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

MR. B. It was said that the six actions corresponded to the six ways ofcombining the forces and then that there was a seventh which was incomprehensible?MR. O. Yes, each combination of the three forces shows one of thepossible actions.MR. H. Does a man with greater knowledge have a responsibilitytowards those who have less? If so, what kind of responsibility? I meana man who has esoteric knowledge.MR. O. Esoteric knowledge, that means school and a man who comesfrom school or who is in school. Responsibility is towards school.When a man acquires school knowledge, he acquires responsibility.There may be many conditions you do not know. Certain knowledgemay be given only on certain conditions and so on. How can wediscuss it in general?MISS R. Last week, Mr. O. said all actions were on the same level. Ifind that hard to accept in the case, say, of the craftsman and thefactory worker.MR. O. But in relation to what did I say that? And what was the question?MISS R. It was my question about menial work and poetry. You saidone was not higher than the other, that it depended on a man's being.MR. O. What does 'higher' mean? It means nothing by itself like that.There is not enough material to speak about it. Better wait a little.Perhaps to-day or next time we may speak about it and I will try toshow you how to approach this question.[Questions from Thursday before, which were asked after Mr. O. left.]MRS. P. I still don't understand where an action starts. If a house ishalf-built, is it an action, or only if it is fulfilled?MR. O. All building action consists of a series of the same actions—effort, effort, effort every time—nothing happens by itself. That is thetypical form of action for building a house.MRS. S. The same action could be in quite a different category accordingto how it is done, couldn't it? For instance, reading a book, whichmay entail effort or be a waste of time!MR. O. Reading a book is not an action in that sense. There are verymany different forms of reading a book, aims of reading a book, waysof reading a book.MR. F. Mr. O. once said painting a picture was done by the intellectual