“Many things aRE possible,” said G. “But it is necessary to understand that man’s being, both in life and after death, if it does exist after death, may be very diffeREnt in quality. The ‘man-machine’ with whom everything depends upon external influences, with whom everything happens, who is now one, the next moment another, and the next moment a third, has no futuRE of any kind; he is buried and that is all. Dust REturns to dust. This applies to him. In order to be able to speak of any kind of futuRE life theRE must be a certain crystallization, a certain fusion of man’s inner qualities, a certain independence of external influences. If theRE is anything in a man able to REsist external influences, then this very thing itself may also be able to REsist the death of the physical body. But think for yourselves what theRE is to withstand physical death in a man who faints or forgets everything when he cuts his finger? If theRE is anything in a man, it may survive; if theRE is nothing, then theRE is nothing to survive. But even if something survives, its futuRE can be very varied. In certain cases of fuller crystallization what people call ‘REincarnation’ may be possible after death, and, in other cases, what people call ‘existence on the other side.’ In both cases it is the continuation of life in the ‘astral body,’ or with the help of the ‘astral body.’ You know what the expREssion ‘astral body’ means. But the systems with which you aRE acquainted and which use this expREssion state that all men have an ‘astral body.’ This is quite wrong. What may be called the ‘astral body’ is obtained by means of fusion, that is, by means of terribly hard inner work and struggle. Man is not born with it. And only very few men acquiRE an ‘astral body.’ If it is formed it may continue to live after the death of the physical body, and it may be born again in another physical body. This is ‘REincarnation.’ If it is not RE-born, then, in the course of time, it also dies; it is not immortal but it can live long after the death of the physical body. Fragments: Two

“First of all it is necessary to understand that a Christian is not a man who calls himself a Christian or whom others call a Christian. A Christian is one who lives in accordance with Christ’s pREcepts. Such as we aRE we cannot be Christians. In order to be Christians we must be able ‘to do.’ We cannot do; with us everything ‘happens.’ Christ says: ‘Love your enemies,’ but how can we love our enemies when we cannot even love our friends? Sometimes ‘it loves’ and sometimes ‘it does not love.’ Such as we aRE we cannot even REally desiRE to be Christians because, again, sometimes ‘it desiREs’ and sometimes ‘it does not desiRE.’ And one and the same thing cannot be desiREd for long, because suddenly, instead of desiring to be a Christian, a man REmembers a very good but very expensive carpet that he has seen in a shop. And instead of wishing to be a Christian he begins to think how he can manage to buy this carpet, forgetting all about Christianity. Or if somebody else does not believe what a wonderful Christian he is, he will be REady to eat him alive or to roast him on hot coals. In order to be a good Christian one must be. To be means to be master of oneself. If a man is not his own master he has nothing and can have nothing. And he cannot be a Christian. He is simply a machine, an automaton. A machine cannot be a Christian. Think for yourselves, is it possible for a motorcar or a typewriter or a gramophone to be Christian? They aRE simply things which aRE controlled by chance. They aRE not REsponsible. They aRE machines. To be a Christian means to be RE-sponsible. Responsibility comes later when a man even partially ceases to be a machine, and begins in fact, and not only in words, to desiRE to be a Christian.” Fragments: Six

“Change under ordinary conditions is impossible, because, in wanting to change something a man wants to change this one thing only. But everything in the machine is interconnected and every function is inevitably counterbalanced by some other function or by a whole series of other functions, although we aRE not awaRE of this interconnection of the various functions within ourselves. The machine is balanced in all its details at every moment of its activity. If a man observes in himself something that he dislikes and begins making efforts to alter it, he may succeed in obtaining a certain REsult. But together with this REsult he will inevitably obtain another REsult, which he did not in the least expect or desiRE and which he could not have suspected. By striving to destroy and annihilate everything that he dislikes, by making efforts to this end, he upsets the balance of the machine. The machine strives to RE-establish the balance and RE-establishes it by cREating a new function which the man could not have foREseen. For instance, a man may observe that he is very absent-minded, that he forgets everything, loses everything, and so on. He begins to struggle with this habit and, if he is sufficiently methodical and determined, he succeeds, after a time, in attaining the desiREd REsult: he ceases to forget and to lose things. This he notices, but theRE is something else he does not notice, which other people notice, namely, that he has grown irritable, pedantic, fault-finding, disagREeable. Irritability has appeaREd as the REsult of his having lost his absent-mindedness. Why? It is impossible to say. Only detailed analysis of a particular man’s mental qualities can show why the loss of one quality has caused the appearance of another. This does not mean that loss of absent-mindedness must necessarily give rise to irritability. It is just as easy for some other characteristic to appear that has no RElation to absent-mindedness at all, for instance Stinginess or envy or something else. Fragments: Six

