The Magic Monastery is a collection of entertaining teaching stories taken from the Sufi mystical tradition. The book differs from its predecessors in that it contains not only legends and fables, but also stories specially written by Shah to complete the book as a ‘course in non-linear thinking’.
The work, whose subtitle is ‘Analogical and Action Philosophy of the Middle East and Central Asia’, Shah tells us, ‘consists of a representative cross-section of Sufi teaching which constitutes a harmonised whole rather than a selection of typical extracts.’
As with all of his books, The Magic Monastery is rich in thought-provoking material, and can be read and enjoyed at many levels.