The Quest of the Overself

Paul Brunton is one of the greatest sages recently produced by the West. I pair him with Plotinus. His books should be studied, more than read. "The Quest of the Overself", however a great book, is just a a starter to his later developed concept of mentalism (akin to Bishop Berkeley's philosophy but more in the line of the Upanishads and other Christian esoteric teachings). The reader is advised to continue to "The Hidden Teaching Beyong Yoga", and then "The Wisdom of the Overself". After that Brunton wrote "The Spiritual Crisis of Modern Man", and literally went into seclusion in Switzerland until his death at the age of 81. He left thousands of written pages to his disciple Anthony Damiani (deceased), who had sent Paul Cash (alive and running the Paul Brunton Philosophical Foundation and Larson Publications), to help Brunton in his last days. All his later writings are in "paras" (terse paragraphs, similar to Sutras).What else to say? Paul Brunton traveled and experienced the spiritual path. His message is universal, however he had tried to bring together East and West, it is above and beyond geographical locality. I respectfully and gratefully bow to Him!

It would be appropriate to point out that one needs to read and apply the teachings of Paul Brunton's earlier book `The Secret Path' before one can fully appreciate this book. Paul Brunton attempts to bring the eastern methods of attaining oneness with God to the western world using techniques that are appropriate in this day and age. The eastern methods of renouncing materialism and other worldly temptations are no longer practical in this day and age.The author expands on the teachings provided in the book 'The Secret Path', which I feel would be greatly helpful to the beginner. He devotes individual chapters that give greater detail to the analysis of physical self, emotional self and intellectual self. He also provides additional techniques to help the meditative process that were missing (for a reason) in his earlier book. Though I have read various books, the bible, books by Rudolph Steiner, books about Edgar Cayce's readings, and come across the term `I AM', this was the first book that actually gave me an explanation that made sense to me.The chapter `The Overself in Action' is a chapter that I hold especially dear to my heart. It describes the gradual changes that one will experience, some of which I can attest to. It brings new meaning to many of Jesus's words in the bible.

Following this guy around on his spiritual journey was both riveting and calming at the same time. I think he exaggerated some experiences at times but that did not detract from the more personal & compelling passages. The author is very sincere in his quest and his writing style brings life to the amazing people he meets and writes about. The detailed references made to that particular time in the world make the book even more interesting. His exchanges with his final master the maharshi are partcularly fascinating and impart timeless wisdom. I really enjoyed this book - it was charming to read and a great antidote to my usual cynicism.