Customer Reviews

A Search in Secret India

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The author has written many books in spirituality; This is one of earlier books. It records his experiences in India, when he met many kind of peoples of various spiritual inclinations. This India is in sense ' secret India' to a typical modern indian also. He is not a impartial traveller. He is also personally seeking, but skeptical and cautious. He discusses about Mehar Baba who claimed himself as Messiah (avatar). He gives details of their discussions. He introduces us to different yogis, their life styles and their world views. Sage-head of Kanchi mutt directs him to Ramana of the Hill of the Holy Beacon. In the conversions with Ramana, Burton is quite clear about skeptical views. He stays for some time with Ramana and later leaves for further travel. He meets magicians (siddhas) and astrologers. He decides to leave India, books for his ship in Bomabay. Suddenly, he evalutes his experiences and decide to return to Ramana for further guidance. He goes to Ramana, learns about " Who am I?" enquiry and practices it with his support. He leaves India with a positive outlook of spiritual nature of man. Later he continues his search; wirtes many books; guides people; (Recently critized in a book for his guru role). The book is highly readable. It is true is that his pride and judgements distort the true picture, but it is seeker's book.

Dr.Paul Brunton visits India in the early part of this century in search of yogis and mystics. He was fortunate to meet some true saints and finally he reaches his master, Maharishi (The great sage) Ramana of Arunachala (The red mountain) and finds what he came for. This book is a sincere account of a rational and skeptical westerner who was very impartial, but had the guidance of light from God which apparently moved in in the right direction. This book can serve as a lighthouse for both westerners and even the young Indians of this age who can appreciate what they are gifted with than anybody else in the world

When Paul Brunton decided to take up a long journey into mystical India in search of its secret spirituality he must have had a genuine urge to study Indian spirituality. The thirst to get a real `Darshan' of a true yogi. He had something more than a journalists' inquiring mind. During his days India was ruled by Gora (white) Sahibs and the Indian treasure in terms of its spirituality, herb medicines, yoga etc. lay hidden from the world. The world was just amazed by the new scientific inventions taking place in the west. Indians themselves had begun doubting their ancient systems and methods. To set his foot in India in those times to discover its hidden mysticism is quite commendable.
Paul Brunton lands in Bombay from where he begins his mystical experiences and travels south in search of a true yogi. His experiences which he jots down in very lucid English are a pleasure to read.

There are Yogis and there are Jnanis.

Yogis, are able to detach themselves from the world at will
and gain control over their mind enough to attempt and acquire union with God, Goodness, Soul, Spirit, at will.

The last phrase, 'at will' is the catch.

Yogis still have their ego (will) in tact.

Their accomplishments may feed and enlarge this ego rather
than help them see its illusoriness and get rid of its hold.

I had the impression that Yogis are ultimately evolved souls, but this book clearly showed that there are Yogis of different
levels of enlightment. A Yogi can gain enormous powers of concentration and become a master of subjects he chooses- even human subjects. He or she may seem and talk and act like an enlightened master (eg Osho), but the veil of Unreality ultimately will catch him or her.

The difficulty with the Yogic path is, and most likely thing to happen, is that one could 'slip' and settle for being a guru or a miracle-worker and thus become bound deeper into a happy, all powerful sense of ego.

Paul Brunton gives many many examples of such people and stays clear of them. As you read the story of his experiences, you
unconsciously internalize the intellectual honesty and quest for
Truth.

He then meets a few Jnanis - more than one is in here. His meetings with Sage of Kanchi and the Maharshi are the satisfying
climax of his Quest. But he also meets very many jnanis - at least two more in Madras (read the one with the outhouse meditator) and an astrologer in Kasi.

A Jnani is one who has understood the Reality of how World is put together and what the Mind is and how the only truth is Pure Awareness that permeates everything all the time. This understanding of the truth, not Yogic practices, characterize
the spontaneity of a Jnani.

Even though the original word Yogi means 'one who is united with God', it is currently being applied to practitioners of Yoga and in general, aspirants, which is why the distinction of yogi and Jnani is made here to point out that make sure to look for a Jnani (one who has attained the understanding of reality) and not to settle for other Gurus - who may be aspirants along the path little farther from us.

