A Posthumous Anthology of Original Unpublished Writings by the Late Dr Brunton
Rider, 1984
From the back cover of the second printing, 1985:
Dr. Paul Brunton has written many books about the quest for spiritual consciousness, and his personal search for peace proved so valuable for readers that his works were translated into many languages. Because this search helped so many, Essays on the Quest has been published after his death, gleaned from material in Dr. Brunton’s files. In this book, the reader is given a chance to look at the man who was Paul Brunton, for he shares his ideas with us in a conversational manner – ideas ranging from a discussion of karma as the law of consequences to how we can develop insight. He shows us how to cleanse ourselves of petty emotions so that we can rise above the ego. An important discussion for seekers is the chapter on self-reliance, for Dr. Brunton looks at the problems that may develop when students place themselves totally in the hands of a teacher (or guru, or master). Limited growth, lack of responsibility, and other pitfalls of the spiritual aspirant – such as becoming involved in the “glamour” of the occult, and the danger of obsession – are mentioned. This is necessary information for serious students on the path for it provides us all with a chance to re-evaluate where we are.
Front flap of the first printing:
These hitherto unpublished essays, culled from the files of the late Dr Paul Brunton, represent his first work to see print since The Spiritual Crisis of Man was published in 1952. As such they will be eagerly welcomed by his many readers worldwide.
Paul Brunton’s writings are as immediate and relevant today as when first he put pen to paper. They teach us much about the divine source of his inspiration. In Essays on the Quest he explains why God allows so-called ‘evil’ to exist in the world. He provides a new technique which facilitates meditation. He gives a full and detailed account of the law of Karma and how it operates in our lives. And he poses the question of whether one needs a spiritual guide or not.
Written with the profound simplicity which is his hallmark, Essays on the Quest is an original and illuminating contribution to philosophical literature. It is an important book for our time.
Back flap of the first printing:
“There is something in us of which we are not normally conscious. It is only at rare moments that we become aware – and that dimly – of a second self, as it were, of a nobler and serener self. We may have experienced such an uplift for only a few minutes but we will be haunted for ever afterwards by a sense of its tremendous importance. For we sense that we have then been in contact with something other than our ordinary self, sublimer than our ordinary self yet despite that somehow related to it.
“Those of us who have passed through such an inspired mood, who have felt its serenity, tasted its power and obeyed its monitions, know well enough that only then have we been fully alive.”
From ‘The Adventure of Meditation’
Back cover of the first printing:
CONTENTS
The Mystery of Evil
The Adventure of Meditation
Karma: The Law of Consciousness
Is the Soul in the Heart?
The Interior Word
Is the World an Illusion?
Ascetic Mysticism Reconsidered
Insight
Self-Reliance or Discipleship?
Cleansing the Emotions
Ethical Qualifications of the Seeker
Surrender of the Ego
The Probations and Tests of the Aspirant
What Can we Do for Philosophy?
JOB’s Comment:
The image is of the second printing, but only the colours differ.
Jan Olof Bengtsson 