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

one thing continues to be important and one always turns in onedirection. But inspiration has nothing to do with it. It is simplyrealization of a moment when you can do something.MRS. R. Mr. O. told us of five states of real sleep and left it to us tofind the corresponding states in waking sleep. Are they these: deepsleep corresponds to the usual state of ordinary man; deep sleep awareof having dreams but unable to remember them corresponds to thestate of man when beginning to be interested in this system; sleep withdreams remembered corresponds to state of man when he has tried towork on himself; light sleep, dreams known in sleep to be dreams,corresponds to man able to recognize his own identifications; lightsleep with dreams controlled corresponds to man able to selfremember.M R. O. You began too high. There are many states below ordinaryman. People who are ill, or too identified, or hypnotized by formatoryideas are more machines than ordinary man. Ordinary man is already avery high state, because from this state it is possible to move. All thesereligious and theosophical teachers are really below normal. Theyhypnotize themselves by words. When people speak of doing, itcorresponds to changing the names of the days of the week. All ourpower is only over words. Change names of the days of the week is themaximum people can do. Normal man is a man who understands thatit is all nonsense. He is on a higher level. Usually people are belownormal: they are lunatics, tramps or sincere scoundrels. Lunatics havemany variations. Only from the level of ordinary man does possibilitybegin.MR. J. By what means can one quicken the change of being?MR. O. By understanding only. The more one understands, the moreone can do and have results from the same effort.MR. J. You said that knowledge is material. Doesn't it mean that itshould be used in a practical way?MR. O. Quite right. But how? If you say it must be understood in apractical way—yes. But act you cannot.MR. J. Most of one's struggle for existence seems to belong toimaginary things. It takes such a lot of one's time that little is left for thestudy of real things. What is one to do?MR. O. One can give the time that remains free. Or one may struggletoo much.