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Title: A Perfumed Scorpion
Author: Idries Shah
Narrator: David Ault
Format: Unabridged
Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
Language: English
Release date: 01-08-18
Publisher: ISF Publishing
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes
Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy
Publisher's Summary:
The "perfuming of a scorpion", referred to by the great Sufi teacher Bahaudin, symbolizes hypocrisy and self-deception: both in the individual and in institutions.
In A Perfumed Scorpion, Idries Shah directs attention to both the perfume and the scorpion - the overlay and the reality - in psychology, human behavior and the learning process.
Crammed with illustrative anecdotes from contemporary life, the book is nevertheless rooted in the teaching patterns of Rumi, Hafiz, Jami, and many other great Oriental sages. It deals with the need for and the path to knowledge and information.
Members Reviews:
Impenetrable
Shah has a habit of directing attention to the practical, perhaps analogical, value of psychological experiments. In this publication, in detailing an (unreferenced) experiment as to how people reacted to either a catâs purr or to the sound of human snoring, he makes the point that their reactions were determined (largely) by the information they were given. If told that the sound of a purr was a snore they disliked what they heard; that a snore was a purr â they liked it. One example, I suppose, of perfume and scorpion. What is striking about Shah is not only that he urges people to acquaint themselves with the findings of modern psychology â on cults, motivation etc. â but how he uses those findings (and other incidents and stories). He is clearly saying something beyond what those findings would indicate to the ordinary student (or teacher) of psychology. This is suggested by the title of the book itself. It is stated explicitly where, for example, he refers to âFinding Further Ranges In Jokesâ noting that those attuned only to moralism, jokes or dogma are ânot learners at allâ. So, a great book in terms of the psychology of those interested in this type of material, and yet, absent the means of unlocking it, somewhat impenetrable. That, of course, is a reason to read it.
A Valuable Shock
If you want comfort, coddling, or a warm fuzzy feeling- look elsewhere. However, if you want a frank, honest, and reflective account of the mistaken assumptions, misplaced motivations, and thought patterns that stand in the way of fulfilling our human potential, then this book is a welcome antidote. It is an invitation to honestly examine one's own motivations and expectations- with the aim of setting those aside - and positioning oneself to connect with a traditional form of knowledge that has guided humans throughout history. Consider a few quotes from the book:
*"The need to monitor oneâs own reactions, and to see why one is behaving in a certain way â self-observation without neurotic self-abasement â may be taken as the next important feature."
*"To help to provide people with the means to hold to the norms of their society while acquiring the understanding of a deeper truth, without either disturbing their own equilibrium or that of their society, is the aim of Sufi education."
*Observing each otherâs reactions, too, can help a class to widen their perception of the tales. One such story â The Tale of the Sands â sometimes shows people their own dependency situation, quite dramatically. In this tale the river, aware of its existence, runs toward the sea, but arrives before that at a stretch of sand, and starts to run away into nothingness, to become at best a marsh.
