Paul Brunton and Meher Baba: In Search of Brunton’s Secret – Afterword

It had been my intention to relate events that occurred after Paul Brunton left India. But on reflection I now feel that, for the time being, sufficient information has been provided for any serious re-evaluation of Brunton’s critical chapters on Meher Baba in A Search in Secret India. I have simply offered a wider perspective in attempt to set the record straight. Time will tell how successful this has been. Doubtless there are scholars out there who can do a far better job, and I would be the first to invite them to do so.

The fact is Meher Baba did make avatar claims. Yet Charles Purdom reports: “When I was with [Meher Baba] at Poona in 1954, he said to me unexpectedly, ‘You are bothered about the idea of Avatar. There is no need to be, for we are all Avatars.…’ He followed this remark ten days later by a declaration which read as follows:

When I say I am the Avatar, there are few who feel happy, some who feel shocked, and many who take me for a hypocrite, a fraud, a supreme egotist, or just mad. If I were to say every one of you is Avatar, a few would be tickled and many would consider it blasphemy or a joke. The fact that God being One, indivisible and equally in us all, we can be nought else but one, is too much for the duality-conscious mind. Yet each of us is what the other is. I know I am the Avatar in every sense of the word, and that each one of you is an Avatar in one sense or another.…”

Purdom comments: “What we are intended to understand is that if it be granted that men contain the principle of divinity then the Avatar as such and men as such are essentially one. The difference between the Avatar and other men is that he is conscious of ‘descent’, while they … become conscious of ascent” (Purdom, 1994: 391–92).

According to Charles Haynes: “The starting point for any discussion of Meher Baba is his declaration that he is the Avatar, the manifestation of God in human form who comes age after age to awaken all life to the love of God” (1993: 11). But that is a devotee statement. Kevin Shepherd states more realistically: “To define whether or not Meher Baba was a literal avatar is beyond my range of competence, and I have seldom seen this done satisfactorily even one fraction. I must leave that subject for theologians to argue over” (1988: 5).

A much-needed neutral and objective assessment of Meher Baba requires an interdisciplinary approach—a scholarly appraisal not influenced by belief or disbelief. I can only conclude by again quoting from Shepherd, an independent scholar whose books and contributions to studies related to Meher Baba (see for example. http://www.citizenthought.net/Meher_Baba_Movement.html) have been a significant inspiration for this blog:

“Meher Baba definitely did claim to be the avatar. An inspection of various statements he made on this subject leaves no room for doubt. He also used the Persian term sahib-e-zaman, but that was not popular amongst Hindu devotees. The term avatar is variously interpreted in India; Meher Baba employed the Sanskrit word to denote a cosmic spiritual function occurring at cyclical intervals of time. Reactions to this are usually very hostile from religious parties, while his devotees defend this claim rather enthusiastically, sometimes adding things that he never said. It is surely possible to discuss [Meher Baba] more rationally, outside the very rigid ‘I believe it/don’t believe it’ biases attendant upon messianism. The ethnographic, sociological, and mystical material contained in Meher Baba’s case history can be studied without becoming a dogmatic spokesperson for or against” (2005: 139).

See also articles of interest by Kevin R D Shepherd:

Investigating Meher Baba in “Secret India”

http://www.independentphilosophy.net/Meher_Baba.html

Meher Baba and Paul Brunton

http://citizenthought.net/Meher_Baba_and_Paul_Brunton.html

Hazrat Babajan, a Pathan (Pashtun) Sufi

http://www.kevinrdshepherd.info/hazrat_babajan.html

Hazrat Babajan, Faqir of Poona

http://www.independentphilosophy.net/Hazrat_Babajan.html            

Hazrat Babajan

http://kevin-rd-shepherd.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/hazrat-babajan.html

Bibliography

Agostini, Louis (1985). Glow International, February, pp. 14–16

Booth, Martin (2000). A Magick Life: A Biography of Aleister Crowley (London: Hodder and Stoughton).

Brunton, Paul (1934, repr. 1985). A Search in Secret India (York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser, Inc.).

Brunton, Paul (1987). Reflections on My Life and Writings: The Notebooks of Paul Brunton, Volume 8 (Burdett, New York: Larson Publications).

Brunton, Paul (1987). The Sensitives: The Notebooks of Paul Brunton, Volume 11 (Burdett, New York: Larson Publications).

Cahn Fung, Annie (2004). Paul Brunton: A Bridge Between India and the West (Doctoral thesis, Sorbonne, 1992).

Campbell, John Oman (1905). The Mystics, Ascetics, and Saints of India (London: T. Fisher Unwin).

Friesen, J. Glenn (2005). Paul Brunton and Ramana Maharshi, online at

http://www.members.shaw.ca/abhishiktananda/Brunton.html

Harper, Marvin Henry (1972). Gurus, Swamis, & Avataras: Spiritual Masters & Their American Disciples (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press).

Haynes, Charles (1993). Meher Baba, the Awakener (North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: The Avatar Foundation, Inc.).

Hopkinson, Tom (1974, repr. 1983). Much Silence: Meher Baba, His Life and Work (Bombay: Meher House Publications).

Hurst, Kenneth Thurston (1989). Paul Brunton: A Personal View (Burdett, New York: Larson Publications).

Kalchuri, Bhau (1986, 1988, 1989, 1990). Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, the Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba—Volumes 1–5 (North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: Manifestation Inc.).

King, Francis (1977). The Magical World of Aleister Crowley (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson).

Knight, G. E. O. (1930, repr. 2007). Intimate Glimpses of Mysterious Tibet & Neighbouring Countries (Varansai: Pilgrims Publishing).

Masson, Jeffrey (1993). My Father’s Guru: A Journey through Spirituality and Disillusion (London: Harper Collins Publishers).

McGovern, William (1924). To Lhasa in Disguise: A Secret Expedition through 1920s Tibet (New York: The Century Co).

Newman, Paul (2005). The Tregerthen Horror: Aleister Crowley, D. H. Lawrence & Peter Warlock in Cornwall (Abraxas Editions & DGR Books).

