Discovery 4: The Spiritual Validation of All of These Dynamics

Discovery 4:

The Spiritual Validation of All of The Dynamics in The Inner and Spiritual Enneagram

Given our human nature, the Enneagram system focuses on the human personality. However, I thought it important to reframe all of the inner dynamics in this complete new orientation to its proper perspective, that of the Spiritual Enneagram.

Again, by “spiritual” I do not mean this from any religious orientation of notions of God, but from universal spiritual truths that conform to our own natural inner human experience.

Especially in a conscious orientation there emerges a recognition that the source of the inner dynamics we experience in our personality are affected by a deeper dimension at the core of our selves.

This awareness is particularly in contrast to the current understanding of the Enneagram system as well as the popular understandings of the relationship dynamics we face. For both are conventionally taught and understood from the world of the personality.

The Enneagram itself, however, is uniquely a spiritual system. It describes not just nine different “personality” types. Actually, what fundamentally differentiates and determines each separate type are the specific unique and inherent qualities of Pure Consciousness that make up our individual essential nature.

It is everyone’s experience that when consciousness is pure, its noble, true nature is expressed. The Peace that passeth understanding is the nature of his Higher Self. It that never changes. Unconditional Love is the nature of consciousness when it is pure. And that is always so. Pure Bliss is our essential nature, and that is why the purer our consciousness, the happier and more fulfilled we are within our Selves (for no reason). The essential qualities of pure consciousness that lie within are immutable, unlike our personalities.

In the Enneagram each of the nine types expresses a specific essential quality of pure consciousness that is expressed in the personhood of each person. These extraordinary qualities are self-evident to us all. Together the core Enneagram type and the strong wings and lines are the specific inherent gifts that we see and admire in each person.

How each person’s essential nature is then expressed through the prism of their human personality is what generates the inner psychological forces we see in each person. And especially those forces that particularly show up in their relationships.

As such this new orientation uniquely provides an accurate, empirical blueprint of the nature and dynamics of these primary forces that make up human personality and pure spiritual consciousness. These understandings are particularly important as they bring into awareness the specific forces that determine one’s own well-being, and as important, the success of their intimate relationships.

From this perspective, our focus now becomes a “top-down” system of dynamics that begin and are driven by its source – the very nature of Pure Consciousness as expressed into each person’s personhood. It is from here that we see a wholistic understanding of all of the personality dynamics in the evolution of consciousness. And particularly those forces that show up and affect our personal relationships.

These Inner Dynamics Are Not Concepts

It is important to note that these dynamics that have been laid out in these chapters are not just concepts. They show up in all of us and what was previously thought to be “unconscious” now can be self-evident to everyone.

To start with, we all can readily see that those with the same Enneagram types express the same specific inherent gifts, however developed, in their personality.

Then too, in sessions with couples as each partner expressed what really matters to them in their relationship (and in their life), it became clear that those of the same types shared the same core ego needs. – These where specifically the fundamental needs they have in their personality in order to thrive in this relationship, as well as in their life. In fact, it is this clash of fundamental core needs in their relationship that brings them to therapy!

Then as partners opened up further in their sessions each realized what particular emotional sensitivities inside were being triggered in their relationship (and in their life). Not everyone becomes upset about the same triggers. And usually their partner doesn’t. Again it became clear that people of the same types shared those same unique patterns of emotional sensitivities and insecurities in their personality.

And lastly, each person’s inner pressures and insecurities consistently produced the same specific pattern of imbalances in their personality, beliefs, and behaviors as those of the same personality types.

In every person one meets, each of these four inner dynamics become obvious to those know the Inner Enneagram in each of the nine types.

Awareness of This Fundamental Distinction Between One’s Pure Self and Their Human Personality

Yet all of this starts at the top. As couples gained these awareness they came to realize that the tensions in their personalities that become inflamed in their relationship were not who the person “who they really were.” When stress and anger or shutting down would take over, it became clear, “That is not the person I married.”

The person they know, admired and fell in love with, that is the person they made a life-long commitment with, “to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”

It was this wonderful man or woman that you willingly committed your life to. Someone whose very essence and nature complemented and enlivened you with their loveable gifts. After all, that is why you two married or committed yourselves together!

