'Knowing Yourself' is a classic statement of spiritual self-enquiry, written while the author was experiencing the two main crises of his own spiritual journey; the realization of immortality and the transcendent God-realization. Rather than describe these as personal events, Barry Long states very clearly the impersonal truths he discovered. In his concise, almost abrasive style, he strips away the false layers of the human condition until he reaches the timeless core of our being. This is a book for anyone intent on following the same route to truth - the way of self-knowledge. Without an experienced guide, it can be a school of hard knocks. This book has proved of great support and inspiration to its readers and continues to be so. Whatever changes the New Age brings, a book like this speaks to each new generation, because it imparts the true knowledge of the timeless.
Barry Long (1926-2003) was a writer and spiritual teacher with an original and challenging way of communicating age-old truths.
Born and raised in Australia he started out as a junior journalist and became the youngest-ever editor of a Sydney Sunday tabloid, somewhat prophetically called 'Truth'. At that time spiritual truth was far from his mind, but in his early 30s, the ambitious and successful family man began to question all his values. For some years his inner pain and suffering increased. Eventually, in 1965, he fled Australia and went to India. After many adventures, alone in the Himalayas he experienced what he called a 'mystic death', or the realization of immortality. This was the real beginning of his journey towards 'the unfathomable mystery of God or Life and that other divine mystery of true love between man and woman'.
He wrote of his insights and realizations and for thirty years gave talks and seminars in many countries. He inspired and guided many thousands of men and women without wanting to create a big organization or attract personal fame. He was concerned with the individual, not society. He taught that the way to truth and the reality of love is through direct experience, not belief or imagination; and that freedom comes from taking responsibility for one's own life. He was fulfilled by the prospect that one day someone might hear the truth from him and be able to live it. Evidently very many did. His legacy may be seen in their lives and in the work of some of those he inspired, including other teachers, notably Eckhart Tolle.
