In this episode Barry Long addresses the condition of humanity from a big picture view and presents the cause and cure of the human condition in a nutshell. Seeing the whole picture from a vast perspective he points out our tendencies to be creatures of the past, embodying past personalities and hurts when emotion arises. Barry describes this extraordinary insight that the triggering and arising of emotion is accompanied by a manifestation of a past personality, a past version of ourselves, the person we were when the emotion was created. This powerful insight is just one of many that Barry describes in this forensic analysis of the human condition.

'Emotions are like petrol. As soon as you oppose emotion it gets stronger, and you get emotional.'

Outline:

0:00 Emotional reactions and past hurts affecting present behavior. Emotional reactions from childhood can resurface in the present, taking on the personality of the past hurt. The self seeks to understand past hurt through insistence on wrong words in the present.

5:48 Past hurts and their impact on present reactions. Past hurts and defenses resurface in present circumstances.How people can offend others with their words and how to respond to such comments without getting defensive.

13:12 Emotions and the spiritual life. Importance of recognizing and addressing past hurts and insecurities in the spiritual life. Reflecting on past hurts and offenses hinders spiritual growth.

19:41 Emotions, vulnerability, and healing from past traumas. The unreliability of human opinions and the futility of worrying about what others think. On emotions and vulnerability in relationships. How past traumas, such as child abuse, can resurface in present-day love lives.

31:36 Sexual obsession and love. Love is not dependent on sex or thought, but rather on the connection between two bodies. The degradation of love and sexuality, citing the influence of bad company and the lack of proper guidance.

38:50 Spirituality and inner peace. Giving up the need to have the last word in arguments and to align with their true self, rather than living off their mind and emotions. The importance of dying to oneself and loving God above all, rather than loving oneself first. The importance of dropping thoughts to address emotions in the stomach. Power of stillness responsible for human existence, never moves or thinks.

46:34 Grief, love, and personalization of life. Rest into state of being, free from thought and emotion. On the nature of love and loss, arguing that everyone experiences it and it's not unique to personal relationships.

52:01 The nature of love and mortality.

Keywords: emotion, love, hurt, spiritual life, subconscious, loss, offense, self, energy, emotional, argument, love life, man, sexual excitement, stillness, life, grief, emotional reactions, personality, childhood

Related Articles:
Straight to the truth
Possessed by emotion

We are excited to announce the creation of an extensive digital archive of Barry’s talks spanning 30 years. This repository contains an impressive 500 hours of video footage and 2,000 hours of audio recordings.

Over three years, a dedicated team undertook the monumental task of digitizing and modernizing a vast collection of historical recordings, some of which were stored on outdated formats like cassettes and magnetic tapes. Driven by the goal to preserve and safeguard this invaluable material, the project involved meticulous planning, cutting-edge technology, and a deep expertise in both analog and digital audiovisual

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'In this episode Barry Long talks about a key area of his teaching: the distinction between sex and love. He tells us how the implementation of this knowledge can produce a revolutionary change and transform your most intimate relationship into an ever-deepening expression of love. Knowing the difference between sex and love is profoundly relevant in the spiritual life, and this down-to-earth talk outlines the steps that can ultimately lead to the mystical union of man and woman.

'Sex is really love, only it has a selfish drive in it. Eventually that drive becomes the drive to master yourself and to transform your sexual drive into love.’

This talk was recorded at a public meeting, held at Cabarita Beach, Australia in 2000.

Related articles:
Pure love, emotional love
Making love
A new way to truth and enlightenment
Start over, get rid of the past

Barry Long's book:
Making Love

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Keywords: mind, clarity, awareness, truth, god, honesty, body, emotions, pain, life, nothing, silence, emotion, past, divine mind, beauty, thought, joy, sweetness, love.

Outline:

(0:01) Thoughts about past experiences can activate emotions of loss or absence, distracting from the present moment.

(7:32) Emotions and honesty. Thought is in the past, and thought can never lead to truth. Reflecting on past actions and past experiences.

(17:56) Consciousness and clarity of mind. The self, the troublemaker.

(26:27) Peace and self-awareness. The power of consciousness in seeing and being nothing, with the human mind seeking to project thoughts into the stillness. Mind connected to pain, distracted by emotional problems. Finding inner peace through feeling goodness inside, sinking into it. Descending into silence reveals truth, relief, and homecoming.

(43:42) Self-awareness and perception.

(52:18) Senses and their connection to the mind. Senses produce the universe and disappear with sleep or death.

(1:01:54) The nature of the mind and self. The mind's resistance to letting go of the self. The importance of being present and not trying to analyze or rationalize, as the mind cannot fully comprehend the depth of being.

(1:09:39) Purity, self-awareness, and inner peace. The importance of purifying the mind. Recognizing the source of problems is within, not outside. Grappling with emotional pain and insecurity, longing for comfort and connection with others.

(1:17:49) The importance of giving and clarity in relationships. Giving as the solution to problems, while also using honesty and clarity to identify and address underlying issues, such as unrealistic expectations. On the duality of expecting to win and fearing failure, leading to disjointed thinking and emotions. Asking others what they want, seeking to do something for them without causing unhappiness.

Excerpts:

You can only be joyous now. Whenever I am emotional, I am thinking about the past. Now, when you're thinking about the past, it means you're not here. You're not present. You're not aware of what's happening now. And if you're not aware of what's happening now, then you can't be aware of me because I'm only present now. So whenever you are emotional, then really we are not together. You see that?

I say to you, you will never learn where you went wrong. You will never learn from the past. The only way that you can learn is to be in the present...

In order to be honest, we have to be willing to feel everything, both the good and the bad. We have to go past our emotions, which can sometimes be the source of our unhappiness. And into a place where there is no opposite...

About this episode:

This episode is a part of the 1993 Gold Coast Talks. Five other episodes are available for subscribers exclusively on The Barry Long Podcast in the Apple Podcasts app.

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All content © The Barry Long Trust