SOURCE: "In a Jungle Hermitage," in A Search in Secret India, Rider & Company, 1970, pp. 277-95.

In the following essay, Brunton recounts his personal visit to Ramana Maharshi, focusing heavily on the biographical details of his life.

There are moments unforgettable which mark themselves in golden figures upon the calendar of our years. Such a moment comes to me now, as I walk into the hall of the Maharishee.

He sits as usual upon the magnificent tiger-skin which covers the centre of his divan. The joss-sticks burn slowly away on a little table near him, spreading the penetrating fragrance of incense around the hall. Not today is he remote from men and wrapped up in some trance-like spiritual absorption, as on that strange occasion when I first visited him. His eyes are clearly open to this world and glance at me comprehendingly as I bow, and his mouth is...