Review of Val Valerian's Matrix V - M5 — Trading on Self-Importance
May 2008

EVERY SO OFTEN a book comes along that blows away consensus reality (even alternative consensus reality) because it is so challenging and controversial. Matrix V, by an anonymous author, is one such publication (actually, the Matrix V material consists of three books in a series, and Matrix VI is now out as well). Edited and privately published by Val Valerian who runs the Leading Edge International Research Group at www.trufax.org, the Matrix V material is billed as "Information for Very Advanced, Dominant and Final Incarnations."[Some suspect, including this author, that the mystery writer is Val Valerian himself, aka John Grace, a UFO researcher who originally wrote The Krll Papers, and who probably felt he needed a mysterious identity to carry off writing such an 'advanced' spiritual manual as conspiracists don't tend to have a great deal of spiritual credibility.]

The author of the Matrix V material (whom I shall call "TA" from this point onwards) is an ex-student of Robert Monroe, founder of The Monroe Institute. Monroe, a business executive involved with a company studying the effects of various sound patterns on human consciousness (brain frequency entrainment) which later evolved into the Hemi-Sync(R) technology, spontaneously started to have, in 1958, what are now called out of body experiences (OBEs). Whilst others have had similar experiences throughout history, what made Monroe unique was his open-minded skepticism and non-religious beliefs which meant that he was able to study his OBEs relatively objectively, rather than trying to squeeze the experience into religious or philosophical preconceptions. The result of his painstaking research into this phenomenon, he wrote a groundbreaking book, Journeys Out of the Body, which was published in 1971. This was followed by the publication of Far Journeys in 1985, and Ultimate Journey (the best of his books) in 1994, shortly before he died at the age of 80 in 1995.

With his expertise in out of body experiences and his vast personal experience of other dimensions, levels of consciousnesses and beings he encountered in those other dimensions, Monroe set up The Monroe Institute to teach others to make the same sort of journeys that he himself made, in the hope of expanding human consciousness and the general realization that we are much more than just a mortal human body — that ultimately our short mortal lives are actually a tiny part of a much larger immortal life in higher dimensions.

TA went through the full training at The Monroe Institute and came to personally know Monroe himself. He learned to travel out of body at will, and coupled with his keen drive to find meaning and ultimate purpose, he developed his own unique perspective on life, the universe and everything — a perspective that many even in the new consciousness communities would find challenging.

As with every system of philosophy or worldview, there are a number of axiomatic or foundational facts on which they are built, and these facts cannot be proved or disproved by the logical consistency of that system. The way that spiritual teachers often get around the problem of the arbitrariness of the axiomatic foundation is by declaring that they are self-evident to those who are spiritually evolved. TA is no exception to this generalization, stating that his assertions can be checked out by anyone developed enough to be able to visit the interdimensional library at "Level 27" for themselves.

Here is a summary of some of TA's central beliefs as described in his Matrix V books:

