Selected from
A Message from Arunachala
by Paul Brunton
The following quotes are from the chapter, “Solitude and Leisure” in one of the lesser known PB books, A Message from Arunachala. The inspiring thoughts are beautiful and powerful, reaching places in mind and heart and are worth remembering every day.
“Your self is sacred; be true to it.” (p. 147)
“To know the Overself is to know the deep unmoved rest which is at the center of our being.” (p. 154)
“We spend so much of our leisure doing nothing which really matters, that there is little of it left to do the one thing that emphatically does matter.” (p. 155)
“A wise solitude thus fosters the soul’s growth, keeps the mind clear of petty thoughts and matures the fine quality of mental independence. Go your way alone and you walk a path that shall indeed arrive somewhere. For solitude is not loneliness, boredom, or sadness. To be lonely is to be amongst those that do not understand. But in solitude you can people your place with thoughts, if you wish, whilst you always have yourself, your Overself, for company…. (p. 146)
“Peace is a costly privilege – to be fought for, attained and won. It comes only from the conquered mind. (p. 159)
A hundred multifarious activities now compete with each other for our time. All seek to rob us of the minutes that might be devoted to the high purpose for which we were born on this planet. “The hours perish and are laid to our charge,” is the warning admonition inscribed in Latin on the clock-dial of an old college building at Oxford. Our day has only twenty-four hours upon its dial; we get them free of charge, whether we want them or not; and if we were to yield to all the opportunities which are made upon our time we should never make a start with the divine work that faces us, much less arrive at its completion. Each day brings its precious gift of time. Shall we fling away our opportunity through indifference, or shall we account for it honourably? For once we have been taught our true worth and glimpsed our divine possibilities, we will hug time as very life. To waste time is therefore to waste life, but to improve it with musing over matters eternal is to improve life. Those that kill time may live to mourn it. The camera cannot catch any scene for us unless and until we focus it upon the scene. The mind cannot catch hold of the Overself within unless and until we focus it in the direction of that divine being. We spend every hour and every day focusing the mind upon both the important and trivial activities that arise; can we not change around and concentrate for a brief period daily upon the superior reality of the Overself? For if we do, a time will surely come sooner or later when the deeper existence in the depth of the heart will reveal itself to us.
(pp. 158-9)
Our use of leisure is significant. Let us turn it then, to a higher purpose and a diviner value. (p. 162)
These quotes are from the E.P. Dutton publication, 1936
Read more about PB’s views on solitude and leisure in the Notebooks, Volume 3: Relax and Retreat.
What is the PBPF doing these days?
The Spring/Summer PBPF Newsletter is available to read:
Now Available:
The Short Path to Enlightenment: Instructions for Immediate Awakeningby Paul Brunton
(see https://www.paulbrunton.org/store.php for a full description)
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