But over time in living together, when inner pressures and upset feelings emerged, those tensions would tend to grip and distort each other’s consciousness. And they would lose their Presence of Self. Now it was those tensions and insecurities inside taking them over and doing the reacting and saying those mean things. Again, it becomes, “That is not the true person I married.”

It became clear to those partners that those tensions were overshadowing their pure nature. The inner turbulence from their inner frustrations or anger, anxieties or fears, hurt feelings or inner pain that had become inflamed inside have taken them over. As a result, it becomes obvious to everyone that they have lost their natural Presence and true Identity.

No wonder later, when the tensions eased and they got their Self back, they would come and apologize, “I’m sorry. I said that because I was angry. That was the anger talking, not Me.”

For each partner, the Spiritual Enneagram clarified and gave them this fundamental distinction. They now realized that the times they felt wonderful inside of themselves where when they were more fully connected within their true inner Selves. And this was when their consciousness was pure and freer of tensions or emotional stress.

Alas, it is the human condition to have unresolved tensions from overwhelming experiences from their past that have impacted them. These imprints continue to churn inside creating to whatever degree the lack of pure Peace inside one’s self, or inner stability, or complete fulfillment within one’s Self. The more insecure the person, the less of their natural Self shines through.

The Spiritual Enneagram’s teaching is how to gain and sustain this pure Awareness in our lives. And be able to safely resolve those Self-limiting imprints deep within. For it is in gaining and deepening this Pure Awareness that enables people to step out of their ego and Recognize, better attune to, and stay Present in their true Self in their day-to-day lives. And in particular, naturally resolve any tensions that emerge.

This inner experience of Pure Awareness develops into a clearer intuitive knowingness that increasingly guides you in everything you do. More and more you live from your true spiritual nature. Even in the midst of tensions that emerge, they do not take you over as you navigate through them. This is seen as the High Road as you are able to remain in your natural goodness — noble and wise, responsive and effective, kind and compassionate with others. For this is who You truly are, this Pure Awareness which transcends your persona.

It becomes a wholly different but completely innocent and natural way of living and responding to life. As you deepen this Awareness you can increasing tell whenever you are not being that pure, secure, noble, wise and loving Self. It always stood out to others around you (especially your partner and your kids!), and now it stands out to you when those inner pressures, tensions, and imbalances start to show up in your human side.

From this Awarenesses came the framework of the distinction between Person A – your pure Awareness when connected to your essential nature, or Person B when you become stressed or out-of-balance, or Person C when you become emotionally upset or are shutting down.

Partners found that being able to readily make these distinctions was fundamental for navigating through tensions and imbalances more effectively and harmoniously together. That is simply because they were staying anchored in the Awareness and inherent goodness of Person A through the thick and thin of Life.

However, what enable partners to be able to step out of the griping hold those inner tensions generated in their personality was the self-awareness provided by the Inner Enneagram. The more familiar they each were with their specific gripping ego needs, the source of their in their inner insecurities and unresolved wounds, and the specific patterns of how their particular Enneagram type(s) go out of balance in their behaviors, expectations, attitudes, and beliefs, the more readily they could catch it right away when they start happening.

Without these understandings and self-awareness, how could they make sense of the whole operating system that give rise to those imbalances, and the specific source of them within themselves. After all, Person B and Person C can come to feel natural to them in their personality. (That’s why they would always justify themselves and even fight so strongly for them in an argument!)

Nature’s Propulsion of the Evolution of Consciousness Is the Purification & Expansion of Consciousness

Just like any pain the body is due to the natural life currents that are purposefully bringing to your Awareness what needs to be healed and become whole. So when tensions emerge into consciousness, Nature is telling you to integrate those tensions to their natural resolution. Consciousness heals! It is when people avoid those feelings (shut down, drugs, alcohol, stay busy, etc.) that they go underground. It is keeping them out of consciousness that keeps them alive, churning deep inside.

Now that we know that the source of those rising tensions come from our past (90/10 Rule), we see that there really is (in most all situations) no Snake. Instead it is an opportunity to stay open and process through those tensions to their natural resolution.

The framework in this orientation, EU-R-O-P-A, evolved as the natural experience of people who were became self-aware and understood these dynamics of what was really happening and what needed to happen for healing to take place.