1. There are two types of incarnation: sequential and simultaneous. The first, which involves one lifetime being lived at a time in a linear sequence, is the slow and steady track to spiritual growth; the second, which involves all the soul's lifetimes being lived at the same time but from different time perspectives, is the fast but chaotic track. Both head in the same direction but have differing flavours and time-frames.
2. Incarnations are the higher self's means of reaching out and experiencing reality. When that learning process is complete, the incarnations are drawn back up to the higher self which can then move on to other levels and dimensions of experience.
3. Earth is a place of largely simultaneous incarnations which is why there is so much chaos and diversity on this planet.
4. Aliens largely have sequential incarnations which is why their societies are more homogeneous and 'boring'.
5. Simultaneous incarnations have a few very important incarnations called advanced, dominant and final incarnations. When we awaken into our final incarnation, all the pieces fall into place and we have access to the full knowledge of the higher self.
6. A war is being played out between the light and dark forces on our planet. Both side are caught up in the trap of polarity.
7. We must avoid focusing too much on 'the light' in our dualistic world because, enfolded with it is the experience of 'the dark'. Light and darkness act out this constant duel, and the only way to end this game is to individually stop playing it; otherwise we are just perpetuating it.
8. The Law of Allowance states that we should not interfere in other people's lives but allow them to make their mistakes and feel the feeling they are having. Do-gooders are neither doing themselves nor their "victims" any favours.
9. If you feel attraction to the opposite sex, you are experiencing a DNA program that was put there in order to encourage our species to reproduce. In other words, heterosexual attraction is an expression of our genetic slavery. Homosexuality is the natural sexual expression of advanced souls.
10. The prime spiritual law is that like attracts like, and so our natural, non-programmed state is to be homosexual for it implies that our DNA programming has weakened to the point whereby we are not obsessed with the opposite sex.
11. Although it may seem that men are the dominant gender on this planet, it is actually women who try to dominate men. Woman manipulate men to do their bidding, and steal their life-force energy whenever they can because, contrary to what is widely believed, it is men who are actually the givers of life.
12. Body identification is the root of most of our ills, and is linked with our DNA heritage which was originally manipulated by matriarchal aliens. This includes gender identification.
13. This alien matriarchal influence also instigated our money/banking systems that enslave humanity.
14. The exponential population explosion that is taking place on our planet has resulted in a glut of human bodies being born — far too many for available human souls to incarnate in — with the result that animal souls or minions have incarnating into human bodies and now make up the majority of the human population.
15. All this information is entirely objective and can be found by anyone advanced enough to travel to a specific 'library' level of consciousness called Level 27, and certainly by anyone on the simultaneous path who is in their final incarnation. (You need to do courses at The Monroe Institute to learn how to access Level 27.)
16. TA himself is a final incarnation, and if you question what he says you are obviously not as advanced as he is or are unable to read the library at Level 27.

TA is quite convinced and convincing of the above 'facts'. He writes with the authority of a man who is absolutely certain of his worldview, a quality that those seeking "Truth" (with a capital T) find most Attractive (with a capital A). (Few after all have the courage to live in the Mystery — with a capital M.) There are actually quite a number of spiritual teachers like TA who peddle this level of certainty, and it can be very difficult for most people to assess their work, just as it can be very difficult to assess the character of a charismatic person. And the fact of his certainty in this arena is an indication that TA himself and his philosophy come not from conscious unity but conscious disunity. [For an explanation of these terms, read Spiritual Philosophy vs Spiritual Practice.]

Matrix V material is very obviously a philosophical manifesto: it is entirely conceptual, opinionated, judgmental, uncompromising, conspiratorial, hierarchical and positional. Those who mistakenly see it as a spiritual manual are deluding themselves in conceptualisation. The message of the Matrix V material is that by reading the knowledge contained within, the reader can somehow develop spiritually. In fact, if Matrix V has any effect, it is actually to increase that delusion by presenting conceptualisation as the key to spiritual development for very advanced incarnations. This is a serious mistake. The book can only really benefit those who are moving from unconscious disunity to conscious disunity, and it will present a delusional trap for anyone trying to move from conscious disunity to conscious unity. So things are backward here.

And whilst the Matrix V material occasionally promotes inclusion, the vast majority of the work promotes separation and difference: women are fundamentally different and inferior to men; aliens are different and inferior to humans; those living simultaneous incarnations are superior to those who are living simultaneous incarnations; homosexuals are less programmed and freer than heterosexuals; a war is being waged between good and bad; the majority of humans now are "minion" incarnations which are hugely inferior to full human incarnations; and final incarnations are superior to all the rest in knowledge and spiritual realization etc. Strong judgments are littered throughout the Matrix V material. In this way, although TA will sometimes pay lip-service to unity, Matrix V serves to separate rather than unify. And as unification is a fundamental trait of the spiritual perception, we can only conclude that TA is not as spiritually developed as he presents himself.

