I have just finished reading Simon Parke's book "The Enneagram". I was first introduced to this subject early in 2008 when I was privileged to attend a seminar with Richard Rohr, a Franciscan monk and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Richard is one of the most beautiful human beings I have ever met. Although the seminar was not on this subject, Richard is an Enneagram expert and I purchased a set of his CD's and listened to them eagerly and with great interest and fascination.
The Enneagram is a very deep and fundamental way of understanding yourself through the nine "types" of which everybody is one. When I listened to Richard's CDs, I kept thinking as he went through the numbers "maybe I am this one", "oh no this one sounds closer", and I had to wait all the way to the end when he described the nine and then I knew! Yes, absolutely, that was me. It was quite an emotional experience to recognise myself there and suddenly have a deep insight into why I had sometimes felt totally paralysed by life to the extent I almost felt I had disappeared!
I quote Simon Parke below to give you a basic idea of what the Enneagram means:
"A long time ago, when you were little, you discovered something: that the world is a hostile place. It wasn't going to give you all you wanted, and was not always to be trusted. In the short term, survival was the order of the day. And so it was that you chose a way to cope; a survival technique. You had to twist reality into a particular shape, but it served your purposes – and from this tense and worried inner soil, your personality grew.
As little became large, although you discarded your clothes and toy collection, you didn't discard your survival technique. As your personality hardened, it became an established psychological addiction, of which you were largely unaware. The Enneagram meets you at the point of this addiction, or "compulsion" as it is often called.
Compulsion is defined as "devoting your self to something habitually or obsessively," and the Enneagram describes nine of these, one of which is particular to you. This addiction is both psychologically and emotionally blinding for you.
To recognise your prime addiction is something of an awakening. It is like a plant being freed from the strangulating effect of unchecked weeds. As Atisa, the 11th century Tibetan, said: "What a lightening flash in the gloom it is for the self, cloaked in the darkness of ignorance, when awareness is gained even a little bit!"
It can be difficult. Our compulsion seems both the most natural and most logical way to proceed, and our personality may scream with pain at the prospect of having it uncovered. Such discovery is more relief than pain, however, helping us not only to understand our past and present – but also look to the future with more hope.
The Ugly Duckling was unquestionably destined for beauty, but first, there was a confused struggle, born from misplaced identity. Our journey has been similar. We too have suffered from a mistaken identity. The Enneagram, in offering you self-awareness, seeks to give you back to your true self; to establish your real and very beautiful identity.
The Enneagram is a complete map of the psychological forces at work in us – both the healthy and the destructive. There is no aspect of life on which it does not touch. Once you have found yourself on the map, the journey of insight, will and well being begins."
So this may have whetted your appetite to know which number relates to YOU! Simon's book is written in an innovative style, whereby he writes a letter to each of the numbers describing their compulsion and also their great potential. It was easy and engaging reading and firmed up what I had previously learnt from Richard Rohr. It also gives a comprehensive history of the Enneagram back to ancient Sufi and Christian mystics through to modern times.
It is way beyond the scope of a blog post or even a single book to really grasp a thorough understanding of this and anything is, indeed, an introduction which could lead to a lifelong study. I commend anyone who wants to understand their deeper nature to look into this, which is so much more than a simple personality type.
If you would like to read more you can order books by Simon Parke and Richard Rohr from Amazon. Click on the images below, according to your location.
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