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

MR. L. How can one see the difference between energy and desire? Ihave not one single observation of having a strong desire to do a thingand yet, lacking the energy, I have always thought afterwards that if Ihad badly wanted to do it I should have been able to, and the reasonfor failing was lack of desire, not lack of energyMR. O. You can't compare energy and desire in that way, and alsomore observation is necessary.MRS. M. I seem to waste so much energy in unnecessary fear over smallthings all the time. And I can see that I decide even important thingsby taking the alternative of which I am least afraid. I think probably itstarted from having an unhappy time as a child. I do try to stop it byseeing how stupid it is, and by making myself do things in spite ofbeing afraid of them, but is there any better way to try to get over it?Does this state of mind cause adverse things to go on happening?MR. O. The last is not right, and it is necessary to have right attitudeand see how unreasonable it is. There is no need to invent things aboutchildhood. It may even be connected with something of which we willspeak later about breathing and tension. By a quite unconsciousreaction breathing may stop or become irregular, and that may bringcertain thoughts, produce fear, but it is not the thoughts themselves. Itis necessary to observe from that point of view.MR. H. You once said that, in the last century, there had been somewhereon the continent a school, similar to a Fourth Way school, inwhich painting was a regular part of the work, and that Rossetti wasconnected with it in 1855. But Rossetti seems never to have been outof England for more than a month at any time, and in 1855 only forten days. Could you give us any other clues about this school, and tellus what evidence there is for connecting Rossetti with it? You alsomentioned a Russian poet as belonging to it. Could you tell us hisname?MR. O. Name is in New Model—Tolstoy. About Rossetti, one of ourpeople found by accident, not in looking for schools, that he wasconnected with a school in Dusseldorf—it was officially a school ofpainting, but there are reasons for thinking that there was an esotericschool behind it.***[Questions asked before the meeting.]MR I I would like to ask what is meant by the expression 'the Law of