“It’s so wonderful to be in England again,” Janet commented. “I’m sure I’ve never felt so good in all my life.”
“Me, too, Janet, I feel like I’m walking on cloud nine and I don’t really know why. I just have this feeling that we are about to find something incredible.”
“I have that same feeling, Eric. That talk we had last night regarding Andy’s belief that we have freedom of thought and a free will, for some reason it really got me and today I’m still trying to figure it all out.”
We agreed to ask him on his return to explain the difference between the two.
Chapter Twelve
Freedom of Choice and Evolution
Two hours later, we met Andy at his favorite cafe and we continued our conversation as planned. Janet explained to Andy that, as always after a talk with him, we were a little confused. “We were wondering what the difference is between our free will and our freedom of thought?”
He replied with no hesitation, “They are both the same power with two different names.”
Observing the mystified look on our faces, he said, “Just think about it for a while and I’m sure that you’ll see that one cannot possibly have a free will, without the freedom of thought. As I just said, they are both the same power in a different disguise.”
Janet sat in deep contemplation for several minutes and then explained to Andy that there are many scholars who would disagree that there even is such a thing as a free will.
Smiling, Andy asked Janet, “ If their personal opinion regarding life isn’t their free will in action, what is it?
“Now remember, Janet, there is a vast difference between your free will and your freedom of action. Nobody can take away your free will. Your free will is whatever you think is right or wrong. It allows you to see life through your own eyes.
“But freedom of action is not always possible for any number of reasons. For example, we could have anarchy if everybody just did what they wanted. This is why we need laws to protect the community as a whole.”
After a short silence Janet responded, “I never thought of it that way.”
“Now bear in mind,” Andy continued, “I’m not judging who is right or who is wrong, nor am I saying one belief is better than another. I’m simply saying that the same process creates all our personal beliefs. Anything that you are aware of must come through your personal thought system by using the Three Principles and your free will.
“Think of it this way, Janet. We are all thinking creatures. Inside our heads we judge what we believe and what we disbelieve. This is our free will in action and every moment of our lives we make decisions using our own thinking. This is why we human beings were blessed with this glorious gift of Thought.
“Please understand, I am simply trying to tell you that there’s a deeper level of understanding of your profession than either of you are aware of at the present moment. That’s why it gives me so much pleasure to hear that your last visit to England was so beneficial to you.”
Janet shrugged her shoulders, glanced over at me with a look of wonderment, and then nodded her head in acknowledgement of Andy’s words. “I can’t begin to understand everything you were saying, Andy, but I would certainly like to thank you for all your help. You’ve made a tremendous contribution to my quality of life.”
Andy shyly answered, “You know, Janet, at times like this I feel a little embarrassed at the thought of my suggesting something to you regarding your own profession. After all, I'm only an old, retired gardener.”
Janet reached out and took Andy’s hand in hers. “Andy, I am absolutely enthralled by your beliefs regarding the workings of the mind. It’s like a breath of fresh air to both Eric and me.”
“I appreciate your kind words, Luv, but all I'm telling you is simple common sense. As far as I’m concerned, for any profession to grow, regardless of which profession it may be, there has to be a shift into a higher state of understanding.
“I realize that for some people to accept new findings it can require courage, for they may start to believe that their training was all in vain—of course that’s nonsense.
“It’s simply a matter of evolution and evolution has been happening everyday since day one and it will continue to do so.”
“That’s exactly how I felt,” Janet remarked. “I thought to myself, ‘Have I gone through all this training for nothing?’ Then one night it came to me—if I listened to what Andy was saying, surely I would have the common sense and the ability to see for myself what works and what doesn’t. After all, I still had my old training, only now I have a little extra. Maybe!”
I laughed at Janet’s way of putting things.
“The medical doctors do this all the time and once they find something that works better, they cast away the old and work with the new,” she commented.
I explained to Andy, “When Einstein came up with his famous equation E=mc2, it was not arrived at directly through his formal training. That’s one of the reasons the scientific community had so much trouble accepting his theory. When it was finally accepted, as you just said, Janet, they cast away their old ideas and looked at the new There’s no shame cast upon the old ways—it’s a matter of evolution— the discovery of something new and better.”
Janet looked over at me and shrugged her shoulders, “I wonder if anything like that will ever happen in our field?”
“Certainly, Luv, and if you look carefully, you will see that both of you have already jumped the boundaries of time and gone ahead of whatever you used to think regarding the workings of your own profession.”
Andy’s confidence was astounding. We were flabbergasted by the assurance in his voice and the certainty with which he stated his conviction that we had advanced well beyond our formal training. I asked him how he could be so sure that we had.
“That I can’t explain to you, Eric, and to be truthful, I have no intention of even trying. You must see it for yourself, and when you do, I guarantee that you will find difficulty believing the simplicity of your find.”
Both Janet and I just sat there, sipping our coffee and wondering what the old gardener was talking about.
Then very casually he said, “Let’s put it this way. Haven’t both of you been telling me of the positive changes in your lives and your work?”
“Yes, we have,” I replied.
“Now I ask you, was it your training that brought your new-found success, or was it something that you discovered deep within the recesses of your own consciousness?”
“I never looked at it that way,” Janet remarked, “but it is true—I know understanding even the smallest amount about the workings of the principles and how they relate to our daily life brings incredible benefits.”
I completely agreed with Janet. “It’s becoming more and more apparent to me that the little knowledge we’ve found regarding the workings of our thoughts is responsible for creating our successes. Andy, I feel there is so much more to learn—at times I worry I’m not doing enough to help my clients.”
Andy shook his head, saying, “If I were you, Eric, I wouldn’t sell myself too short. If you pair look at the results you’ve had in the past year, you will see that both of you are doing a lot more good for your clients than you realize.