So what about Paul Brunton? He was the author of some pretty fascinating books including

• A Search in Secret India
• The Secret Path
• A Search in Secret Egypt
• A Message from Arunachala
• A Hermit in the Himalayas
• The Quest of the Overself
• Discover Yourself (a.k.a. The Inner Reality)
• Indian Philosophy and Modern Culture
• The Hidden Teaching Beyond Yoga
• The Wisdom of the Overself
• The Spiritual Crisis of Man

The first book is truly wonderful to read. Today, in India, we are actively discouraged from referring to our ancestral spiritual and cultural heritage as it is politically incorrect to do so.

His journey and stay at Arunachala is really fascinating to read about. Arunachala is the area where a saint called Ramana Maharishi lived in the early-mid 20th century. I was there last year and found some great vibes there, and walked about witha huge lump in my throat for no obvious reason. Interestingly very similar experiences were reported by the much greater Paul Brunton and Mercedes De Acosta. The latter wrote (see http://www.angelfire.com/realm/bodhisattva/paul_brunton.html):

"At one of these dinners I met Paul Brunton who had written a book called A Search in Secret India. When I read this book it had a profound influence on me. In it I learned for the first time about Ramana Maharshi, a great Indian saint and sage. It was as though some emanation of this saint was projected out of the book to me. For days and nights after reading about him I could not think of anything else. I became, as it were, possessed by him. I could not even talk of anything else."

There's a Brunton Road in Bangalore - I wonder if there's any connection.

See http://www.paulbrunton.org/ (photo from there) and also http://www.ramana-maharshi.org/