The Magic Monastery with the subtitle Analogical and Action Philosophy of the Middle East and Central Asia contains traditional teaching stories as well as pieces composed by Idries Shah. The author writes in the preface: "It consists of a representative cross-section of Sufi teaching which constitutes a harmonized whole rather than a selection of typical extracts."

Once upon a time, a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed. Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.