USING THE ENNEAGRAM TO GROW SPIRITUALLY

Working with the system of the Enneagram gives us precise tools for growing up.   We can all benefit from general instruction, but when we get specific guidance that is pertinent to our own situation and our own circumstances, it is powerfully nourishing.   And I use the term “growing up” because in working with the Enneagram, we learn how to be real adults, taking responsibility for ourselves and the way that our behavior affects others.  When we are children, we want everything and we want it now!  There is an impulsiveness that demands instant gratification.  And though we might get what we want, we are not usually content for long, and so we get caught in an endless cycle of wanting, reacting, getting. When we learn to see the truth, we can access the freedom and wholeness that is our birthright.  

It has been said that the key to spiritual growth is “knowing ourselves”.  The great mystics and wisdom teachers throughout history have emphasized this truth.  Meister Eckhart, a 13th century religious scholar, wrote:  “No one has known God who has not known himself”.  And Teresa of Avila, a medieval saint and mystic asked:  “Would it not be a sign of great ignorance, my daughters, if a person were asked who she was, and could not say?”   Even John Calvin, a standard-bearer for reformed theology, wrote that “Nearly all the wisdom which we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.”  So, knowing ourselves actually becomes the path to wholeness and freedom.  When we recognize our effect on other people, we can choose to have healthier relationships and more meaningful work.