A Record of Meetings held by P.D. Ouspensky - HolyBooks.com

speaking, if you mean instinctive centre, you cannot do it.Movements—yes. We must observe three centres and compare them.MISS P . Is not memory greatly overrated sometimes? If you remembertoo clearly, you cannot make fresh decisions because you are influencedby memory of former wrong decisions.MR. O. I don't understand the case and the question. Try to formulatebetter. Give a concrete example.MR. O. [to Mr. L.] You asked about masonry—a word, whether it is away by itself. But what does this word mean? It is not denned. Whatdo you really know about it and what do you mean?MR. L. It is not a thing one can speak about. Any experiences I mighthave had I cannot speak about.MR. O. Why?MR. L. Others have not shared them. I thought your knowledge wouldhave made you know about it.MR. O. When I explained about four ways I said that there are threetraditional ways, ways of Fakir, Monk and Yogi, which all refer todifferent types or categories. Fakir is exaggerated No. 1 with predominanceof moving-instinctive centre. Monk is exaggerated 2 with emotionalcentre developed and others under-developed. Yogi is exaggeratedNo. 3. The division of ways is not artificial, it is natural andcorresponding to facts. If that was all, there would be nothing for us.We are too over-educated for these ways. But there is a fourth way. Itdiffers from the other three first of all by the fact that in the three waysthe first step is the most difficult. One has to give up everything. Inthe Fourth Way there is no difficulty in the first step, all work is inner,there is no external giving up of things. You asked whether there is afifth way. I say, many, but they are monkey ways.MR. L. You said there are many fourth ways.MR. O. I said probably.MISS C. Does the way of Fakir lead to the same end as the way of theMonk?MR. O. Yes, to almost the same, but not quite. In the way of Fakir,Fakirs buy children and make a child imitate them. Or people see a mansitting in a temple and imitate him. Some of them become so struck bythis that they remain and do not return home. Fakirs create unity andwill by conquering physical pain. They create physical will. It is a veryimportant thing to create such a will and it cannot be done without