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

personality If one fails it is because one did not give enough attentionto false personality, did not study it and did not work against itMISS R. Has false personality different 'I's?MR O. It has many 'I's, only they are imaginary.MISS M . I seem to possess any amount of physical energy first thing inthe morning and feel ready to do anything but think or sit still and tryto self-remember. Is it only through trying to self-remember that wecan use this energy constructively?MR. O I do not know what you mean by 'self-remember'. Just tryingto remember oneself is rather a useless thing You must try when youare working, when something goes against the grain, so to speak, notjust when you are sitting doing nothing At the same time some kindof exercise of the memory of self-remembering can be useful Tryingto stop thoughts, for instance, at the same time trying to rememberyourself. This is a very good exercise, because it is a more tangiblething You can never be sure whether you are remembering or not,but you can be sure whether you are thinkingMR. T . Can I usually trust the personality which welcomes friction?MR. O. How can I tell? Which personality? Which friction? Mostfriction which can be useful we do not notice at all. So it is necessaryto give an example.MISS R. What happens to magnetic centre when false personality goes?MR. O Magnetic centre and false personality cannot be together. Theyare sun and moon from this point of view.MISS C. In trying to find examples of other negative emotions besidesirritation which could be changed to something useful by non-identification,I have wondered whether this is possible with a certain primitivekind of jealousy?MR. O. No, you must not mix what I said about irritation with othernegative emotions. I spoke of it as a very special emotion. Othernegative emotions can be changed, but they need other efforts Irritationis simply identification with a certain emotion you do not know.If you remove identification and imagination you will find it. You willbe able to see through irritation comparatively soon, but with otheremotions you can do nothing, so you must not think they are exactlythe same.MR. R. Are we to understand from the static triad that the existence offalse personality is essential in order that man may work on himself?