The Ultimate Truth
Let us start with the I, for the I is the beginning and the end. The I is the ultimate truth.
It was demonstrated in the olden days by the statements of the prophets, let us start from there, so that we truly understand the I, and then I am going to point out to you why it can now be realized with a greater depth than was ever possible.
The prophets declared or wrote, 'I am the Lord thy God. You will have no other God, but I '– 'Be still and know that I am God '– and all the other evidence of the being in existence of God, refers to I.
Then come up to the later expression of the Jewish religion, which became Christianity, and you find Jesus Christ saying – 'I am the way and the life.' The world could not tolerate anyone saying – 'I am the way and the life', so the world of all the yous, of all the persons, crucified that man, that truth, for no one is supposed to say – 'I am the way and the life'. And yet everyone says, 'I am this, I am the Prime Minister, I am hungry, I love you, I am a managing director, I am depressed.' Everyone all day long can declare, and does declare, I am everything. And yet, if you ever say – I am the way and the truth, and demonstrate it, you are crucified in one way or another. This is because the world cannot tolerate, cannot stand the responsibility of being I.
So the prophets, the truth of the prophets, the I in the prophets had to speak of a god, that man was not responsible as, but had to be responsible to. And even in the times of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ was very careful to say – 'Our Father, who art in heaven', because he could not give to the populace this truth that said, – 'I am that, I am He or It'. That is the divine truth, that is the power and the glory.
Now in those days, which is in the past, the human consciousness was unable, through its experience of life as living to have sufficient perception to grasp the I. So the I had to be made something separate from itself. But I am telling you now that I am here in this body and this brain, in these senses speaking to you, direct, speaking to the I in you, telling you I am here outside you, speaking through the senses, but only as a reminder, as a resonance of the I that is within you.
Now in our times all the suffering that man and humanity has gone through has at least yielded one thing, and that is a greater depth of perception, which allows you now in these times, you, the individual human being, to perceive I, direct within you. And not have to look up to some sort of heaven, which is always presented outside you with raised eyes, or on some altar or in some formal concept. The message of these times, the truth of these times, the evolution that is marked by these times, is that you are responsible – you are I.
And I am no longer going to shelter behind Jesus Christ, behind a formal God, behind prophets, behind priests. The I within you is the only I. And as I have told you on numerous occasions as a demonstration, there is only one I in the universe, and that is the I that is in the body that is listening to this message. For only that I knows whether you are lying when you say I love you. That is why God, the Divine I which you are and which is within you, underneath the person, underneath the doubts, the fears, the running from the responsibility for I, for life, underneath all that rubbish is this divinity that reads your heart, the only heart, the only place where true love on the earth can ever be.
For if there is no love, no humility, no sweetness, no rightness in you, there is none on the earth. Because even if you see it around you, you will not recognize it, and you will trample on it like the swine trample on the pearls. So stop looking for a rightness, a goodness, a sweetness outside of you. Find yourself, man and woman, find I, be I. Don't just find it, be it. You are responsible.
Now, that is the message of our times, which the people of Christ, the people of Buddha, the people of the prophets of the Old Testament, could not have, could not appreciate. The Buddha would never talk about Nirvana, which is the equivalent of the paradise or Christ's heaven, he would not say what it was, and why should he? For I am in paradise now, I am always in paradise, I am always in Nirvana, I am always in heaven. Heaven that is I, within you.
Now the person is never in paradise, except for a little while when the excitement is running high, or when you become I. In those beautiful moments, you know the truth. You wonder why you have been depressed, because you are then I, and you have no more problems when you are I, for I within you has no problems. Whenever you think you have a problem, then you can be sure you are not being responsible for I, for I have no problems. There are certainly events in this world that this brain has to deal with, but I am always behind it. And the more that I am present, I guide this body and this brain through all its problems, through all its difficulties. But you must do it. You must be I.
~ Opening statement of Barry Long's Tamborine Mountain audio series, recorded in 1986
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