Parks, Ward (2009). Meher Baba’s Early Messages to the West: The 1932–1935 Western Tours (North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: Sheriar Foundation).

Purdom, Charles (1964). The God-Man: The life, journeys and work of Meher Baba with an interpretation of his silence and spiritual teaching (North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: Sheriar Foundation).

Rawlinson, Andrew (1997). The Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers in Eastern Traditions (Chicago and La Salle, Illinois: Open Court).

Shepherd, Kevin R D (1986). A Sufi Matriarch: Hazrat Babajan (Cambridge: Anthropographia Publications).

Shepherd, Kevin R D (2005). Investigating the Sai Baba Movement: A Clarification of Misrepresented Saints and Opportunism (Dorchester, Dorset: Citizen Initiative).

Shepherd, Kevin R D (1988). Meher Baba, an Iranian Liberal (Cambridge: Anthropographia Publications).

Storr, Anthony (1996). Feet of Clay: A Study of Gurus (London: Harper Collins Publishers).

Paul Brunton and Meher Baba: In Search of Brunton’s Secret – Part Five

In A Search in Secret India, Paul Brunton wants the reader to believe that he is a journalist simply intent upon discovering the “real facts” about the Yogis of India (1934: 16):

“I wanted gather the real facts about the Yogis of to-day by the method of first-hand investigation. I prided myself that experience as a journalist fitted me to draw out, with the least possible delay, much of the information which I sought; that sitting at the editorial desk and curtly wielding the blue pencil had trained me to become ruthlessly critical in separating wheat from chaff; and that the contact with men and women in every grade of life which the profession generally gives, with ragged mendicants as well as well-fed millionaires, would help me move a little more smoothly though the variegated masses of India, among whom I searched for those strange men, the Yogis.”

Let us here briefly review some of the real facts Brunton omitted to mention in Secret India:

• Probable contact with Meredith Starr, a follower of Meher Baba who at the time ran a retreat in Devonshire, England, dedicated to Baba.
• Reading an article about Meher Baba in the Occult Review.
• Correspondence with Khaikhushru J Dastur, who had written the above article along with a booklet in English about the subject, and also edited the Meher Message.
•  “… became one of Baba’s ardent enthusiasts, and … filled several pages of the Meher Message with encomiums” (Ward Parks, ed., Meher Baba’s Early Messages to the West, 2009: 223).
• The intention to write a book about Meher Baba.

Then, having arrived in India:

• Was provided with an itinerary of places to visit by Meher Baba. (1)
• Accommodated for the large part of his brief tour by Meher Baba’s followers.
• Undertook two tasks of service (donations for the proposed Academy and new members for the Meher League) connected with Meher Baba.
• Was an honoured guest at a meeting of the Meher League; welcomed as the founder of the Meher League in England; and spoke of his personal ‘telepathic’ experiences in relation to Meher Baba.
• Spent just several weeks touring India after leaving the Saidapet Asramam in Madras.
• Complained about the heat, the food, and his inability to meditate in a letter to Meher Baba.

Brunton’s Secret India cannot be compared to, say, a book that was published nearly thirty years earlier, The Mystics, Ascetics, and Saints of India: A Study of Sadhuism, with an Account of the Yogis, Sanyasis, Bairagris, and other strange Hindu Sectarians, by John Campbell Oman. Unlike the academic author of that work, Brunton was merely a ‘freelance journalist’ who not only exhibited a phantasy prone personality throughout his life, but also had a background of interest in the occult and paranormal. He even claimed to have possessed ‘psychic’ powers (see post Paul Brunton: Early Years). He had travelled to India engaged in a personal spiritual quest and not for academic research, despite the later fictitious claim that he held a doctorate of philosophy. In his posthumously published Notebooks he acknowledges (1997: 234, 6:214): “the bulk of my writing is only journalism in book form.” But can Secret India even be accepted credibly as journalism? In a new Preface to that book in 1967, Brunton wrote “… I still fully affirm the fundamental truth of this work.” Yet there are plainly fictional embellishments to be found in Secret India along with the intent to deceive the reader. Certainly, the chapters on Meher Baba now appear to be a hatchet job written by an affronted ex-enthusiast. (2)

Secret India: 3

Not satisfied with his (real or imaginary) personal ‘telepathic’ encounters with Meher Baba, Brunton clearly wanted something far more tangible. When he left the Meherabad ashram to embark on his brief tour, he informs the reader (1934: 61): “I have imbibed sufficient pious wisdom and prophetic forebodings to suffice me for the time. I have not wandered to distant parts of the world merely to hear religious assertions or declarations of grandeur. I want facts, even if they are to be facts of a strange, uncommon kind. And I want reliable evidence; better still, something personal, something to which I can testify for my own satisfaction”—in effect, Brunton wanted a miracle, a demonstration of paranormal powers.

Brunton’s tour of India had so far taken just eights weeks to accomplish, several of which were spent based at the Saidapet Asramam in Madras, home of the Meher League. Bemoaning the heat, the food, and the inability to meditate in his letter to Meher Baba of 30 December, 1930, the representative of the Meher League, who had talked publicly about his personal ‘telepathic’ experiences in connection with Baba, arrived at Nasik during the first week of February 1931. In his letter, Brunton had written: “I am looking forward to the near future and to receiving spiritual enlightenment at your hands …” But the retrospective narrative of Secret India presents the reader with a quite different attitude (1934: 253):

“Once again I am to see Meher Baba, the Parsee holy man and self-styled ‘new messiah’.

It is with no keen desire that I return to him. The cold serpents of doubt have firmly coiled themselves around my mind, and a strong inner feeling tells me that my proposed stay near him will be a waste of time, and that Meher Baba, though a good man and one living an ascetic life, is unfortunately suffering from colossal delusions about his own greatness.”

He states that on arrival Meher Baba had asked him: “What are you thinking about?” To which the “tired and travel-worn” visitor replies (1934: 254):

“I am thinking of the dozen or more messiahs whom I have discovered in India since I have been here.”

Brunton relates:

“Meher Baba does not seem surprised.

