“Few Westerners have drunk freely Eastern wisdom as Paul Brunton. In India he found an “astonishing melange of lofty ethics and low customs, profound thought and priestly barbarism,” but no culture, he rightly tells us, can afford to ignore the peak systems of Indian thought, and in this little book he compares, very suggestively, excerpts from ancient Indian texts with passages from Carlyle, Emerson, Spinoza, and, among others, Eddington and Jeans.”— The Inquirer [London]
“For those who wish to know something of Indian philosophy without making a complete study of the many branches of that very diversified subject, Mr. Brunton in Indian Philosophy and Modern Culture has written a really excellent little monograph. He begins with a reminder that many of the most modern advances in Western thought in philosophy and psychology can be duplicated in the sacred books of India, though usually in a much cruder form. He then proceeds to compare Indian and Western thought. This he is eminently qualified to do. The value of the book is not only that it shows how very close a correlation actually exists and how comparatively little mental effort is needed to appreciate Indian philosophical thought, but also because he is very careful to clear the subject from the many misconceptions that exist.”—Otago Times [New Zealand]
“He supports his ideas on the subject by a large number of appropriate quotations from original sources of Indian and Western philosophies. Besides the intrinsic value and interest of these quotations, they will help one to form an idea of how ‘the human mind has explored the same paths in both Orient and Occident, amid the shadows of antiquity and under the bright glare of modernity.’ The book…is written more from the point of view of a scholar than of a journalist. The general reader of both the East and the West will find it useful for mutual understanding and as an introduction to higher studies in spiritual philosophy.”—The Vendanta Kesari [Madras]
“The book is largely a series of quotations to illustrate the reconciliation of Eastern wisdom with the findings of modern science. To this task he has brought intelligent discrimination and selection, and evidence of exhaustive research. The result is convincing.”—Buddhism in England [London]
“The latest book from the pen of Paul Brunton is always eagerly awaited by his many readers. This little volume is a comprehensive definition of ideas found in the ancient Indian classics and an intensive comparison of these ideas with those of our modern philosophical thinkers. Its purpose is to clarify the ‘realization of the cultural oneness of mankind,’ and the success with which Mr. Brunton develops his theme makes the book a valuable addition to the reader’s storehouse of mental food.
“As with all of Mr. Brunton’s works, the clarity and beauty of expression…will find its merited response in the hearts of all readers whether they are familiar with his former books or not.”—Inner Life [Akron, Ohio]
“Emphatically a useful book for…those just entering upon the study of Indian thought, philosophy, religion and more emphatically mysticism in its real deeper sense. Even more, this little book may act as an eye cleaner and purifier of the mind and outlook from the prejudices and very misleading preconceptions which older and riper students of these subjects…are almost certain to have absorbed from these works and also still older ones. …it does bring together and focus tersely and tellingly the essential factors necessary for an unbiased and fertile study of Indian thought, religion, philosophy, and mysticism in a handy and convenient form.”—Review of Philosophy and Religion [Allahabad, India]
“It is a thesis which should be found particularly valuable to students, since it contains a great number of comparative quotations from Hindu sources correlated in the argument and at the same time associates Western philosophical thought with its Hindu forbear.”—Cambridge Daily News [UK]
“It is important that the West should understand the fundamental ideas that lie behind oriental philosophical thought, and be reminded of the similarities between the findings of the best modern thinkers and those of the early Indian sages.”—Church Times [London]
“He argues that if, as now seems likely, modern developments in the laboratory will vindicate the theory of a single element underlying all the visible and different manifestations of material nature, it will have to be granted that the assertions of the Hindu philosophers on the point, made thousands of years ago, were not worthless primitive beliefs but the results of the insight of keen minds.”—Edinburgh Evening News [Scotland]
“The work shows the author’s ability in placing before his readers in the briefest compass the essential unity of the teaching of Idealism East and West. The salient features are neatly covered and the book can be recommended to the lay reader. Undertaken as it was to promote Indo-European synthesis and unity, the work is a welcome addition to the literature on the subject.”—The Aryan Path [Bombay]
“The value of Indian Philosophy and Modern Culture lies in the parallels he brings out so clearly, between the conclusions reached by Western science and those arrived at by a diametrically opposite method of investigation—the subjective as opposed to the objective.”—The Occult Review [London]
“This lucidly written small volume consists of two parts. Part I treats of Indian Monism and Western Thought, and Part II of Indian idealist Metaphysics. Students will find it valuable, as it contains many quotations from Sanskrit works (translated into simple English) which may be compared with and correlated to Western ideas. The book confirms the impression that ‘the soul of the world is one.’”—The Modern Review [Calcutta]
