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Realizing Soul: From Intuition to an Inspired Life
Realizing Soul is a uniquely inspiring resource for people of any age feeling "Is this all there is? Shouldn't there be something more?" It's about connecting with—and staying connected with—that intangible (yet undeniable) "something more" that makes struggles worthwhile when it's there, and successes hollow when it's not. It's about how to be consciously what we unconsciously know we really are.
This newest compilation of Paul Brunton's reliably informative and inspirational work consists of selections on life's deepest purpose from www.paulbruntondailynote.se, a popular website for which inspiring new excerpts from The Notebooks of Paul Brunton are read aloud by native speakers in sixteen languages every day of the year.
This newest compilation of Paul Brunton's reliably informative and inspirational work consists of selections on life's deepest purpose from www.paulbruntondailynote.se, a popular website for which inspiring new excerpts from The Notebooks of Paul Brunton are read aloud by native speakers in sixteen languages every day of the year.
160 pages, Paperback
First published July 24, 2015
3 people are currently reading
158 people want to read
About the author
Paul Brunton
108 books203 followersPaul Brunton was a British philosopher, researcher, mystic, and adventurer. He left a journalistic career to live among yogis, mystics, and holy men, and studied a wide variety of Eastern and Western esoteric teachings. With his entire life dedicated to the spiritual quest, Brunton felt charged with the task of communicating his knowledge and experiences in layperson's terms. He was one of the first persons to write accounts of what he learned about spirituality in the East, and his works have had a major influence on the spread of Eastern philosophy and mysticism to the West. Paul Brunton continued to write after his final publication in 1952, and a significant portion of his large archive of original writings was posthumously published by Larson Publications as "The Notebooks of Paul Brunton" (in 16 volumes). The entire archive will soon be housed at a university (2017) and available to read online (2019).
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February 17, 2016
I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads. FTC guidelines: check!
I had never read the teachings of Brunton before Realizing Soul and I found him to be very similar to Eckhart Tolle or, interestingly enough, Abraham Hicks. He was like Eckhart Tolle in that he stressed the importance of the Now moment. Brunton was like Abraham Hicks in that his description of the Oversoul could walk hand in hand with Hick's Vortex of Creation. In fact, in my mind when I was reading this, I just substituted Oversoul for Vortex because I was more familiar with Hick's thoughts on the matter than Brunton's.
There is quite a lot of information in Realizing Soul, though it isn't very long. In fact, I wish that some of the passages had been longer. This book was mainly a compilation of ideas from many of Brunton's different writings. I suppose that it gives the reader a great overview of the various works but I felt that it lacked some depth because of the shortened sections which were each generally only a couple of sentences long.
Some parts I want to remember:
"...That which he has been seeking so ardently has been within himself all the time. For there at the core of his being, hidden away underneath all the weakness, passion, pettiness, fear, and ignorance, dwells light, love, peace, and truth. The windows of his heart open on eternity, only he has kept them closed! He is as near the sacred spirit of God as he ever shall be, but he must open his eyes to see it. Man's divine estate is there deep within himself. But he must claim it."pg 18
"The personal ego of man forms itself out of the impersonal life of the universe like a wave forming itself out of the ocean. It constricts, confines, restricts, and limits that infinite life to a small finite area. The wave does just the same to the water of the ocean. The ego shuts out so much of the power and intelligence contained in the universal being that it seems to belong to an entirely different and utterly inferior order of existence. The wave, too, since it forms itself only on the surface of the water gives no indication in its tiny stature of the tremendous depth and breadth and volume of water beneath it..." pg 27
"What can I do to break this barren, monotonous, dreary, and sterile spiritual desert of my existence? The answer is if you cannot meditate successfully go to nature, where she is quiet or beautiful; go to art where it is majestic, exalting; go to hear some great soul speak, whether in private talk or public address; go to literature, find a great inspired book written by someone who has had the glimpses (of the divine within life)." pg 78
"Man as scientist has put under observation countless objects on earth, in sea and sky. He has thoroughly examined them. But man as man has put himself under a shallower observation. He has limited his scrutiny first to the body, second to what thinking can find. Yet a deeper level exists, where a deeper hidden self can be found." pg 96
For the most part, I found Realizing Soul to be very beautiful and rich in meaning. There were some bits on karma and ego illusion that didn't really resonate with me, but that doesn't mean that it won't speak to others.
If you enjoyed this book, you may want to listen to some of Eckhart Tolle's lectures like Even the Sun will Die, Gateways to Now, or pick up the book, Stillness Speaks. Readers may also enjoy The Art of Living and Dying: Celebrating Life and Celebrating Death by Osho.
I had never read the teachings of Brunton before Realizing Soul and I found him to be very similar to Eckhart Tolle or, interestingly enough, Abraham Hicks. He was like Eckhart Tolle in that he stressed the importance of the Now moment. Brunton was like Abraham Hicks in that his description of the Oversoul could walk hand in hand with Hick's Vortex of Creation. In fact, in my mind when I was reading this, I just substituted Oversoul for Vortex because I was more familiar with Hick's thoughts on the matter than Brunton's.
There is quite a lot of information in Realizing Soul, though it isn't very long. In fact, I wish that some of the passages had been longer. This book was mainly a compilation of ideas from many of Brunton's different writings. I suppose that it gives the reader a great overview of the various works but I felt that it lacked some depth because of the shortened sections which were each generally only a couple of sentences long.
Some parts I want to remember:
"...That which he has been seeking so ardently has been within himself all the time. For there at the core of his being, hidden away underneath all the weakness, passion, pettiness, fear, and ignorance, dwells light, love, peace, and truth. The windows of his heart open on eternity, only he has kept them closed! He is as near the sacred spirit of God as he ever shall be, but he must open his eyes to see it. Man's divine estate is there deep within himself. But he must claim it."pg 18
"The personal ego of man forms itself out of the impersonal life of the universe like a wave forming itself out of the ocean. It constricts, confines, restricts, and limits that infinite life to a small finite area. The wave does just the same to the water of the ocean. The ego shuts out so much of the power and intelligence contained in the universal being that it seems to belong to an entirely different and utterly inferior order of existence. The wave, too, since it forms itself only on the surface of the water gives no indication in its tiny stature of the tremendous depth and breadth and volume of water beneath it..." pg 27
"What can I do to break this barren, monotonous, dreary, and sterile spiritual desert of my existence? The answer is if you cannot meditate successfully go to nature, where she is quiet or beautiful; go to art where it is majestic, exalting; go to hear some great soul speak, whether in private talk or public address; go to literature, find a great inspired book written by someone who has had the glimpses (of the divine within life)." pg 78
"Man as scientist has put under observation countless objects on earth, in sea and sky. He has thoroughly examined them. But man as man has put himself under a shallower observation. He has limited his scrutiny first to the body, second to what thinking can find. Yet a deeper level exists, where a deeper hidden self can be found." pg 96
For the most part, I found Realizing Soul to be very beautiful and rich in meaning. There were some bits on karma and ego illusion that didn't really resonate with me, but that doesn't mean that it won't speak to others.
If you enjoyed this book, you may want to listen to some of Eckhart Tolle's lectures like Even the Sun will Die, Gateways to Now, or pick up the book, Stillness Speaks. Readers may also enjoy The Art of Living and Dying: Celebrating Life and Celebrating Death by Osho.
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