‘Yes,’ he rejoins with fingers moving slickly across his alphabet board, ‘I also have heard of some of them.’

‘How do you explain it?’ I ask innocently.

His forehead contracts into wrinkles, but his mouth smiles in a superior sort of way.

‘If they are honest, then they are mistaken. If they are dishonest, then they are deceiving others. There are holy men who make good progress and then develop spiritual swelled-head. Such a sad state of affairs usually arrives when they have no proper master to advise and guide them. There is a point which is midway along the mystical path which is most difficult to cross; it often happens that the person whose devotions have brought him to this point foolishly believes that he has reached the highest goal. It takes little more for him to imagine himself a messiah!’”

Brunton then turns that explanation around in his narrative and applies it critically to Meher Baba throughout the rest of the chapter derisively titled ‘At the Parsee Messiah’s Headquarters’. The term ‘messiah’ would not have been in use at either the Meherabad or Nasik ashrams, and nor indeed recognized among the various yogis and sadhus that Brunton had encountered on his tour. At the time in question Meher Baba was viewed by his devotees as a sadguru or satguru, a Sanskrit term which means literally: true teacher, a title given specifically to a spiritually enlightened teacher. There is no sensationalism implied, but rather realism based on the Hindu philosophical understanding of the importance of knowledge and that the teacher, guru, is the sacred conduit to self-realization for the disciple. This was apparently lost on Brunton, who would later in a mood of pique introduce the element of sensationalism.

[In the record (see Secret India: 2) of the meeting between Brunton and Prajnananda with Ramana Maharshi, published in the September 1931 monthly magazine, Peace, the journal of the Swami Omkar Shanti Ashrama in Andhra Pradesh, Prajnananda states in relation to Baba: “He says he will become an Avatar in a few years.” If the transcript that talk can be trusted as being a verbatim report then it may well be that on rare occasions, either explicitly or implicitly, Meher Baba had used the term avatar in reference to himself.

But during the brief time Paul Brunton stayed at the Meherabad and Nasik ashrams in late 1930 and early 1931, the term avatar would certainly not have been in general use; Meher Baba was accepted by devotees as a sadguru. Even among Western enthusiasts in the 1930s Meher Baba was simply referred to as the ‘Perfect Master’. The articles and publications of the period confirm this. In 1931, Charles Purdom, then the literary editor of Everyman, wrote an article titled “A Perfect Master.” He would later write a book, published in 1937: The Perfect Master. In an interview with James Douglas, a leading writer and religious editor for the Daily Express in London, on April 9, 1932, Meher Baba is addressed as “Shri Sadguru Meher Baba.” There were two booklets of sayings published in 1933: Shri Meher Baba, the Perfect Master: Questions and Answers and The Sayings of Shri Meher Baba. And even K J Dastur, known for his pompous style of writing, used the heading “Sayings of His Divine Majesty Sadguru Meher Baba” in the pages of the Meher Message.]

 

In his letter to Meher Baba of 30 December, 1930, Brunton had written: “It is difficult to find time to meditate on this tour, so I trust to make up for this omission.” But he does not use the opportunity to do so at the Nasik ashram. Instead, he becomes increasingly affronted and resentful.

Bhau Kalchuri writes (Meher Prabhu, Vol. 4, 1973: 1358–59): “Brunton was invited to stay with the men at the ashram in Nasik.… however, Baba usually kept aloof from him. Although Brunton questioned the Master every day, Baba was cool in his reception and their meetings were deliberately kept brief in contrast to the lengthy interviews Baba had granted him at Meherabad.” He was given the extensive diaries of two of Baba’s devotees to read, comprising nearly two thousand pages of loosely written manuscript, mostly composed in English. According to Louis Agostini, who for a three-year period during the 1960s served as Brunton’s mail secretary “… when Paul Brunton first met Meher Baba at Meherabad, he told Baba that he wanted to write a book about him.” Baba is said to have replied “that it was not the time to write anything about him” (Glow International, Feb. 1985). Were the diaries now produced at Nasik because of that request, or was it in order to gauge where his real interests lay?

Brunton was unimpressed and critical of the material that had been presented to him (1934: 255–56):

“The diaries have clearly been compiled in a spirit of blind faith … The two disciples who have kept these diaries are young men with only a fragmentary experience of life beyond their extremely limited circle, but their very naïveté and complete trust in their master have caused them to place on record things which are really uncomplimentary to him.…

I find enough matter, therefore, to feed the doubts which live repressed existences in my mind. I find also that Meher Baba is a fallible authority, a man subject to constantly changing moods, and an egotist who demands complete enslavement on the part of his brain-stupefied followers.”

In that critical frame of mind, he then laments: “Meher Baba seems to be avoiding contacts with me … I wait for the wonderful experiences he promised me, though I never expect them to arrive.… Nothing unusual happens nor do I see anything unusual happening to the other men” (1934: 257). Baba no longer appeared interested in him, was no longer amenable to his questions. This amounted to a rebuff in the mind of Brunton. The disciple of telepathic prowess who arrived at Nasik with the expectation of receiving wonderful experiences was now dwarfed into a mere tiresome and resentful visitor. Deflated, affronted, and minus the desired experiences, Brunton states in his book, “with the passing of the month I announce my impending departure.” In actual fact, contrary to the impression given in Secret India, Paul Brunton had stayed at the Nasik ashram for only a week. Despite his pledge to stay a month, he left Nasik on 8 February, 1931, travelling to Bombay, intending to return to England.

Kevin Shepherd notes (Meher Baba, an Iranian Liberal, 1988: 154): “[Brunton] would have regarded the Nasik ashram as the climax of his itinerary, not as the damp squib he later wished his readers to think.” It is hardly surprising then, on reaching Bombay, Brunton describes his condition thus (1934: 269, 270):

“When I succeed in arriving there and installing myself in a hotel, I succeed also in falling ill. Cooped up between four walls, tired in mind and sick in body, I begin to develop, for the first time, a pessimistic outlook.… My body is now a weary burden flung on a bed of pain.… I wonder how much longer I can stave off a breakdown.… If my physical and mental condition is bad, my spiritual state is little better. I am disheartened by a sense of failure. True, I have met some men of remarkable attainments and fine character, as well as others who can do amazing things, but I have not settled down to any positive inward recognition that here is the spiritual superman of my quest, the master who appeals to my rationalistic make-up and to whom I can gladly attach myself.… it is a living, first-hand, personal experience which I seek, a spiritual illumination entirely my own and not someone else’s.”

