To front: titles & detailed contents list. Contemporary esoteric systems almost invariably play on the desire of mankind to seek or acquire knowledge. Almost universally neglected in such systems are the often unrecognized barriers that prevent knowledge and understanding. Before learning can take place, certain conditions and basic factors must be in place, in the individual or the group. Building on the foundations laid in "Learning How to Learn" and "The Commanding Self", Idries Shah illuminates those factors in "Knowing How To Know". Like an ultra-violet light shone onto the petals of flowers, it reveals concealed patterns, normally invisible to our customary modes of thought.