God is My Adventure: A Book on Modern Mystics, Masters, and Teachers

by Rom Landau

Since I was a boy I have always been attracted by those regions of truth that the official religions and sciences are shy of exploring. The men who claim to have penetrated them have always had for me the same fascination that famous artists, explorers or statesmen have for others-and such men are the subject of this book. Some of them come from the East, some from Europe and America; some give us a glimpse of truth by the mere flicker of an eyelid, while others speak of heaven and hell with the precision of mathematicians. I have met them all, and some I have watched in their daily lives. For years now I have sought their company, questioned them and watched them closely at work. I have tried to dissociate the personality from the teaching and then to reconcile the two. I have included some of those whom now I cannot view without mistrust. Since thousands of other people believe in them, they are at any rate most interesting figures in contemporary spiritual life, however little of ultimate value their teaching may possess. There are people who know the heroes of this book more intimately than I, but my aim has never been to identify myself with any one teacher. On the contrary, I have always been anxious to discover for myself through what powers they have influenced so many people. This attitude will warn the reader not to expect an impersonal survey of contemporary spiritual doctrines. I have limited myself to writing of those men with whom I have been in personal contact. I approach them not as the scholar but as the ordinary man who tries to find God in daily life.

324 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1936

About the author

Romauld (Rom) Landau (1899–1974) was born in Poland, but later became a British citizen whilst serving as a volunteer in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He was a sculptor, author, educator, Foreign Service officer, and a specialist on Arab and Islamic culture. His particular area of interest was Morocco. He was also an art critic and book reviewer for several newspapers and periodicals, including The Spectator.

Reviews

[Ram · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author occasionally lacks the critical framework needed to identify manipulative dynamics within certain teacher–student relationships. While often perceptive, he is not always sufficiently discerning about issues of power, authority, and control. The book also reflects a distinctly upper-class European mode of spiritual tourism, showing little awareness of how privilege shaped both Landau’s access to these figures and the interpretive lens through which he viewed them.

At its best, however, the book moves beyond reportage into genuine investigation. Landau does not merely describe these teachers from a distance; he engages them directly, attending Jeffreys’ healing services at the Albert Hall, visiting Steiner’s community in Darmstadt, and closely observing Gurdjieff’s deliberately provocative methods. His prose combines journalistic clarity with philosophical curiosity, rendering complex spiritual ideas intelligible without collapsing into either naïveté or cynicism. The structure when moving from continental European mystics to English-based movements and then returning to reassess earlier encounters, it creates a coherent arc that mirrors the author’s own evolving understanding.

The book stumbles over its period-bound assumptions, most notably in its use of “Aryan” language that reads uncomfortably today. While this reflects the vocabulary and intellectual climate of its era rather than overt ideological intent, it nonetheless marks a limit to the book’s moral and conceptual vision. Landau also struggles at times to maintain critical distance from charismatic figures, particularly Meher Baba, and his treatment of Buchman’s Oxford Group overlooks warning signs that later developments would render difficult to ignore.

What ultimately sustains the book is how contemporary many of its questions remain. Krishnamurti’s rejection of organized spirituality, Ouspensky’s insistence on awakening from mechanical living, and Steiner’s holistic educational ideals continue to resonate strongly with modern spiritual discourse. Landau captures a moment when Eastern and Western mysticism collided in European drawing rooms and lecture halls, when seekers hoped new teachers might avert another cultural catastrophe, and when spiritual adventure required physical travel rather than digital browsing.

As both historical document and living inquiry, this book remains essential reading for anyone seriously interested in the genealogy of modern mysticism, offering a clear-eyed view of the spiritual ferment that produced movements still shaping contemporary thought.

[Kingsley L. Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of the era of these teachers and mystics, although not in-depth on any particular one, with maybe the exception being Krishnamurti. Yet still well worth a read.