The work of Paul Brunton
Is there a universal truth? Is there a doctrine which does not depend on individual opinion or the peculiarities of a particular age or the level of culture of a particular land? Is there a teaching which appeals to universal experience and not to private prejudice? We reply that there is, but it has been buried underneath much metaphysical lumber, much ancient lore, and much Oriental superstition. Our work has been to rescue this doctrine from the dead past for the benefit of the living present. In these pages we explode false counterfeits and expound the genuine doctrine, the genuine philosophy.
What is Ultimate Reality?
The ultimate reality is one and the same, no matter what it is called; to the Chinese mystic it is TAO, that is, the Significance; to the Christian mystic it is GOD; to the Chinese philosopher it is TAT CHI, that is, The Great Extreme; to the Hindu philosopher it is TAT, that is, Absolute Existence.
The Real and the relative existence: the mystery of Mind
Even though we know life is like a dream, we must live, work and act, love, strive and suffer as if the dream were true.
Paul Brunton and the Ideal
To seek knowledge from unprejudiced sources is a rule hard to fulfil, because such sources are rare. The next best thing is to be an unprejudiced seeker, and this is the Ideal I have tried to follow. Sectarianism is everywhere because institutions and organizations are everywhere. There is a better chance for the truth seeker when flying the flag of independence.
Truth and Human Existence
What is the greatest need of man? I reply quite simply, Truth! For no other satisfaction will end his discontents.
Truth existed before the churches began to spire their way upwards into the sky, and it will continue to exist after the last academy of philosophy has been battered down. Nothing can still the primal need of it in man. Priesthoods can be exterminated until not one vestige is left in the land; mystic hermitages can be broken until they are but dust; philosophical books can be burnt out of existence by culture-hating tyrants, yet this subterranean sense in man which demands the understanding of its own existence will one day rise again with an urgent claim and create a new expression of itself.
A person is not necessarily unspiritual if he lives fully in the world, engaging in its activities and appreciating its satisfactions. Only, he must remember constantly who and what he really is and never forget his ultimate purpose.
Those activities which belong to a human existence in the world may still go on, and need not be renounced, although they may be modified or altered in certain ways as intuition directs. His business, professional, family, and social interests need not be given up. His appreciations or creations of art need not be abandoned. His intellectual and cultural life can remain. It is only demanded of him that none of these should be a self-sufficient thing, existing in total disregard of the Whole, of the ultimate and higher purpose which is behind reincarnation.
There is nothing wrong in the daily contact with the world, attending to duties, being practical, effective, even successful in profession, business, or other work, and rearing a family, provided all this is done within the remembrance of the Higher Power.
He is not asked to abandon his social aspirations, for instance, in favour of his spiritual aspirations, but to balance them sanely. He is asked not to seek the one at the cost of the other, not to desert worthy ideals at important moments. The major decisions of his life must be grounded on a reconciliation of being in the world with not being of the world.
Paul Brunton
An open mind and a sensitive heart: the basis for "knowing the Truth"
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A Search for Paul Brunton
A wonderful biography written by Joscelyn Godwin for New Dawn magazine in April 2022. View biography
Rediscovering Paul Brunton
Another excellent biography written in 1986 by Barbara Platek and Steve Soiffer. View biography
Who is Ramana Maharshi? By Arthur Osborne
An introduction to Ramana by Arthur Osborne, published on the website nodualidad.info View biography
Who is Ramana Maharshi? By David Godman
Additional information
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LINKS & RESOURCES. Here are some sites and multimedia resources that people interested in PB’s approach may also like to check out:
Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation website PaulBrunton.org
Paul Brunton-stiftelsen website (in 17 languages) paulbruntondailynote.se
Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation YouTube Channel youtube.com/channel/UCUib-nHxf-k2Zc6RB55b-pg
Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation Facebook page facebook.com/PaulBruntonPhilosophicFoundation
Offers PB teachings in Portuguese aphilosophia.org
Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation Spanish language website paulbrunton.com.br/es
Videos in Portuguese, Spanish, and English youtube.com/c/PAULBRUNTONOFFICIAL
Spanish Facebook page facebook.com/FundacionFilosoficadePaulBrunton