
The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin
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Narrated by:
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David Ault
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By:
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Idries Shah
About this listen
"Perfectly designed models for isolating and holding distortions of the mind which so often pass for reasonable behavior." (Idries Shah)
Today we find Idries Shah in a high-level physics report, illustrating phenomena that can't be described in ordinary technical terms. He appears in psychology textbooks, illuminating the workings of the mind in a way no straightforward explanation can.
Here, in three definitive volumes, Shah takes us to the very heart of this mysterious mentor, the Mulla Nasrudin. They're comprised of skillful contemporary retellings of hundreds of collected stories and sayings bringing the unmistakable wisdom, wit, and charm of the timeless jokester to life.
The mulla and his stories appear in literature and oral traditions from the Middle East to Greece, Russia, France - even China. Many nations claim Nasrudin as a native son, with the Turks going so far as to exhibit a grave with his date of death as 386. But nobody really knows who he was or where he came from.
According to a legend dating from at least the 13th century, Nasrudin was snatched as a schoolboy from the clutches of the "old villain" - the crude system of thought that ensnares man - to carry through the ages the message of how to escape. He was chosen because he could make people laugh, and humor has a way of slipping through the cracks of the most rigid thinking habits.
Today - as they have for centuries - the Sufis use these stories as teaching exercises, in part to momentarily freeze situations in which states of mind can be recognized. In these delightful volumes, Shah not only gives the mulla a proper vehicle for our times; he proves that the centuries-old stories and quips of Nasrudin are still some of the funniest jokes in the world.
©1973 Idries Shah Foundation (P)2015 Idries Shah FoundationListeners also enjoyed...
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The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin
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- Length: 2 hrs and 28 mins
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The appeal of Nasrudin is as universal and timeless as the truths he illustrates. His stories are read by children, by scientists and scholars, and by followers of philosophy. Sufi scholar Idries Shah assembled this collection of Nasrudin's trials and tribulations from ancient Eastern manuscripts and oral literature, from sources in North Africa and Turkey, the Middle East and Central Asia. Many were known to the great Sufi masters, Rumi, Jami, and Attar the chemist.
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Nasrudin tales have helped me see things in a different way. They truly are a pleasure and a treasure.
- By A film and literary fan on 05-28-24
By: Idries Shah
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The Subtleties of the Inimitable Mulla Nasrudin
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- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 1 hr and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Many countries claim Nasrudin as a native, although few have gone so far as Turkey in exhibiting a "grave" of the wisest fool who ever lived, and holding an annual Nasrudin Festival. He is the greatest, most intriguing, character of folklore found in any Eastern land.
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A Veiled Gazelle
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A Veiled Gazelle, as the great mystic Ibn Arabi explains in his interpreter of desires, is a subtlety, an organ of higher perception. Sufi experientialists refer to the activation of these centres of awareness as the awakening of real knowledge of truth beyond form. A Veiled Gazelle considers the symbolic and instrumental employment of its literature in Sufi studies. Seldom didactic, and never meant only as entertainment, such works are regarded as some of the world’s greatest and most important writing.
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Caravan of Dreams
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Caravan of Dreams distills the essence of Eastern thought in a feast of Sufi stories, sayings, poems, and allegories collected by one of the world's leading experts in Oriental philosophy and Sufism. Idries Shah builds up a complete picture of a single consciousness, relating Eastern mythology to reality, illuminating historical patterns, and presenting philosophical legends in this unique anthology.
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Awesome Narrator
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Although enormously attractive as sheer entertainment, Dervish tales were never presented merely on the level of a fable, legend, or folklore. They stand comparison in wit, construction, and piquancy with the finest stories of any culture, yet their true function as Sufi teaching stories is so little-known in the modern world, that no technical or popular terms exist to describe them. The material in Tales of the Dervishes is the result of a thousand years of development, during which Dervish masters used these and other teaching stories to instruct their disciples. The tales are held to convey powers of increasing perception unknown to the ordinary man.
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Very well done on all levels
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By: Idries Shah
-
The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 2 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The appeal of Nasrudin is as universal and timeless as the truths he illustrates. His stories are read by children, by scientists and scholars, and by followers of philosophy. Sufi scholar Idries Shah assembled this collection of Nasrudin's trials and tribulations from ancient Eastern manuscripts and oral literature, from sources in North Africa and Turkey, the Middle East and Central Asia. Many were known to the great Sufi masters, Rumi, Jami, and Attar the chemist.
-
-
Nasrudin tales have helped me see things in a different way. They truly are a pleasure and a treasure.
- By A film and literary fan on 05-28-24
By: Idries Shah
-
The Subtleties of the Inimitable Mulla Nasrudin
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 1 hr and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many countries claim Nasrudin as a native, although few have gone so far as Turkey in exhibiting a "grave" of the wisest fool who ever lived, and holding an annual Nasrudin Festival. He is the greatest, most intriguing, character of folklore found in any Eastern land.
By: Idries Shah
-
A Veiled Gazelle
- Seeing How to See
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 2 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Veiled Gazelle, as the great mystic Ibn Arabi explains in his interpreter of desires, is a subtlety, an organ of higher perception. Sufi experientialists refer to the activation of these centres of awareness as the awakening of real knowledge of truth beyond form. A Veiled Gazelle considers the symbolic and instrumental employment of its literature in Sufi studies. Seldom didactic, and never meant only as entertainment, such works are regarded as some of the world’s greatest and most important writing.
By: Idries Shah
-
Caravan of Dreams
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Caravan of Dreams distills the essence of Eastern thought in a feast of Sufi stories, sayings, poems, and allegories collected by one of the world's leading experts in Oriental philosophy and Sufism. Idries Shah builds up a complete picture of a single consciousness, relating Eastern mythology to reality, illuminating historical patterns, and presenting philosophical legends in this unique anthology.
-
-
Awesome Narrator
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By: Idries Shah
-
Tales of the Dervishes
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Although enormously attractive as sheer entertainment, Dervish tales were never presented merely on the level of a fable, legend, or folklore. They stand comparison in wit, construction, and piquancy with the finest stories of any culture, yet their true function as Sufi teaching stories is so little-known in the modern world, that no technical or popular terms exist to describe them. The material in Tales of the Dervishes is the result of a thousand years of development, during which Dervish masters used these and other teaching stories to instruct their disciples. The tales are held to convey powers of increasing perception unknown to the ordinary man.
-
-
Very well done on all levels
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By: Idries Shah
-
Thinkers of the East
- By: Idries Shah
- Narrated by: David Ault
- Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thinkers of the East is a collection of anecdotes and "parables in action" illustrating the eminently practical and lucid approach of Eastern Dervish teachers. Distilled from the teachings of more than 100 sages in three continents, this material stresses the experimental rather than the theoretical - and it is that characteristic of Sufi study which provides its impact and vitality.
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bracing and illuminating
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What listeners say about The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin
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- Alednam A Uonopk
- 02-22-22
One could listen to this daily....
Funny and thought provoking all at once, this is well worth listening to. Perhaps thrice....
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Overall
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- Kindle Customer
- 05-29-16
An excellent compilation of Nasrudin tales
The. Middleastern humor figure at his wisest. Allow him to provide entertainment while provoking thoughtful glances in the mirror.
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