Paul Brunton

UNDER CONSTRUCTION
UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Paul Brunton

Paul Brunton (October 21, 1898 – July 27, 1981) was a British philosopher, mystic and traveler. Leaving a journalistic career to live among yogis, mystics, and holy men, he studied Eastern and Western esoteric teachings and wrote many excellent books. He preferred to be called simply PB.

Theosophical Society involvement

Mr. Brunton wrote of his introduction to Theosophy:

The roots of the story behind my book go back to boyhood, when I found myself taking a keen interest in the subject of Spiritualism. From the very first I quickly developed mediumistic powers, particularly clairvoyance and clairaudience, and thus obtained the best kind of proof of the existence of a psychic world, i.e. by first-hand personal experience, without resort to paid mediums. After I had completely established the truth of survival for myself, I turned to the study of Theosophy and joined the Theosophical Society.

I am grateful for what I learned during this second phase; but after two years’ membership I resigned from the Society. I felt that the adepts who had sponsored its foundation had now withdrawn and left the Society to its own devices. But theosophical study provided my first introduction to Oriental thought, and set me off upon a line of investigation which has become more fascinating still with the passage of time.

The records of the Theosophical Society based in Adyar, Chennai, India show that Mr. Brunton was admitted under the name of Raphael Hurst to the Theosophical Society in the Astrological Lodge in London on April 30, 1920.

Writings

Paul Brunton had an early career as a journalist, and also wrote extensively of his experiences in the East.

Periodicals

Brunton's writings have always been of interest to Theosophists. Dozens of reviews of and excerpts from his books have appeared in periodicals, including The Theosophist, The Canadian Theosophist, The American Theosophist, O. E. Library Critic, Rosicrucian Digest, The Occult Review, ASPR Proceedings, Success Magazine, Light, Modern Mystic, Psychic Observer, Prediction, and The Aryan Path.

A Hermit in the Himalayas

Books

Paul Brunton's books have been very popular, with many printings and translations into numerous languages. Many are still in print, as well as audio and digital editions.

• Are You Upward Bound with William G. Fern. 1931.
• A Search in Secret India. London: Rider & Co., 1934. Available at Internet Archive and Courtofrecord.org. Translated into at least 20 languages.
  • The Maharshi and His Message: Selections from A Search in Secret India. Tiruvannamalai : T.N. Venkataraman, 1968.
• The Secret Path. London: Rider & Co., 1934. Available at Internet Archive and Cincinnati Temple.
• A Search in Secret Egypt. 1936.
• A Message from Arunachala. London: Rider & Co., 1936.
• A Hermit in the Himalayas. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1936 and London: Rider & Co.: 1969. A travel journal describing India's great mountains.

Notebooks of Paul Brunton

• The Quest of the Overself. 1937.
• Indian Philosophy and Modern Culture. 1939.
• The Inner Reality. London: Rider & Co., 1949. Available at Internet Archive. Also published in the United States in 1949 as Discover Yourself.
• Hidden Teaching Beyond Yoga. 1941.
• The Wisdom of the Overself. .1943. Available at Selfdefinition.org.
• Spiritual Crisis of Man. 1952.
• Essays on the Quest. 1984. Published posthumously.
• Essential Readings. Published posthumously.
• Conscious Immortality. Published posthumously.
• Notebooks of Paul Brunton. 1984–88. Sixteen volumes, published posthumously.
  • Notebooks of Paul Brunton: Perspectives. 1984 Burdett, NY: Larson Publications, 1985. Perspectives is the first volume of the 16 Notebooks of Paul Brunton. It contains an overview selection of each of PB’s 28 categories. See Perspectives.
• Paul Brunton: Three Articles from 1930s. Earlville, New York: Short Path Press, 1990.
• Inspired Wisdom in Practice: Quotations from Paul Brunton. Burdett, NY: Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation, 1992.
• Meditations for People in Charge. 1995. Published posthumously.
• Meditations for People in Crisis. 1996. Published posthumously.
• What Is Karma. 1998. Published posthumously.
• The Gift of Grace. 2011. Published posthumously.
• The Short Path to Enlightenment. 2014. Published posthumously.
• Realizing Soul: From Intuition to an Inspired Life. 2015. Published posthumously.
• Instructions for Spiritual Living. 2019. Published posthumously.

Articles, chapters, and introductions

• Brunton, Paul. 1975. "A Living Sage of South India" in The Sage of Kanchi (New Delhi: Arnold-Heinemann, New Delhi:, 1975), chapter 2. Edited by T.M.P. Mahadevan.
• Brunton, Paul. Introduction to Fundamentals of Yoga, by Rammurti S. Mishra, M.D. New York; Harmony Books, 1959, 1987.
• Brunton, Paul. "Western Thought and Eastern Culture", The Cornhill Magazine, 1937.
• Brunton, Paul. Introduction to Practical Yoga by Ernest Wood. London: Rider, 1951.
• Paul Brunton: Three Essays. Earlville, New York: Short Path Press, 1989. Originally published in he Occult Review (London), as follows: "Along the Mystic Road," by Raphael Meriden; "The Occult Value of the Scientific Attitude," by Raphaël Hurst; "Beyond the Cup of Youth", by Raphael Delmonte.

Additional resources

Articles

• Brunton, Paul in Theosophy World.
• Paul Brunton in Wikipedia.
• Paul Brunton and Blavatsky by Jake Jaqua.

Books

• Fung, Annie Cahn. Paul Brunton - A Bridge Between India and the West. Thesis for the Sorbonne, 2004.
• Houghton, Michael [or Michael Juste]. An Occult Autobiography. The author, editor of The Occult Observer, recounts his occult explorations with Paul Brunton, Theosophy and Aleister Crowley.
• Hurst, Kenneth. Paul Brunton: A Personal View Larson Publications, 1989. 320 pages.
• Masson, J[effrey] Moussaieff. My father's Guru: a Journey through Spirituality and Disillusion.

Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1993 and London: HarperCollins, 1994, 1993.

Video

The Official Paul Brunton YouTube channel offers over 250 videos. Many are in Portuguese. Here are examples:

• Ramana Maharshi and Paul Brunton. Posted November 22, 2021. Excerpted from the Paul Brunton Lectures, by Micha-El, recorded on August 8, 2004, in Figueira/Brazil.
• Paul Brunton Speaks to Seekers 1. Posted on August 26, 2021. Recorded on cassette in the mid-1970s by Anthony and Ella May Damiani during a visit to Paul Brunton at his home in Switzerland.

Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation has posted 21 videos, including:

• Paul Brunton through the Years. Posted January 28, 2024. Photos of Paul Brunton throughout his life.
• Spiritual Self-Reliance: Can I Find My Own Way? --Paul Brunton, Quest Video #4. Posted May 11, 2023. “Most People live as prisoners of ideas which are not even their own but which have been suggested to them by others. Independent thinking is rare.”

Websites

• PaulBrunton.org.
• PaulBrunton.org Notebooks.
• Paul Brunton Archives.