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

MISS R. Does the philosophy of Bhakti Yoga help to develop higheremotional centre?MR. O. There are many forms of Bhakti Yoga. But often they beginwith function instead of consciousness. There are many schools whichmay be right in one sense, but wrong in another.MISS R. Would the philosophy of not having a will of one's own help?MR. O. What does it mean—having no will of one's own? Explain.MISS R. Trying to carry out the philosophy of Ramaknshna. . . .MR. O. I don't know. You see, when I speak about Yogi schools I speakabout Gnana, which means study of mind, and Raja, which meansdevelopment of consciousness. Bhakti is the best way to bring Fakir tohigher levels. Karma Yoga is necessary in all ways. In some rare cases,people can get something through Karma Yoga without anything else.MISS D. You don't include Gnana Yoga as essential then?MR. O. Gnana Yoga and Raja Yoga mean Yoga schools. Bhakti andHatha are auxiliary. For some people they may be good.MISS R. Does Bhakti Yoga help one rid oneself of self-will?MR. O. For some people it can be good.MRS. K. How can you tell when you reach higher emotional centre?MR. O. Oh, you cannot be mistaken about higher emotion, about thereal thing, that is. Of course one can always imagine.MR. B Is self-remembering the only way by which the development ofemotional centre comes?MR O. Self-remembering is the only right way. There are schoolswhich begin with functions. But it is dangerous, and it may producewrong results to start with higher emotions.I will give you an example. I think I wrote about it, but I will tellyou. When I made some experiments in Moscow in 1910, I went to St.Petersburg for a few days. We were going on a tram, and passedanother tram. And, although I am very near-sighted, I saw the faces ofpeople on the other tram, at a distance that ordinarily would have beenquite impossible. When we reached a gendarme sitting on a horse I gotoff to see his face close to. It was the same face I had seenMRS. K. How long had you been self-remembering?MR O It is not a question of how longMISS R. Can you also catch what a person, a total stranger, is like bythis higher emotional centre? His habits by something he says?MR. O. I don't know. There are different degrees So that if one