The three steps of the case witnessing process namely Passive, Active and Active-active can be observed in everywhere, the 3 steps from effort to effortlessness, from non-coordination to coordination are a universal phenomenon.
The three steps are not only limited to the phenomenon of case witnessing but they have an universal appeal regarding any other phenomenon in nature, what I learnt further in these 3 steps is elicited by the Guerdigeff as “the law of three”. It is the basis of all the structures and processes within the universe and man. Now applying this law to any phenomenon in nature we can see that discovery of every phenomenon in nature moves in these 3 steps.
The 1st step: In the first step we commence with open ended effort, it is a scientific logical effort, in this initial stage for any phenomenon in general the effort is not directed in a particular route we give free floating attention to all the elements in the phenomenon, it is non-coordinated, not connected.
In Step 2: Coordination and connection is initialized, as we continue to apply scientific logical effort gradually the different scattered but peculiar elements of the phenomenon start aligning, and this beginning of coordination and connection is a hint that we are on the right track.
The Step 3: At this stage the initial effort gradually turns effortless and you know that you are now putting effortless intuitive effort and all the elements in the phenomenon start getting coordinated and connected into a meaningful whole. It is like practicing meditation,
Buddha says:
First, great effort is needed, and then great surrender too.
That is the meaning of the Zen people saying that “effortless effort” is needed.
A great harmony is needed of effort and no-effort.
If you rely on only your effort, you will never reach; if you rely only on God’s grace, you will never reach.
The possibility to reach arises only when you have done all that you can do. Only at that moment does the universe shower on you, not before it.
Then you can relax.
The process of meditation goes from effort to effortlessness, wherein initially we require intense concentration as there is a constant chatter within our mind that goes on, our mind runs from one thought to other, later we learn to concentrate on meditation as we learn to just let the thoughts pass, and meditation starts becoming coordinated. Our mind, breath, body are together in the process, as we keep practising it slowly the entire process becomes effortless, our whole body is in unison in this process, we learn to be in the moment, and our awareness increases.
In physics, Newton put immense conscious effort in understanding the fall of the apple and the pull of the gravity before he announced his invention to the world. He applied the scientific truths that he knew for days, weeks and months before one fine day effortlessly making the invention that is now universally applicable.
This state which goes from conscious effort to subconscious effortless I started visualizing in all the phenomenon in nature, rather I realized that we use it in our day to day life too!!
That is during the process of making a perfectly baked round “ROTI (Indian Bread)”!!! When we are learning to make “roti” it requires the right consistency of the batter, the right quantity of batter to fit the exact size and the right circular movement of the rollpin to make it round. In the first step we make a conscious effort, we follow all the instructions given to us, taking things as they are, follow each step properly so that we don’t spoil any of the rotis, right from preparing the batter till putting the roti on the pan. Here we see that initially there is a lot of uncoordinated effort to get the roti right, sometimes we roll the roti more in one direction and sometimes we spread it so much that it is thick from one side and very thin from the other side. But as we put more and more practice to it, slowly we move towards coordinated skills (second step) and in the third step it is almost effortless, like subconscious coordination, where everything happens just in the right manner, our hands flow and we are able to make beautiful round roti almost effortless while managing hundred things around.
In the first step there is a phase where we put open ended scientific effort, it is not directed in any particular direction, the end result of this effort is non-coordinated, and everything is yet very disoriented. This takes us to the second step, in this scientific effort continues, but slowly there is more clarity and all the elements of the phenomenon start getting connected, and coordinated as we get a master key which unlocks many doors for us so we move further. In the third step with help of this master key, now everything becomes automatic, effortless, all the elements become coordinated and connected into one single phenomenon. Thus, by putting conscious, scientific effort in one direction, the whole journey becomes intuitively effortless.
I started observing the universality of these tree steps in every phenomenon in nature, another example of this 3 step process I saw in the very primitive phenomenon also!!
I would like to share here, my observations of the very primitive stages of civilization, the Bushman’s tribe and their tracking process of hunting an animal2. In tracking, the first step of hunting is simple yet scientific. On each outing the trackers systematically take note of all signs of animal movement. This information enables the tracker to get a clear picture and to formulate further strategies. On walking for some distance they start running along the footsteps. In the second step, the trackers try to become one with the animal. While doing that they also understand the animal type, size, sex and the depth of the footsteps. By reconstructing their movements from their footprints, the tracker is able to visualize the animals even though no further tracks may be seen. This is the third step where the whole story unfolds. Now it is possible to follow the animal and actually ‘see’ them as the tracker actually enters the being of the animal. They think, feel and perceive and react like that animal. They now stop following the footsteps and directly go to the current location of that animal to hunt him.
These 3 steps are applicable in anything you do
While learning to drive
Child’s development of speech
Love- making
A child’s development of speech is a process starts from babbling where the child just mumbles words which cannot be clearly understood, there is not even the start of forming sentences, then slowly as the child keeps babbling, there starts to appear a little clarity and the child can speak 3-6 words clearly which can be understood, and then the child starts to make sentences of very few words and slowly we hear clear sentences
When one learn to play any instrument, the first passive step is to getting to know how to hold it, how to sit with it, to understand its working, its notes, strings, when you start playing it all seems uncoordinated, noisy, you cant really know where the music in it is, but as you keep practicing it, keep playing it, slowly you see your connection with the instrument, you start understanding it, when you play it, the notes start to become melodious, and finally with years of practice you come at a stage where you just sit with the instrument and there is connection, you compose your own rhythm effortlessly…
Therefore, this process from scientific effort to intuitive effortlessness which I observed almost everywhere
Based on the initial scientific process of case witnessing (Passive part), we can intuitively predict the further evolution of the case (Active and Active-Active part). Such intuition is not baseless but is backed up with scientific observation of the patient in the initial phase of case witnessing.