This week we watched Part 3 of the film “The Master of the Carriage”.
Our paper focussed on the main theme of Emotions:
We started with Mr Ouspensky’s interpretation of the metaphor. Questions and comments included:
- "Why are we in this position of having a carriage that’s falling apart and a disobedient horse? Surely we weren’t born like that?"
- "Perhaps it’s all to do with habit. If you don’t look after the carriage and all the equipment, and keep putting it away wet and muddy after use then it’s hardly surprising."
- "When I learnt to ride I was told that when you get home you must always look after your horse before yourself. Give it a rest in a nice comfortable place, with food and water." [The implication being that after a day’s work we need rest from meditation, and good spiritual food.]
- "It’s easy to see how the Mind (Driver) wants to change, but the body and feelings don’t. How many New Year’s Resolutions, or decisions made during the rest of the year, have come to nothing?"
- "I get a quite different feeling when a decision is the right one and I do the right thing. It’s all to do with Buddhi."
- "For me it’s not really about any making decisions at all. If I can just be quiet and let things happen then the right thing happens without any decision being made because it all happens before it reaches the conscious mind. That too is a lovely feeling."
- “Many years ago when I first came to these meetings I used to be very keen, but somehow the desire dropped off. I’ve become quite lazy because it all seems pointless. Material possessions don’t make you happy.” It was suggested that imagining that this is the last moment of your life can help you to focus on what is really important.
One person has problems with negative emotions because his wife who has serious medical problems tends to get very negative about it and this rubs off on him. He has tried to teach her about not expressing negativity, but it has had no effect. It was suggested that instead of trying to teach her, he should simply be with her quietly in a spirit of love and compassion. Another group member who also has a relative who is very ill said that she had come to realise that this is the only approach that is helpful. We think we should rush around trying to find something to do that would help, but that is not the answer. What is needed is love and stillness.