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

Tuesday. June 24th 1941. (New York.)MRS. N. Will the Russian Revolution, the Great War and this war bethe same next time?MR. O. Oh, yes, you can be sure. The worse things are, the morechance for them to be repeated.MRS N . Are these big events accidental?MR. O. What is happening now really was created, say twenty-fiveyears ago, so theoretically it might have been prevented then.MISS B. Can we make the past occur in a different way?MR. O. Our own personal past. But it's when we change the present.MISS B. Do we have to become self-conscious to change that?MR. O. Yes, we cannot change anything if we are not self-conscious.MR. Y. We speak of one day—is it the same for us as for the Chinese?And infinity—where do you place it?MR. O. Twenty-four hours is for everybody. And infinity can be understoodin many different ways. Mathematically it means the limits ofpossible calculation.M R . M . Time dies with the individual?MR. O. Yes, but there is the time of organic life, time of the sun.MISS B. What is your interpretation of the Buddhist 'Nirvana'?MR. O. Nobody knows what it means. So we can make only a hypothesis.MRS. C. When you find yourself in the same situation, how can youstop it recurring again?MR. O. The situation may be very different. So what do you mean bythe same situation?MRS. N. Why can one die before the time to die comes?MR. O. Why not? We are under the Law of Accident.M R . M . Why is the beginning so certain?MR. O. Because it can't be changed.M R . M . When you die you step into another time?MR. O. Probably, yes.MRS. N Why did you say that a suicide dies earlier?