Living in Essence

March 11, 2024

The earliest Enneagram teachings approach the nine personality types as primarily attached to our egos; therefore, they are also called ego types. The Enneagram assists us in realizing the personality/ego type that we most identify with. Each of the nine ego types has a stance that moves us through this beautiful and dangerous world. So, to discover our individual strategy for living is a leap into greater consciousness.

The following are the primary strategies with which each ego type moves through the world. Ones: "I am right." Twos: "I am helpful." Threes: "I am successful." Fours: "I am different and special." Fives: "I am wise." Sixes: "I am loyal," and Sevens: "I am happy." Eights' stance is "I am powerful, and Nines', "I am peaceful." Each stance is a defense against the stressors and demands of life and is the central focus around which our personality develops.

Enneagram teachers usually list all the healthy and unhealthy characteristics of each ego type’s personality. Most people are struck by one personality type that "nails them." It’s nice to realize the strengths of our personality, we also realize our type's unhealthy characteristics cause tremendous distress. Our traps and repeated fixations have gotten us relatively nowhere, bringing on too much pain. So, we are eager to learn the Enneagram's secret of attaining a healthier personality, which is sometimes referred to as our integrated or "best self."

We wait with bated breath for the secret. Then our teacher discloses that another personality type on the Enneagram is the antidote for our flaws. Eureka!!! We discover that our unhealthy ego type can become much healthier by assimilating the healthy qualities of its antidote. As we know, our antidote type is at the end of the arrow pointing to our ego type; the antidote is also called the point of integration.

Then we spend a lot of time learning the healthy traits of our number of integration. Some of us can add those beautiful characteristics to our personality. This is good, but not the transformational shift described by the first Enneagram teachers. The original Enneagram described by George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, Oscar Ichazo, Claudio Narjano, and then A.H Almaas and Sandra Maitri goes way beyond the realm of our personality.

Each of these teachers may differ from one another in their approaches, but all of them explain the Enneagram as a spiritual tool made for our soul's progression. The original Enneagram is not for labeling or manipulating other people. It is not meant to create more ego identity. It is not a parlor game. Instead, it is a sacred tool to connect us to our essence.

Inquiry: Are you aware of your personality/ego type? If so, are you still caught in your fixation, or have you experienced transformation?

Dear God,

As I go down into the deep of my own being, I pray for soul insights that my body, mind, and heart give me.

Amen.

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