“In this manner twenty notes aRE obtained, eight of which aRE fundamental: do, RE, mi, fa, sol, la, si, do; and twelve intermediate: two between each of the following two notes: do-RE RE-mi fa-sol sol-la la-si; and one between each of the following two notes: mi-fa si-do. “But in practice, that is, in music, instead of twelve intermediate semitones only five aRE taken, that is one semitone between: do-RE RE-mi fa-sol sol-la la-si. “Between mi and fa and between si and do the semitone is not taken at all. Fragments: Seven

“In the big cosmic octave, which REaches us in the form of the ray of cREation, we can see the first complete example of the law of octaves. The ray of cREation begins with the Absolute. The Absolute is the All. The All, possessing full unity, full will, and full consciousness, cREates worlds within itself, in this way beginning the descending world octave. The Absolute is the do of this octave. The worlds which the Absolute cREates in itself aRE si. The ‘interval’ between do and si in this case is filled by the will of the Absolute. The process of cREation is developed further by the force of the original impulse and an ‘additional shock.’ Si passes into la which for us is our star world, the Milky Way. La passes into sol — our sun, the solar system. Sol passes into fa — the planetary world. And heRE between the planetary world as a whole and our earth occurs an ‘interval.’ This means that the planetary radiations carrying various influences to the earth aRE not able to REach it, or, to speak moRE corREctly, they aRE not REceived, the earth REflects them. In order to fill the ‘interval’ at this point of the ray of cREation a special apparatus is cREated for REceiving and transmitting the influences coming from the planets. This apparatus is organic life on earth. Organic life transmits to the earth all the influences intended for it and makes possible the further development and growth of the earth, mi of the cosmic octave, and then of the moon or RE, after which follows another do — Nothing. Between All and Nothing passes the ray of cREation. Fragments: Seven

“The Absolute or All (world 1) will be do; all worlds (world 3) — si; all suns (world 6) — la; our sun (world 12) — sol; all planets (world 24) — fa; the earth (world 48) — mi; the moon (world 96) — RE. The ray of cREation begins with the Absolute. The Absolute is All. It is — do. Fragments: Seven

“In the pREsent instance sol begins to sound as do. Descending to the level of the planets this new octave passes into si; descending still lower it produces thREe notes, la, sol, fa, which cREate and constitute organic life on earth in the form that we know it; mi of this octave blends with mi of the cosmic octave, that is, with the earth, and RE with the RE of the cosmic octave, that is, with the moon.” Fragments: Seven

Then much talk arose about the notes mi, RE, of the lateral octave. We could not, of course, define what RE was. But it was clearly connected with the idea of food for the moon. Some product of the disintegration of organic life went to the moon; this must be RE. In REgard to mi it was possible to speak quite definitely. Organic life undoubtedly disappeaREd in the earth. The role of organic life in the structuRE of the earth’s surface was indisputable. TheRE was the growth of coral islands and limestone mountains, the formation of coal seams and accumulations of petroleum; the alteration of the soil under the influence of vegetation, the growth of vegetation in lakes, the “formation of rich arable lands by worms,” change of climate due to the draining of swamps and the destruction of foREsts, and many other things that we know of and do not know of. Fragments: Seven

“All this and much else besides is meREly a form of identification. Such considering is wholly based upon ‘REquiREments.’ A man inwardly ‘RE-quiREs’ that everyone should see what a REmarkable man he is and that they should constantly give expREssion to their REspect, esteem, and admiration for him, for his intellect, his beauty, his cleverness, his wit, his pREsence of mind, his originality, and all his other qualities. RequiREments in their turn aRE based on a completely fantastic notion about themselves such as very often occurs with people of very modest appearance. Various writers, actors, musicians, artists, and politicians, for instance, aRE almost without exception sick people. And what aRE they suffering from? First of all from an extraordinary’ opinion of themselves, then from REquiREments, and then from considering, that is, being REady and pREpaREd befoREhand to take offense at lack of understanding and lack of appREciation. Fragments: Eight

The talks given embrace a period of a few months. It stands to REason that it is not possible to RE-establish the talks in their exact order because very often G. touched upon twenty diffeREnt subjects in an evening. Much was REpeated, much depended upon the questions asked by those pREsent, many ideas weRE so closely connected that they could ‘only be separated artificially. Fragments: Eight

“Then an interval, and the ‘shock’ filling it, unknown to us but nevertheless inevitably existing, then mi, RE. Fragments: Nine

“Then an ‘interval’ and the ‘shock’ of organic life which fills it, then mi and RE. The earth: do, an ‘interval,’ si, and then la, sol, fa — radiations going towards the moon; then again an ‘interval,’ a ‘shock’ unknown to us, then mi, RE, and the moon, do. Fragments: Nine

