The Enneagram of Awakening: Two Insights

Lissa Friedman Ph.D.

(first published in Enneagram Monthly 5/04)

Abstract

The focus of this article is to present two important insights involving the movement of fixated behavior, or ego identity. The first insight will show how to use the subtype together with the fixation to determine and/or validate our subtype and the fixation. The second insight depicts the movement from fixated identity to liberation or awakening.

With the intent of Awakening, the patterns of the home base fixation are released and we move to a higher functioning level of the relaxed fixation. By continuing to be consciously aware, fixated behavior can be eliminated all together. Liberation or awakening refers to freedom from the distorted perceptions and reactions caused by fixated identity. This allows us to be fully human and yet free of suffering.

Introduction

The first part of the article describes a way to help people determine/validate their fixation and subtype. It delineates how the subtype, or instinct, remains the same when we move from the home base fixation to the stressed fixation, and/or to the relaxed fixation. Using this movement we can pin down both the fixation and the subtype. This is an essential step in being able to release fixated behavior.

The second part explains the lateral and vertical movement of the Enneagram. In the past the Enneagram was seen as having lateral movement from home base fixation to stressed or relaxed fixation. It was understood that the goal was to be liberated from fixated behavior but the path of liberation was not delineated until recently.

Riso-Hudson (1999) were the first ones to make a map of the vertical movement within each fixation. They describe how people move from and between low, middle, and high levels of functioning. In this article I refer to these levels as low, average, self actualized, and liberated. I have added the further understanding that the movement can occur both laterally and vertically at the same time, when moving to the relaxed fixation. So when people release the patterns of behavior of the home base fixation, they move to the relaxed fixation (lateral move) and to a higher functioning level (vertical move). This is explained in part two

The second part focuses on the movement from the primary fixation to the relaxed fixation and then to the liberated or awakened state. When we become aware that the fixated state is not real; that relaxing out of the patterns will bring us to our true essence, we begin to let go of our conditioning. In this instance I have found that we move to higher levels of functioning in the relaxed fixation. Continuing this process, we will relax into the next relaxed fixation; and then into the awakened state.

The subtype remains the same from home base to stressed and relaxed points

Determining the primary fixation and the subtype is the first and most important step in finding freedom from fixated behavior, freedom from suffering. In trying to help people pin down their fixation I noticed that the interplay between the subtype and the movement between fixations often clarified what the fixation and subtype were. This method of determining the primary fixation is a dynamic interactive process where the professional helps the participant determine his or her own fixation and subtype. Using this approach to determine fixation and subtype eliminates the problems of the inaccuracy of tests, depending solely on another person’s insight or opinion, or trying to figure out your own fixation.

The subtype remains the same through the movement from home base fixation, to stressed fixation, and to relaxed fixation. The characteristics of the fixation are significantly different depending on the subtype. By following the subtype through the movement we can determine if the person has selected the right subtype and fixation. For instance if the person has a Two fixation and they are influenced by the self preservation (SP) subtype then they can be more nervous and insecure and are more self sacrificing. When they are under stress and move to the Eight fixation they maintain the SP subtype; have a no nonsense type of anger; and are more isolating and tough. When they relax out of the Two fixation and move to the Four fixation, maintaining the SP subtype, they can be more hard working - pushing through their tragedy to achieve security. The movement of the fixations within a subtype is illustrated in Chart 1.

Staying with the Two fixation, if they are influenced by the social instinct, they are more outgoing, ambitious, and have more personal power. The social instinct holds true when they are under stress and move to the Eight point. They are like social Eights, friends for life unless they feel betrayed. Their energy can be more powerful, and dynamic; their anger focuses on feelings of betrayal. When they relax out of the Two fixation and move to the Four fixation, the Social subtype remains, and they feel confused and shameful.