TA is also not very sophisticated in his understanding of psychology and the psyche. For him, the rule of "like attracts like" is justification for homosexuality (who said this is a fundamental rule in the first place anyway — it would be more accurate to state that polarization attracts polarization). But what he fails to grasp is that there are masculine and feminine aspects in both men and women, and that attraction is more to do with a projection of the unexpressed sexual quality (in men it is the repressed inner feminine, and in women it is the repressed inner masculine). In this way, a man being attracted to a woman could be conceived of as a "like attracts like" situation, just as it could be when a woman is attracted to a man. For TA, however, men are 100% men and women are 100% women and so that "like attracts like" can only manifest in homosexuality, heterosexuality being alien DNA programming. This viewpoint obviously works well form him because he is a homosexual. However, as a gay man he must also be aware that even in 100% homosexual relationships one partner will usually express more masculinity qualities and the other more femininity qualities. How is this explained by "like attracts like"? There is very clearly a natural interplay between these two gender-associated energies, and it is disingenuous for TA to take such a simplistic perspective on gender to justify his position.

The only hint of spiritual practice in the Matrix V material is when the author advises his readers to imagine going through the chakra system (energy points up the spine) and then imagine the higher self as a large shining oval above the body and to affirm the word "connect". That is the entirety of TA's spiritual practice! And it is even questionable whether this can be defined as a spiritual practice at all because it seems to be entirely conceptual and goal-oriented. TA himself describes his method of connecting with the Higher Self as a "thought". But the whole point of spiritual practice is to get out of the mind, not to have some sort of guided (controlled) imagery or goal (even if that goal is to connect).

TA presents his material as "Information for Very Advanced, Dominant and Final Incarnations", but why would such advanced beings need goals and conceptual frameworks? If they were that advanced, they would dynamically be living in the Mystery. The most Matrix V would ever be for them is entertainment, or possibly a means to the end of encouraging some sort of spiritual practice. But as we have seen, the actual spiritual practice on offer here is unsubstantial and conceptual, and so would not be of much use in catalyzing the unity that is beyond conceptualisation.

If Matrix V is not a spiritual manual, which it clearly is not, how do we at least assess it philosophically?

A "philosophy" or "belief system" is just another name for a story we tell ourselves about the world and our place in it, one that give our lives meaning and context. In the special case whereby a philosophy is materially focused, it can be more or less assessed scientifically. But most philosophies deal with matters beyond the material (especially spiritual philosophies), and so these stories have to be assessed on how believable the story itself is and how believable the storyteller is (and their entertainment value). Matrix V is certainly entertaining, there is no denying about that, but is it believable? And is TA believable?

That of course will depend on the reader: different people need different worldviews for their particular emotional validation. This is, after all, why we adopt particular belief systems — we are trying to find meaning/context for our lives that is consistent with our emotions, feelings and values (those parts of ourselves that are not easily or able to be expressed in language). If there is a mismatch between our beliefs and our feeling/emotional outlook, this causes psychological stress, and so most of us will adopt philosophies that reinforce our emotional states. So, for example, someone abused as a child who does not trust the world will tend to have a different philosophical outlook than someone who was not abused.

The problem with this adoption of philosophies that validate our emotional makeup is that the two tend to become locked together, each reinforcing the other, so that we become stuck in a particular mode of being and closed to new possibility. This is why authentic spiritual practice focuses on taking us out of the mind altogether and into awareness, for only then can we break out of the prison of belief-emotional symbiosis. Matrix V, if we accept its worldview, locks us very strongly into a polarized, sexist, male-centric, conspiratorial, judgmental, separatist, elitist and mental mode of being, attracting the very individuals with this sort of emotional makeup. In other words, those who nod in agreement whilst reading through the Matrix V material, those who give TA glowing reviews, are precisely those who are polarized, sexist, male-centric, conspiratorial, judgmental, separatist, elitist and mental in their emotional outlook, just as TA shows himself to be. To these adjectives we need to also add fearful, for only the fearful will be strongly attracted to non-compromising and absolute belief systems. TA is emphatic throughout his books on how right he is; he displays not a shred of uncertainty, a quality most attractive to those with a penchant for absolute belief systems — fundamentalists — who need the comfort of an absolute external authority and uncompromising worldview.