In EUROPA, “You” (Eu), your pure Awareness enables you to step out of your ego and Recognize, then Own, and naturally Process to resolution the inner tensions to naturally get your Self back. And then make Amends to restore your connection together and generate effective solutions going forward.

The sequence in this process is naturally compelled, just as the inherent need in consciousness is to resolve those tensions. With these awarenesses partners found that they readily Recognized when they were becoming Person B or Person C. And, too, as they were familiar with their “90’s”, they immediately recognized the source of those tensions in their Enneagram types and past experiences.

And as they were very familiar with their partner’s insecurities (90’s) in his or her Enneagram types and past unresolved experiences, then there was no “Snake! Snake!” And no one to blame!

These immediate awarenesses kept them secure in the rising tensions and anchored in Person A. And this enabled them to immediately and humbly Own their rising tensions or imbalances. “These tensions are about me.” “I can see what this is really about inside for me.”

To resolve them they naturally open up and Process the source of those inner tensions and imbalances in a heartfelt manner. As they are talking they are exploring and making sense of it all within themselves. What accounts for this? Where does this come from?

It is all right there in their immediate experience — all of the past linkages to these same stressful feelings are embedded in their experience right now. So it is not a head-trip of concepts. They are fully engaging in the immediate experience as they sort it out and uproot it in their consciousness.

And, too, if it is deeper-rooted, unprocessed feelings that has been inflamed (Person C), there will be an even strong force propelling those tensions into consciousness — to be fully and finally experientially resolved.

This is when people become emotional. Yet this is only due to this impelling innate force in nature designed for you to safely experience those repressed, stored-up feelings to on their natural path to resolution. If you do not inhibit those stressful feelings rising into consciousness, they will be experienced as tears coming out. For this is how the nervous system was designed to resolve strong emotional tension.

So whether it is cognitive process of the stress as the person sorts it out, or for stronger feelings, safe, heartfelt emotional processing, both are due to the impelling natural force of Nature for resolving those 90’s deep inside. Unless you inhibit it and hold it all inside. Where you become a prisoner of your unconscious imbalances.

From Processing, each partner found that they naturally reach a place inside where they felt cleansed of those tensions, back in their normal, restored Self again. In order to feel complete, it felt natural for each partner to make Amends. With these new awarenesses, each now wishes to take responsibility for their part in what showed up.

And then come up with good-willed Solutions going forward, so that they do not keep triggering each other, Or solutions that are more responsive to each other’s needs and sensitivities.

The key understanding here is that healing is a natural process. In our natural evolution of spiritual consciousness, these are the dynamics that enable us to purify our consciousness together.

So our spiritual orientation has now gone full circle. We started from pure Self in its projection of consciousness into the personhood. The human side of the equation in being exposed in its most vulnerable moment from birth into childhood where it is easily overwhelmed. Leaving distressing and traumatic imprints that generate emotional sensitivities in the small child that become compounded into real insecurities through their experience adolescence and into adulthood.

This churning of unresolved anxieties, frustrations, and flat out overwhelming pain are normalized in the insecure personality. It is the human condition that we all share. However, this is what overshadows and distances each person from their pure noble and centered Spiritual Self.

The thrust of the evolutionary currents in life will put us in challenging situations that will bring those insecurities into consciousness, especially in our closest relationships. They become our opportunity for healing all that our lifetime brings up in us.

However, the process becomes more effective and harmonious, rich and meaningful when we can understand what is happening and stay conscious and Present in order to completely integrate those inner tensions to wholeness.

All of this is to lead us in restoring the spiritual unification of our lower self personality with our true essential nature in our Higher Self. This is trajectory of Life from the top down. We start from pure Spirit and then onward to complete our journey back to pure Spirit in the fulfillment of natural Spiritual Enlightenment that the mystics in every culture so eloquently describe.

This Complete Orientation & Process to Spiritual Wholeness Is Also Verified in The Ancient Vedic Wisdom Tradition

These understandings and awarenesses became self-evident to those who experienced this orientation. In finishing the editing for book publication I was surprised in its completeness – both in the psychological clarity and effectiveness and in the lucidity and transparency of its spiritual roots.

I also personally felt very fortunate to have such an experience in living these profound awarenesses and understandings. And too, to be passing them on, knowing that Nature takes it from here in drawing in those who are to encounter them.

