Barry Long

Barry Long (August 1, 1926 – December 6, 2003 [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/02/1072908904360.html?from=storyrhs] ) was an Australian spiritual teacher and writer.

Born and raised in Australia with little formal education, by his twenties, Long, married with two children, was an editor of a Sunday newspaper and press secretary in the New South Wales Parliament. By his early thirties he began to experience a disillusionment with his material life and in 1964 he abandoned everything and went to India. There he experienced a spiritual crisis culminating in a mystic death, which he called his "realisation of immortality," followed four years later by a "transcendental realisation"; a contact with a depth of consciousness from which his knowledge of universal reality ultimately derived [http://www.barrylong.org/bio.shtml] .

After leaving India he moved to London, living in Highgate and working as a sub-editor in Fleet Street until he was able to support himself from teaching and publishing. In 1986 he returned to his native Australia, living on Mount Tamborine QLD with his wife Kathy and young stepson, Simon, then in Burleigh Heads QLD when they divorced, and finally moving to Crabbes Creek NSW where he lived until his death from prostate cancer in December 2003.

Long stated that he was a tantric master and that unhappiness arises because man and woman have forgotten how to love each other. In 1984 he recorded a double audio cassette "Making Love: Sexual Love the Divine Way", later published as a book and CD. [http://www.barrylong.org/books/barrylongbooks.shtml#makingl] .

He started his public teaching in England and later went on to teach worldwide; in Australia and New Zealand, Europe including Scandinavia and Russia, the USA and Canada. His last public seminar was the tenth annual 14 day Master Session held at Bond University on the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia in late October 2002. In his last year he continued to write including articles about the approach to death which were published on his website. There are fourteen of his books in print in English with translations in ten languages [http://www.barrylongbooks.com/fgn_ed.htm] . His autobiography and last works are yet to be published. His works in English in book, audio and video form continue to be published and disseminated by the Barry Long Foundation International, based in NSW, Australia [http://www.barrylong.org/about-us.shtml] .

Barry Long's teaching

Barry Long's teaching focuses on freeing the individual from unhappiness which he defined as 'happy today, unhappy tomorrow' [http://www.barrylong.org/statements/truthoflife.shtml] .

He stated that this fluctuating condition is set in motion and maintained by an addiction to thoughts and the emotions they create. These emotions encourage other thoughts and so a vicious cycle is initiated. We are trapped in this cycle, he felt, until we follow a way of getting out, which he called "the way of truth".It includes:
*constant vigilance in observation of one's thoughts, emotions and actions [http://www.barrylong.org/statements/manschallenge.shtml] ;
*meditation to still the mind and connect with life within i.e. what "I" call "me"; "feeling the well-being in the body" [http://www.barrylong.org/statements/beingpresent.shtml] ;
*being, without thought; the next step on from meditation [http://www.barrylong.org/statements/meditation.shtml] ;
*getting your life right, taking action in those areas of your life which disturb you because something is wrong there

A particular example of the last which assumed greater prominence in the public mind than Barry wished was getting the relationship between man and woman right. This was the issue that Barry perceived caused the greatest unhappiness in the society that he was addressing, the late-twentieth century post-industrial West. He taught and wrote in detail about sexual love between man and woman and its use to purify them both and rid them of personal, human love [http://www.barrylong.org/statements/makinglove.shtml] [http://www.barrylong.org/statements/transforming.shtml] . The sexual aspects of his teaching gained most notoriety, but he said many times that getting your life right in all its aspects, and prolonged selfless giving were more important. Such a person would naturally attract a loving sexual partner.

Barry also wrote about many other aspects of "Love, Life, Truth, God and Death". In "The Origins of Man and the Universe" he presents his cosmology [http://www.barrylongbooks.com/omu_rew.htm] . Speaking of this book he stated, "There’s so much in this book ....it’s like a base which my whole teaching goes back to, or extends from. My current teaching might be more refined, but is always consistent with it" [http://www.barrylong.org/statements/inspiration.shtml] . He taught and spoke about family life and the importance of raising children from birth in justice and truth not just love [http://www.barrylong.org/books/barrylongbooks.shtml#raising] . In response to the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the USA, an extract on terrorism from his "Origins" book written in 1983 was published separately [http://www.barrylong.org/statements/terrorism.shtml] as well as a new book 'A Prayer for Life: The Cause and Cure of Terrorism, War and Human Suffering'.