Matrix V's strength is that it gives validation to a (mostly) male 'outcast' section of society that includes loners, outsiders, conspiracists, homosexuals and bisexuals. And not just normal validation, but an over-compensatory "you are the most advanced spiritual beings in the universe" type of validation. There is nothing necessarily wrong with giving this section of society a break, but if philosophical validation is too strong or over-compensatory it can become addictive, so that those that are attracted to these philosophies become emotionally attached to them, something that can be a serious hindrance on the path to awakening, a path on which we have to eventually let go of emotional attachments.

Imagine for a moment that TA presented his beliefs with the qualifier that he was just presenting his personal opinions — things that feel right to him but that may not be true for everyone. If he did so it would certainly minimize the impact of the Matrix V material because there would be no hook for those with a fundamentalist outlook — the vast majority of his readership. (Those who are more conscious of the arbitrary nature of beliefs would merely see his material as entertainment.) Instead, however, TA becomes the absolute arbiter of Truth, and his material strongly reinforces spiritual fundamentalism in his readers, but a type of fundamentalism that rejects most things that traditional fundamentalism holds dear — family, heterosexuality, children, belief in God — in favour of an untraditional but equally uncompromising fundamentalism involving levels of consciousness, reincarnational mechanism, homosexuality, aliens and polarity.

Interestingly, the inferiority of women is one prejudice that TA seems to share with traditional fundamentalism. In his words, "The purpose of the female gender (from the simultaneous point of view) was to have a totally different experience than the male, not to have an equal experience… The current female problem is one of the most serious threats to the simultaneously incarnating path on Earth today. You cannot escape the Game and graduate to higher matters until you are aware of this problem and your body has overcome the alien DNA commands to 'serve the female'. [Italics is TA's.] He goes on to write that the source and root of humanity's problems are "DNA commands" programmed into our cells by the matriarchal Orion Empire which "give the body dominance over the spirit" and serve only "the Orion Empire and its queen." This DNA mutation set by Orion, "subjugates the life-giving male by the manipulative, controlling female, as it is in the [body-focused Orion] Empire. The female gender has caused more problems and sadness than anything but religion… In my own life, ALL interpersonal problems have been either directly because of females or men under the control of females. If the female isn't convinced she is in control and manipulating the male(s) in her life… and any other male(s) she chooses, she will make life miserable."

From TA's perspective, "Homosexuals are the most connected to their animating spirit. The [matriarchal] alien codes are short-circuited." Men should not be with women because "THE SPIRIT KNOWS IT'S AN ABOMINATION TO BE WITH THOSE THAT DON'T VIBRATE LIKE YOU!!!" [TA's italics, capitalization and exclamation marks.] And he adds that if a person is uncomfortable with homosexuality, "put it aside. It'll make sense in a later time" [when that person is more spiritually developed].

TA's complete intolerance to his philosophy being questioned is demonstrated in a response he gave to someone in the Questions and Answers section of Volume 1 of the Matrix V material in which a reader questioned whether he had any direct evidence for the "female domination" he constantly refers to. It reads (vol 1, page 379): "That you are unable to see this evidence shows your body controls your spirit in this matter. That you are unable to see this is too basic to be addressed here. This material is for Dominant and Final incarnations. It is not debatable, as you seek to do, but is very plain for those advanced incarnations to see." When the questioner then states that explanations for female domination that involve alien Orion influences seem "rather empty" and that it would be "better to stick to observable facts for the majority of people," TA spitefully responds: "Now, who died and make you spokesman for 'the majority of people'? Again, I state this material is NOT for the majority of people for they are their body and are more than 50% controlled by their body. Your comments are pure of the body and of less than advanced spiritual development, which is OK [sic], but is not addressed by this material which has plenty of caution and warning to those it is NOT meant for." In translation: don't you dare question my spiritual authority to state Truth without explanation, you spiritual dwarf!