But then in finishing the editing of the last chapter of this volume a surprise emerged. Out of the blue an old high school friend I had not seen in many, many years reached out and invited me to him to a Sanskrit singing group he attended every week. This small group would meet together and sing original Vedic texts in Sanskrit. And then talk about the meaning of the texts afterwards.

In the Sanskrit Vedic literature, those hymns are not just rich in sound, but verbalizing those sutras have a direct purifying impact on the human mind and body. I would leave each session more deeply peaceful and blissfully enlivened inside.

But the meaning of the texts are what surprised me. As it turns out, in the sessions I attended I realized that these ancient Vedic texts we were singing laid out exactly in extraordinary detail the very same specific understandings and frameworks in this new conscious orientation I have laid out above. Yet these texts were recorded as much as three thousand five hundred years ago!

Introduced to India by the Aryans in the late Bronze Age, between 1700 to 1100 BCE, the Vedic texts are different in character from the multivarious philosophical works recorded through Indian history in each generation of saints. The Vedas are considered to be “apauruseya,” which means “not of a man, by superhuman” and “impersonal, authorless.” The texts were “spiritually cognized” (shruti) by direct experience from extraordinary enlightened Rishis or Seers.

As a result these original sutras and texts are not seen as theories or opinions, but rather based on the actual revelation of the highest enlightened souls piercing the nature of pure consciousness.

In this Sanskrit group they ended their sessions working their way progressively through Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, which is one of the foundational ancient texts of classical Yoga philosophy prior to the fourth century BCE. Each of the five hundred and fifty-five sutras (literally, ‘threads’) are extremely short, aphoristic, profound, and self-evident as you will see. And they elucidate the principles laid out in this orientation.

In the west, Yoga is usually associated with the physical postures (“asanas”) and breathing techniques taught in popular Yoga studios. However, the word “Yoga” is understood differently in the East. The word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root “yuj” to yoke, harness, join. In the Vedic wisdom it precisely refers to the union (“yoga”) of the “lower self” in the personality with the pure spiritual Higher Self of Pure Consciousness. It is this union that is the experience of Spiritual Enlightenment that mystics in every culture readily report.

The Yoga Sutras themselves lay out the understandings and processes for achieving this exalted conscious union. The physical postures that are thought to be yoga were simply seen as “preparatory” practices for the real purifying spiritual practices the sutras outline.

The processes in the Yoga Sutras, like yoga postures, are not associated with religions or religious beliefs. Anyone in any religion can do the healthy stretching postures at a Yoga studio. Or apply any of the other universal processes for gaining natural union with pure consciousness.

It just so happens when I arrived in this Sanskrit group, the sutra in the Yoga Sutras they read and then discussed was:

“Though saddled with innumerable vasanas [Vasanas are the unconscious imprints of intense unresolved emotions] ,the personality exists as an expression for the Higher Self.”  Yoga Sutras, IV.24

Right off, I realized the text is surprisingly saying two of the fundamental realizations in our conscious orientation! First, our personality is simply “an expression of our Higher Self – Pure Consciousness. And, too, that our personalities are “saddled with innumberable unconscious imprints of intense unresolved emotions – our “90’s) (which further sutras will lay out in surprising detail).

Intrigued, I went home and read the Yoga Sutras, where this very point was elaborated:

“It is when we lose our Presence in our Higher Self from being overshadowed by inner pressures (our Vasanas)  that we then identify our world as “me” or “mine,” where it all becomes oriented as myself.” Yoga Sutras, II.5

The central idea to be grasped is that Pure Consciousness when fully conscious enables me to know who I Am, separate from my personality and the outer world of phenomena.  This absence of awareness of our true essential nature results in the inability to distinguish between the eternal, pure, blissful Self and the non-eternal, impure and painful not-Self.

“When you lose your Higher Self from being overshadowed by inner pressures, this is when you identify with the non-eternal outer world — the impure, pain and suffering – where the world in your personality becomes “me” — my self.” Yoga Sutras, II.5

“Not knowing the transcendental Self that lies beyond all of the changing phenomena, this is why the cognitions of the mind and emotions in the lower self appear to become my personal identity.”
Yoga Sutras, II.6

IN PROGRESS . . .

Continue to Discovery 5:

Realizing This Is The Work You Are Here To Do