Description

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Inspired by Paul Brunton's years spent with sages in Asia, The Wisdom of the Overself and its companion volume The Hidden Teaching Beyond Yoga were written at the request of these remarkable teachers, who recognized that Brunton had a significant role to play in the transmission of traditional wisdom to the West. Here is a profound re-creation of these teachings, brought to life and made accessible by Brunton's insights. In print since the 1940s, Brunton's works are considered to be among the most comprehensive, clear, and practical guides on the path to enlightenment. 

Brunton unfolds the grand vision for human development by investigating consciousness as the source of all experience; how to move from ego-centered life to the transcendent reality; the interplay of karma, free will, and grace; the nature of evil and suffering; how to awaken intuition and penetrative insight; the passage through death to rebirth; and psychic experiences and mystic visions. He also provides seven ultramystic exercises to open the door to higher consciousness, including a healing meditation on the sun; practices for transforming the future, dream, and sleep; and a meditation on the timeless self. These techniques lead to the deepest spiritual realizations—to the true "Wisdom of the Overself."

This new edition has been updated to incorporate Brunton's final revisions. It includes a new foreword plus supplementary reading material selected from the author's archives by the Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation.

Contents
Foreword by the Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation
1. Prefatory
2. The Meaning of Mentalism
3. The Birth of the Universe
4. Studies in Dreams
5. The Metaphysics of Sleep
6. The Secret of the "I"
7. The Scorpion of Death
8. The Immortal Overself
9. The Shadows of Evil and Suffering
10. The War and the World
11. The World-Mind
12. The Unveiling of Reality
13. Initiation into Mystical Experience
14. The Yoga of the Discerning Mind
15. The Mystical Phenomena of Meditation
16. Some Fruits of Philosophy
Appendix: Additional Resources from The Notebooks of Paul Brunton, Compiled by the Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation Editors

About the Author

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PAUL BRUNTON (1898-1981) is one of the twentieth century's most brilliant spiritual writers. Generally recognized as having introduced yoga and meditation to the West, he was the most popular and authoritative source of information on Eastern philosophies, gurus, and meditation systems from the mid-'30s to the '60s. His books have sold over two million copies in 17 languages. In 1954, he withdrew from public life and continued writing the material that was posthumously published as The Notebooks of Paul Brunton--a truly East-West spiritual philosophy. Written with the passion of an authentic pioneer and the thoughtfulness of a seasoned practitioner, his work is re-emerging as a beacon for all contemporary seekers.

Praise For…

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"[Paul Brunton is] a person of rare intelligence ... thoroughly alive, and whole in the most significant, 'holy' sense of the word."
—Yoga Journal 

“Brunton has penetrated further than many others who are writing in his line. He has touched the heights of overcoming even meditative mysticism and its achievements, as Brunton calls it, in order to arrive at 'philosophy,' by which he means the realization that Yoga is means, not ends.… Brunton has successfully avoided any conventional or worn out religious terminology—even the word 'God' is not used."
—Review of Religion, Prof. Frederic Spiegelberg, Stanford University
 
“[Dr. Brunton] is an indefatigable and well-balanced expounder of the half-forgotten thought of the ancient world, and a stimulating guide to those who would be initiated into the Wisdom of the East.”
—Buffalo News [New York]
 
“Not withstanding the difficulty of the subject presented, it is written in a most lucid manner which could be comprehended by everyone, even if this is their first book on the higher philosophy. Dr. Brunton applies this ancient wisdom to the great philosophical problems which have been cause for inquiry throughout the ages. His analyses … are masterly.”
—Occult Review [London]
 
“Dr. Brunton has made a deep exploration into the metaphysical … and has created a work of considerable importance in this present age. The author's message is intended to create a transformation in both mind and body, a mystical asceticism which transcends all personal self-interest.”
—The Border Standard [England]
 
“Dr. Brunton emphasizes the mystical nature of grace … it will be gratifying to many students and practitioners of spiritual life to find it here revived in its own name and proper nature. Dr. Brunton's work has now become a full philosophical system of thought, a definitely modern teaching, in which the ancient Wisdom is transposed for realization by these times.”
—The Beacon [New York City]
 
“The book is an interesting and clear statement of orthodox Yoga. The virtue of Dr. Brunton's books is their freedom from the usual esoteric decoration. The vocabulary, both verbally and ideologically, is modern … and his ideas and expressions thought-provoking.”
—San Francisco Chronicle