Paul Brunton - Humanitys Spiritual Crisis: Transforming Ourselves to Heal the World

Copyright 2017 by the
Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation
Paulbrunton.org

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1-936012-37-4
ISBN-10: 1-936012-37-5

First published as The Spiritual Crisis of Man in 1952
by Rider & Co., London, England
First American paperback 1971 by
Samuel Weiser, Inc., New York, NY

This eBook published 2017 for the
Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation by:

Larson Publications
4936 NYS Route 414
Burdett, NY 14818
larsonpublications.com

The Writings of Paul Brunton

Early Works, 19341952

A Search in Secret India
The Secret Path
A Search in Secret Egypt
A Message from Arunachala
A Hermit in the Himalayas
The Quest of the Overself
The Inner Reality (Discover Yourself)
Indian Philosophy and Modern Culture
The Hidden Teaching beyond Yoga
The Wisdom of the Overself
The Spiritual Crisis of Man

Published posthumously, 1984present

Essays on the Quest
The Notebooks of Paul Brunton, in 16 volumes

Compilations from the Notebooks

Meditations for People in Charge
Meditations for People in Crisis
What Is Karma?
The Gift of Grace
The Short Path to Enlightenment
Realizing Soul

Commentaries on the Notebooks, by Anthony Damiani

Looking into Mind (on meditation and mentalism)
Standing in Your Own Way (on the ego)
Living Wisdom (on the path of knowledge)

For more information about Paul Brunton, his writings, and the latest publications based on his work, visit www.paulbrunton.org. For reviews, excerpts, and a complete table of contents of his posthumously published Notebooks series, visit www.larsonpublications.com.

Contents

Preface

by the Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation

As the twenty-first century unfolds, our world faces worsening political, ethical, ecological, and spiritual challenges on a global scale. How are we to understand the crises that are affecting us all?

Paul Bruntons Humanitys Spiritual Crisis provides a deeply informed framework of spiritual understanding that helps us find ways to address these momentous situations.

PB (as he liked to be called) was well aware of the potential for disaster in the contemporary world. He had witnessed the two world wars and recognized the increasing danger of a nuclear holocaust. First appearing in 1952, Humanitys Spiritual Crisis (originally titled: The Spiritual Crisis of Man ) was PBs last book to be published during his lifetime, his final message and offering to the society for which he was inwardly called to write.

The following quotes are from the posthumously published The Notebooks of Paul Brunton and reveal his increasing concern for the future that he saw coming upon us all if the root causes in humanitys character remained unaddressed.

I had been allowed a peep behind the curtain of world events, behind the present pattern of the human scene on this planet, and there was a real necessity for knowledge of it, if all of us were not to go down into the gravest catastrophe.I wrote The Spiritual Crisis of Man as Jeremiah wrote in his own times. It was partly intended to be a warning of grave calamity which I knew positively was due to come if no new attitudes were adopted in public policies. I was not permitted to utter this warning plainly, nor in detail, but only to sound a vague hint. The Spiritual Crisis of Man was addressed to the man in the street bewildered by the worlds fateful crisis. It was written out of compassion for his need of guidance and hence in general, nontechnical, simple terms. It had deep feeling, yet it was not an emotional book. It spoke of the soul that each may find in his own heart. It told him and his fellows that they cannot build their new and better world aright until they have looked within, found the souls light to guide them, and made certain inner changes. These cannot be avoided. Man may consciously co-operate with the inner purpose of this crisis and intelligently participate in it to his own benefit. If, however, he blindly resists or lazily delays, he will suffer the consequences.The overpopulation explosion is worsened by the exhausted soil, the poisoned environment, and, worse, the poisoned mental and emotional climate. The crisis I alluded to in The Spiritual Crisis of Man , written more than a quarter of a century ago, has not only worsened but spread everywhere.

Please note : PB wrote in the style of the early twentieth century when the word man referred to both genders. Had he written this book today, he might have called it Humanitys Spiritual Crisis (as we chose to do) or The Spiritual Crisis of Mankind.

CHAPTER 1

The Crisis in Society

The pre-war world eagerly sought and avidly swallowed an overdose of pleasure to titillate the senses and of progress to gratify the mind. Yet so small was its control over life, that before long it was also forced to swallow an unsought overdose of suffering and loss. At the very moment of its grandest triumph, when it had won the supreme conquest over material things and subtle forces, world civilization turned into a tragedy.

So many people hoped and supposed that the close of war and the opening of peace would also open a period where trouble would steadily grow less and normality would steadily grow more. So many people hoped and supposed that the nations would make a fresh start in friendship and understanding. But the history of the post-war world, which was to have been a history of this triumphant movement from bad to good, has become instead a history of lamented movement from bad to worse. The peace that was to follow war turns out to be no peace.

Post-war times are noteworthy for their supreme suspense, for the unpleasant chaos and insecurity which grips whole countries or even continents, and for their state of continued crisis. But for a score of years crisis has succeeded crisis without any end in sight. Never before were so many people plunged in so much uncertainty, so much perplexity and unsettlement. Signs of this condition are plenty and plain for all to read. The confusions come with the mornings breakfast. They move with terrific speed. A week without a world sensation hardly exists. Our newspapers give us in a single issue what was once the history of a whole month. Their pages dismay and distract us with reports of new crises that follow each other rhythmically; they tense and strain our nerves with pictures of depressed markets or oppressed mankind; they narrow our eyes with stories of swift changes. The situation is already dramatic enough and would be fantastic were it not so tragic too.

Exposed to the agitations of our age as we are, it is harder to keep a serene mind than ever before. Discouraging news is heard too often and distracting fears have become too insidious to allow us to keep serenity without earning it the hard way. Without inward peace, without outward security, modern man who for so long pitied his ancient and medieval fathers is now himself to be pitied. There are alarming features in the growth of his emotional disequilibrium and mental instability. There are neurotic excitements and pathological turmoils, vehement passions and dangerous indecisions in his mind and life.

A dismal undertone runs beneath the worlds everyday talk. Mens brows are intermittently wrinkled with worries as their hopes rise and fall alternately. They live in long-drawn suspense and anxious expectation. They look to each other for strength but find it not. Fear replaces faith, and perplexity shuttles to and fro with confidence. There is foreboding in their hearts and bewilderment in their minds. They begin to ask, Is this the inglorious end to which our vaunted modern civilization leads?