Marital and Relationship History

Barry's abandonment of his family in 1964 left his 12 year old daughter “devastated”. He said he was going to India for 2 years and would then return. He never came back. His wife did not find out for a long time that he had met his secretary, Ann Lane, in India. His daughter did not see him again until she was 19. During those years she wrote to him for help and advice but he refused to be involved with her, telling her that she was her mother's responsibility [http://www.blogofdeath.com/archives/000605.html] .

Including his first wife he married or lived monogamously with five women, three of whom he left or divorced: Betty, his first wife; Julie, whom he married in England and who left her 2 sons, because Barry did not want any children around him; after Julie's death from cancer, he married Kathy in England; after divorcing Kathy, he lived with Josephine (whose name he changed to Jade); and then Sara, who was with him when he died. Between the monogamous relationships with Jade and Sara, for three years he had a relationship with five women simultaneously: Jade, Dawn, Moira, Linda (who changed her name to Sally), and Sara [http://www.wie.org/j13/sally_jade.asp] .

His marital and relationship history was described by Clive Tempest in his foreword to "Making Love: Sexual Love The Divine Way" as such: "All this time Barry Long's love of woman has remained constant. She is always by his side. Through deep and lasting partnerships he has made his realizations of love real in the midst of everyday living." [http://www.barrylong.org/statements/makinglove.shtml]

Cosmology

In his appendix to his 'Origins' book, Long said he had been making a new constellation by recording the truth, saying, 'I have actually been making or affirming stars.' [http://www.barrylongbooks.com/home.htm]

Controversy

In some quarters there is controversy about his teachings, particularly his separation of feelings from sensation [http://www.actualfreedom.com.au/actualism/vineeto/selected-correspondence/corr-barrylong.htm] ; his teachings on sex and love [http://www.maggietapert.com/html_en/ess_ode_fr.html] [http://www.wie.org/j14/letters.asp] , his attitude towards women and children and his comments on science and scientists. [http://www.blogofdeath.com/archives/000605.html]

Ascended masters

In a statement entitled, "Ascended Masters, A Revelation of Ignorance" written in 1988 and reproduced in his book "The Way In", Barry Long described ascended masters as half-masters who by virtue of the fact that they have come back (by possessing the living bodies of channelers) reveal their own ignorance. In the final paragraph he gives a message to these masters including Kuthumi, Djwal Khul, Morya, Maitreya, Archangel Michael, Serapis, Master Hilarion, Ramtha, attempting to exorcise them by telling them 'to die for the truth' in the body they have possessed, withdraw and 'go on'. [http://home-2.worldonline.nl/~gibbon/barrylong.htm]

