very good idea to bookmark (when in your post, add it to your internet browser's favorites) your post for easy location for future updates. Things move quickly around here.

If you haven't been keeping track of the books you've read, start when you join.


Thanks for being here and have fun. If you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to contact me.

The books we loved in 2007:

1. Harry Potter the final - 15 votes
2. The Kite Runner - 12 votes
3. A Thousand Splendid Suns - 11 votes
4. Twilight - 5 votes
4. The Thirteenth Tale - 5 votes

With 4 votes each:
Water For Elephants, The Road, The Red Tent, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Middlesex, Eat, Pray, Love

With 3 votes each:
Eclipse, My Sister's Keeper, Suite Francaise, Shadow of the Wind, The Lovely Bones, Jane Eyre, His Dark Materials (plus 3 honorable mentions), The Glass Castle, Girl With the Pearl Earring, Darkly Dreaming Dexter

With 2 votes each:
19 Minutes, Black Swan Green, Dogs of Babel, Heart-Shaped Box, In the Woods, Into the Wild, Kafka on the Shore, On Chesil Beach, The Book Thief, The Memory Keepers Daughter, The Stolen Child, No Country for Old Men, Marley and Me, New Moon
World Lit 325 books / 353 members / 228 posts This group is to share and discuss your world literature favorites -- especially if they're off the beaten path. If you love books by non-Western writers, then this is the group for you!
Islam 44 books / 41 members / 23 posts Anything and everything about a religion of peace. Discuss contemporary issues and recommend books related to Islam.
Discussing Reality 45 books / 63 members / 39 posts This group will be to discuss books that deal with different aspects of reality, mainly from the viewpoint of science, but with overlap into history,philosophy and spirituality. The Category structure here doesn't really have a single place for a group like this. One of the things to explore is consensus reality - the view of the universe we generally share, and the fact that there is no one such - science vs. religion, Western history vs. Eastern history, Western philosophy vs. Eastern philosophy, disparate views of history, psychology, cosmology, evolution.

The books that are discussed here are mainly about subverting the dominant paradigm, shattering the currently held consensus, linking disparate realms, rethinking what is, what was, and what could be.

There is a starter group shelf to illustrate the types of books to discuss.
History Non-Fiction 535 books / 531 members / 292 posts Anyone who loves History. We can discuss the truth or otherwise of our past, and what proof there is to prove that history actually happened the way they say it did.
"Can you Recommend a Book about?" 127 books / 698 members / 1174 posts "I Need a Book About" Here is a place to ask your fellow Shelfarians to recommend a book on a subject or genre that your craving for one reason or another. Please join in and tell us what you need a book about.
Wide and Deep: Reading for Life 36 books / 199 members / 10 posts This group is for anyone who reads to expand their knowledge of the world, both inner and outer, and to deepen their consciousness of about life and relationships and why we are all here.

From November 13--December 13, 2007 we are reading Kiran Desai's, "The Inheritance of Loss." Please join us and leave your thoughts.

Have a great day.

Imagination is the key to freedom.
The artist's job is to cultivate and nurture her or his imagination, and that of others.
Readers' Club - University of Karachi 84 books / 17 members / 9 posts You are most welcome to join in this group if you are a book reader.
©*´¯`·.¸¸(Al-ISLAM)¸¸.·´¯`*© 103 books / 754 members / 889 posts The general purpose of this group is for the discussion of the religion of Islam. Discussions relating to Islam, Muslims and issues that pertain to the lives of Muslims are encouraged. Discussions related to dawah are welcome. http://www.whyislam.org/877/

Are you a Christian (Catholic, Baptist, Evangelical or any other denomination), Jewish or of any non-Muslim faith group and have questions about Islam? Do you know that Muslims believe Jesus was a great prophet and messenger of God? Do you know that Muslims worship the same God as Jews and Christians (The God of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Noah, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon all of them))? Did you know there's a whole chapter in the Qur'an about the blessed virgin mother of Jesus, Mary?

Lets work together to build understanding, tolerance and peace. Fear and ignorance are our biggest enemy.

Group Rules are being set in attempt to avoid any unnecessary conflict and maintain a positive experience for everyone. At all times, treat people with respect. We treat people with the same respect as we treat our parents. If you can't do this, then this isn't the right place for you. If you think you are too smart and/or evolved for religion, and want to prove to other people why religion doesn’t make sense, then this group isn’t for you.

Note: This group is moderated. Those who come to spread hate and are here to start arguments will be removed from the group and their comments deleted. Racist, bigoted, Islamophobic or any other type of hate speech will not be tolerated.

You may be interested in these other groups on Shelfari. Please see:
The "Israeli"/Palestinian conflict - Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism
---This group is for the discussion of anti-zionism and the "Israeli"/Palestinian conflict.
http://www.shelfari.com/groups/16769/about
and
Muslim Revival -- The re-establishment of Khilafah (Caliphate)
---This group is for discussion of the re-establishment of Khilafah (Caliphate).
http://www.shelfari.com/groups/13541/about
1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die 1131 books / 2864 members / 612 posts THESE ARE BOOKS FROM THE BOOK "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" BY Peter Boxall, Peter Ackroyd


This group is for the other people trying to read all of the "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die"

http://www.listology.com/content_show.cfm?content_id=22845


"1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die"

1. 2000s
1. Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
2. Saturday –