And just in case you think that this hubris and bigotry is not representative of TA's teachings, here are some more examples taken from the rest of the Q&A section of the first volume of Matrix V:

• Page 376 "Perhaps you are not ready to handle that at this time."
• Page 376 "Something to keep in mind with the material I've released, it is for Dominant and Final Incarnations. Unless, and only you would know, that you are one of these, you will not be able to grasp the extent and full implications of the material."
• Page 379 "You will realize this in time when your spirit matures more."
• Page 379 "My material can be found by anyone in the Library on Monroe level 27… or within their Higher Self IF you are a Final Incarnation. Only a Final Incarnation has this complete access."
• Page 390 "You are not yet at the level needed to understand that part of the material. Remember, this material is based on a Final Incarnation's perspective."
• Page 391 "When you reach Final Incarnation, AND BECOME AWAKENED TO IT, you will understand what I mean."
• Page 392 "Any more information… on this topic will have to wait until you reach that level and experience it for yourself."
• Page 397 "If you are more advanced, you can share what you've learned but are cautioned against trying to convince them. It is up to them to take the info and run with it. This is why I answer questions but never debate or justify what I've learned."
• Page 398 "You'll know what I mean when you arrive there."
• Page 406 "Until you do become free of your DNA wiring [which causes a repulsion to homosexuality], you haven't reached the spiritual maturity of a Final Incarnation."
• Page 408 "Many questions people have will not be answered or fully answered until you are in Final Incarnation or just ended Final Incarnation."
• Page 414 "When you reach a certain level, you will better understand what I'm talking about."
• Page 419 "It isn't necessary for me to say more at this time on this."
• Page 420 "Just because someone reads the material does not mean they are in their Final Incarnation… "
• Page 434 "In time, when you progress beyond the difficulties of 3rd density, you will come to understand that better."
• Page 438 "You'll understand eventually."
• Page 439 "This is VERY high material for Earther incarnates and if it can't be grasped, the incarnation is not yet ready to understand the whole of it… Hang in there."
• Page 439 "You don't understand probably because you're not quite ready for it."
• Page 455 "You will be given this information when you have advanced to the point where you are ready to receive it."
• Page 479 "If you cannot understand this, you will as you advance."
• Page 483 "That you don't understand the basic nature of the Higher Self (or you wouldn't have asked THAT question) indicates you are dealing with matters too Advanced for you at this time."
• Page 486 "You'll understand more when you reach Very Advanced levels. You also should re-read ALL of M5."
• Page 487 "Anyone not at that level [VERY Advanced or Finals] would ask just what you did."
• Page 487 "You want to understand beyond your current level. This is impossible. I have no problem understanding but you will not be able to grasp this until your Awakened Final Incarnation, wherever in time that one is. Handle what you can and push the rest to the side… "
• Page 488 "You will understand this in your own Higher Self's Awakened Final Incarnation."
• Page 490 "After what I've just written about 'ascended masters', you ask me a question like this?!... Once you reach ABOVE mid-Advanced, you will understand better."
• Page 492 "You will eventually move beyond your current views even if not in this incarnation. For now, though, the answer to your question is not what you're ready to hear in full."
• Page 499 "It is far more complex than the simple explanation you are looking for. I've given some hints here, but for more, you'll have to take it up with YOUR Higher Self or research the Library on Monroe level 27."
• Page 501 "Having an interest in the M5 materials places you somewhere in the Advanced stages."
• Page 508 "Yes, you haven't Advanced enough to deduce this yet. You will not be able to until YOUR Higher Self allows it.
• Page 509 "If you are unable to grasp this, you aren't ready for the Matrix 5 materials.
• Page 510 "Again, if you cannot grasp it, you aren't ready to understand it yet."
• Page 510 "If you can't grasp topics in M5, just put them aside mentally. You are still assisting your Higher Self and your more Advanced incarnations."
• Page 512 "If you cannot yet grasp this, you have not reached the stage of Advancement necessary to grasp it. Hang in there. At some time in your incarnational progression you will!"
• Page 512 "That you use the Lightsider word 'ascension' and are concerned about the use of violence, says you are not ready for all the info in M5 yet… "
• Page 517 "[David Icke] is mid-Advanced level. He is aware of M5 but is not ready for it."

