at the feet of wise men

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 80, 28 December 1935, Page 17

at the feet of wise men

A Study of Mystics and Philosophers

“God is My Adventure,” by Rom Landau (London: Ivor Nicholson and Watson). During fifteen years of spiritual wandering impelled by an urge to discover the true nature of God, the essence of truth, Horn Landau sat at the feet of most of the modern mystics and philosophers, absorbing or rejectin'’ their doctrines according to his personal reactions to or understanding of them. When he reached a phase in his development or a stage in his studies where he felt that the spiritual mentor had no more to offer, him he passed on, attempting to retain whatever spiritual knowledge or power had come to him through that teacher and discarding what he considered to be the dross of useless dogma. The first two parts of “God is My Adventure.” Mr, Landau has devoted to his initial contact with spiritual leaders of the present century. He made each personality the subject of an intensive study, first through means open to any member of the public—by reading any writings of the man, attending lectures or attaching himself to study circles and finally seeking personal interviews, which were in several cases to form the basis of deep and valued friendships- There is only one case In which a founder of a doctrine appears to have eluded him deliberately and that was Dr. Buckman, the leader of the Oxford Group Movement, who apparently did not relish the criticism of an open, if inquiring, mind. Through Mr. Landau’s personal acquaintance with modern mystics he is able to supply biographical sketches and accounts of the work and theories of men who are names shrouded in mystery to the general public. There is probably no other book in which so much information of modern “seers” is to be found.

Before committing the results of his lengthy studies to paper, Mr. Landau revisited the two teachers still living to whom he owed most, Kerserling and Krishnamurti, and made a survey of the evidences of the influence of Rudolf Steiner as it is seen in the Anthroposophical Society. Without doubt upon the evidence of Mr. Landau, Rudolf Steiner was by far the greatest of modern mystics, and only Steiner’s death caused the writer of “God is My Adventure” to pass on to other teachers.

The field of religious reformers and spiritual revivalists, of whom Mr. Landau writes, is very wide and ranges from Stefan George, the German mystic poet, to George Jeffreys, the Welsh evangelist and faith healer. In his conclusion the author coordinates his spiritual experiences, the knowledge he has accumulated and the truth that has revealed itself to him. This is a notable book and one that should prove a great stimulus to those who are seeking, as does Mr. Landau, the ultimate truth.