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

Incomplete, undated record begins here. (1938)MR. W. Recently I had to go a whole day without food. I found I didnot much mind the hunger but that, in spite of all I did to pass thetime, the day seemed very long and dull. This surprised me, as I neverthought I took much interest in food. Does this mean that we attachtoo much importance to eating without realizing it, or has eating aspecial function in providing impressions?MR. O. Try for several days and you will see what you think about itand whether you can think about something else.MR. H. When it is said that animals can be classified by their medium,food eaten and air breathed, does air breathed mean actual air takeninto the lungs or that part of the air which is used by the animal afterinspiration?MR. O. No. It is meant in the sense in which it is generally taken.MR. H. In parasitic living can the tissue of the animal lived upon beregarded as a medium in itself?MR. O. Probably, yes.MISS S. Mr. O. said that certain negative emotions make serious workimpossible. Does that mean they must be absolutely exterminatedbefore one begins, and what is serious work?MR. O. By serious work I meant not only study but change. But evenserious study enters into that, because generally first you must studycertain things, then you work to change them. But as even studycannot go without certain change, because these two processes ofstudy and change are not fully divided, so serious work can be calledmore serious study than just at the beginning. And with certainnegative emotions it is practically impossible, because they will spoilall results; one side of you will work and another side will spoil it. Andafter some time, if you start work without destroying negative emotions,you may find yourself in a worse state than you were before, andit happened several times in our work that people made continuationof work impossible, because they wished to keep negative emotions—