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

People who live exclusively under A influences, and who take Binfluences, if they meet them, on the same level, usually die in this life.Although men are asleep, influences B may keep them alive. Butgetting out of this state in which we are born depends on influences C.Here schools enter. So people are divided into three classes. Deadpeople, asleep people, and people coming towards C influences—coming towards help.In thinking about life, we forget that many people are dead. Afourth category is of people who are already beginning to work. Thesefour levels are important—dead people, asleep people, people withpossibility of waking, and people beginning to awake. In life, sleepingpeople easily fall under the influence of dead people.MRS. H. What are the characteristics by which I can recognize thedead?MR. O. At a certain moment you can see them. Just as, at a certainmoment, you can see that people are asleep.MR. H. Can dead people be brought to life?MR. O. No, dead people are dead—not even spiritualists can do that!MRS. B. What became of their essence?MR. O. They may be physically alive, but it does not mean that essencecan develop.MISS R. Are people who are asleep helped through recurrence?MR. O. No guarantee. What means 'helped'?MISS R. Are they able to repeat life and have more opportunity?MR. O. One of the theories of the principles of recurrence is that alltendencies—even acquired tendencies—increase. So a man who showeda real love for sleep from childhood may fall asleep even earlier.MR. H. Do dead people recur?MR. O. We don't know.MR. B. Is there any analogy between these three states and the threecategories of man 1, 2, 3?MR. O. Numbers 1, 2, 3 mean nothing in this case.MRS. W. What makes people go dead?MR. O. Either fate, or accident, or will, or cause and effect.MRS. H. Would too much sleep cause it?MR. O. Yes, or not enough.MRS. S. Are most people dead?MR. O. This was much discussed in our group in Petersburg. Some