Paul Brunton is the pen name of Raphael Hurst (21 October 1898 – 27 July 1981), a British author of spiritual books. He is best known as one of the early popularizers of Neo-Hindu spiritualism in western

esotericism Esotericism may refer to: * Eastern esotericism, a broad range of religious beliefs and practices originating from the Eastern world, characterized by esoteric, secretive, or occult elements * Western esotericism, a wide range of loosely related id ...

, notably via his bestselling ''A Search in Secret India'' (1934) which has been translated into over 20 languages. Brunton was a proponent of a doctrine of "Mentalism", or ''Oriental Mentalism'' to distinguish it from

subjective idealism Subjective idealism, or empirical idealism or immaterialism, is a form of philosophical monism that holds that only minds and mental contents exist. It entails and is generally identified or associated with immaterialism, the doctrine that m ...

of the western tradition. Brunton expounds his doctrine of Mentalism in ''The Hidden Teaching Beyond Yoga'' (1941, new ed. 2015 North Atlantic Books), ''The Wisdom of the Overself'' (1943, new ed. 2015 North Atlantic Books) and in the posthumous publication of ''The Notebooks of Paul Brunton'' in 16 volumes (Larson Publications, 1984–88).

Biography

Hurst was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1898. He served in a tank division during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and later devoted himself to mysticism and came into contact with

Theosophist Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neo ...

s. He married Karen Augusta Tuttrup in 1921, with whom he had a son, Kenneth Thurston Hurst (b. 1923). After his wife had an affair with his friend Leonard Gill, the marriage ended in divorce in 1926, but Hurst remained on friendly terms with his ex-wife and with Gill. He was a bookseller and journalist, and wrote under various pseudonyms, including Raphael Meriden and Raphael Delmonte. Being partner of an occult bookshop, The Atlantis Bookshop, in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

, Hurst came into contact with both the literary and occult British

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

of the 1920s. In 1930, Hurst embarked on a voyage to India, which brought him into contact with

Meher Baba Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani; 25 February 1894 – 31 January 1969) was an Indian spirituality, spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. A spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following o ...

, Vishuddhananda Paramahansa, Paramacharya of Kancheepuram and

Ramana Maharshi Ramana Maharshi (; ; 30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian Hindu Sage (philosophy), sage and ''jivanmukta'' (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He was b ...

. At the Paramacharya's insistence, he met Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, which led to a turn of events culminating in revealing Ramana to the western world. Hurst's first visit to Sri Ramana's

ashram An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< bhikshu A ''bhikkhu'' (, ) is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male, and female monastics (''bhikkhunī''), are members of the Sangha (Buddhist community). The lives of all Buddhist monastics are governed by a set of rules called the prātimo ...

, formerly a military officer but meanwhile known as Swami Prajnananda, the founder of the English ashram in

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

. Hurst asked several questions, including "What is the way to God-realization?" and Maharshi said: "Vichara, asking yourself the 'Who am I?' enquiry into the nature of your Self." ''Paul Brunton'' was the pseudonym under which ''A Search in Secret India'' was published in 1934. The book became a bestseller, and Hurst afterwards stuck to publishing under this name. Brunton has been credited with introducing Ramana Maharshi to the West through his books ''A Search in Secret India'' and ''The Secret Path''. One day—sitting with Ramana Maharshi—Brunton had an experience which Steve Taylor names "an experience of genuine enlightenment which changed him forever". Brunton describes it in the following way: Brunton was in India during World War II, as a guest of the

Maharaja of Mysore The maharaja of Mysore was the king and principal ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore and briefly of Mysore State in the Indian Dominion roughly between the mid- to late-1300s and 1950. The maharaja's consort was called the maharani of Mysore. In ...

Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV (4 June 1884 – 3 August 1940) was the twenty-fourth Maharaja of Mysore, reigning from 1902 until his death in 1940. Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV is popularly deemed a '' rajarshi'', or 'saintly king', a moniker with which Mah ...

