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

MR. O. Try to look at it from the point of view not of cosmoses butfrom the Ray of Creation.MISS R. In studying the Table of Cosmoses, it appears to me that eachcosmos is a part of the ones above it on the scale. However, the smallcell, for instance, could not possibly know that it is part of a man,because its whole lifetime is only three seconds, which is the length ofthe breath of a man. Similarly, I assume that it would not be possiblefor man to recognize his relationship with a planet, much less theuniverse. If this is so, what hope is there that man, even if he becomesself-conscious and has will, can ever use his will in life for a purposethat will bring him into harmony with the rest of creation?MR. O. Again, the Ray of Creation.MISS R. As a man attains a higher state of consciousness, such as selfconsciousnessand objective consciousness, does the time of his functionschange? In other words, can he ever hope that an impression forhim will be longer than one ten-thousandth of a second, a breathlonger than three seconds, etc.?MR. O. But it is possible. So it is not similar. And useless to finddissimilarity And they are longer now. We speak only of the impressionof intellectual centre. There are others.MISS R. If a cell could become conscious of its function as part of aman, would it forget that it is a cell? Similarly, if a man becameconscious of the way that he contributes to the life of a star, forinstance, would he lose the memory of his life as a man, and disappearfrom the cycle of endlessly recurring lifetimes?MR. O Quite the opposite process. It would remember that it is a cell.Same for man—he would remember that he was a man. It would bethe same as self-remembering. He would not lose memory, he wouldget memory.MISS S. If the Law of Octaves stops, how is the shock produced?MR. O. No, when I say that, I mean when Nature wants something tocontinue it creates a certain shock.MISS R. I can't understand three forces. Has one force three attributes?MR O. You must be brave and realize that our mind is very weak. Andthere are many ideas that escape from our mind.MISS R Well, if this is not a theory, why can't someone point out whatare these three forces?MR. O. That's exactly what we are learning. You hear, for instance,