Just before his ship sailed, he received a letter from a follower of Ramana Maharshi, suggesting that he revisit the latter’s ashram. Brunton did not want to return to England bereft of consolation, and so he made the journey to Tiruvannamalai before later returning to England.

It was not “spiritual illumination” but a demonstration by Meher Baba of siddhis (paranormal powers) that Brunton required. He doubtless also hoped to have such ‘powers’ bestowed upon him. According to Charles Purdom, then editor of the Everyman magazine, a literary weekly for the publisher J M Dent: “When the writer, then known as Raphael Hurst, came to see me in London some time after his visit [to India] he said he had no doubt Baba was false, as he, Raphael Hurst, had asked him to perform a miracle but Baba could not” (The God-Man, 1969: 128).

Brunton had displayed typical Western misconceptions about what constitutes spirituality in the East. And even in later life the lesson he should have learnt from Nasik had still not sunk in. On the subject of yogis and paranormal powers, in 1937 Meher Baba is said to have communicated: 

“The West differs from the East in its ideal of spiritual perfection. The West believes perfection to signify the possession and use of psychic powers.
 

A yogi can do all the jugglery by using psychic powers. He can abstain from food, go without sleep, leave the body at will, or stop his breathing, et cetera. Spiritually considered, a moral, good man who works in the world selflessly for others is much better and stands higher than many yogis with all their occult powers of performing miracles, which are nothing but jugglery without any spiritual importance at all; because whatever a yogi does is for his own individual self, and hence he is not selfless. He overcomes one illusion by creating another, which differs fundamentally from the teaching and work of a Sadguru …” (see Meher Prahbu, 1994, Vol. 6: 2232).

Shepherd observes: “[Brunton’s] search after paranormal demonstrations had not brought him any fulfilment. Though he does not give the due context, it is evident that the deflation he had experienced at Nasik had made its mark, and was not by any means as casual as the more superficial readers might have thought.… The deflation caused Brunton to turn against his mentor with distinctive venom.… To psychologists, it is quite evident that Brunton had set much store on the possibility of miracles, and that he was acutely piqued when these were not forthcoming. Two major features of his psychology after that time were (a) to cover up the fact that he had been an admirer of Meher Baba to a pronounced degree (b) to give a much lower rating to miraculous elements and instead to assume a critical stance, though not invariably” (1988: 157, 156).

Brunton returned to England in the spring of 1931, but due to “nearly two years which were needed to get rid of the blackwater fever which India dragged me down” he did not start work on A Search in Secret India until early 1933. The events surrounding Meher Baba’s visits to the West in 1931 and 1932; the defection of Khaikhushru J Dastur in 1932, who became one of Baba’s “fiercest public critics”; and the sensationalist Press headlines ‘Indian Messiah’ were to play a decisive part in how Brunton would later express his criticism of Meher Baba in Secret India. (3)

Notes:

1. According to Bhau Kalchuri (Meher Prabhu, Vol. 5, 1990: 1610), Meher Baba “told [Paul Brunton] to go on pilgrimage to certain places in India. He did not do that …” The places suggested appear to have had a specific connection to events in Meher Baba’s life and travels. The intent was that Brunton remained mindful and focused on Meher Baba, and not go chasing after various yogis, sadhus and fakirs. It is doubtful that Tiruvannamalai, a small town near to which was the ashram of Ramana Maharshi, would have been part of that itinerary. In his letter to Meher Baba of 30 December, 1930, Brunton writes: “First the Bhikkhu Prajnananda become ill and irritable and had to have doctor’s attention. He is fairly well now again, but it was the travelling which does not suit him: he wants to rest since he came all the way from Burma. So at his request I wrote 2 letters to you to ask permission to leave out some of the places on our list, so he should have less journeys to make. You were away so Dastur said I should act as seemed best. So I omitted going to the extreme South … we did however visit Tiruvannamalai instead.” There is no mention in the letter of the meeting with Ramana Maharshi.

2. Included in Paul Brunton’s posthumously published Notebooks is the following: “To become a disciple is to become an enthusiast, one who exaggerates, distorts, or overlooks the real facts. He will grossly misrepresent the true state of affairs because his guide is no longer reason but emotion.” (Notebooks, Vol. 11, 1987: 133, 6:13). Ironically, the above words of the ex-enthusiast can be used to provide a most fitting and truthful review of the chapters he wrote on Meher Baba in Secret India.

3. Louis Agostini relates: in the “very last letter which [Paul Brunton] wrote to me from Auckland, New Zealand … he stated that he felt that his original statements about Meher Baba had been written by another person and that certainly if he had to do it over again, he would write differently ((Glow International, Feb. 1985). But Brunton never did publicly rectify his misrepresentation of Meher Baba in Secret India. His distorted portrait of Meher Baba remains influential to this day.

 Copyright © 2013 Stephen J Castro

 

Paul Brunton and Meher Baba: In Search of Brunton’s Secret – Part Four

 Secret India: 2

The three travellers, Meher Baba’s brother Jal Irani, Bhikkhu Prajnananda and Paul Brunton left Meherabad late November to visit the places suggested by Baba. En route to Poona in order to meet Hazrat Babajan the trio made a brief stop at Bombay, where Brunton recounts in his book Secret India (1934: 62–63) that he met an elderly Parsi known as Khandalawalla, a former Judge, who provided him with a brief background regarding Babajan’s life. She “is a native of Baluchistan, that vague territory situated between Afghanistan and India, and she ran away from home quite early. After long and adventurous wanderings afoot, she arrived at Poona about the beginning of this century and has never moved from the city since. At first, she made her home under a neem tree, where she insisted on remaining in all seasons. Her reputation and sanctity and strange powers spread throughout the Muhammedan people in the vicinity, until even the Hindus came to treat her with great reverence. Some Muhammedans eventually built a wooden shelter under the tree for her, since she refused to live in a proper house. This gives her the semblance of a home and provides some protection against the inclemencies of the monsoon season. I ask the Judge for his personal opinion. He replies that he does not doubt that Hazrat Babajan is a genuine faqueer.”