Contradictorily, TA also keeps advising his readers to trust their own truth from their Higher Selves. What he actually means is that we need to trust the information from our Higher Selves provided it does not contradict anything that TA writes, which of course it cannot because TA writes the Truth.

So TA is presenting a worldview that cannot be questioned (a dogma by definition). And if someone does question him, he dismisses them as spiritually undeveloped. This is a standard tactic used by spiritual fundamentalists to defend their dogma. David Hawkins, for example, uses it to dismiss anyone who questions his dogmas: he just calibrates them below the level of integrity and so can dismiss their objections without having to actually address them.

Ultimately, however, a spiritual philosophy cannot be defended for there is no criterion by which it can be proved. Instead, the weight of a spiritual philosophy resides on the perceived spiritual authority of its originator and main proponents, which is why those that peddle fundamentalist spiritual philosophies by necessity have hugely inflated spiritual egos.

David Hawkins, for example, calibrates his own books as the highest in Truth ever written throughout all history (implying that he must be one of the most advanced spiritual teachers ever to walk the face of this planet); and in a similar manner, TA states that, "Matrix V represents, in terms of spiritual growth information, some of the most powerful information that will ever be released on this planet… this book is the only book that exists on the planet right now that has this high level of information." (They obviously can't both be right!)

TA bangs on about his spiritual prowess as being a "Final Incarnation" with access to the interdimensional library on Level 27 which both combine to make him 'The Oracle of Truth'. And the hubris associated with being 'The Oracle of Truth' is plainly visible throughout the Matrix V material: in TA's uncompromising viewpoints, his capitalization, his sarcasm, his intolerance to other viewpoints, his dismissal of criticism, his general bitchiness and his "holier than thou" attitude. And when TA is asked about how he can verify his claims, he comes up with the classic, "All my information has been verified by my own experiences." [So it must be true then!]

Both Hawkins and TA regard men as superior to women (maybe this is a standard trait of spiritual fundamentalists?). From Hawkins's perspective, a woman's body cannot carry the highest energies of spirituality which is why all the most advanced spiritual souls are in male form; from TA's perspective, "for a Final Incarnation, the female body would be a major impairment for such an advanced spirit because the body cannot produce life [??] and has always to be recharged from a male… The Final Incarnation needs unlimited creative ability/focus that is impeded by a female body." Women have a "very false superiority complex" and vampire men's life-force, abusing their dark 'Orion' (alien) power. In fact, TA's hatred for women and the feminine is so apparent in his writings that you certainly understand why he is gay, and perhaps why he has adopted his whole homosexual cosmology in the first place.

These men may or may not be right about women being spiritually inferior to men. Many believe that men are inferior to women spiritually. But as these postulates can never be any more than mere opinions and value judgments, their main function is actually to expose the prejudices and psychological profile of the person expressing them. They have no other practical use. But this does not stop individuals like TA and Hawkins from presenting their sexist opinions as facts which they claim are obvious to anybody who is highly spiritually developed — like themselves. It is all a mind-game.

Absolute certainty in our philosophies is a hallmark of unconscious disunity [again see Spiritual Philosophies vs Spiritual Practice]. We have not yet developed the postmodern perspective of awareness of the nature of beliefs — we confuse our beliefs with reality, as TA seems to be doing. So rather than being for "very advanced, dominant and final incarnations", Matrix V material is actually not for particularly advanced incarnations at all. It shows little of the self-consciousness associated with conscious disunity, and none of the uncertainty/mystery associated with conscious unity.

