Customer Reviews

The Ego: from Birth to Rebirth (The Notebooks of Paul Brunton V006) (Volume 6)

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I had a book on my shelf for 5 years "Standing in Your Own Way: Talks on the Nature of Ego" by Anthony Damaini. I finally got around to reading it and it was very deep and one of the few books to totally focus on the ego. How do we transcend the ego unless we know what it is? Paul Brunton is heavily quoted in Anthony's book as Anthony was a student of Pauls. Once I started reading Paul I know I had found a non-dual heavy hitter the likes of Ramana , Nisargadatta and Jean Klein. Actually Paul studied under Ramana. This particular book is one in a series of "notebooks" produced by Paul. Here are few couple of quotes:

"The danger of most pseudo-spiritual paths is that they stimulate the ego, whereas the authentic path will suffocate it."

"...the body is only a part of you, that part which is the object receiving your attention."

"The ego must live in the world, must satisfy its needs out of its environment. It is therefore entitled to its point of view. The mistake lies in tyrannically making that the only point of view."

Paul is accredited as bringing the Eastern philosophy to the West.
The notebook collection is an astounding wealth of wisdom on a variety of topics relating to spiritual development from Ego to the Body to Meditation. As of this review I was able to find the entire notebook collection online.

I purchased this book thinking that the title was singular; the book is in fact of two parts I.e. 1. The Ego & 2. From Birth to Rebirth. Still the title(s) of this book speaks much in the way of the depth of understanding that the author has, profound spiritual esoteric knowledge.

Paul Brunton has made the pilgrimage to the east and has indeed discovered much. I am happy to see that the author states that there are many on the spiritual path that state that the ego must be dealt with, even destroyed. I commend him for stating that those on the spiritual path must ultimately look at, and deal with the `ego'. Interestingly, firstly Paul Brunton goes against the view that the ego can be destroyed, he states that the ego is necessary for one to function in this world. The author openly admits that he is unaware of how one would go about to destroy the ego. Is it no wonder then that Paul Brunton would say that the ego cannot be destroyed?

The author's solution to this is not destruction of the ego, but transcendence. All of this sounds very similar to the end results found with most of the people that I have come across in the Gurdjieff and Ouspensky groups. It is not enough to look at the ego and hope that it goes away, especially if you want results in this lifetime. I find this author obviously contradictory in that the author makes references to the destruction of the ego (page 55 par 82 "If the ego can trick him into deviating from the central issue of its own destruction..." also page 71 par 52 "Yes, he, the ego, must die if God is to be present"). My personal knowledge sides with the fact that the ego must be destroyed for true liberation to take place I.e. There is no transcendence, there is no confusion, without the Divine Mother there is no death of the ego.

My only other criticism of this book is that it tends to repeat itself a lot. Other than what I have just critiqued upon, I must say that this is a superb work and is highly recommended. Paul Bruton has an excellent understanding of the inner workings of the ego and its hindrances to becoming whole. He also has great insights into the `return' process of life and death and an excellent balance in understanding between the positions of determinism and fatalism

Regarding `The Ego', `Return' and liberation, I would recommend the following works:

`Tantric yoga and the wisdom goddesses' by Dr. David Frawley (Recommended as a connection of towards the work of the divine feminine Kundalini and mantra for ego destruction)

`Self observation' by Robert Earl Burton (Recommended as a further practical tool to understanding the ego)

Above all of this I would especially recommend the works of Samael Aun Weor as the best source of understanding towards the destruction of the ego and liberation. Ideally I would give Paul Brunton's `The Ego' a tad less than 5 stars; the reason being that the works of Samael Aun Weor are of a superior calibre. I do not wish to devalue this present work in regard to the seriousness and excellence of the subject matter contained in this work and as such find that I must give this book 5 stars.

In trying to improve one's life, many traditions call to "thin out the ego". What is this ego and why is it a problem? Much is being written about "living in the now" and thinking of others vs. self. This book by Paul Brunton, a man (1898 - 1981)who researched both Eastern and Western traditions for Wisdom, clearly presents an understanding of this elusive ego and many techniques to search for the root (of problems). This is the one author whose writings always bring me peace and calmness of mind.