Learning How to Learn

Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way (Compass) Paperback – September 1, 1996
by Idries Shah (Author), Doris Lessing (Introduction)

It is not about Sufism, it is IN Sufism
BySteve Diputon 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.

The Single Most Useful Book I Have Ever Read
By Dave T.on January 19, 2017

This has probably been the most useful book I have ever had. Please read the excellent and detailed reviews here. With study, this book has opened my mind to much more creative thinking processes. Other books, especially by Mr. Shah, worked along with with this book, The Sufis, Nasrudin stories, the Tales of The Dervishes, and The Arabian Nights Entertainments. For someone needing baby steps (as I did), try starting with "The Uses of Enchantment" by Dr. Bruno Bettleheim, which might give you some ideas about how to psychologically work with symbols in stories. "Learning How to Learn" was also delightful on the first read, if you merely want entertainment value. The book was invaluable to my personal growth.