---
product_id: 7986306
title: "Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way Paperback – January 1, 1996"
brand: "idries shah"
price: "A$180"
currency: AUD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.com.au/products/7986306-learning-how-to-learn-psychology-and-spirituality-in-the-sufi
store_origin: AU
region: Australia
---

# Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way Paperback – January 1, 1996

**Brand:** idries shah
**Price:** A$180
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way Paperback – January 1, 1996 by idries shah
- **How much does it cost?** A$180 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.au](https://www.desertcart.com.au/products/7986306-learning-how-to-learn-psychology-and-spirituality-in-the-sufi)

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- idries shah enthusiasts

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## Description

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Learning by experience
  

*by R***S on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 1, 2019*

Quite a few years ago my neighbor, who happened to be from Egypt, mentioned that he was writing a book on Sufism.  “What’s that?” I asked, having never heard of it before.  He changed the subject, would not say anything more about it, and I could not get him to elaborate further with several questions.  Somewhat irritated, I said to myself, “OK, well I’ll just find out about it on my own!”  A day or two later I visited a local bookseller (we had plenty of them in those days), and I found this book, Learning How to Learn and another by a different author with “Sufism” in the title.  I read them both.  I was interested in what I read, and I continued to read other titles by Shah and by the other author.  After reading a few books by each I had the vague sense that there was something in Shah’s books that didn’t seem to be in the other’s, so I stopped reading his and continued with Shah’s. Over the years I have read and reread Learning How to Learn several times, and with each reading I seem to get something more from it, as well as from his other publications.  As other reviewers have mentioned, “He (or she) who tastes knows.”  Learning How to Learn is an excellent place to start tasting.  Read it.  Pay attention to how you react.  If the impact seems beneficial, then you will be pleased to know that there are many more of his books to experience.  If you find nothing there of value, then that is perhaps an end to it.  If you hate it, love it, get depressed, react with some other emotion, or even just feel confused, you may wish to see if you can figure out why you are reacting in that way.  In my experience the impacts of this and of his other books vary with each subsequent reading, giving you more opportunities to examine your reactions and learn more about yourself and how you operate. Generally, we all know that books say things.  Shah’s books, in the experiences of many, tend to do things.  When you read Learning How to Learn, and perhaps others of his books, I hope that you will find even more benefit from his life’s work than I have.  Shah, particularly now that he has died, is not to be regarded as a guru or “master,” rather he has something to do with the development of human consciousness.  With modern advances in psychology, anthropology, sociology, and so forth, what he writes has a relevance to “scientifically-minded” individuals that was not possible in the past.  Even some theologically-oriented individuals may find much of value here.  I believe the Sufic stream has always been well accepted by the practically-minded, but now may appeal to and be worthwhile for an even wider audience.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Unique among Idries Shah books
  

*by D***D on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 9, 2019*

Learning How to LearnA friend pointed this out to me, “Learning How to Learn” is unique among books written by Idries Shah in that he answers questions posed by contemporary students in Sufism.  Almost all the other books that Shah wrote contain teaching stories that leave a reader to work things out. In this volume, Shah provides some guidance for those students unsure of themselves.  Here Shah shows a would be Sufi where they can go off the rails, in a manner of speaking.For me, one of the most significant problems a novice faces is that they are educated.  Let me express this another way, the methods and techniques that lead to success in learning say economics or mathematics do not necessarily apply to Sufi learning.  The subject of a Sufi education is the self.  In this sense, it doesn’t matter whether you are an astrophysicist or plumber.  (In fact, Shah might suggest that plumber has an advantage in that he doesn’t think of himself as well educated already, so he is more open to learning.)And that gets us to the main power of “Learning How to Learn,” this book shows us how our conditioned mind acts as a barrier to perceiving our true nature.  Here is a short excerpt that illustrates this point:Q: What is the compatibility, if any, of the Sufi book and the Sufi teaching beyond books?A: Many people say that they cannot learn from books.INSTRUMENTAL FUNCTIONOf course, they cannot: because they have first to learn that, correctly guided, they can learn from books, or from grasshoppers, or from anything.A book, for the Sufis, is an instrument as much as it is something to give information. Information and action are both necessary.The key is the teacher. If he says: “Read this book,” then you should read it.If your answer is: “I cannot learn from books,” then you are in fact refusing his teaching. If you refuse teaching, do not be surprised if you do not learn anything.Shah, Idries. Learning How to Learn. ISF Publishing. Kindle Edition. As I read this book, I continually got the sense that I was seeing myself.  I kept hearing myself say, ‘Gosh, I’m like that. That is me.’  Along with this sense of seeing myself came the realization that if I wanted to learn I had to change.  Learning was changing.I won’t deny that at times I found reading “Learning How to Learn” overwhelming.  Coming face to face with my own conditioning was not always a pleasant experience.  Ultimately though, I found the book liberating.  I began to develop the ability to observe my mind operating.  This ability allowed me to see choices that I had not perceived before.  I began to get the sense that I was more than my conditioning.  Perhaps you will too.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    It is not about Sufism, it is IN Sufism
  

*by S***T on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 23, 2015*

Others already praised this and other Shah books enough, including what Nobel Laureate Doris Lessing wrote in the introduction.What I personally saw nowhere else is p.41 and ff. on how the internal change can be performed.And then you may want to look at p.247 The Number of Reading of a Book - which does not appear more improbable than the discovery of microbes, so ridiculed before Pasteur's findings became accepted. (Some "people" still believe that the moon landings never happened or that there is no evolution, that the days of creation were not long periods but actual days).Remember: Sufi books are not to TELL you secrets. They are there to change you so that you become capable of seeing what is in plain view but you are blind. You need to cure your blindness first. And they tell you how.There is also Idries Shah Foundation and the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge, if you want to go further. They do ordinary human things, and very efficiently so.They are NOT for people who are not viable units of the society. They are not for crazies, not for seekers of excitement.They are not for those who want to regress but for those who want to go forward to transcend social conditioning and animal passions.This and other Shah books is not about the history and anthropology of Sufism. It is about real, live and kicking system which brings results if you are honest. Shah was an actual Sufi, many other writers, probably most, are popularizers - perhaps well-meaning but still not the real thing, not speaking from personal experience, not capable of helping others to undergo transformation because they themselves were never transformed.

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*Store origin: AU*
*Last updated: 2026-03-21*