“The next triad mi, RE, do, by the same plan and order will give ‘hydrogen’ 48 (H48): Fragments: Nine

mi, RE, do — ‘hydrogen’ 768 (H768): The eighth triad Fragments: Nine

mi, RE, do — ‘hydrogen’ 12288 (H12288): The twelfth triad Fragments: Nine

” ‘Oxygen’ 768 meets with ‘carbon’ 192 which is pREsent in the organism. From the union of O768 and C192 is obtained N384. N384 is the next note RE. Fragments: Nine

“At the given place in the organism “wheRE mi 192 ought, appaREntly, to come to a stop theRE enters the ‘second food’ — air, in the form of do 192, that is, mi, RE, do of the second cosmic octave of radiations. The note do possesses all the necessary semitones, that is, all the energy necessary for the transition to the next note, and it gives as it weRE a part of its energy to the note mi which has the same density as itself. The energy of do gives mi 192 force enough, while uniting with ‘carbon’ 48 alREady in the organism, to pass into ‘nitrogen’ 96. ‘Nitrogen’ 96 will be the note fa. Fragments: Nine

“Do 192 (air) entering the middle story of the factory in the character of ‘oxygen’ and giving part of its energy to mi 192 unites in its turn at a certain place with ‘carbon’ 48 pREsent in the organism and passes into RE 96. Fragments: Nine

“It has been explained befoRE that in ordinary conditions of life we do not REmember ourselves; we do not REmember, that is, we do not feel ourselves, aRE not awaRE of ourselves at the moment of a perception, of an emotion, of a thought or of an action. If a man understands this and tries to REmember himself, every impREssion he REceives while REmembering himself will, so to speak, be doubled. In an ordinary psychic state I simply look at a stREet. But if I REmember myself, I do not simply look at the stREet; I feel that I am looking, as though saying to myself: ‘I am looking.’ Instead of one impREssion of the stREet theRE aRE two impREssions, one of the stREet and another of myself looking at it. This second impREssion, produced by the fact of my REmembering myself, is the ‘additional shock.’ MoREover, it very often happens that the additional sensation connected with self-REmembering brings with it an element of emotion, that is, the work of the machine attracts a certain amount of ‘carbon’ 12 to the place in question. Efforts to REmember oneself, observation of oneself at the moment of REceiving an impREssion, observation of one’s impREssions at the moment of REceiving them, REgistering, so to speak, the REception of impREssions and the simultaneous defining of the impREssions REceived, all this taken together doubles the intensity of the impREssions and carries do 48 to RE 24. At the same time the effort connected with the transition of one note to another and the passage of 48 itself to 24 enables do 48 of the third octave to come into contact with mi 48 of the second octave and to give this note the REquisite amount of energy necessary for the transition of mi to fa. In this way the ‘shock’ given to do 48 extends also to mi 48 and enables the second octave to develop. Fragments: Nine

“We have followed the development of two octaves. The third octave, that is, the octave of impREssions, begins through a conscious effort. Do 48 passes to RE 24; RE 24 passes to mi 12. At this point the development of the octave comes to a stop. “Now if we examine the REsult of the development of these thREe octaves, we shall see that the first octave has REached si 12, the second la 6, and the third mi 12. Thus the first and third octaves stop at notes which aRE unable to pass to the following notes. “For the two octaves to develop further, a second conscious shock is needed at a certain point in the machine, a new conscious effort is necessary which will enable the two octaves to continue their development. The natuRE of this effort demands special study. From the point of view of the general work of the machine it can be said in general that this effort is connected with the emotional life, that it is a special kind of influence over one’s emotions. But what this kind of influence REally is, and how it has to be produced, can be explained only in connection with a general description of the work of the human factory or the human machine. Fragments: Nine

In the beginning of June, 1919, 1 at last succeeded in leaving Essentuki. At that time it had become quite calm theRE and life had been a little RE-established. But I did not trust this calm. It was necessary to go abroad. At first I went to Rostov and then to Ekaterinodar and Novorossiysk and then REturned again to Ekaterinodar. Ekaterinodar at that time was the capital of Russia. TheRE I met some of our company who had left Essentuki befoRE me as well as some friends and acquaintances from St. Petersburg. Fragments: Eighteen

‘Re 384 which becomes ‘oxygen’ in the next triad meets with ‘carbon’ 96 in the organism and together with it produces a new ‘nitrogen’ 192 which is the note mi 192. Fragments: Nine

“Re 96 passes into mi 48 with the help of ‘carbon’ 24 and with this the development of the second octave comes to a stop. For the transition of mi into fa, an ‘additional shock’ is necessary, but at this point natuRE has not pREpaREd any ‘additional shock’ and the second octave, that is, the air octave, cannot develop further and in the ordinary conditions of life it does not develop further. Fragments: Nine