Stay in the vertical and let go
Recording 03 of 10
A teaching on presence, psychic life, love, and dying rightly
Barry urges the listener to remain in the vertical: in the body, in the present, and in factual action rather than in thought about the past or future. Suffering begins when the mind puts the cross of time upon itself and mistakes its own interpretations for truth.
LENGTH: 2 HOURS AND 5 MINUTES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
YEAR RECORDED: 1995
PLACE RECORDED: LEICESTER, UK
MAIN TOPICS
Pure psyche, Lineal and vertical perception, Vertical model, Cross of suffering, Death, Practical advice for relationships
SUMMARY
The talk begins with a repeated instruction to stay in the vertical, meaning to remain where the body actually is and not be carried away by mental movement. Barry presents the present not as an idea but as the only place of truth, insisting that one cannot think about the present but only be in it. Whenever thought leaves the body to dwell on the problem, on what may happen, or on what has happened, the self begins to suffer under its own doubt and imagination.
From there, the teaching broadens into a critique of mental life itself. Barry contrasts the brittle, sterile, disjointed condition of mentality with the fluid, yielding, beautiful life of psyche. He argues that modern conditioning has made people distrust their inner life and live almost entirely in thought, information, and emotional reaction, so that even love and truth are reduced to ideas. The body, by contrast, is the true point of contact with reality, intelligence, and the spirit.
The talk is practical, Barry returns repeatedly to action, stillness, and the refusal to indulge useless thought. If action can be taken, one should take it. If no action can be taken, one should not think. To remain present, to stop holding on, and to descend into the silent inner place is both the way to live and the way to die rightly.
02 - Begin with the body and go within
