Paul Brunton

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Paul Brunton

Paul Brunton (born October 21, 1898 in London , † July 27, 1981 in Vevey , Switzerland; actually Raphael Hurst ) was an English journalist and author .

life and work

Paul Brunton was born in London on October 21, 1898 to Jewish parents. He lost his mother in childhood, whereupon a stepmother called Auntie (a nickname for aunt ) took over the upbringing. As a teenager he was already occupied with spiritism .

In 1921 he married Karen Augusta Tuttrup , from the marriage in 1923 the son Kenneth Thurston Hurst emerged. After Karen entered into a relationship with his friend Leonard Gill , they divorced in 1926. However, Brunton maintained a friendly relationship with his ex-wife and Gill throughout his life. Professionally, Brunton worked in London as a bookseller, magazine editor and journalist, using the pseudonyms Raphael Delmonte and Raphael Meriden , among others . When he traveled to India in 1930 , he gave up these activities.

With the Golden Dawn member Allan Bennett (1872-1923) he published The Buddhist Review . In 1920 Brunton joined the Theosophical Society (either Adyar-TG or TGinA ), but resigned his membership after two years, as he had come to the opinion that the Masters of Wisdom had withdrawn from the TG. Brunton said of his membership: But it was Theosophy which gave me my first introduction to Oriental thought ... ( Theosophy introduced him to the Eastern way of thinking). He then became a member of a Spiritualist Society .

In 1930 Brunton set out for India to get to know yogis , adepts and fakirs first-hand . In January 1931, he arrived in Tiruvannamalai with Ramana Maharshi together that impressed him deeply. Nevertheless, he continued his search and after months of traveling through India finally returned to Maharshi, convinced that he had found his guru in him . Sick of blackwater fever, Brunton had to return to England in 1931/32, where he published his experiences with Maharshi in the book A Search in Secret India (1934, German 1937 under the title Von Yogis, Magiern und Fakirs ) while he was recovering . This work in particular, a bestseller, aroused interest in the West for Eastern wisdom.

After further travels through India and Egypt , Brunton settled in the USA in 1938. There, among other things, Jeffrey Masson's parents were among his inner circle of followers. Brunton lived temporarily in Australia and New Zealand . He spent his old age in Switzerland.

His 13 books have appeared in 17 languages ​​with a circulation of more than 2 million. He resolutely opposed the suggestion of his followers to make him a guru. In 1972 his friend Anthony Damiani founded the non-profit organization Wisdom's Goldenrod Center for Philosophic Studies in Hector , New York State , which, following on from Brunton's works, is dedicated to the study of Western and Eastern philosophies.

Brunton suffered a cerebral haemorrhage in the summer of 1981 , fell into a coma and died on July 27, 1981 in Vevey Hospital, Switzerland. His body was cremated and the ashes brought to the United States by his son Kenneth. Kenneth established the Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation in 1986 to publish the last work of Brunton, The Notebooks of Paul Brunton , with a length of 7000 pages. This resulted in a 16-volume work, which was completely available in 1990 and testifies to Brunton's efforts to synthesize Eastern mysticism (meditation, yoga, etc.) and Western rationalism .

Footnotes

  1. ↑ http://www.members.shaw.ca/abhishiktananda/Brunton.html
  2. ^ Website of Wisdom's Goldenrod Center for Philosophic Studies
  3. ↑ free and searchable database of Paul Brunton's Notebooks.

Works (selection)

  • The wisdom of the Overself. Zurich 1949.
  • The philosophy of truth - deepest reason of yoga. , Rascher, Zurich 1951.
  • Yogis: hidden wisdom of India, Hamburg, Krüger, 1950.
  • As a hermit in the Himalayas: A diary , Munich, Barth, 1951.
  • Mysterious Egypt - magic and mysticism in ancient Egypt . Gustav Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1979.
  • Of yogis, magicians and fakirs. Encounters in India . Translated from the English by Friedrich Hundt. Verlag Hermann Bauer, Freiburg 1980.
  • The Notebooks of Paul Brunton. 16 volumes . Larson Publications, New York 1984, ISBN 094391423X .
  • Karma - what it really means . Bauer, Freiburg im Breisgau 1999, ISBN 3-7626-0727-3 .
  • The Overself . Bauer, Freiburg im Breisgau 1999, ISBN 3-7626-0710-9 .
  • The self and the world spirit . Aquamarin-Verlag, Grafing 2001, ISBN 3-89427-179-5 .

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Brunton, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hurst, Raphael (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English philosopher, mystic and author
DATE OF BIRTH October 21, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH July 27, 1981
Place of death Vevey , Switzerland