During the meeting with Khandalawalla, the latter had informed Brunton that he had known Hazrat Babajan “for fifty years, and that her age is really about ninety-five,” which was in contrast to the higher estimates. According to Kevin Shepherd (A Sufi Matriarch: Hazrat Babajan, 1986: 77–78, nn. 52, 54): “That Khandalawalla had known Babajan for as long as fifty years is questionable; though it need not be doubted that he had encountered her by the time of her second visit to Bombay c. 1900 … The general computation of her age was about 120 years, though some maintained that it was in excess of this. [Charles] Purdom cited an approximate date of 1790 for her birth, though Dr [Abdul] Ghani was of the view that she was born later than this. Ghani’s estimate of her age was 125, based on general reminiscences and his own contact with her. In deference to critical tendencies which find the higher estimates indigestible, there seems every ground to believe that the subject was over a hundred by the time of her death.” (1)

Khandalawalla told Brunton he felt that Meher Baba “is honest and really believes in his spiritual attainment.” But he was less enthusiastic about Upasni Maharaj, whom he debunked. Upasni is said to have told the Judge’s son-in-law, who was thinking of going on the Bombay Stock Exchange, that such a move would prove extremely fortunate for him. Acting on his advice Khandalawalla’s son-in-law was almost ruined. Doubtless the austere and ascetic Upasni, who possessed nothing but the gunny sack he used to cover his lower body with, would have considered the financial loss a most fortunate and important lesson for the young man. But this was lost on the affluent Khandalawalla whose son-in-law had sought from Upasni Maharaj of Sakori, whom Brunton states Meher Baba had described as “one of the greatest spiritual personalities of this age,” advice about financial gain.

 Though Brunton had included the brief meeting with Hazrat Babajan in Secret India, he excluded references to other localities specified by Meher Baba. After leaving Poona, and following Baba’s itinerary of places to visit, the trio were warmly received by various devotees of Baba at Panchgani, Kolhapur, and Bijapur. At Hubli, Jal Irani parted company with the two Englishmen, being under instruction to rejoin Baba at Meherabad. Brunton and Prajnananda continued on to Madras, where they had made arrangements to stay with more followers of Meher Baba.

Arriving in Madras on 2 December, 1930, the two travellers became guests of the Meher Asramam in Saidapet, home of the Meher League. Here they received the same warm hospitality which previous devotees had accorded them. Their hosts were C V Sampath Aiyengar and his daughter V T Laksmi, both of them well-educated Hindus who accomplished humanitarian work under Baba’s auspices. An article by K J Dastur in the Meher Message, published in 1931 before the defection of Brother Raphael Hurst (Paul Brunton) became known, provides a revealing insight into what occurred during Brunton’s stay at the ashram. It is evident that he was considered a follower of Meher Baba, and on the afternoon of 7 December the members of the League held a meeting under the chairmanship of Aiyengar. At four pm an address was given at the ashram in honour of the two English guests:

“To Raphael Hurst Esq., Bhikkhu Prajnananda.

Dear Brothers,

We, the members of Meher League, approach you with feelings of fellowship, and offer our heart-felt welcome to you in our midst. We look upon this, your first visit to this place, as a unique event in the history of this asramam which was opened by our master [Meher Baba] …

We welcome you, brother Raphael Hurst, as the founder of the Meher League in England. Your sincere words, ‘Our hearts are with every one of you who are serving the master’s cause [i.e., Baba’s cause] in India. Brotherly greetings to every devotee,’ are ringing in our ears … We earnestly request you convey our fraternal greetings to our comrades in the West. We pray that under the benign care and guidance of the master and with your co-operation, that influences for good may unceasingly flow from this asramam … May the master give you long life to accomplish this work.”

According to Kevin Shepherd’s account (Meher Baba, an Iranian Liberal, 1988: 149–150): “Nor was this all.… Bhikkhu Prajnananda then delivered a lecture on ‘Sri Meher Baba and his Work.’ This [alleged] ex-Major of the British Army possessed something of an oratorical eloquence, and spoke of the depth of Baba’s inner activity which the latter was silently engaged upon. Prajnananda said that his personal contact with Baba had convinced him that the world would eventually be bettered by Baba’s influence, and that his present followers were fortunate to be connected with him. Prajnananda appealed to the audience to accomplish their part of the ‘work’ with one-pointedness.

Not to be outdone, Raphael Hurst, alias Paul Brunton, then lectured on the meaning of life. The Meher Message specifically states that he related a few of his ‘personal telepathic experiences’ in connection with Meher Baba. These were emphasized as contacts transcendent of normal consciousness. Further, Brunton said that Baba was immersed in the highest state of God-consciousness every moment, and that he functioned in all invisible worlds.”

After about a fortnight at the ashram Brunton and Prajnananda left Madras. At some point they made a brief excursion from Madras to nearby Tiruvannamalai, a small town near to which was the ashram of Ramana Maharshi (d. 1950), a figure who did not, during that first meeting, loom large upon Brunton’s horizons. A record of the meeting of Brunton and Prajnananda with Ramana Maharshi was published in the September 1931 monthly magazine, Peace, the journal of the Swami Omkar Shanti Ashrama in Andhra Pradesh, which I include below:

 “It was half past four in the afternoon and the disciples were sitting before the Maharshi in the hall and were talking about a notification that had appeared in the dailies [newspapers] to the effect that a Mr. Hurst and a Buddhist Bhikshu were intending to visit the Ashrama. The clock struck five and there entered the hall a man in European costume, bearing a plate of sweets and followed by a Buddhist monk. The visitors offered the sweets to the Maharshi and then, after making obeisance in the Eastern way, they both squatted on the floor before him. These were the visitors of whom the disciples had been talking. The man in English clothes was H Raphael Hurst [Paul Brunton], a London journalist who was then on a visit to India. He was keenly interested in the spiritual teaching of the East and thought that by an intelligent study and appreciation of it the cause of cooperation between East and West might be greatly promoted. He came to Sri Ramanasramam after visiting many other ashramas. The Bhikshu who came with him was also an Englishman by birth. He was formerly a military officer but was known as Swami Prajnananda. He was the founder of the English Ashrama in Rangoon. Both visitors sat spellbound before Maharshi and there was pin-drop silence. The silence was broken by the person who had brought the visitors, asking them if they would like to ask any questions.

