"Yes, I really do want to hear more," Peter answered. "You triggered my curiosity when you said that the world as we know it is a psychological phenomenon. What on earth did you mean?"
The gardener moved closer to the fountain and leaned against its edge. "The way I see it, young man, we were given three special gifts to assist us through life. They are Universal Mind, which is the source of all intelligence; Universal Consciousness, which allows us to be aware of our existence; and Universal Thought, which guides us through the world we live in as free-thinking agents.
"Together, these three components are the golden threads from which all human experience is woven. No one can exist without them; they are the necessary components through which we acknowledge life. Without any one of these three principles, life would not exist for any human being. They are the psychological trinity of all human functioning."
There was a long silence as the four of us tried to absorb the gardener's answer.
Andy scratched his head for a little while. "Let me put it another way," he said. "It is my belief that life is a cosmic stage. To enable us to play our part in this universal drama, we were given the three special gifts I just mentioned. But keep in mind, these three gifts are completely neutral. It is what you as a thinker do with them that is important."
Still a bit puzzled, I said, "Are you saying that if we can understand the correlation between Universal Mind, Universal Consciousness and Universal Thought, this understanding will bring us some of the answers that we seek?"
With a nod of his head, and another smile beginning to play at the corners of his mouth,
Andy simply replied, "Yes."
Peter countered, "Surely it's not that simple! Many learned people throughout time have searched in vain for such answers. Have you any idea of the enormous task in finding just one thing that will help in our field? Do you realize the amount of research required?"
After a long silence, Andy said, "As I already told you, I know very little of how you therapists function—and I'm afraid I lack the memory and intelligence to understand or retain all of your terminology. But, to satisfy an old man's curiosity, tell me something—anything—that you can be aware of without any one of these three gifts."
Tom immediately retorted, "What about our emotions?"
"No," Andy replied. "To have an emotion, one must have Thought to create the emotion and Consciousness to be aware of it."
"What about our moods?" Peter asked. "Are you saying moods don't create our thoughts?"
"On the contrary," answered Andy. "It is the very opposite! Our thoughts allow our moods to exist."
Janet had a startled look on her face. She asked Andy, "What do you consider to be the role of thought in our lives?"
"The way I see it, Luv,
Universal Thought is the mystical paint brush,
and the reality you survey is the picture it creates."
Andy's reply made Janet grin from ear to ear.
"What about our insecurities?" Peter challenged.
Before Andy could reply, I answered Peter's question with a question of my own: "How can you possibly have an insecure thought without a thought?"
Peter slowly moved his head up and down in acknowledgment of my answer.
"You know, Peter," I said, "when I first listened to Andy a year ago, I felt the way you do. And to be honest, I still don't comprehend very much of what he is trying to tell us. But more and more each day, I'm starting to understand that I can change my own thoughts to a more positive outlook on life—and that such a change will be enormously beneficial to me."
"It really shows," Peter said. "You look great. You must be doing something right to be so successful and so happy at the same time! I'd certainly like to know what it is."
With great bitterness, Tom declared that Andy's answers were simply outside the scope of psychology and that he completely failed to see the relationship between what Andy was saying and the study of mental health.
All four of us looked over at the gardener, wondering what he would say to this.
As usual, he didn't answer the way we expected he would. In his very quiet English voice, Andy said, "Let's journey down another path and have a closer look at what my simple mind is trying to convey. Please be patient with me. After all, I don't have an advanced education like you learned doctors; I only have a degree in agriculture and I'm sure our vocabularies will differ considerably. These three gifts I just talked about are the filters of your soul. Or, as you psychologists would probably prefer to say, these three gifts are the filters to your psyche. When any one of these filters gets obscured, we fail to see life with any degree of clarity. This in turn leads to what I believe you therapists sometimes call a dysfunctional life."Then with an immense grin on his face, Andy asked us to excuse him for a little while so he could gather some tools for his next task.
Chapter 5
The Nature of Thought
After Andy left, Tom had no hesitation in letting us know that he thought the old gardener was as crazy as a hoot owl.
Janet suggested, "Perhaps we shouldn't judge the man. After all, we did ask for his opinion. He's simply putting in his two bits' worth, just like us."
Tom resolutely insisted that the gardener had no right to make such outlandish statements. "Personally, I think it might be a good idea if your gardener friend sought some professional help, Eric. I think he's more than a little delusional," he fumed.
Janet asked Tom why he was getting so upset by the old gardener's words. "If you think he's delusional, why are you bothered by what he says?" she gently prodded. "Surely you should be above letting him get to you."
Peter listened to Janet, then said, "Wait a minute! Janet's correct in her observation. Why are we letting this old guy get to us? I mean, we are all qualified therapists who should be able to entertain the occasional new theory without becoming upset, regardless of its source."
Tom stubbornly resisted. "There is nothing to think about," he sputtered. "As far as I'm concerned, the old gardener was talking nonsense. That is what's bothering me."
I started to tell Tom about my trip to India— that I had met enlightened people who talked in a mystical manner, and how at times they had my mind totally confused. But instead I surprised even myself by saying, "Who knows? Maybe Andy is enlightened."
"That's a laugh," said Tom. "An enlightened gardener!"
"I know the possibility is remote," I conceded. "But if Andy is enlightened, do you have any idea how lucky we are to be here talking with him? After all, some people travel all over the world searching for such a person and never find one."
No sooner had I said these words then Andy returned with his tools. "I really have to do some work or I'll be getting sacked from my job," he said with a bright smile.
I asked Andy if he would answer just one more question before we left him to his work. He nodded his agreement.
"What difference do you see between the things you talk about and some of the present, widely accepted theories of psychology?" I asked.
The gardener answered, "I don't rightly know what you people believe or don't believe. I only know what I know: Within the soul of all human beings, there lies an innate spiritual knowledge that has the power to repair mental disturbances."