Much has been told in the past of the mystical and mystery side of this great country, but it remained for an English journalist to search out and tell us just what we Western people need to know about it; how much of what we have heard is true, especially of what novelists and so-called teachers, both Western and Eastern, relate of its marvels—and of the basic facts of it all. Paul Brunton accomplishes this in his book, My Search in Secret India in a most satisfying way.

From boyhood India held a peculiar appeal to him, and he determined somehow someday to visit it, and when later he read some of its literary treasures, got glimpses of its wisdom, he heard of its Yogis and their hermetic knowledges, it is natural that his affairs should eventually shape themselves so that he could satisfy his curiosity, or rather that deep-seated something that had kept alive his interest during the years.

He became a trained journalist, and therefore a fearless sceptic—he had always to be shown before he would accept anything; and consequently he was not afraid to ask questions, even of the greatest. These qualifications not only gained for him much knowledge that would have been denied lesser souls, but gave to his readers his studied reactions, doubts and conclusions, which make the recitals of his experiences of so much value.

The book is a story of his travels in his search for the sacred things of India, those which a country keeps secret and can be discovered only by one who cannot be discouraged in his seeking. Mr. Brunton had the determination and the persistency necessary for such a search, and he found what he sought and for which all who read his book will be grateful.

He found, as stated in the Foreword, that “there was much spurious spirituality through which a way must be forced before the true could be found; that there was an innumerable crowd of mental acrobats and contortionists through which the seeker had to elbow his way. These have trained their mental as well as their bodily muscles till they are extraordinarily efficient. They have exercised powers of concentration till they have nearly complete control over their mental processes. Many of them have developed what we call occult powers.

“These are all interesting enough in their way, and are well worth study by scientific men interested in psychic phenomena.”