They were, however, not in a mood to do so, and thus an hour and a half passed. Mr Hurst then stated the purpose of his visit. In a voice of intense earnestness he said that he had come to India for spiritual enlightenment. ‘Not only myself,’ he added, ‘but many others also in the West are longing for the Light from the East.’ The Maharshi sat completely indrawn and paid no attention. One of those who were sitting there asked them if they had come to the East for a study of comparative religions. ‘No,’ the Bhikshu replied, ‘we could get that better in Europe. We want to find Truth; we want the Light. Can we know Truth? Is it possible to get Enlightenment?’ The Maharshi still remained silent and indrawn, and as the visitors wanted to take a walk, the conversation ended and all dispersed. Early next morning the visitors entered the hall and put some questions to the Maharshi with great earnestness. The conversation reproduced below is from rough notes taken while it was going on.

Bhikshu: We have travelled far and wide in search of Enlightenment. How can we get it?

Maharshi: Through deep enquiry and confident meditation.

.

Hurst: Many people do meditate in the West but show no signs of progress.

Maharshi: How do you know that they don't make progress? Spiritual progress is not easily discernible.

Hurst: A few years ago I got some glimpses of the Bliss but in the years that followed I lost it again. Then last year I again got it. Why is that?

Maharshi: You lost it because your meditation had not become natural (sahaja). When you become habitually inturned the enjoyment of spiritual beatitude becomes a normal experience.

Hurst: Might it be due to the lack of a Guru?

Maharshi: Yes, but the Guru is within; that Guru who is within is identical with your Self.

Hurst: What is the way to God-realization?

Maharshi: Vichara, asking yourself the ‘Who am I?’ enquiry into the nature of your Self.

Bhikshu: The world is in a state of degeneration. It is getting constantly worse, spiritually, morally, intellectually and in every way. Will a spiritual teacher come to save it from chaos?

Maharshi: Inevitably, when goodness declines and wrong prevails He comes to reinstate goodness. The world is neither too good nor too bad; it is a mixture of the two. Unmixed happiness and unmixed sorrow are not found in the world. The world always needs God and God always comes.

Bhikshu: Will He be born in the East or the West?

The Maharshi laughed at the question but did not answer it.

Hurst: Does the Maharshi know whether an Avatar already exists in the physical body?

Maharshi: He might.

Hurst: What is the best way to attain Godhood?

Maharshi: Self-enquiry leads to Self-realization.

Hurst: Is a Guru necessary for spiritual progress?

Maharshi: Yes.

Hurst: Is it possible for the Guru to help the disciple forward on the path?

Maharshi: Yes.

Hurst: What are the conditions for discipleship?

Maharshi: Intense desire for Self-realization, earnestness and purity of mind.

Hurst: Is it necessary to surrender one's life to the Guru?

Maharshi: Yes. One should surrender everything to the Dispeller of Darkness. One should surrender the ego that binds one to this world. Giving up body-consciousness is the true surrender.

Hurst: Does a Guru want to take control of the disciple's worldly affairs also?

Maharshi: Yes, everything.

Hurst: Can he give the disciple the spiritual spark that he needs?

Maharshi: He can give him all that he needs. This can be seen from experience.

Hurst: Is it necessary to be in physical contact with the Guru, and if so, for how long?

Maharshi: It depends on the maturity of the disciple. Gunpowder catches fire in an instant, while it takes time to ignite coal.

Hurst: Is it possible to develop along the path of the Spirit while leading a life of work?

Maharshi: There is no conflict between work and wisdom. On the contrary, selfless work paves the way to Self-knowledge.

Hurst: If a person is engaged in work it will leave him little time for meditation.

Maharshi: It is only spiritual novices who need to set aside a special time for meditation. A more advanced person always enjoys the Beatitude whether he is engaged in work or not. While his hands are in society he can keep his head cool in solitude.

Bhikshu: Have you heard of Meher Baba?

Maharshi: Yes.

Bhikshu: He says that he will become an Avatar in a few years.

Maharshi: Everyone is an Avatar of God. ‘The kingdom of heaven is within you.’ Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna, all are in you. One who knows the Truth sees everyone else as a manifestation of God.

Bhikshu: Will the Maharshi make a statement about Meher Baba?

Maharshi: What statement? That (the existence of an outer Avatar) is a question which seekers of Truth need not consider.

Bhikshu: Will the world be rejuvenated?

Maharshi: There is One who governs the world and it is His business to look after it. He who has created the world knows how to guide it also.

Bhikshu: Does the world progress now?

Maharshi: If we progress the world progresses. As you are, so is the world.

Without understanding the Self what is the use of understanding the world?

Without Self-knowledge, knowledge of the world is of no use. Dive inward and find the treasure hidden there. Open your heart and see the world through the eyes of the true Self. Tear aside the veils and see the divine majesty of your own Self.” See http://bhagavan-ramana.org/brunton.html

 It is worth noting, having only recently spoken of his personal ‘telepathic’ experiences in connection with Meher Baba to fellow members of the Meher League, in Secret India Brunton now claims (1934: 162–63) that during a further meeting with Ramana Maharshi before leaving the ashram to continue his tour:

“There comes a perceptible change in the telepathic current which plays between us, the while my eyes blink frequently but his remain without the least tremor. I become aware that he is definitely linking my own mind with his, that he is provoking my heart into that state of starry calm which he seems perpetually to enjoy. In this extraordinary peace, I find a sense of exaltation and lightness. Time seems to stand still.…What is this man’s gaze but a thaumaturgic wand … Suddenly, my body seems to disappear, and we are both out in space!”

