Lessons from Understanding Enneatype 6

Each of us can recall times in life when it felt as though the rug had been pulled out from under us or when the ground beneath our feet felt shaky.  Maybe it happened literally -- on September 11, 2001, or when an earthquake struck, or perhaps when we were in an auto accident.  And certainly it has happened figuratively -- when parents divorced, when a boyfriend or girlfriend broke up with us, when a friend was diagnosed with a serious illness, when we failed a test we felt confident about or didn't get a promotion we expected.  Suddenly the world seemed different and if only for a moment, it seemed as if we had nothing to hold on to.

Times like these require courage, which can come only from inside of us.  A parent, a teacher, a clergyperson, a special friend can seem like a port in the storm, but ultimately we have to be our own parent, our own teacher, our own spiritual guide, our own best friend to move forward.  We have to find our footing inside ourselves in order to stand up and walk, and we have to locate an internal navigation system to know that we've moving in the right direction.

Many things about our world are unpredictable.  Indeed, life itself is unpredictable, no matter how diligently we try to scope out the future.  What's going to occur around us and to our physical bodies will always be largely unknowable in advance and sometimes so even as it's happening.  But one thing can remain steady -- our inner spirit, our Soul.

Lessons from Understanding Enneatype 5

Today I read a blog posting from Andrea Smith, which begins, "We don't have to have all the answers or pretend we know the future, all we need to do is show up wherever we are."  And there in a nutshell is the rich lesson of Enneatype 5. 

So often we say or think or unconsciously believe that specific knowledge is power, that being in the know will sustain us, that to know is to be.  It's a mesmerizing concept, but what it says about us is that we are substituting our storehouse of knowledge for the feeling of being deeply alive and immersed in life.

When we simply allow ourselves to breathe and feel the wonder of life in our torsos, it lightens our load and sometimes even enlightens us.  Knowledge is not a bad thing, but it is not the be-all and end-all.  Knowledge is about life, while breathing and simply being in life are real living. 

There is a deep inner "knowledge" that is not intellectual, not conceptual, not about facts and figures, not available in books, on tv, or on the web.  It is our knowledge of ourselves, an experiential understanding that is really all we need to be who we are and to know who we are.

Lessons from Understanding Enneatype 4

Each of us has a unique fingerprint and a unique place in this world.  Each of us has a very particular and unique soul, distinguishable from all others, even though we are all derived from the same unified wholeness.  In my own being I am unique and special, just as everyone else is.  Then why is it that I so frequently and stridently attempt to prove my uniqueness to others and myself and to show disdain for other people?

If I have contempt for others or contempt for myself, I am denying the fact that all of us are manifestations of God on earth.  We are special because we have a holy origin and are holy beings.  Any sense of loss and emptiness I feel inside--even when it seems to be all about my need for connections with people and things-- is an indication that I have lost the connection with my own deeply holy nature, which is something I can't manufacture through my creativity but something I am being invited to seek through communion with myself in stillness and silence.

Lessons from Understanding Enneatype 3

Accomplishments don't make the man or the woman.  I don't have to strive and achieve to become worthwhile.  I am worthwhile because I exist, because at my very core I am an embodiment of all that is valuable and worthwhile. 

Though being impressive to others and admired by them may feel affirming, I can really know my value only by affirming myself at my core.  I am not my image.  I am not what I project.  I am not my exterior.  I am valuable because of what is inherently me inside, and the only real affirmation is that inner experiential knowledge.  My image won't help me to escape worthlessness, for there is no worthlessness to escape from. 

Lessons from Understanding Enneatype 2

All of us need to be loved.  In so many ways we do what we can to obtain love, whatever we believe is necessary in order to encourage it, be worthy of it, and hang onto it.  The only problem is this:  It's wasted effort, which diverts us from knowing that Love is already here for us.  Love is here, throughout our being, pervading and enveloping us with its constant presence -- if only we would open ourselves to it and allow ourselves to know it in its fullness, depth, warmth, and richness. 

Why all the unnecessary striving?  Because we so easily close our eyes to the real Love that is there all along and look for it outside of ourselves, as if someone else can give us what we already have but won't face.

When we dare to recognize the Love that characterizes our being -- and dare to inhabit it and know that it IS us -- then love is not something we need; we don't have to become worthy of it, we don't have to grasp for it, we don't have to hanker after it, we don't need to manipulate anything or anyone to get it.  It just is. 

And that is beautiful.

Lessons from Understanding Enneatype 1

Goodness is real.  However, it's not our personalities, or egos, which can attain real Goodness.  They seek it nonetheless and ironically cut us off from what we most desire. 

The very act of striving to be or do something "just right"--whatever it is we might want to be or do, and whatever it is we mean by "just right"--causes our personalities to become more crystallized--more hardened and unyielding.  The harder a personality gets, the more of a trap it is.  In trying to embody such Goodness, we build our own prison cells.

It's not that we shouldn't be Good.  It's that we ARE Good, just as we are--a concept that is difficult for most of us.  Until we come to experience our true inner Goodness, we tend to strive, turning our attention away from real Goodness and toward some idea we've put together (or which we have learned from our families or social groups) about what Goodness should look like.

The key is to turn inward and explore our deep experience.  It's real and true, and it will lead us to know Goodness.  Our feelings are our teachers.

The I Ching? What about the Enneagram and the 12 Steps?

There are so many pathways to knowing.  My last post was about the I Ching, an ancient Chinese system of finding one's way regarding a problem, situation, or question, and now people are asking me, "What does this have to do with the Enneagram or the 12 Steps?"

Spirituality is about journeying into the self and finding love, unity, truth, and ultimately holiness there.  In my experience, any map that assists in the journey is welcome.  The Enneagram, the 12 Steps, the I Ching, and any number of other personality/spiritual systems are exactly that; they are maps.  Sometimes my inner compass points to a different map from the one I'm most accustomed to using -- just like we may know that there are certain features of Google Maps that are especialllly helpful at times, even though we are generally well served by MapQuest and stand by what it has done for us.

All of these personality/spiritual maps require that we settle into the depth of ourselves in order to take in what they have to offer.  Sure, they can be used superficially, for fun, or even for manipulative purposes.  But when we truly open ourselves to self-discovery, then whatever tools we use are likely to provide us with something which is personally meaningful.  That's because internal inquiry is what really matters; the maps just guide us in the inquiry.