"There are a great many sentences which begin with an “and” violating the hitherto valid grammar, "
All Clean Language questions begin with an " and". And we can tease apart nouns from adjectives, for example-
And when sad boy what was the boy before he was sad boy?
And when sad boy what does the sad boy want to have happen?
David Grove, who originated Clean Language, said the use of “and” at the beginning of each question kept the question in the flow state of the client’s language. Applying the syntax of Clean Language to the client’s language is creates the conditions for the self reflexive turn of the client.
And when the client who generated, " I was a sad boy" is asked, " And when sad boy whereabouts was sad boy?", the interview becomes less about the relationship between the client and the interviewer ( a subject and an object ) and rather about the delicate relationship between the client and the client’s self generated metaphors…the interviewer becomes a part of the weave of the system rather than an outside observer of it…
The sad boy was at a window, in an empty house, looking out at the green suburban lawn, and he felt overwhelmed by his fate…
And when we use clean language to tease apart the noun " boy" from the adjective " sad" what happens next?
And what did that sad boy want to have happen?
He wanted to feel connected, to other people, and to God…
And can that happen?
Yes it can!
And that becomes another element within a pattern…and meta patterns start to emerge…we are following the wisdom of the system…a third order system of observing observers…rather than encouraging the conventional first order subject object split. The tendency to use language to maintain subject object is the norm in our culture. Clean Language is a tool for re-training attention, making language more transparent, and re-connecting both persons to the wisdom of the system, which transcends and re-embodies both persons in a relationship to a field of vast possibilities. And this can happen through how we use our language.
In my work with Clean Language here among my collegues here the intention is always to by-pass the habitual tendency to ignore these subtle shifts in consciousness but to pay attention to them.
In a dream, when I was reading EPO, Jean Gebser came to me. I was in a shop where they sold light fixtures, it was on the bottom floor. I overheard two young women discussing the film Inception ( a film about lucid dreaming) and the work of Carl Jung. I found this an odd conversation, filled with strange meanings. As I walked up the stairs, I bumped into Jean Gebser and he pointed to his ear and said to me," You need to learn to listen with your Third Ear." I woke up.
And third ear…and when third ear…what kind of ear is an ear when it is a third ear?
And what does that Third Ear want to have happen?
And You who have a Third Ear let them hear with that Third Ear!
And my words echo thus in your mind…