Paul Brunton would of course later become associated with Sri Ramana, and is described by the Encyclopaedia of Occultism and Parapsychology as “one of the first Europeans to draw attention to Sri Ramana Maharshi of Tiruvannamalai, South India.” Yet, following the publication in 1934 of Brunton’s Secret India, he was subsequently banned in March 1939 by Sri Ramana’s brother from visiting the ashram. This was apparently because Brunton had not obtained permission to write about Ramana Maharshi, nor had he given any profits from the book to the ashram. Though there appear to have been other issues involved. According to David Godman, the original version of the manuscript for the book Talks with Ramana Maharshi, first published in three volumes beginning in 1935 up through 1939, contained a record of Brunton getting banned. However, the whole subject surrounding Brunton being banned was deleted prior to publication. Godman has now published the original transcripts that show the undeleted version on pages 191-94 in his Living by the Words of Bhagavan. Brunton would later comment that he had used Sri Ramana in his books simply as a ‘peg’ for his own theories of meditation. For a useful analysis of the controversial relationship between Brunton and Sri Ramana, see Part Three of the excellent ‘Studies Related to Paul Brunton’ by Dr J Glenn Friesen at http://www.members.shaw.ca/abhishiktananda/Brunton3.html.

Following his stay at the Sri Ramanasramam, Brunton returned to Madras, and then left for Calcutta intent on visiting the Ramakrishna Math, where he was fortunate to meet the aged Mahendranath Gupta (Mahasaya), who was one of the few surviving pupils of Ramakrishna (d. 1886). He went alone, as Prajnananda had become unwell and could not accompany him. From Calcutta, Brunton wrote the following letter to Meher Baba on 30 December, 1930, which has now been made public by the Avatar Meher Baba Trust Archives:

“Dear Baba

I received a telegram from Vishnu [a disciple and secretary for Meher Baba] on my arrival here yesterday and hear you want me to write about the tour. Well I sent an account to [K J ] Dastur 2 weeks ago, and no doubt he will show it to you, if you ask him. Since then I left Madras and went South and later returned to Madras and so on to here.

Now I am camping on with the tour but had to make alterations.

First the Bhikkhu Prajnananda become ill and irritable and had to have doctor’s attention. He is fairly well now again, but it was the travelling which does not suit him: he wants to rest since he came all the way from Burma. So at his request I wrote 2 letters to you to ask permission to leave out some of the places on our list, so he should have less journeys to make. You were away so Dastur said I should act as seemed best. So I omitted going to the extreme South (viz Rameswarm, Madural and Mysore), we did however visit Tiruvannamalai instead. Then the Bhikkhu asked me if I could finish the tour myself, and I agreed that I was now so accustomed to Indian travelling conditions that I could quite easily carry on myself henceforth. So at his request I left him at Madras, just before I left for Calcutta 2 or 3 days ago. I gave him sufficient money for all his needs and he has gone to some place near Tiruvannamalai until I complete my tour when he will come later to Nasik.

At Madras we were very kindly treated by all the friends there. We did what we could there also, and 12 new members joined the Meher League as a result. Also I interested certain people in you and they will visit you when you next come to Saidapet: They include the Assistant Editor of the Hindu newspaper: K S Venkatapamani, the author: The Principal of Government College, Kumakonam and others.

As regards the academy: I was unable to do anything for this until we reached Madras owing to the hurry. Here I broached the matter and it was brought to the attention of the public meeting of 100 people we addressed there. Mr Aiyenger [Sampath] also said he would see about getting them all to contribute a little each one, so I have left it to him.

[The ‘academy’ had been advertised in the Meher Message, and refers to a proposed Spiritual Academy “for young spiritual aspirants of all castes, creeds and colours.” It was intended for “spiritually-minded youths who are not less than eighteen and not more than thirty years of age, and who are not married.”]

My experience shows me the following: that it is difficult to approach anyone who is not a devotee of your Holiness. They are not going to support financially any such academy unless they are your followers. So it limits my efforts down to your own devotees. Again among these the poor can contribute very little if at all. So again one is narrowed down to the narrow circle of well-off devotees. But as I do not know their names I am unable to find them out. I wrote to Dastur and asked for a few names I could call on during the tour but he forgot to send them.

So you see I am rather pessimistic about raising the money in India. In the west it would be naturally be easier for me, as I am known there, but here I am a stranger. However I have written to Max Gysi [who knew Meredith Starr and had visited the Devonshire retreat in 1929 or 1930] and made a proposition to him. When I saw him last he was going to spend 1,350 rupees on a certain object which I regarded as foolish so I have written in such a manner as to try to convince him to spend the money on the spiritual academy. I believe he will very likely agree to this. I am waiting for his answer which I suppose will arrive from America, just before I reach Nasik. Western Subscribers, it is necessary for me to go to them personally, so I must leave that until I return to Europe. I am thinking that it will be difficult for me to bear the heat if I stay in India so long as I first intended and perhaps it will be necessary for me to go back not later than April 1st. Somehow the food does not agree with me also. However I must leave all that for later on.

As I am only just arrived in Calcutta I do not know the possibilities here but shall stay a few days.

I want to ask whether it would be possible for me to be permitted to arrive at Nasik one week earlier than we first arranged: that is instead of Feb 1st I arrive January 21st or 22nd. Please let me know and I will act accordingly. In this case I would omit one or 2 purely sightseeing places on my remaining trip.

It is difficult to find time to meditate on this tour, so I trust to make up for this omission.

I am looking forward to the near future and to receiving spiritual enlightenment at your hands; I need it if I am to go back to the West with any message for their materialistic minds.

Will you please write to me at the Calcutta address. The letter will reach me even if I leave but I shall stay till the end of this week certain.

