Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson
“Speaking frankly, contemporary man…is nothing more than a clockwork mechanism, though of a very complex construction.
“A man must without fail think deeply about every aspect of his mechanicality and understand it thoroughly…both for his own further life, and for the justification of the sense and aim of his arising and existence.
“(T)o study this practically…is possible solely by means of correctly conducted self-observation…
“Before beginning to study this mechanicality and all the principles of correctly conducted self-observation… ”…in order that these principles may be properly perceived and assimilated by each of the followers of this new teaching, an appropriate form of ‘language’ must be established…
“(T)his is indispensable because our…language… in which we speak, write books, and convey our knowledge and ideas to others has…become quite worthless for any more or less exact exchange of opinions.
“The words that make up our contemporary language, owing to the arbitrary (subjective) meaning people put into them, convey only indefinite and relative notions…
“(C)onversing in this way, contemporary people imagine…they understand one another, and are even certain they are communicating…
“(A)s long as…people remain what they are…they will never…understand the same ideas from the same words, nor will they ever actually understand one another.
“That is why in the ordinary contemporary man, every inner experience, even a painful one, that might oblige him to think, and lead him to logical results, which could be very beneficial to those around him, remains unexpressed…
“For this reason, the isolation of the inner life of each individual is increased, and as a consequence the ‘mutual instruction’ so necessary to people’s collective existence is disappearing more and more. —Chapter 48 – From the author, Lecture 1
The Reality of Being
In fact, we depend tremendously on one another. We can do nothing without one another. The exchange we can have together is more necessary than our daily bread. We make efforts alone—we struggle alone, suffer alone, respond alone. But a moment comes when exchange is indispensable, when we need to nourish one another with the fruits of our efforts. And without this exchange, we cannot go further…
(A)t certain moments it is imperative to come together to verify and exchange… —56. This form
In Search of the Miraculous
“As a rule, when people realize that they do not understand a thing they try to find a name for what they do not ‘understand,’ and when they find a name they say they ‘understand.’ But to ‘find a name’ does not mean to ‘understand.’ Unfortunately, people are usually satisfied with names…
…People do not clearly realize to what a degree their language is subjective, that is, what different things each of them says while using the same words. They are not aware that each one of them speaks in a language of his own, understanding other people’s language either vaguely or not at all, and having no idea that each one of them speaks in a language unknown to him. People have a very firm conviction, or belief, that they speak the same language, that they understand one another. —Chapter 4
Views From the Real World
In order to be understood by another man, it is not only necessary for the speaker to know how to speak but for the listener to know how to listen…
Our thinking machine possesses the capacity to be convinced of anything you like, provided it is…repeated sufficiently often, and with sufficient conviction. And just as one type will repeat ready-made words which have stuck in his mind, so a second type will find intricate proofs and paradoxes to explain what he says. But both are equally to be pitied. —Essentuki, about 1918 – When speaking on different subjects
If you wish to hear new things in a new way, you must listen in a new way. This is necessary not only in the work but also in life. You can become a little more free in life, more secure, if you begin to be interested in all new things, and remember them by new methods. This new method…would no longer be wholly automatic but semi-automatic. This new method consists in the following: when thought is already there, try to feel. When you feel something, try to direct your thoughts on your feeling. Up to now, thought and feeling have been separated.
Begin to watch your mind: feel what you think… Speaking generally, you will never understand what I wish to convey if you merely listen.—New York, February 24, 1924
The Reality of Being
I have to listen. Yet if I only listen to what I wish to hear, I will never be free. I have to listen to whatever appears, and in order to really listen, I must not resist. This act of listening, of being present, is a true liberation. —119. The affirmation of myself