. He dedicated his book ''The Quest of the Overself'' to the Maharaja and when the Maharaja died in 1940, he was present at his funeral. Brunton commented on Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian independence movement: In the 1940s and 1950s, Brunton occasionally stayed as a guest, for a few weeks at a time, about six months total, with the parents of controversial American author and former psychoanalyst Jeffrey Masson. In 1956, Brunton decided that a third world war was imminent and the Massons moved to

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, since this location was considered safe. From

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, Masson went with Brunton's encouragement to study Sanskrit at Harvard. Brunton himself did not move to South America, instead spending some time living in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. In 1993, Masson wrote a critical account of Brunton titled ''My Father's Guru: A Journey Through Spirituality and Disillusion''. In the 1950s, Brunton retired from publishing books and devoted himself to writing essays and notes. Upon his death in 1981 in Vevey, Switzerland, it was noted that in the period since the last published book in 1952, he had rendered about 20,000 pages of philosophical writing. A longtime friend of Brunton's, philosopher Anthony Damiani, founded ''Wisdom's Goldenrod Center for Philosophic Studies'' in 1972. Swedish publisher Robert Larson helped to start Larson Publications (USA) which completed the publication of the 16-volume set of ''The Notebooks of Paul Brunton'' in 1988. Brunton's son Kenneth Hurst helped form the Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation which continues to publish and archive Paul Brunton's literary legacy (the physical archive is now located in the Cornell University Library).

Personal life

Brunton was a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

for ethical and spiritual reasons. Early in his life he was interested in occultism and regularly contributed to the ''Occult Review'', attended

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society is the organizational body of Theosophy, an esoteric new religious movement. It was founded in New York City, U.S.A. in 1875. Among its founders were Helena Blavatsky, a Russian mystic and the principal thinker of the ...

meetings in London and joined the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain.

Bibliography

Books

*
A Search in Secret India
' (1934) *''The Secret Path'' (1935) *
A Search in Secret Egypt
' (1936) *''A Message from Arunachala'' (1936)
''A Hermit in the Himalayas''
(1936) *''The Quest of the Overself'' (1937) *''Indian Philosophy and Modern Culture'' (1939)
''The Inner Reality''
(1939) ublished in the US as Discover Yourself, same yearbr>''The Hidden Teaching Beyond Yoga''
(1941) *''Wisdom of the Overself'' (1943) *''Spiritual Crisis of Man'' (1952)

Miscellaneous

*Brunton, Paul. 1975. "A Living Sage of South India" in ''The Sage of Kanchi'', New Delhi: Arnold-Heinemann, New Delhi. ed by T.M.P. Mahadevan, chapter 2 *Brunton, Paul. 1959, 1987. ''Introduction to Fundamentals of Yoga'', by Rammurti S. Mishra, M.D. New York; Harmony Books *Brunton, Paul. 1937. "Western Thought and Eastern Culture", article, The Cornhill Magazine *Brunton, Paul. 1951. Introduction to Wood, Ernest ''Practical Yoga'' London: Rider *Plus articles in ''Success Magazine'', ''Occult Review'', and ''The Aryan Path''

Posthumously published texts

''The Notebooks of Paul Brunton''
16 Volumes of posthumous writings (1984-1988) *''Essays on the Quest'' (1984) *''Essential Readings'' (1990) *''Conscious Immortality'' Excerpts
*''Instructions for Spiritual Living'' (2019) *''Realizing Soul: From Intuition to an Inspired Life'' (2015) *''The Short Path to Enlightenment'' (2014) *''Paul Brunton: A Personal View'' by Kenneth Hurst (1989) *''Meditations for People in Charge'' (1995) *''Meditations for People in Crisis'' (1996) *''What Is Karma'' (1998) *''The Gift of Grace'' (2011)

References

*Kenneth Thurston Hurst, ''Paul Brunton: A Personal View'', 1989, *

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson (; born March 28, 1941, as Jeffrey Lloyd Masson) is an American author. Masson is best known for his conclusions about Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis. In his '' The Assault on Truth'' (1984), Masson argues that Freud ma ...

, ''My Father's Guru: A Journey Through Spirituality and Disillusion'', Addison-Wesley (1993), , (new edition 2003 by Ballantine/Random House) * Annie Cahn Fung, ''Paul Brunton A Bridge Between India and the West''. A doctoral thesis presented to the Department of Religious Anthropology Universite de Paris IV Sorbonne, 1992
online text, published by wisdomsgoldenrod
*J. Glenn Friesen: Studies Related to Paul Brunton