Partial bibliography

* "The Origins of Man and the Universe" (1st edition Routledge & Kegan Paul 1984) ISBN 0710203373 (Barry Long Books, revised edition 1998) ISBN 1899324127, [http://www.barrylongbooks.com/omu_ext.htm (excerpts)]
* "Meditation: A Foundation Course", (The Barry Long Foundation, 1996) ISBN 1899324003
* "Stillness Is the Way" (Barry Long Books, 1996) ISBN 0950805041
* "Knowing Yourself: The True in the False" (Barry Long Books, 1996) ISBN 1899324038 [http://www.barrylong.org/statements/beingpresent.shtml (excerpt)]
* "Only Fear Dies" (Barry Long Books, 1996) ISBN 0950805076 [http://www.barrylong.org/statements/truthoflife.shtml (excerpt)]
* "To Woman in Love: A Book of Letters"(Barry Long Books, 1996) ISBN 0950805084
* "Making Love: Sexual Love the Divine Way" (Barry Long Books, revised edition 1998) ISBN 1899324143 [http://www.barrylong.org/statements/makinglove.shtml (excerpt)]
* "Raising Children in Love, Justice and Truth "(Barry Long Books, 1998) ISBN 1899324135
* "To Man in Truth: Enlightening Letters "(Barry Long Books, 1999) ISBN 1899324151 [http://www.barrylong.org/statements/manschallenge.shtml (excerpt)]
* "The Way In: A Book of Self-Discovery" (Barry Long Books, 2000) ISBN 095080505X [http://www.barrylong.org/statements/unlimited.shtml (excerpt)]
* "A Prayer for Life: The Cause and Cure of Terrorism, War and Human Suffering", (Barry Long Books, 2002) ISBN 1899324178
* "Where the Spirit Speaks to its Own: - The Passion of Spiritual Awakening", (Barry Long Books, 2003) ISBN 189932416X [http://www.allspirit.co.uk/barrylong.html (excerpts)]
* "Start Meditating Now, How to stop thinking " (audiobook - Barry Long Books 2007) ISBN 1899324208
* "A Journey in Consciousness, Exploring the truth behind existence" (audiobook - Barry Long Books 2007) ISBN 1899324216
* "Seeing through Death, Facing the fact without fear" (audiobook - Barry Long Books 2007) ISBN 1899324224
* "Making Love, Sexual love the divine way" (audiobook - Barry Long Books 2007) ISBN 1899324232
* "How to Live Joyously, Being true to the law of life" (audiobook - Barry Long Books 2007) ISBN 1899324240
* "Behind Life and Death; The Boundless Reality", (The Barry Long Foundation 2008) ISBN 978-1-899324-18-7 [http://www.barrylong.org/product/Behind+Life+and+Death (excerpt)]

External links

* [http://www.barrylong.org/ The Barry Long Foundation International]
* [http://www.barrylongbooks.com/home.htm Barry Long Books catalogue (inc. contents, reviews and extracts)]
* [http://www.barrylongweb.com BarryLongWeb - multilingual introduction to Barry Long]
* [http://www.barrylongbooks.com/press.htm List of magazines and newspapers that have carried articles by or about Barry Long]
* [http://www.originaltantra.com/ Original Tantra website (The essential principles of tantra using the spiritual teaching of Barry Long.)]
* [http://www.wie.org/bios/barry-long.asp Barry Long Biography & Resources at 'What is Enlightenment?' magazine website.]
* [http://www.wie.org/j14/letters.asp Letters from ‘What is Enlightenment?’ magazine in response to an interview between Andrew Cohen and Barry Long]
* [http://home-2.worldonline.nl/~gibbon/barrylong.htm An excerpt from "The Way In" on what Barry Long has to say about those beings who call themselves Ascended Masters]
* [http://www.global-healing.com/radio.html Two interviews with Barry Long by Lois Hunt of Spirit Radio]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBMl0HKM7X0 Three excerpts from a one hour interview with Barry Long shown on Dutch TV in 1996, Part 1] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_YFlw06xP4 Part 2] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix8VYwN08_g Part3]
* [http://www.youtube.com/user/BarryLongVideo Barry Long video extracts including one recorded in his last year after the end of his public teaching]
* [http://users.winshop.com.au/annew/barry.html Piece from Barry Long's book "The Origins of Man and the Universe - the Myth that came to Life" about the Draconic Transverse, yin/yang, real energy and astrology, which Barry says had not been before recorded in the detailed context and significance revealed here.]
* [http://www.maggietapert.com/html_en/ess_ode_fr.html Essay by Maggie Tapert, a female tantric teacher, on Barry Long's tantric teaching]
* [http://www.actualfreedom.com.au/actualism/vineeto/selected-correspondence/corr-barrylong.htm Correspondence from the Actual Freedom mailing list on Barry Long's teaching]
* [http://www.blogofdeath.com/archives/000605.html Barry Long's entry at the Blog of Death obituary website]
* [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/02/1072908904360.html?from=storyrhs "Guru went from The Truth to enlightenment", published in the Sydney Morning Herald on January 3, 2004]
* [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barry_Long Quotes by Barry Long]