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

Then take another and try to understand it. The idea about men Nos. 1,2 and 3 is one thing and it was not given parallel to anything else. Youmust study this as it is—what is meant by man No. 1, by man No. 2, byman No. 3, what are combinations of these, how they are mixed and so on.Then take this second idea. In order to understand what is meant byhouseholder, tramp, lunatic and the further degradations, so to speak,each must be taken separately. You cannot take them all together andtalk about them in one breath. Then, when you have questions, I canspeak about each separately, but not about all at once.MISS N . What ought one to do about bolsheviks? Leave them alone ormake an active effort to get rid of them?MR. O. What can you do about them?MISS N . I know I can do nothing, but I want to know how to thinkabout it.MR. O. You say you know you can do nothing about it, so you seeyour position. What else can I tell you?MISS N . But if I could change my attitude in thinking about it?MR. O. What do you mean by change your attitude? I ask you whatyou can do and you say you know you can do nothing. Well, that isall. I do not see what else I can say.MR. A . Does the system put forward any thesis about will-power otherthan that by using it it grows and by disuse it fades away.MR. O. System explains how you have many 'I's and each has its ownwill. When you become one, then you may have one will. Will, even innormal 1, 2 and 3 men, is only the resultant of desires. Certainconflicting desires or combinations of desires make you act in a certainway. That is all.MISS N . Is the division between men capable and not capable ofdeveloping determined by fate?MR. O. No, one cannot put it quite like that, but it is so in some cases.Some people are put in such a position that there is really no chancefor them and no possibility.MRS. D. How should we think about our inability to 'do' in relation toresponsibilities?MR. O. You are given certain definite tasks, things to do. When youlearn to remember yourself, even a little, you will find you are in abetter position in relation to all other things.