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A search in Secret India Book Review
Summary rating: 5 stars
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Published: March 17, 2008
Paul Brunton was an English writer and Journalist who had a deep interest in spiritual matters.He travelled to India and other countries in a quest for understanding, seeking nirvana. ''A search in Secret India'' is his account of his travels throughout pre-Independance India, where he meets many yogis, Swamis and mystics.
Some of them had real accomplishments(Siddhis), many were fake.
Brunton does succeed in finding a sage who affects him the most, changes his outlook on life and begins a transformation in him. This was Sri Ramana Maharshi of Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai. It was almost as if he was destined to meet ''the Maharshi'', as he calls him, as this happened just as he was beginning to get disappointed and planning to leave India. Other notable yogis he met were Chandi Das, the Bengali sadhu whose words were prophetic, Swami Sankaracharya of Kanchipuram whom he holds in the highest regard and who directed him towards Ramana Maharshi, Swami Vishuddhananda, the perfume saint (who appears in Swami Yogananda''s ''An autobiography of a Yogi'' as well), Pandit Gopinath Kaviraj, the erudite Sanskrit scholar.
Brunton also meets Master Mahasaya (not his real name, as ''Mahasaya'' is just an equivalent of ''sir'' in Bengali and addressed with respect; similar to ''Mahoday'' in Hindi) who also appears in Yogananda''s encounters and Meher baba in Pune.
Apart from the above he meets numerous other wandering sadhus who are all as much seekers as he was. Some were earnest, some just hoodwinking people to earn money. But, as he admits, the one person who he took back with him in memory was Sri Ramana Maharshi. This book is a classic work of guru-seeking for the spiritually hungry. Brunton writes with a clear head and stresses the importance of being able to discriminate,good from bad, real from fake in such a quest. His writing is remarkably analytical and detached, yet captures the mood of his encounters very well, the most captivating being his description of the experineces he had in the presence of the Maharshi. An absorbing book.
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