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

and people repeat it without knowing what is 'ready' and what is 'teacher'.MRS. P. What is the meaning of 'teacher'?MR. O. One who teaches. But necessary to know first what you wantto know.MISS R. How can you know if you are asleep?MR. O. You must wake enough to know what you want. Suppose youwant to learn how to wake and I begin to teach you Russian.MISS R. How to awaken?MRS. A . Is the process of self-remembering designed to effect a tie-up,or a bridge between the thalamus and the fore-brain?MR. O. First of all, self-remembering is not a process. It is a state.What is that? I think I never saw such a word.Who knows? Don't believe the person who tells you he knows. No,we cannot explain self-remembering anatomically. But psychologicallyone can know. It is to be aware of oneself. That is not connected withany part of the brain.MRS. N. Is all emotion identification?MR. O. No, normal emotions can exist without identification. All negativeemotions must have identification. But some emotions can onlyexist without identification. If identification enters, it spoils them.MRS. N. There can be higher emotions that aren't identification?MRS. A . I have never understood how you would define the term'emotion'.MR. O. You must feel emotions. They are all pleasant or unpleasant.In older psychology books you find quite good explanations ofdivisions.MRS. v. I think I understood you to say that the Absolute was physical?Does that mean it is only physical or psychic is included?MR. O. I think you had better not mix two different things. First speakabout our own experience. We can decide between physical andpsychic causes. If I have a headache because I hit my head on the door,this is physical cause. If I have a headache as a result of too muchnegative imagining, this is psychic cause.MRS. P. Did I understand you to say that pain is a negative imaginationof the instinctive centre?MR. O. Never. Pain is pain. ... It may be. How can I say? It may beimaginary pain.MISS H . When one would reach the state where one could use the