CALIFORNIA, USA, July 1, 2026 (Hinduism Today): Writer Pradeep Srivastava examines the life and influence of English author Paul Brunton, whose 1934 bestseller “A Search in Secret India” introduced millions of Western readers to Indian spirituality and particularly to Ramana Maharshi. Born Raphael Hurst in London in 1898, Brunton worked as a journalist and editor before traveling through India in the early 1930s in search of mystics, yogis and spiritual teachers. His meeting with Ramana Maharshi at Arunachala became a defining event in his life.
Brunton’s book became an international success and was translated into about two dozen languages. He later developed a philosophical system he called Mentalism, in which the apparently external world is understood as appearing within consciousness. Srivastava describes Brunton as a bridge between Advaita Vedanta and Western philosophical thought who communicated Indian spiritual insights without requiring readers to adopt Hindu religious forms.