"Those who have been held under the bitter waters of sorrow, those who have moved through shadowed years in the mist of tears, will be somewhat readier to receive the truth which life is ever silently voicing. If they can perceive nothing else, they can perceive the tragical transience which attends the smiles of fortune.

"Those who refuse to be deluded by their brighter hours will not suffer so greatly from their darker ones. There is no life that is not made up of the warp of pleasure and the woof of suffering. Therefore no man can afford to walk with proud and pontifical air. He who does so takes his perambulation at a grave peril. For humility is the only befitting robe to wear in the presence of the unseen gods, who may remove in a few days what has been acquired during many years.

"The fate of all things moves in cycles and only the thoughtless observer can fail to note this fact. Even in the universe it may be seen that every perihelion is succeeded by an aphelion. So in the life and fortunes of man, the flood of prosperity may be succeeded by the ebb of privation, health may be a fickle guest, while love may come only to wander again. But when the night of protracted agony dies, the dawn of new-found wisdom glimmers.

"The last lesson of these things is that the eternal refuge in man, unnoticed and unsought as it may be, must become what it was once – his solace, or disappointment and suffering will periodically conspire to drive him in upon it. No man is so lucky that the gods permit him to avoid these two great tutors of the race."

-- Rich (howe9@shentel.net), March 05, 2001

Answers

The above is an excerpt from the book, A Secret Search In India, by Paul Brunton.

-- Rich (howe9@shentel.net), March 05, 2001.

I too have often contemplated the volumes of musings from India. On reflection, I have asked myself; “Why then is this country so terribly fucked up?”

-- So (cr@t.es), March 05, 2001.

Individual imperfection multiplied one billion times?

Imperfect people living in an imperfect world?

We are still in Kali yuga?

Ray Kroc died before he could infuse India with his product?

Because 1 in 1,000 seek spiritual knowledge through books, 1 of those 1,000 activelt seek realization and 1 of those 1,000 achieve the goal?

Maya?

The answer is buried under the right paw of the Sphinx?

-- Rich (howe9@shentel.net), March 05, 2001.

The man was quite a writer and philosopher Rich. He transformed his life over the course of it. Your above post brought tears to my eyes when I first read it. It is filled with the wisdom of a pain-filled life tossed aside for a higher ideal and greater goal, while not forgetting the lessons of the past. A little websearch shows even more of what a spiritual life this man led, in addition to his prolific writing which shared his views with the world, should they be willing and able to consume it. I found the following to be of considerable insight into the the man, Paul Brunton, for those that are interested:

http://www.yrec.org/brunton.html

Thank you for sharing some of his thoughts, and experiences.

-- Aunt Bee (Aunt__Bee@hotmail.com), March 06, 2001.

Bee, the web site you mentioned is incredible! So much information there. The timeline alone is worth the price of admission - time.

For anyone interested in reading more on yoga, check out the plethora of articles and reviews here.

-- Rich (howe9@shentel.net), March 07, 2001.

True Rich, but only if a man allows disappointment and suffering to conspire against him.

-- Ike and Spike (not@in.Cascadia), May 28, 2001.