Brunton Paul - Instructions for Spiritual Living

PRAISE FOR PAUL BRUNTON AND HIS WORKS

A powerful transmission for our time. Instructions for Spiritual Living and Paul Bruntons lifetime works should continue to inspire the world for years to come. This powerful book bridges ancient and modern mysticism. A gem!

MARIANA CAPLAN, PH.D., MFT, AUTHOR OF HALFWAY UP THE MOUNTAIN: THE ERROR OF PREMATURE CLAIMS TO ENLIGHTENMENT

A truly comprehensive and authoritative work that should be read by sincere seekers and advanced adepts alike. Paul Bruntons work demonstrates a real mastery of the intricacies of spiritual life. His sagely conclusions on a number of key topics rarely covered elsewhere in spiritual literature provide an important contribution to our contemporary understanding of awakening and enlightenment. This kind of knowledge is indispensable for the modern seeker, because it provides a clear picture of not only what to expect when going through the process of dis-identifying with form and becoming one with the formless but also how to properly integrate this profound transformation of consciousness into an ordinary human life. We are very fortunate that his writings are available.

STEPHEN DAMICO, AUTHOR OF HEAVEN ON EARTH AND THE INCREDIBLE STATE OF ABSOLUTE NOTHINGNESS

Paul Bruntons wisdom is like the childs voice in the story The Emperors New Clothes. His observations and spiritual insights reveal a laser-sharp eye that directs us back to that which is obvious within us, though obviously overlookedthe Divine Self.

MOOJI, SPIRITUAL TEACHER

Paul Brunton was surely one of the finest mystical flowers to grow on the wasteland of our secular civilization. What he has to say is important to us all.

GEORG FEUERSTEIN (19472012), AUTHOR OF THE YOGA-SUTRA OF PATAJALI

In The Short Path to Enlightenment, Paul Brunton gives voice to the profound teachings of immediate spiritual awakening that have the power to short circuit the seeker in us and reveal the true nature of reality here and now. But the true gift of this wonderful book is in how nuanced and subtle Paul Brunton understood these profound and transformational teachings and how directly he conveys them. Read this book as you would a scripture or a sutra and let it open your eyes to eternity.

ADYASHANTI, AUTHOR OF THE WAY OF LIBERATION

The Short Path to Enlightenment is a deeply supportive text from the extraordinary Paul Brunton, the spiritual explorer who first brought knowledge of Ramana Maharishi to the West. In this work, readers receive the invitation and instruction to discover the truth of oneself. This book is alive with supreme knowledge. May it support you in immediately and continually recognizing yourself.

GANGAJI, AUTHOR OF THE DIAMOND IN YOUR POCKET

With the possible exception of Alan Watts, Paul Brunton has probably been the most influential exponent of Eastern philosophy and systems of self-realization in this century.... significant commentaries on nearly every conceivable aspect of the spiritual quest... unreservedly recommended as the final, eloquent summing up by one of the Wests most perceptive thinkers and deepest students of the ancient wisdom.

THE AMERICAN THEOSOPHIST

Nowhere else will you find such a profound synthesis of East-West philosophic mysticism stripped of all the usual obscurity and extravagances. Both the modern intellect and the weary heart will find unlimited inspiration, wisdom, and guidance for action in these Notebooks.

VICTOR MANSFIELD (19412008),
AUTHOR AND PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY AT COLGATE UNIVERSITY

Paul Bruntons Notebooks series is a veritable treasure trove of philosophic-spiritual wisdom.

ELISABETH KUBLER-ROSS (19262004),
AUTHOR OF ON DEATH AND DYING

PB is one of my eyes. My Shakti [spiritual power] is working through him. Follow him closely.

RAMANA MAHARSHI

Introduction

By the Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SPIRITUAL LIVING examines both foundational and advanced topics central to most spiritual paths. Whether we have a teacher or not, spiritual development is fraught with complexities and challenges. Paul Brunton offers transformative wisdom that aids our understanding of what the spiritual journey entails and helps point the way when the way is uncertain.

PB, as he preferred to be called, was a gentle man from whom an aura of peace and kindness emanated. His deep understanding of the spiritual life was forged in the crucible of experience, and his spiritual depth shines through his writings.

PB provides instructions to guide ones development in three fundamental areas: in a full course of the stages of meditation to deepen ones inner life; in a process of self-examination that roots obstacles out of ones character; and in the unfolding of full awakening that includes wisdom in action. As he makes clear, the living expression of realization is a life of service both to the inner wellspring of wisdom as well as to others.

Beginning with The Adventure of Meditation, the first chapters open the door to the inner landscape. Meditation is the art and practice of introverting attention, of freeing oneself for a period of time from the thoughts, sensations, and feelings that are usually at the center of our attention, and allowing the Soul to reveal itself out of the quiet that one has created. PB guides us with insight and care through the stages of concentration, meditation, and contemplation. He explains the goal of each stage and the obstacles that are likely to arise in the process of achieving each. Invaluable are the pointers and encouragement he gives us to continue with patience as we strive to deepen our practice. The chapters: Is the Soul in the Heart and The Interior Word are marvelous supplements to our understanding and experience of the inner life.

Undoubtedly, there is great need for instruction in the spiritual pursuit. However, PB examines, questions, and challenges the need for dependency on any particular person, organization, teaching, or practice in his chapter Self-Reliance or Discipleship? After all is said and done, we are striving to realize our essence and inner wisdomour lives are individual expressions of that essential wisdom, and because of this often-overlooked fact, PB explains and emphasizes the necessity and value of the independent path.

In the next few chapters, PB lays out the ethical qualifications and emotional purifications that are integral to our progress toward self-realization. It is our attachments that bar the door to our Soul and block our search for truth, and a steady dose of self-examination is critical for our success in spiritual life. Striving to understand our nature, and the aspiration that makes this process an enlivening one, awakens our intuition. Following intuition aligns us with our ideals, and thereby prevents us from succumbing to emotional disturbances and temptations. Realization requires the surrender of egoistic fixations so that we may attend to the inspiration flowing from within, which PB refers to as grace. In The Probations and Tests of the Aspirant, he proffers an eye-opening explanation of how lifes challenges are moments by which we can make real progress in our surrender to a higher life.

While a primary goal of mystical meditation is the realization of our inner reality in a sense-free and thought-free contemplation, it is the development of transcendental insight that enables the realization of this reality whether we are awake, adream, or asleep. In the chapter on Insight, PB refers to a person who has achieved this realization as a philosopher (by elevating its meaning to lover of Truth/Reality). He explains: