He did not follow a spiritual path or visit other known teachers, though he read the works of some, such as J Krishnamurti. He therefore regarded his own teachings to be unique and original, partly due to his background, but predominantly due to the way in which truth, or the spiritual life, entered him. 

In 1964 Barry left his career and family for India. He spent several months in the foothills of the Himalayas where he experienced what he described as a mystic death, his ‘realisation of immortality’. Four years later, in London, he underwent an intense spiritual crisis and described the outcome as his ‘transcendental realisation’. His teachings on love and relationships were developed through his love of woman and particularly by his vision of the 'divine woman’ in and behind every woman, which he referred to as the bhagavati (a Hindu term meaning ‘Goddess in female form’). As a result, the driving force for him was his need to bring an end to unhappiness, especially between men and women in their relationships, and to introduce them to a more real love. When his second wife died in 1982 he realised that he was united with her in love to such an extent that his love transcended death, so that even in death they were not separated. 

He returned to Australia in 1986. By this time his teaching was becoming more widely spread, and he regularly made the long journey back to England to hold seminars, teaching those present how to free themselves of unhappiness, as well as speaking about love and truth, and personal and sexual relationships. By the early 1990s he was visiting many countries, holding one-day talks as well as residential seminars. Then, from 1993 to 2002 he held an annual 'Master Session' in Australia, which ran for sixteen days, drawing people from all over the world. 

He died at the end of 2003 aged seventy-seven, having published more than sixteen books and leaving many audio recordings and videos of his teachings. His work has been translated into more than eleven languages.

Having said the above, in his autobiography Barry talks at length about the various teachers and teachings that did help him. Such as a man called Ivan who was a friend of Barry’s, and who apparently introduced him to Eastern teachings and even became Barry's teacher for a time.

 Barry also states: 

Barry  also described in detail in his autobiography how a schizophrenic man by the name of John Hart became his teacher for several months, when a spiritually advanced personality entered John which Barry referred to as The Blessed John.

As well as some people familiar with J. Krishnamurti’s teachings stating they can definitely see the similarities in Barry’s, others familiar with other Eastern teachings have described how similar the approach is to the one they were taught, perhaps particularly with regards to holding onto the awareness or 'I am' (which Ramana Maharshi referred to as the Direct Path), and facing emotion and dissolving karma. 

These include Sufism and a little known yoga called Laya Yoga (the latter apparently related to Sufism). 

Though as Barry himself repeatedly stated, he had to adapt the terminology and approach for the Western mind. So the essence may be the same, but the stories and descriptions surrounding it might be quite different.