I asked Andy if he realized that his theories would eliminate most Freudian concepts of ego if they were adopted by our profession.
"Have you any idea what this would do to the field?" Peter inquired.
In a warm and compassionate voice, Andy said, "Yes, I think I have a good idea. Believe me, Peter, never in a million years will you find an answer to mental stability by investigating what you are calling the ego."
Janet looked over at Peter, waiting for his reply. When none came, she asked Andy, "What do you mean when you say our true identity is beyond the ego or personality."
"Our true identity is of a spiritual nature, and it is hidden in the very depths of each living soul on earth," Andy replied. "It is only the mortal minds of humanity that live in a duality with the illusionary ego."
Janet looked puzzled. "I realize this may sound a little odd," she said, "but at times I get a glimmer of what you are saying—just a quick flash. But the moment I try to think back to what you have said, that little flash completely vanishes."
Peter looked first at me, then at Janet, with complete bewilderment in his eyes, not knowing how to counter Andy's silence.
After a considerable period of silence, I said, "You know, Andy, when I was in India, I honestly never related what the Buddhists said about ego being a delusion to the Freudian ego I had been taught about at school. I have certainly never considered them to be the same ego seen from two different points of view."
Even as I said those words, I thought to myself, "Which one is most likely to be correct? On one hand we have an extraordinarily enlightened man, Buddha, saying ego is a delusion. On the other hand we have a physician and scholar, Dr. Freud, saying that ego is a reality. Which one is correct?"
Chapter 15
The Picnic
As the conference was drawing to an end, we were invited by Emily and Andy to join them on a picnic. After the morning session, as we'd agreed, Andy drove up to the hotel right on schedule. We four piled into our rental car and followed Andy to the picnic site. After a scenic drive that lasted about 20 minutes—over twisting country roads that occasionally afforded glimpses of delightful old manor houses, and lanes so narrow that we once had to back up and pull off the road for an oncoming car—we arrived at one of the most picturesque spots I'd ever seen.
Emily was waiting for us with some refreshing tea and lemonade. The place she and Andy had chosen was absolutely breathtaking. We sat beneath an old oak tree overlooking a farm Emily said was more than 600 years old; Andy figured the tree itself was at least 300 years old.
Sitting in silence for the longest time, we watched the sheep and cows grazing in the pastures below. How peaceful the English countryside appeared, especially when compared to the bustle of Denver's downtown traffic!
Janet offered to help Emily with the simple preparations, and after a while, they announced the food was ready and that we should all help ourselves. We continued to sit in silence, enjoying our lunch and admiring the beauty of our surroundings.
After a while, Andy asked Tom how he had enjoyed Warwick Castle. Tom very sheepishly admitted that, due to unforeseen circumstances, he and both his colleagues had instead visited the local pub and spent the rest of the day there. "We never did see the castle, but those three did," he said, pointing at Janet, Peter and me.
"Did you find the castle interesting?" Emily asked us.
Peter said that the three of us had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and found the entire tour to be fascinating and informative. "You'll never believe this," he exclaimed. "The guide told us that, in some parts of England, if you were suspected of being a witch they'd hang you from a pole by your feet and dip you into the river time and time again. If you drowned, the church would apologize, your death having proved that you were not a witch, and give you a Christian burial. However, if you lived through the horrendous ordeal, that was proof, as far as they were concerned, that you were a witch. In that case, they would burn you at the stake. Talk about a catch-22 situation! Either way, as soon as they nabbed you, it was 'adios amigo.'"
We all smiled at the horrified expression on Janet's face as Peter was telling his story. Smiling,
Emily looked over at Janet and said soothingly, "Don't worry, Luv, we no longer do those kinds of things. We've all become a bit more civilized."
A calming silence prevailed as we were again lulled by the beauty of the English countryside. We munched our sandwiches as contentedly as the black and white cows in the next paddock munched the grass.
The ever-curious Peter once again broke the tranquillity of the afternoon by asking Andy if he had any idea just how many books there were pertaining to the mental health field. "It makes it very difficult to choose who to believe or whose concepts to follow," Peter said.
"I imagine there must be countless thousands," Andy replied. "I guess all you can do is believe only what your heart feels is right. My advice is,
Let no one create your destiny."
"Agreed," I answered. "But how many times are we swayed one way or another, only to have to rectify our misunderstandings?"
Andy stood erect, stretching his back, and said, "I believe rectifying your mistakes is called getting experience, and I doubt if there's any end to the number of times you or I may have to do that.
"The way I see it," Andy continued, "Followers lose their God-given freedom of Thought, whereas listeners still maintain this precious gift because they are not tied into any one person's opinion or any one school of thought. Now, when you went to school, I'm sure you had a favorite teacher whom you admired, someone who helped and guided you when you really needed it."
"I remember just such a teacher," Janet said, "a Mrs. Horner. She taught algebra with an unyielding belief that none of her students should ever try to memorize her lectures, saying that her students should be trying to understand the principles behind what she was trying to convey. Throughout the entire semester, she would say with a very gracious manner, 'Memorizing this material may get you through your exam, but you will soon forget it. Do you know why? Because you won't understand the very foundation of algebra.' Then she would say, 'Only if you try to understand the fundamental principles will you understand my words; only then will the logic of algebra remain with you for the rest of your life."
"You had a very wise teacher," Andy said. "Now I am suggesting the very same thing as your teacher. You have to find and understand the basic principles of our psychological functioning if you want to get away from all the guesswork."
"Are you really suggesting," Tom snorted, "that these three basic principles of yours—Mind, Conscious and Thought—lead to the understanding of all psychological functions, just like the basic algebraic principles lead to the understanding of algebra?"
"Yes, that is what I am saying," Andy replied softly.
Once again, Andy's answer surprised the four of us. I knew for certain that none of my colleagues had ever had any training regarding such principles; we hadn't even heard of their existence. I couldn't imagine where Andy got such remarkable ideas.
"I don't now that I can agree with you on this," Peter said. "It's simply impossible to turn psychology into a science like algebra. There are too many variables!"
Tom's face turned bright red as he sputtered, "It is very obvious, Andy, that your oversimplification of this entire subject proves you don't understand the enormity of the number of determinants to human behavior."