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

MR O Here again, all I can say is that there are ten thousand forms ofill-health How can we discuss it, so long as [you] speak as if ill-healthwas always the same thing?MR M Is instinctive centre always a sure guide?MR O In a perfectly normal man it can beMRS D What is the Indian word (referred to in the reading we hadabout Khas namous) meaning inhabitant, householder?MR O In the Laws of Manu it is Snataka I think in Buddhist writingsanother word is used, but I cannot rememberMISS N I do not understand why Mr O draws this tremendousdistinction, when talking about Khas namous, between bolsheviks andany other political party, say, the fascists I should have thought thatthe ideals from which the communists started were as good, if notbetter, than any other political idealsMR O First, I do not draw any distinction between bolsheviks andfascists It is the same thing, the one produced by the other Then I donot call either a political party Both are just criminal partiesAs regards the second part of your question, I do not think verymuch of the ideals they started from, but you must understand we arenot speaking about ideals Suppose some of them did start with veryhigh ideals, these ideals in any case were perfectly formatory, and ifthese people had been relatively alive they would have understood theycould not make people accept them, and that if they did they wouldbecome criminals, because these ideals were impossible and unrealizableI remember a conversation I had before the revolution, in 1905,with one rather mad revolutionary (not a bolshevik) He told me somethings and I said 'But how can you make people agree with you?' Hesaid they would, and I asked him 'What about Roussky Iziyestie?(This was a newspaper run by professors) I know they will not agree 'He was perfectly sure they could be persuaded Actually, when thebolsheviks got into power, they had to destroy this paper and all theprofessorsWhat you do not realize is that bolshevism is only one practicalrealization of ideals which philosophically may be very good, just thesame as fascism is only one practical realization of what is calledetatisme, or extreme power vested in the government It is not political