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

y your own self. But there is no difficulty in making contact withhigher centres. The difficulty is to be conscious in higher centres, andthere is no quick method for that; it has to be attained by the slowmethod of self-remembering, non-identification and so on. And otherschools and other methods, in different words, do exactly the samething; because too quick methods all come to this empty room.MRS. C. I have noticed that when I don't like a person or a work ofart, I find it very difficult to appreciate their good points intellectually.Is this an example of unnecessary co-ordination of centres?MR. O. In a certain sense, yes.MRS. C. Is unnecessary co-ordination sometimes caused by tension, aswhen anger or fear upset the digestion, make it impossible to think,and one is tense all over physically, or does the co-ordination cause thetension?MR. O. Both. The one increases the other.MISS W. Last week I had occasion to be with someone for a longperiod while they were in a very negative state. At last my energyseemed to give way and I found myself rapidly becoming identifiedagainst all reason. I could not prevent myself from feeling violentlynegative. The only thing left seemed to be to run out of the room toavoid at any rate an explosion. I was conscious of having within me anenormous amount of energy. To try and remember myself seemedquite impossible in such an uncollected state, though I felt howurgently I needed to try something, if only I knew how. The onlything I seemed capable of was something physical, and I held out myarms, which helped me stop feeling negative. Can one make use of thatsort of energy in such a state, and what is the right way?MR. O. If it helped, that means it is right. That is all I can say. And therest is slow work and preparation. In order to swim in a difficult place,difficult water, you have to swim first in more quiet water.MISS S. I have been unwell recently and I found on the first day in bedalthough I felt seedy I had a great deal of physical energy and was veryrestless and quite unable to concentrate my thoughts. But on thesecond and subsequent days I was considerably more tired and veryglad to be able to rest, and then it was that I found I could both thinkand feel much more intensely and be in a better state generally. I donot understand why this is, but I have noticed before that when I amtired physically I often seem to be in a better, or at least quieter state.