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

work, the answer is best revealed when I consider the extent andquality of my actions. I shall expect to find my actions consistent withmy profession of seriousness. The reverse and yet not quite the reverseis the case. I find I am not serious but that I have times of seriousness.I do not think men 1, 2 and 3 can be said to be serious aboutanything they do, for while they profess to be serious their actionscontradict them. . . .MR. O. Yes, but they have to be serious if they want to get something.MR. H. ... Seriousness is, I think, an attribute of waking and consciousman, is somehow connected with will and cannot be mechanical.MR. O. No, the question was not to be like that—what it means to beserious now, as we are, to-day, not to -morrow.MR. S. On thinking about what seriousness means, it appears impossibleto know when one has no permanent 'I' or a sufficiently strong aim so thatin all circumstances one can relate one's thoughts and motives to that aim.MR. T . Unless an aim is determined, there is no possibility of beingserious. The direction of the will towards doing only those thingswhich would help one's aim should produce a state of mind whichcould be described as serious. Until one has a permanent will and adefined aim one could not be said to be capable of real seriousness.MR. O. But aim may be not serious. No, no, that is wrong.MRS. S. To be serious is to want to have understanding.MISS R. It seems to me that to be serious means an understanding ofthe scale of values and treating important things with care and attention.MR. F. Seriousness implies unity for a certain time.It implies the weight of at least two centres working together.It implies the use of intelligent parts of centres or the effort to usethem.It implies the clear separation of the positive and negative parts ofcentres.MR. O. No, no, no. This does not apply at all.MRS. S. To be serious is to have singleness of purpose, to which allminor things are subsidiary.MISS R. Does to be serious mean to try to face facts?MR. O. You have to face facts, serious or not, just the same.MRS. S. To be serious is to try and avoid, by seeking a true objective,aimless drifting through life. It is to desire to attain fuller consciousness