Application Part 4

January 3, 2025

​​​​​Application Part 4

If something is not going right, is amiss, or unsettling, we have choices about handling it. If we take the path of least resistance, it’s usually our ego’s fixation and perception of the world.

Therefore, all our thoughts and actions (or non-actions) are orchestrated by the ego’s engrained patterns of thought and behavior, as well as its perception of the world. Sometimes, the ego’s perception may be accurate. But frequently, and especially when we are under stress, the ego’s perception is unfounded, distorted, or, at its worst, deluded. So when we rely on the ego to take total charge, we are at its mercy, and there’s a good chance that we will find no genuine resolution. Furthermore, the ego tends to repeat the same responses, whether or not they work.

Yet, by applying consciousness to stressful situations, we handle our unsettled predicaments much differently. Instead of following the same patterns, we devise newer, more conscious approaches to situations. In Enneagram and Consciousness studies, we learn that our being is made up of three different and overlapping centers of intelligence. Let’s see how we use all the centers to apply consciousness.

Our ego is a mental structure that usually dominates our Mind Center during stress. We can clear the mind through meditation or another spiritual practice if this occurs. But fundamental transformation comes when we use all three centers. 

For example, we gain clarity by tuning into our body’s intelligence. In this manner, we bypass the Mind Center and connect to our gut-level feelings. In the stillness of our body, we sink into our tissue and into centers of energy, referred to as the chakras. Then, we ask our body what it wants to tell us. We can even ask it why we are unsettled. The body has a mind of its own and once we contact it, a wealth of information flows into us.

Then we go to the Heart Center, where we experience the situation in the light of love. Consciousness understands that love is the most vital power in the world. Experiencing others in love and compassion instead of through the lens of selfishness, suspicion, or other negativities vaporizes the ego’s imposed perceptions, and behaviors. The heart must be entered. One of the most profound ways to do this is through Heartfulness meditation. In this special meditation we enter the heart by placing our attention on the source of light within our hearts. Then we are drawn inward to become familiar with our emotions and their root causes.

Then we return to the Mind Center, which can now think about what is amiss in a completely different way from the unhealthy ego’s train of thought.

I have an unsettling concern today. My ego ruminates about it and spins scenarios that may or may not be factual or helpful. I just became aware of this concern today, but it’s been whittling away at me under the surface for weeks. Whenever I caught a glance at it, somehow it vanished like a dream. Now that it is in the light of day, I have a choice. I can continue ruminating and making plans based on my ego’s perception, or I can inquire of each intelligence center. 

My body finally revealed that these unsettled feelings do not come from what my ego attributed them to. My body says the stress is directly related, instead, to another aspect of grief. And as soon I drop into my heart, it reveals that I have not been giving myself or others the compassion called for about this concern. I have not ruminated since these revelations. My mind center now focuses on moving forward in constructive ways. 

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Spiritual practice: Take the time and energy to apply the Three Centers of Intelligence to your most recent dilemma or one that continues to concern you. What shifts and revelations do you receive? 

Self-inquiry: What percentage of the time does your ego correctly assess a situation or person? 

Dear God, Empower me to turn inward to your kingdom within. Amen