Inspired Interview: Philip Pegler

Philip Pegler is an English antiquarian bookseller and mystical writer, whose distinctive approach owes as much to Eastern spirituality as it does to his Christian heritage. Born in 1947 into a prosperous family prominent in the fashionable world of London publishing between the wars, Philip grew up sheltered by privilege and immersed in the world of books. Then at the age of seventeen he was strongly drawn to the profound teachings of the great twentieth-century Hindu sage, Ramana Maharshi and a few years later his life changed irrevocably as he abandoned a promising journalistic career to follow the quest for Truth in India.

Philip was to spend many months after 1970 staying at Ramana's peaceful ashram at the foot of the sacred mountain, Arunachala in Tamil Nadu, but also during that period, he travelled widely elsewhere in India and had 'darshan' of many illustrious spiritual figures including the saintly Anandamayi Ma as well as the Mother of Sri Aurobindo's ashram in Pondicherry.

Since his return to England in 1974, Philip has studied with, and been influenced by, several notable spiritual teachers in the Buddhist, Sufi and Christian mystical tradition, including Thich Nhat Hanh, Irina Tweedie and the Anglican priest, Martin Israel. Contemporary teachers of non-duality - including Francis Lucille, Sailor Bob Adamson, John Wheeler and Jeff Foster - have also contributed a great deal to his understanding in recent years.

Philip has written numerous book reviews and spiritual articles since 1972, but only recently has he seen the publication of his first book, Hidden Beauty of the Commonplace, which is a biographical study of an old friend and close mentor - the fine English mystical poet, Clare Cameron, who was born in London in 1896.