Cone of intelligence

"The cone of intelligence is like a funnel, widest at the top where thought moves slowly, full of distraction and personal intention. As you go deeper, time shortens, thought vanishes, and you come closer to truth. The still-point is the source of all intelligence—what I call God, if you like."

"You are born at the top of the cone, driven by time and emotion. But through suffering and self-awareness, you begin to descend. The narrower it gets, the more impersonal it becomes, until only pure intelligence remains—no doer, no thinker, just being."

"True intelligence is speed of perception. Not quick-wittedness, but the ability to see through a thing instantly, without interpretation. That’s the movement down the cone—faster, clearer, until there is only stillness and direct knowledge."

Barry described the cone of intelligence as a symbolic representation of the total structure of human consciousness—from surface mind to divine intelligence. At the broad top of the cone lies the everyday thinking mind: distracted, slow, and conditioned by the world. This is where most people live—on the surface of themselves, dominated by thought, emotion, and personality. But as one descends the cone, perception becomes faster, more direct, and less personal. The narrowing cone represents a movement from mental complexity into spiritual simplicity. The bottom point—the apex—is the still-point of being, where time ceases and pure intelligence, or truth, is directly known.

This descent into the cone is not an intellectual process but a surrender of thinking and self-will. The further one goes down, the less “you” there is—the less personal motivation, desire, and effort. At the still-point, intelligence is no longer yours; it is you—it is existence itself, the timeless source of all form. Barry distinguishes this intelligence from cleverness or accumulated knowledge; true intelligence is a direct, living knowing that sees without thought. To live in harmony with this intelligence is to live from the deep truth of being—beyond the illusions of personality and the turbulence of the thinking mind.