Kevan Bowkett

Kevan Bowkett asked Tahir Shah:

Idries Shah wrote about the difference between 'stretching' and 'straining.' Please can you comment on learning how to 'stretch' not 'strain' in making efforts?

Tahir Shah Answer: The Occidental World is preoccupied with fast results. It was something that drove my father crazy -- because he had seen the damage that fast track 'straining' could do, and the benefits of gentle 'stretching'. He would say that if you wanted to shape a piece of wood to make a musical instrument, you would do it best by warming it over a fire and bending it over a number of hours -- rather than forcing it... because, when forced, wood splinters and cracks.

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Tarun

Tarun asked Tahir Shah:

This question contains spoilers… (view spoiler)

Naomi

Naomi asked Tahir Shah:

Thank you for taking questions. Do you think the proposed UK legislation against extremism will likely spread it further, bearing in mind your father's comment that 'such mental sets thrive on opposition'? Is there anything more people can do to make the facts of mind manipulation more widely known? http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/175159-knowing-how-to-know-a-practical-philosophy-in-the-sufi-tradition

Beachi

Beachi asked Tahir Shah:

Hello I am writing a book about my mother who was born in Casablanca in 1936, and who lived there until 1955. I am trying to find out where she might have shopped in 1955 Casablanca, where she might have gone out to eat. She was French, last name of Coulais. Her parents sent her to the States in 1955 because she was pregnant and unmarried. Can you suggest where I might find information like that?

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