The Sufis have been using carefully constructed stories for teaching purposes for thousands of years. Though on the surface these often appear to be little more than entertaining fairytales or folktales, they enshrine — in their characters, plots, and imagery — patterns and relationships that nurture a part of the mind not reachable in more conventional ways, thus increasing our understanding, flexibility, and breadth of vision.
In this tape set, a reading from the writings of Idries Shah explains the nature of the teaching story and how the reader might approach this amazing material. A selection of such tales, anecdotes, and narratives taken from his best-selling title The Dermis Probe follows. It, and the reading of Evenings with Idries Shah, will give the listener the chance to experience the unique quality of this ancient, yet still vital and contemporary literature and to taste the manner in which this material can be taught.