18 Spirituality Studies 10-2 Fall 2024 Notes [1] “Corbin… used to translate phenomenology… to the Persian-speaking students as ‘kashf al-maḥjūb’, literally ‘rending asunder of the veil to reveal the hidden essence,’ and considered his method… to be spiritual hermeneutics (alta’wīl) as understood in classical Sufi and Shi’ite thought” (Nasr 1996, 26). [2] Kabbani 2004, 403–05. [3] See Keen 1973, 64–72; Matson 1977, 52–55; Rawlinson 1997, 331–33. [4] See de Mille 1976; 1980. [5] See Kripal 2007, 177–80. [6] See De Christopher 1982, 129–50. Paradoxically, Ichazo appears to be affirming the same position as Gurdjieff, yet now divorced from the Fourth Way system: “The teaching whose theory is here being set out is completely self-supporting and independent of other lines and it has been completely unknown up to the present time” (quoted in Ouspensky 1949, 286). [7] Here are some works influenced by or containing Idries Shah’s ideas within modern psychology: Shah 1976, 92; Naranjo and Ornstein 1971; Ornstein 1972; 1974, 271–309; 1975; Frager and Fadiman 1984, 478–513; Tart 1986; 1989; Deikman 1996, 241–60. [8] Annemarie Schimmel (1922–2003) provides her appraisal of Idries Shah: “He has no scholarly background, and his ramblings combine things which can really not be brought together; historical interest is nil, and accuracy very limited… I am willing to accept a genuine Sufi, who is not a scholar but has a deep experience, if his words radiate truth and honesty, even though he may be unable to express himself in an ‘academic’ style; that is not the problem; but I cannot accept Idries Shah’s claims which are mere pretensions” (quoted in Wilson 1997, 193–94); “Idries Shah, The Sufis [note: 1964], as well as his other books, should be avoided by serious students” (Schimmel 1975, 9). See also Elwell-Sutton 1975, 9–17; Lings 1965, 56–57; R.N.J.A. 1970, 188–90; Moore 1986, 4–8. [9] We might make note of Kircher’s warning about unqualified individuals pursuing the esoteric knowledge of the nine-pointed symbol of the Enneagram: “And I have exposed to the curious reader things which are told to few. Farewell, and guard your tongue” (quoted in Webb 1987, 508). [10] “Many modern psychologists have found that the discoveries and explanations of the abhidharma coincide with their own recent discoveries and new ideas; as though the abhidharma, which was taught 2,500 years ago, had been redeveloped in the modern idiom” (Trungpa 2001, 2).
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