Even though a saint and a yogi will eventually attain this Wisdom, it is very important to remember that they are on the path and have to be treated cautiously - for their ability to mislead us. Searching for a guru, it has been said, is like a blind person trying to judge whether his helper can see. If he could say that, he does not need a helper.

Reading this book, the detailed and objective style of which is very characteristic of last century British writing, you can
actually re-live a journey in 1900s India or even rural india of today and gain a sense for clarifying your own quest. THAT, is a rare thing, and the most important.

First introduced to this book by a friends father, I have come back to the book once every two to three years over the last 20 years, each time I have felt the book is still relevant and it
re-vitalizes my outlook - sort of a spiritual compass.

Ravi Annaswamy

This is an excellent book based on the experiences of the author, Paul Brunton, an Englishman, who toured India in the first half of the 20th century. The author's narrative is in the first person and he takes us with him as he journeys through India seeking the answer to the meaning of life. In the end, he seems to have found what he was searching for.

The book "My Father's Guru", by J. M. Masson which attempts to belittle Paul Brunton, instead reveals the egotism of Masson, who, rather than treat Brunton's ideas objectively, only aims to find fault with Brunton for nothing other than being excessively kind.

This book describes oneof the most remarkable truelife spiritual adventuresever composed. Brunton'stravels in British India lead him to numerous remarkable gurus until, at last he experiences Enlightenment. Reminiscentof Hesse's Siddhartha insome respects, A Search InSecret India is on anotherlevel because it is fact, not fiction.

Overall I found this to be a very good book, worth many rereads, mainly because the author has written about many fascinating personalities who lived in the early 20th century India. However, one of the minus points of this book is that Paul Brunton takes himself too seriously. I think the pride and arrogance of being a "genuine" spiritual seeker comes out too strongly in his narrative.

A critical eye looks at the old world yoga. Great story! Great view into this world that few understand. This is one of my favorite books of all time.

Paul Brunton's hunger to know himself makes this book a delightful read.
I am from that part of the world and the characters he encounters made me smile from cheek to cheek.
He separates the wheat from the chafe . The condition of enlightenment is self-evident and after the people Brunton encounters, you begin to understand how true that is. I strongly recommend this work!

Paul Brunton's book A Search In Secret India was first published in 1934 and has been regarded as a classic work on seeking a spiritual teacher ever since. This new edition gives new readers a chance to acquaint themselves with Brunton's work and the story of his travels in India, undertaken more than 75 years ago. While Paul Brunton tells a fascinating and in many ways exciting story, it has to be said that for the most part this book hasn't aged too well. This is primarily due to the kind of language Brunton uses and the way he tells his story. There is something old-fashioned, almost archaic, about the way he writes. It may have been the latest fashion in the early 30s, but it's not a style of writing that is likely to have a great deal of appeal to most readers today. His syntax seems unnatural and stilted, and some of the words he uses he might even have made up himself.

Brunton travelled far and wide across India for months on end, and did indeed experience the whole gamut of Indian spiritual masters, monks, yogis, fakirs, and assorted miracle-men. The way he tells his story works fairly well when he restricts himself to just recounting his experiences as they happened. It's only when he starts rambling on, trying to be philosophical or analytical, that he loses the plot and becomes less than engaging.

Most of the people he met on his journey will long since have disappeared down the tunnel of time, and of all the people we meet in this book it's probably only Meher Baba and Ramana Maharshi that will be familiar to most people nowadays. He dismissed Meher Baba out of hand as a well-meaning "madman" who greatly exaggerated his own powers and role in the world. He is full of praise for Ramana Maharshi though, and it is really only the sections that describe his meetings with Ramana and his teaching that are genuinely moving. While most of the book is interesting and entertaining, only the passages about Ramana Maharshi have the power and authenticity necessary to truly engage the reader and impart a flavour of genuine spirituality. It's as if Ramana Maharshi brought out the best in him as a writer, and the book ends with Brunton accepting him as his true spiritual master before returning to the West.

Although A Search In Secret India has its shortcomings, it is still worth reading. It's a reminder that the spiritual search is truly an adventure that transcends time, and it should make for interesting reading even for seekers in this day and age.

A very useful companion to Brunton's book is David Godman's excellent book on Ramana Maharshi's teaching Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi (Arkana)

Pathik Strand, author of All This is That