Six Factors

Until comprehensive modes of thought are developed, people react to words reflexively. We know this as the “sound-byte” phenomenon: the manipulators of public opinion are all too aware that some words will produce this and others that raw emotion in people who live on the surface.

Last night I was again reading Idries Shah’s A Perfumed Scorpion, in part an introduction to Sufi methods of teaching. Here Shah presents a page or two on six factors related to the Sufi teaching methods. Of the six points some are about the teacher and some about the prospective student. These are:

1. A teacher who isn’t moved to teach but is more drawn to learning.
2. Avoidance (by both) of outward show, arising from genuine sincerity and a healthy humility.
3. The ability to act or to avoid acting based entirely on the objective characteristics of situations. This implies avoiding actions to attract attention or simply to please.
4. The ability to switch attention at will, thus the power to bestow it or to withdraw it.
5. Ability to observe people and to read them accurately, especially needed in the teacher who must form groups in which individuals will help/complement each other.
6. The ability and inclination to be of service to others without seeking (or feeling the sensation of) a reward.

Shah makes this presentation in the context of technique, of method—and deliberately so. He is attempting to communicate with people who are into technology, systems, and so on and conditioned to react negatively if anyone mentions obeying the will of God or loving your neighbor. The modern reaction to that sort of thing is: “Where’s the exit?” But what Shah is actually laying out as a requirement for the student is a high state of maturity and of morality, omitting any religious references.

Also notable: Hidden in this listing is the fact that obeying such “factors” produces a movement inward—but without causing a neglect of the outer. It calls for a withdrawal to the inner sovereignty of the mature individual from the usual stimulus-response games on the surface of ordinary reality.