From Nova Holistic Journal (Australia)

If you are looking for yet another manual on how to make so-called sacred love, using ancient tantric techniques, mysterious rituals, unusual positions and mental attitudes, then this book is definitely not for you.

However, if you are sincere in your search for yourself, for love, for the divine, then the cool, clear clarity of this slim volume will inform, enlighten and challenge you. If you are willing to have some of your most romantic and emotional dreams shattered, they will be replaced with an understanding of the divinity of love, the purity and fulfilment of love in a way that is unique in my experience.

The text of this book appeared first in 1984 as two audio tapes. I remember listening to these tapes, somewhat awed at the strength and demands that they made on my conditioned mind. It is now 1998 and of course as with any teaching the content and direction of that text has moved, 'as love aways moves on'. The strength and the demands are still there. Make no mistake, this book will challenge its readers at a very deep level.

As I read through the pages I found myself resisting the facts about the damage that our centuries of sexual conditioning have caused. I found myself feeling so compassionate towards that internal place Long suggests men have inhabited in their ignorance and mindless sexual drive. Women do not escape the microscope of the past either, although he is kinder to women.

This book is a thesis on the divinity of lovemaking which could be summed up in a sentence from the introduction: 'The key to the mystery of divine love is to see love as it is, and not as you think you know it, or like to imagine it.'

'Making Love' addresses very specifically not only the physical act itself but our thinking, conditioning, our behaviour, our lives. It is very clear that to tidy up the bedroom is not sufficient, we need to completely spring-clean the whole house!

Having addressed the unusual and potentially challenging aspects of this book it is important to state that the description, guidance and instruction detailed carefully and lovingly on the subject of physically making love can only have come from the pen of someone who has experienced what he is writing about.

You may not agree with everything that Long states, but if you are willing to put your own ideas to one side, if you can taste the space between the words, a space of complete simplicity, then I strongly recommend that you read this book.

- reviewed by Persephone Arbour, who also included 'Making Love' in her
Top Ten Books of 1998.

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From Bliss (Italy)

Born in 1926, Barry Long is a very prolific Australian author and also speaker at many courses, workshops and conferences all over the world. And all over the world he found many students. Long defines himself as an 'enlightened teacher', and this book proves his great wisdom.

The title already says it: the book describes in a really explicit and honest way how the sexual relationship can be a tantric union of the masculine and the feminine principles. Long takes his readers by the hand, and easily leads them on a journey to discover themselves. A real evolution takes place, step-by-step, until readers are fully aware of their own capacity for giving themselves and loving. All this develops to the full the experience of a really ecstatic loving relationship, in which the spirit, without any form of selfishness, can feel free of any kind of fear, resistance or egoic limitation.

'Making Love' is a lovely book and one we definitely recommend to all women. We are sure they will discover in it the love and pride of being their wonderful feminine nature. And men will benefit too. Reading it will help them to escape the cage of selfishness, fear and self-indulgence to which society has relegated them. This book makes a nice gift, for women and their loved ones. We are sure everyone will thank us for this suggestion!

Reviewed by Annalisa Antodicola, translated from the Italian

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From Todo Vida (Argentina)

The subject of sex has spawned a lot of literature. But the book 'Making Love', by Australian Barry Long, gives a different perspective on the question of sex. The author sets out to discover 'the divine love which is beyond all sexual imagination', for those who yearn to 'find the truth of love in themselves and in the other'.

Since his spiritual awakening at the age of 31, Barry Long has dedicated himself to teaching the 'truth'of life and love. He is one of the spiritual Masters of our times, and has devoted his life to dealing with subjects like sexual unhappiness, helping thousands of couples to solve their problems through honesty. His 'Making Love'tapes in English, which were first written and recorded in 1984, constitute a guide for sexual relations within the spiritual life. This book is the transcription, revised by Long, of those tapes.

Barry Long maintains that the principal cause of unhappiness on earth is the fact that over time both men and women have forgotten the right way to make physical love. This forgetfulness generates an incessant discontent in both sexes, which leads to physical and emotional disturbance and even physical abnormality. The author points out the importance of restoring divine love on our planet - only in this way can peace reign. To achieve this 'miracle' Long describes step by step the 'approved'way of making love. Dealing with sexual problems such as impotence and premature ejaculation, he offers practical solutions.

Reading it is as enjoyable as it is interesting. Long warns us that arriving at divine love can be a lengthy process, because both men and women have many habits to dissolve. But, as is well known, with perseverance 'love conquers all'.

Reviewed by Carol Isack, translated from the Spanish