In humble devotion

Yours sincerely

Raphael Hurst”

The above letter makes plain that Brunton was not only following an itinerary of places to visit suggested by Meher Baba, but was also engaged in specific tasks of requested service such as raising funds for the proposed Academy and seeking new, and possibly influential, members for the Meher League. How Brunton approached those tasks would have been important. It is not clear whether or not he was asked to visit Tiruvannamalai, where the Sri Ramanasramam was located. According to Bhau Kalchuri, Meher Baba never met Ramana Maharshi nor had any communication with him, though Baba once commented that he was a genuine saint” (Meher Prabhu, 1986: 1359, note).

In Secret India Brunton recounts that during his stay at the Meherabad ashram, Meher Baba “informs me that within a few months he will be in residence at his central headquarters, which are situated near the town of Nasik. He suggests that I should visit him there and stay a month.” According to Brunton, Baba communicated: “Do this. Come when you can. I will give you wonderful spiritual experiences and enable you to know the real truth about me. You will be shown my inner powers. After that, you will have no more doubts” (1934: 62). In the letter from Brunton to Baba quoted above, he writes, “I am looking forward to the near future and to receiving spiritual enlightenment at your hands.” The implication being that he took Baba’s words literally as he deemed himself a suitable candidate for enlightenment.  Earlier, Baba is said to have stated, “Go to the West as my representative! Spread my name as that of the coming divine messenger. Work for me and my influence, and you will be working for the good of mankind.” But Brunton’s response was, “nothing short of working a series of miracles will convince the West that anyone is a spiritual superman, let alone a messiah, and since I cannot perform miracles I cannot undertake the job of being his herald.” Baba replied: “Stay with me and I shall confer great powers on you … I will help you to obtain advanced powers, so that you will render services in the West” (1934: 61). This encounter is said to have occurred at Meherabad prior to Brunton’s stay at the Meher Asramam in Saidapet as a distinguished guest who had formed (or was arranging to form) the Meher League in England. Brunton had already presented himself to the Meher League as a representative of Meher Baba, and also claimed personal ‘telepathic’ experiences in relation to Baba. It was clearly the talk of “wonderful spiritual experiences” and “powers” which was to lure him to Nasik, and not service to Meher Baba, or the promotion of the Meher League’s ideal of universal brotherhood.

It has been astutely observed by Kevin Shepherd (1988: 152–153): “There is little doubt from the overall body of facts on Brunton at this stage in his career that he was very preoccupied with ‘telepathic messages’ of Meher Baba and other extra-dimensional occurrences. His contacts with yogis and faqirs attest Brunton’s fascination with paranormal phenomena, and he clearly believed that it was possible to gain ‘powers,’ known in India as siddhis, a customary yogic preoccupation. Brunton was quite ready to talk about his telepathic experiences in a way that caused devotees of Meher Baba to exalt him accordingly. It is worth observing here that Baba is known to have frequently expressed a low rating of persons disposed to seek ‘wonders’ among the sadhu population of India, since the attendant overload of superstition and cultivation of siddhis were deemed by him as harmful to serious aspirants.… If Meher Baba was anything of a psychologist (as the evidence does strongly indicate), then he would have perceived typical traits in Brunton of the ‘siddhis’ mentality, i.e., a desire for occult powers and attributes of greatness. Since such people are in general unfit for discipleship, he would have done the next best thing possible: teach the candidate for honours a necessary lesson.”

In Secret India Brunton wants the reader to believe that he left for Nasik with doubts in his mind (1934: 253): “I do not believe the Parsee messiah can keep the extraordinary promises of wonderful experiences which he has made to me; but because I have agreed to spend a month near him, I think my pledge is not to be lightly broken. So, against every instinct and all judgement, I take train for Nasik, that he may not accuse me of never having given him the chance to prove his alleged powers.”

But that statement is contrary to the letter he wrote to Meher Baba from Calcutta on 30 December, 1930, where he writes optimistically: “I am looking forward to the near future and to receiving spiritual enlightenment at your hands; I need it if I am to go back to the West with any message for their materialistic minds.” As Shepherd rightly suggests (1988: 152):

“The real ‘secret’ of Brunton’s sojourn in India was locked up in the Nasik ashram, and left padlocked by journalistic preferences of retrospect. (2)

To be continued …

Notes:

1. Hazrat Babajan died in the Char Bawdi area of Poona on 21 September, 1931. On Wednesday, 23 September, the Evening News of India reported ‘Poona’s Homage to Famous Muslim Woman Saint’: “The Muslim community in Poona has been greatly moved by the death of the famous saint Babajan. It is claimed that she was 125 years of age, and the possessor of magical powers in addition to her powers of insight into the future. Her funeral yesterday … was very largely attended with thousands of people both Muslim and Hindus taking part in the procession.” According to one account: “Her funeral procession was a tremendous affair, never accorded to any dignitary or royalty in the annals of Poona” (Ghani, 1939: 38). On hearing of her death, Meher Baba, who was then in England, sent a telegram to Dr Abdul Ghani directing him to donate four thousand rupees on his behalf toward erecting Babajan’s marble tomb. The small one roomed marble dargah (shrine) was built alongside the neem tree under which she sat for so many years, by the roadside which is now a busy and noisy thoroughfare.

 2. Brunton’s record of the interviews he had with Meher Baba cannot be regarded as a verbatim report, but simply as a retrospective narrative influenced by subsequent events, i.e., according to Shepherd (1988: 241, n. 212): “In April 1932, English reporters dubbed Baba in the British newspapers as the ‘Indian Messiah’, which seems to have lent accentuation to the journalism in Secret India, since Baba was commonly accepted in India only as a sadguru.” The term ‘Messiah’ used by Brunton in Secret India would therefore not have been current at either the Meherabad or Nasik ashrams during his stay. Brunton confirms in his posthumously published Notebooks (1987: 226, 6:171) that he did not start work on Secret India until around early 1933: “It was only after nearly two years which were needed to get rid of the blackwater fever which India dragged me down that I was able to begin work on A Search in Secret India.”

Copyright © 2013 Stephen J Castro