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

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

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

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our own weaknesses, and if we know ourselves better this may changeour attitude.MR. M. Mr. O. has used the expression—'all organic life'. Is it suggestedthat there are other forms <strong>of</strong> life?MR. O. There is no such term as all organic life.MRS. H. It was said that all forms <strong>of</strong> organic life feed on each other.What feeds on man?MR. O. Gnats and mosquitoes and bacteria feed on man.MISS C. What kind <strong>of</strong> effort will help us to create more understanding,or do all efforts help?MR. O. You must start from facts. It cannot be answered in general.MRS. R. I find that inertia is my greatest opponent in the struggle t<strong>of</strong>ind myself—to be<strong>com</strong>e aware. How can I best over<strong>com</strong>e this powerfulhandicap? The inertia is mental as well as physical and almost paralysesmy great desire to progress.MR. O. What do you mean <strong>by</strong> inertia? It is just a descriptive term.Inertia works in everybody, and neither helps nor hinders in itself. Youmust continue to observe and try to see more concretely.MRS. B. If at the moment I see mechanicalness and go against it withthe right effort, I sometimes see and understand something. Whathappens that gives that understanding?MR. O. It is a matter for observation. You must yourself answer thisquestion. You will get an answer only if you observe facts and see theconditions, internal and external, which ac<strong>com</strong>pany understanding andwhich ac<strong>com</strong>pany lack <strong>of</strong> understanding.MR. M. Among religious people there is a widely-<strong>held</strong> belief in theexistence <strong>of</strong> a human soul. Does the system contain any concept whichapproximates to the idea <strong>of</strong> soul?MR. O. The idea <strong>of</strong> soul as a separate organism controlling the physicalbody cannot be said to be based on anything. The nearest approach tothe idea <strong>of</strong> soul as it was understood up to the seventeenth century iswhat is called essence. The term soul is used in the system, but in thesense <strong>of</strong> life principle only. Essence, personality and soul in the system,taken together, correspond to what used to be called soul. But soulwas supposed to have a separate existence from the body, and we don'tsuppose a separate existence <strong>of</strong> these three from the body.MRS. W. Can fate in no circumstances affect the things that happen tous, but only the things we are born with?

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