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Answer: Without knowledge he could not have been what he
was, nor could he have done what he did. It is known that
where he was there was knowledge.
Question: If we are only mechanical, what sense has reli-
gion?
Answer: For some, religion is a law, a guidance, a direction;
for others a policeman.
Question: In what sense was it said in an earlier lecture that
the earth is alive?
Answer: It is not only we who are alive. If a part is alive,
then the whole is alive. The whole universe is like a chain, and
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the earth is one link in this chain. Where there is movement,
there is life.
Question: In what sense was it said that one who has not
died cannot be born?
Answer: All religions speak about death during this life on
earth. Death must come before rebirth. But what must die?
False confidence in one's own knowledge, self-love and ego-
ism. Our egoism must be broken. We must realize that we are
very complicated machines, and so this process of breaking is
bound to be a long and difficult task. Before real growth be-
comes possible, our personality must die.
Question: Did Christ teach dances?
Answer: I was not there to see. It is necessary to distinguish
between dances and gymnastics they are different things. We
do not know whether his disciples danced, but we do know
that where Christ got his training they certainly taught "sa-
cred gymnastics."
Question: Is there any value in Catholic ceremonies and
rites?
Answer: I have not studied Catholic ritual, but I know the
rituals of the Greek Church well, and there, underlying the
form and ceremony, there is real meaning. Every ceremony, if
it continues to be practiced without change, has value. Ritual
is like ancient dances which were guidebooks where truth was
written down. But to understand one must have a key.
Old country dances also have meaning some even contain
such things as recipes for making jam.
A ceremony is a book in which much is written. Anyone
who understands can read it. In one ceremony more is con-
tained than in a hundred books. Usually everything changes,
but customs and ceremonies can remain unchanged.
Question: Does reincarnation of souls exist?
Answer: A soul is a luxury. No one has yet been born with a
fully developed soul. Before we can speak of reincarnation, we
must know what kind of man we are speaking about, what
kind of soul and what kind of reincarnation. A soul may dis-
integrate immediately after death, or it may do so after a cer-
tain time. For example, a soul may be crystallized within the
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limits of the earth and may remain there, yet not be crystal-
lized for the sun.
Question: Can women work as well as men?
Answer: Different parts are more highly developed in men
and women. In men it is the intellectual part, which we will
call A; in women the emotional, or B. Work in the Institute is
sometimes more along the lines of A, in which case it is very
difficult for B. At other times it is more along the lines of B, in
which case it is harder for A. But what is essential for real un-
derstanding is the fusion of A and B. This produces a force
that we shall call C.
Yes, there are equal chances for men and for women.
NEW YORK, MARCH 13, 1924
Self-observation is very difficult. The more you try, the more
clearly you will see this.
At present you should practice it not for results but to un-
derstand that you cannot observe yourselves. In the past you
imagined that you saw and knew yourselves.
I am speaking of objective self-observation. Objectively you
cannot see yourselves for a single minute, because it is a differ-
ent function, the function of the master.
If it seems to you that you can observe yourselves for five
minutes, this is wrong; if it is for twenty minutes or for one
minute it is equally wrong. If you simply realize that you
cannot, it will be right. To come to it is your aim.
To achieve this aim, you must try and try.
When you try, the result will not be, in the true sense, self-
observation. But trying will strengthen your attention, you will
learn to concentrate better. All this will be useful later. Only
then can one begin to remember oneself.
If you work conscientiously, you will remember yourselves
not more but less, because self-remembering requires many
things. It is not so easy, it costs a great deal.
The exercise of self-observation is sufficient for several
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years Do not attempt anything else. If you work conscien-
tiously, you will see what you need.
At present you have but one attention, either in the body or
the feeling.
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 9, 1930
Question: How can we gain attention?
Answer: There is no attention in people. You must aim to ac-
quire this. Self-observation is only possible after acquiring at-
tention. Start on small things.
Question: What small things can we start on? What should
we do?
Answer: Your nervous and restless movements make every-
one know, consciously or unconsciously, that you have no au- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]