A Veiled Gazelle: Seeing How to See

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Summary: Tricks you into seeing clerarer
Review: A hundred pages of highly entertaining stories and anecdotes. On one hand complex and intricate dealing with the veiling of our vision from seeing the truth - on the other simple and clear making great bedside reading for the children. This book has a wonderful way of tricking us into facing the barriers that make us less clear-headed than we think we are. Great food for thought if there ever was such a thing - taste, nutrition and medicine all in one.

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Summary: "The Ends Justify The Means" As A Spiritual Principle
Review: Shah has maintained elsewhere that Sufis act pragmatically, and not always by doctrinaire moral standards. Here he offers specific situations in which a variety of "immoral" behaviors might be considered justifiable. These include manipulating people's opinions, containing public discussion, trickery, lying, stealing, and even cruel and unusual executions. He also argues that actions such as public service may be both wrongly motivated and ineffective, and that the people we take to be heroes are often bumblers. The problem with such ideas is that one must be very sure of one's facts, or else one will cause harm to oneself or others by using such methods. Shah has maintained it is indeed possible for some people to perceive the real truth behind appearances, and even to read other people's minds. However, the generalizations behind typical moral behaviors may be seen as more cautious and much more reasonable.