fter the gardener left, the four of us looked at each other in total disbelief and burst into peals of laughter.
"You were right," Peter said. "The old guy is rather enigmatic, to say the least. But like Tom, I can't help but think that maybe he just has the gift of the blarney. I seriously doubt that many of his assumptions will hold water. Personally, I think he's just a nice old man who loves to talk."
"I can't imagine how he came up with all his .unusual notions," Janet added. "I have to admit, he certainly is a unique character. You definitely don't meet someone like him every day—at least I don't! But whether or not there's any validity to what he is saying is another matter. And yet, I instinctively feel that there is truth in some of what he says. I'd sure like to talk with him again, if for no other reason than sheer curiosity."
That evening at supper, the entire restaurant was abuzz with people discussing the presentations
of the day's speakers. Our table was no different, except that we talked about the gardener.
We discussed our feelings and our thoughts about Andy's unusual theories on life. Janet and I agreed that his philosophical views were powerful and had the ring of truth to them. Tom and Peter, on the other hand, were definitely skeptical of everything the gardener had said. Tom had a par-ticularly hard time giving any credibility to the gardener's views.
I attempted to explain to Tom and Peter that it had become clearer and clearer to me during the past year just how much my thoughts controlled my own personal life.
Peter became very serious. "Eric, it's very obvious that you are seeing something I'm not.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but what I am hearing you say is that you are starting to believe that thoughts are one of the main sources of everyone's behavior and that thoughts are also the basis of all our personal realities."
"When you think about it Peter, how could we possibly function as human beings without thought?" I asked.
"That may be true," Peter responded. "Maybe we couldn't function without thoughts. But what good will that knowledge do me?"
Janet interrupted before I could answer Peter's question. "You know, all my life, as far as I can remember, I've always wondered to what extent our thoughts affected our lives," she said.
"That's why I've always figured it is cruel to take clients back into past traumatic experiences and watch them needlessly reliving their hellish ordeals.
When you think about it, all we are doing is asking them to keep dwelling on things that are painful to them. As a therapist, I've honestly never seen it do much good. This new approach of yours, Eric, sounds much gentler and friendlier—and if it works, it would be incredible."
"Do you think that some of your clients hon-estly believe they are actually starting to free them-selves from their traumatic experiences and memories of their childhood?" Tom demanded skeptically. "We all know that our personal and mental structure is learned at an early age and can't be changed. As far as I'm concerned, the most you can teach people is how to cope."
"You know, Tom, I once asked Andy about that very thing," I replied. "Do you know what he said? 'Merely coping with your memories is like putting a bucket under a leaky roof. It would be only a temporary solution and, in the long run, of very little value. It might even allow the original problem to get worse.'"
Janet suggested to Tom that his negative out-look in life wouldn't give himself or his clients much hope. "What was it Andy said today?" she mused. "Oh yes, he said,
'All you have to do is realize that the past is now only a
ghostly memory kept alive by digging into the archives of your own stagnated
memories.'"
Tears began to run down Janet's cheeks as she said, "I have to admit these are very powerful words.
I don't know why, but they mean a lot to me. I feel them right here," she said, pointing to her heart.
This was the first time I'd ever seen this kind of reaction from Janet, and I'd certainly never before heard such interesting and profound philo-sophical discussions between Janet, Tom and Peter. Whatever the gardener was saying, he was certainly having quite an effect on the four of us.
Peter said, "I just remembered a professor in college, Professor Allan, who told me that all the research he had done on mental health indicated that it was always the patients' thoughts which dictated the final course of their actions. I don't think he felt people could control the contents of their thoughts.
But he had a strong suspicion that thoughts are somehow connected to an inevitable outcome. That professor didn't have the answer to how it all worked, but he was certainly trying his best. He was a really nice guy and a damn good teacher." Then, with a chuckle, he said, "I wonder what Professor Allan would think of this conversation?"