My Father's Guru: A Journey Through Spirituality and Disillusion

I picked up this book, not because I was interested in Paul Brunton (I'm not that kind of girl), but because I was intrigued by Jeffrey Masson. After reading three of Jeffrey Masson's controversial books on psychology, I wanted know what inspired him to challenge one of the legends of our time: Sigmund Freud. This book not only answered that question, but several others I had not thought of asking. This book, unlike Masson's others, is a personal memoir. It recounts the long, strange relationship Masson's family maintained with their "guru", Paul Brunton. For reasons that are not entirely clear, though tantalizingly hinted at, Masson's father "adopted" Brunton, inviting him into their home, and becoming his disciple. Eventually every member of the family ended up walking Brunton's "Path to Enlightenment." Ultimately, the family's association with Brunton proved disastrous, involving financial loss, a precipitous move to Uruguay to avoid "WWIII", and the permanent estrangement of Masson's uncle, Bernard. Although having Brunton as a live-in guru was not ultimately as harmful as joining the Moonies or following Jim Jones to South America, Masson does point out the similarities. In his Epilogue, Masson writes: "To see deep into the structure of one tyranny is to understand something basic about all forms of oppression. It is totalitarian. Like other authoritarian systems, it requires a suspension and suppression of critical questioning, it demands unquestioning submission to a rigid hierarchical structure, it centers on a cult of personality, and it engenders personal intrusion and abuse." This was the point of Masson's memoir, and it explains completely why Masson joined the Freudian cult of psychoanalysis, and why he ultimately rejected it. In Freud, Masson saw a reflection of Brunton's appeal, but found himself unable to suppress his critical faculties yet again. One charlatan in Masson's life was enough. We can, and should, apply Masson's object lesson whenever we encounter anyone who requires that we suppress inquiry--whether he be a priest or a president. Such "gurus", according to Masson, always lead us down the primrose path to disaster. It is a lesson worth bearing in mind, and one which Masson's personal experience so amply demonstrates.

This is the only book I know on this subject: a memoir by a member of a family who had their guru live with them when the author was a child - in America, and in the 1950's on top of everything else! Can you imagine the author, as a child, inviting a friend over, and introducing him to the members of his family. Finally, the friend points to a guy dressed in robes and asks who that is. Masson's reply: oh him? He's just our guru! The reason for this is that Masson's parents were spiritual seekers, to the point that the parents, and Masson's uncle, followed every "instruction" issued them by Paul Bruton, concerning so many aspects of their lives: where they lived, what they ate, and even their sexual activities. I myself am deeply interested in spirituality, as well as interested in the paths of other seekers. This was initially the reason I read this book. However, I never expected to laugh out loud at so many things in this book. Bruton is depicted as flawed, but that he realizes this, to some extent. One very humorous, but ultimately sad, example is when Bruton "orders" his followers to move to a foreign country, adamant that where they were then currently living (southern California) was soon to be destroyed. Well, he was ultimately proven wrong . . . but unfortunately no one realized this fact until after everyone relocated. In the process, Masson's uncle had sold everything in order to move, and was left with nothing but his growing 'hate' for the guru. In addition, Masson was fair in his depiction of Bruton, explaining that the guru had been an asset in his life, in many ways. He mentions how he learned many things from him; a love of nature, and the Sanskrit language, among others. The only problem I had with this book, and the reason I gave it only 4 stars, is that Masson could have written it better, and it could have been better edited. Even so, this book is a tremendous addition to the "unknown" history of spiritual seekers in the United States.

Jeffrey Masson recounts his experiences growing up with a family under the direction of self-appointed Guru and misdirected(-ing?) "Eastern Star" Paul Brunton. Masson makes no attempt to hide the illusions he and his parents and sister were held by, telling how "P.B." (Paul Brunton) was able to hold sway over his impressionable if well to do and world traveled, educated parents while himself undergoing no scrutiny. Indeed, I found this book to be a blueprint for many families that have chosen to drop everything, and seek "spiritual improvement" from an outside source. It seems so much easier sometimes to get all of the answers from the source, a teacher or minister, rather than be truely introspective and fix the very real personality problems and faults we all have. Masson unflinchingly includes excerpts from his younger years, when he was convinced he was on a higher spiritual plane than most of his fellow beings. The arrogance and naivete of his youth is humorous if somewhat worrisome, though we find that he is gifted with a humble introspection that allowed him to outgrow the worst of these. He also explains how over the years through his own education he came to find that most of Brunton's teachings were manufactured or misquoted, the man he'd once so admired didn't know the difference between Sanskrit and Hindi, and certainly was confused as to the texts he supposedly had mastered. Perhaps most interesting, Masson documents his years at Harvard when he has the opportunity to meet other "spiritual" minds in the orientalist religious movements, and discover that supposedly great spiritual men like Alan Watts and Edward Conze were hardly above treating their own families with disregard and cruelty (see page 160). Slowly Masson comes to take critical account of what the "spiritual masters" around him, including family guru Paul Brunton, lack--compassion and a base in reality is traded for the freedom of power over others. Paul Brunton is humiliatingly debunked by the newly savvy Masson upon his return from college--a lesson in developing critical thinking skills and overcoming pithy know-it-all canned "spiritualism" for all of us, written in a thoughtful and reflective manner. Why after all, do the "spiritually developed" so crave the "Maya" of worldly recognition and devotion? Masson is critical too of his old self, and closes on a gentle note.

Amazing story of a family subjagated by the pseudo guru Paul Brunton. I remember that after reading "A Secret Search in India" and "A Secret Search in Egypt" I was somehow fascinated by Paul Brunton and his tellings. But they were so unbelievable, that I droped him. In the present book Brunton is exposed as a total fraud. The autobiography about the childhood of Masson unfolds step by step how his family became involved and enslaved by Brunton. Althrough as a reader one may ask why such a dependency on such a betrayer may have been possible, it is still so that many people who are save from cults are prone to become victim to this one-person-cult kind of cult. It is shown in detail, how Brunton established his position of someone beeing advanced, close to the final goal of life. Then they had to follow his advices to get there, too. It also did then not matter, that other people thought it was all crap. They were just underdeveloped. Not everyone could understand and accept, that Brunton came from Sirius. Bruntons case is all too strange, but he found disciples, nevertheless. The book also contains Masson's way out of this missery. The absurdities of Bruntons teachings, further information from other teachers, also the confusions after the wrong third world war prediction and finally university saved Masson's mental life. The book is an easy reader, and one delves deep into the authors inner mental workings.

I really enjoyed this book. It has some wonderful comic moments. Also, even though Masson, the author, did not agree with his parents, in this book he writes, in a touching way, about his parents' close relationship with Paul Bruton, a French mystic. Masson was an adolescent in the 50's in California when his parents invited P.B., the "guru" they followed to live with them. His parents were the forerunners of the spiritual seekers in the decades to follow in the U.S. I did feel Masson was evenhanded - even though he questioned most of what the Guru instructed his parents to do, Masson still had respect for him in various ways. A truly fine look into a unique family who were way ahead of their time.