Today we find him in a high-level physics report, illustrating phenomena that can't be described in ordinary technical terms. He appears in psychology textbooks, illuminating the workings of the mind in a way no straightforward explanation can.
In three definitive volumes (The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin, The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin, and The Subtleties of the Inimitable Mulla Nasrudin) Idries Shah takes us to the very heart of this mysterious mentor, the Mulla Nasrudin. Skillful contemporary retellings of hundreds of collected stories and sayings bring the unmistakable - often backhanded - wisdom, wit and charm of the timeless jokester to life.
The Mulla and his stories appear in literature and oral traditions from the Middle East to Greece, Russia, France - even China. Many nations claim Nasrudin as a native son, but nobody really knows who he was or where he came from.
According to a legend dating from at least the 13th century, Nasrudin was snatched as a schoolboy from the clutches of the "Old Villain" - the crude system of thought that ensnares man - to carry through the ages the message of how to escape. He was chosen because he could make people laugh, and humor has a way of slipping through the cracks of the most rigid thinking habits.
Acclaimed as humorous masterpieces, as collections of the finest jokes, as priceless gift books, and for hundreds "enchanted tales", this folklore figure's antics have also been divined as "mirroring the antics of the mind". The jokes are, as Idries Shah notes, "perfectly designed models for isolating and holding distortions of the mind which so often pass for reasonable behavior". Therefore they have a double use: when the jokes have been enjoyed, their psychological significance starts to sink in.
In fact, for many centuries they have been studied in Sufi circles for their hidden wisdom. They are used as teaching exercises, in part to momentarily "freeze" situations in which states of mind can be recognized. The key to the philosophic significance of the Nasrudin jokes is given in Idries Shah's book "The Sufis" and a complete system of mystical training based upon them was described in the Hibbert Journal.
In these delightful volumes, Shah not only gives the Mulla a proper vehicle for our times, he proves that the centuries-old stories and quips of Nasrudin are still some of the funniest jokes in the world.
Table of Contents * Introduction * The Reason * Eating his money * The use of a light * Why don't you? * Prudence * Assumptions * Just suppose... * Alternate crop * Tit for tat * Whose servant am I? * Inscrutable Fate * The Answer * Idiots * If Allah wills it * A great thought * The Exploit * The Hunt * Both, Your Majesty! * Forgotten himself * Not so difficult * Obligation * Fixed ideas * There is a different time-scale * Man bites dog - that's news * Just as well I came along * Strange that you should ask... * Avoid entanglement * How foolish can a man be? * Cause and effect * That's why they bunged it up * The burden of guilt * Description of the goods * More useful * Which is my half? * Learn how to learn * Face the facts * Congratulations * Too-obvious principles * When you face things alone * The roles of Man * Dry in the rain * What is real evidence? * Behind the obvious * Objectivity * Nobody complains... * How far can you usefully be from the truth? * I believe you are right! * It appears to be thou! * Ladder for sale * Why camels have no wings * The gold, the cloak and the horse * Give him time * The Yogi, the Priest and the Sufi * Remembering * Refutation of the Philosophers * ASk me another * The Reward * The high cost of learning * The spiritual teacher * Hot soup, cold hands * A word for it * Science * A question is an answer * Aren't we all? * The value of truth * Take no chances * Guess what? * The Merchant * Don't run away with the idea... * The Chickens * Prayer is better than sleep... * What is to be * The Logician * Once bitten * Good news * The dog at his feet * Facts are facts * Not to be taken away * Not as easy as it seems * Repetitiousness * Never miss a bargain * The omen that worked * The Change * The value of a desire * When to worry * Or else... * How long is too long? * Anachronism * No time to waste * Altruism * Perhaps there is a road up there * The Announcement * What is above and what is below... * The Speculator * Louder than an ox * I did not start it * In the mosque * Eggs * Allah will provide * The School * Clairvoyance * Invisible extension * Mistaken identity * Deductive reasoning * Let it be wheat * The Genius * Why? * It is what he says that counts * What will he find? * Just for the asking * We come and we go * The Karkrujami * The smell of a thought * The Burglar * A matter of time, not placev All in my wife's name * Waiting for the yeast to rise * Even fire * Later than you think * On his own * Limits of perception * Which way round? * The milkman's horse * What is it all for? * Pyramid expert * Where I sit * Anyone can do it that way * Life and death * A penny less to pay * Why ask me? * The Daughters * All included * Why shouldn't they mourn? * Not worth keeping * The Physician * Appetite * The Secret * Maximum capacity * Battle of the sexes * At the frontier * Try anything once * Seven with one stroke * Raw material * Catch your rabbit * Pity the poor natives * How far is far enough? * Economic law * Private property * Tie up below! * Fire * Instinct * The question contains its answer * Nosebags and donkeys * The Mulla's dream * The King spoke to me * Nobody really knows * Truth * Last year's nests * Head and heels * Just in case * Old graves for new * Nasrudin's will * Incomplete * The Mulla's tomb
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