There is one very obvious way to assess TA's philosophy that we have not yet mentioned, and that is to ask The Monroe Institute itself for their opinion of TA's controversial material. After all, TA bases much of his material on the teachings of Robert Monroe and The Monroe Institute, and claims that the Monroe residential courses were instrumental in teaching him how to access all this information. As Monroe himself is no longer with us, the Institute's opinion of TA's worldview would be invaluable as they are the people most experienced with Level 27 and Monroe's teachings. However, despite a couple of emails regarding the Matrix V material being sent to them and to a leading proponent of their work, to date no reply has been forthcoming. It would appear that The Monroe Institute has little interest in transparency and probably has some kind of agenda with TA and his work.

That agenda is actually pretty obvious: TA's writings must generate important business for The Monroe Institute as he clearly states that that anyone wanting to access higher levels of consciousness need to take Monroe courses. TA writes, "The ONLY other place I know of that you can find more information… is in the library on Monroe level 27," [which you can only get to from doing a Monroe Institute residential course] and in response to a question on how exactly to connect with the Higher Self, "Unless you have taken at least Gateway [a particular course name], in residence at Monroe's Institute, it would not make sense to you." He adds, "Their customer service can assist with their products," making it almost seem he works for them.

The Monroe Institute may not agree with TA with regards to his controversial beliefs (particularly involving homosexuality and the inferiority of women), but as long as he brings potential clients to the Institute then they are unlikely to respond to those seeking some sort of third-party validation of TA's beliefs. This is understandable because the institute is in a Catch 22 situation regarding the validity of the Matrix V material: if they validate it, they are agreeing to TA's highly controversial beliefs (such as the pathology of heterosexuality and the feminine) which would damage their reputation; and if they reject his material, they are dismissing the pseudo-objectivity claimed for Monroe's different levels of consciousness and the library at Level 27, and this would dismiss most of the institute's and Monroe's work. So probably better to keep silent, although this silence is a form of dishonesty.

So at the end of the day, we are left to decide on the validity of the Matrix V material for ourselves. This author actually shares some of TA's beliefs (excluding his denigration of heterosexuality and women), especially those around our society's obsession with body-id perspectives and the importance of not playing into the Light-Dark spiritual polarity. TA actually makes some very perceptive points, but he unfortunately presents them alongside what are so obviously his own screaming prejudices and with an almost comically bitchy attitude. (I am sure he must be quite a character!) But we should not forget that TA himself does not seem to be aware that he is peddling beliefs, and instead presents his writings as a manifesto on deeper reality. This places him in the New Age fundamentalist category (along with most other conspiracists), which manifests in his complete dismissal of anyone who holds a different viewpoint.

In many ways, Matrix V is similar in feel to some of the other more conspiratorial New Age material on the market, especially David Icke's, and seems to be a grand synthesis of ideas from Robert Monroe, David Icke, The Matrix (the movie) and Handbook for the New Paradigm (a channeled manuscript). But it presents such a broad and intriguing cosmology that it is all too easy to get lost in its grand concepts and to forget that, in the end, it is just another philosophy. And as such, it has little to do with the flowering of consciousness and the development of spirituality.

Perhaps the most important lesson for those reading Matrix V is that it demonstrates how even the most vicious, spiteful, trite, sexist, bigoted and judgmental writings and opinions can be passed off as profound spiritual teachings if they are presented as such, which only goes to show the gullibility of many of those on the so-called 'spiritual path'. Speak with assumed authority, no matter how contrived, and you will find 'sheep' lining up outside your door to hear the Truth and be told how to think and who to hate. The paradox is that, by presenting his truth with such authoritarian certainty, TA actually short-circuits his own advice to his readers to realize their own higher-self authority.

At best, Matrix V is an entertaining read; at worst, a trap that will delude us into thinking that we are evolved because our heads are filled with exciting and controversial concepts. But concepts are concepts, and until we learn to let go of our attachment to them, we will be controlled by them, ever excluded from the non-conceptual wholeness that defines authentic spirituality.