Title : A Search in Secret India
Author : Paul
Brunton
Publisher : Ebury Pr
ISBN : 9781844130436
Paul Brunton is one
of the greatest explorers of the nineteenth century. Many of his writings
address spiritual beliefs and traditions of the Eastern world. A Search in
Secret India, his first book, is chronicling of his journey in the enigmatic
land of India where he spent time with mystics,
yogis and holy men trying to unravel the mysteries of faith and
spirituality. Though he is open minded,
he approaches things with scepticism and with a mindset of an intellect. He
tries to evaluate things on his scientific and philosophical scale. He embarks
on a quest to find the real Yogi but wants to proceed logically. In 'A Search in Secret India', Paul Brunton gives detailed accounts of meetings with various
Yogis walking the path of spiritual growth, he also meets many who practise the
art of magic and egotism. But then his sojourn eventually leads him to his
destination when he finally meets the great sage Sri Ramana Maharishi. The last
quarter of the book is dedicated to the time he spent in Ramana Maharishi's
ashram in Tamil Nadu. Author feels that his experience at the ashram changed
him completely.
As it is, tracking
the origin of faith and spirituality in India is nothing less than an enigma.
This book offers a great approach to begin to learn about the true changing
facets of spirituality in India - critical and logical. With inumerable
spiritual branches and sub-branches
sprouting from every possible corner, and materialism making the path to self
realisation even harder, it is important to understand and experience
spirituality in its truest form.
Paul Brunton's
writings are very readable and easy to connect to. The pace of the narrative is
a little slow in the first half but then one starts enjoying the tranquil and
relaxed pace of the same. The book is set in 1930s and the narrative gives an
idea of the supremacy that Britishers enjoyed in India at that time. It is
wonderful to read how his journey culminates and that chapter is the highlight
of the book. After reading it, one is at least able to get a small glimpse of
the higher spirituality which stirs the inner yearning to seek the same.
"But
it is not till the second hour of the uncommon scene that I become aware of a
silent, resistless change which is taking place within my mind. One by one, the questions which I
have prepared in the train with such meticulous accuracy drop away. For it does not now seem to matter
whether they are asked or not, and it does not seem to matter whether I solve
the problems which have hitherto troubled me. I know only that a steady river of quietness seems to be flowing
near me, that a great peace is penetrating the inner reaches of my being, and
that my thought-tortured brain is beginning to arrive at some rest. I surrender myself to the steadily
deepening sense of restfulness until two hours have passed... I begin to wonder
whether, by some radioactivity of the soul, some unknown telepathic process,
the stillness which invades the troubled waters of my own soul really comes
from him."
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