If the person with the Two fixation is influenced by the sexual instinct; they are more concerned with seducing the power figure. When they are under stress they move to the Eight fixation maintaining the sexual subtype, they need to possess their partner, and are more competitive and argumentative. Their anger focuses on control, loyalty, competition, and possession. When they relax out of the home base fixation and move to the Four fixation - again staying within the sexual subtype - they are more interested in deep intimate connections.

Examples

In the workshop setting when a person was unclear about their fixation we would run through the movement of the fixation with the subtype to see if it held up. Sometimes we would find that the subtype needed adjusting; other times we found it was the fixation.

One woman with the One fixation thought she was a sexual subtype because she always had a sexual partner - while a more long lasting commitment didn’t interest her. When we took a closer look we found that she was always hard working and practical, seeking material comfort frugally; she considered herself to be an ordinary worker bee. This is more like the SP One. When we looked at the movement we found when she was under stress she would get more self-critical and depressed; would retreat into herself isolating from her close friends and family; but put even more energy into her two jobs. If she were the sexual subtype when she got stressed she would have been more emotionally tumultuous and dramatic. We also discovered that when she relaxed into the Seven fixation; she would be more open, drink more alcohol and indulge in food; but she was still relatively frugal and practical. This is more like the SP Seven than the sexual Seven. The sexual Seven flits from job to job, and doesn’t stay anywhere very long. Even though when the One moves to Seven they never do it quite like the home base Seven, she would still be more playful, and flirtatious. So by looking at how the subtype moved through the fixations, we discovered that she had the SP subtype rather than the sexual subtype.

Another person thought she had the Two fixation, because she was always doing nice things for everyone, and she found herself seducing her bosses. When we looked more closely we learned that she never really got angry at people when she didn’t get what she wanted, or her nice deeds went unnoticed. Instead she would get sad. If she had the Two knot, under stress she would move to Eight and become angry. She realized that she was most helpful when she felt stressed out. The Four fixation moves to Two when under stress. When both the sad Four pattern and the giving Two pattern relaxed she would see things more clearly, and become self righteous and critical. This is like the One pattern, which is what the Four pattern relaxes into. If she had the Two knot she would relax into the Four pattern and get melancholy. She realized that her home base was sadness, like the Four, not people pleasing, like the Two. In this case the movement alone helped this woman find her core fixation. She knew she had the sexual subtype because she had the emotional turbulence and clothing pattern of the sexual Four; the seduction pattern of the Two; and the urge for the perfect mate of the One.

One man thought he had the Nine fixation with the SP subtype, because he avoided groups, and thought of himself as shy. When we looked at the movement with SP in mind, the pattern didn’t hold up. If he had the SP subtype, when he was under stress he would move to the SP Six, and become paranoid about his security and withdraw into himself. Instead he would become paranoid and reach out to his friends for advice, more like the social subtype. When the Nine and the Six patterns relaxed he would move to Three. If he had the SP subtype he would acquire things that would help him feel prestigious. Instead he would become the super net worker, meeting all the right people to further his success. This is more like the pattern of the Social subtype. In this case by using the movement we were able to pin down the subtype.

Another example of the movement helping to determine the home base fixation was a man who thought he had the Eight fixation. He was angry a lot, and blamed others for his anger, like the Eight pattern. However his energy wasn’t powerful or intense enough for the Eight pattern. He seemed more pleasant and smiley. So I began to question him further. We found that he was always doing nice things for people, going out of his way to be helpful. He would then go into rages when his friends were not there for him. This is more like the Two pattern, being nice, and then moving to the Eight point, feeling rage when under stress. Also he became sad when he was more relaxed. The Two pattern moves to Four when relaxed. If he had the Eight pattern he would have retreated into the withdrawn Five when under stress, and would relax into the helpful Two. Here the movement helped us find the correct home base fixation.

One more example of a subtype misunderstanding was a woman with the Two knot who thought she had the qualities of the social subtype. She would join groups and then wind up leading them. She was also ambitious and dynamic, like the social subtype. However, when she followed the social subtype through the movement it didn’t hold up. The Two pattern moves to Eight when under stress and the social Eight has groups of friends that they consider to be family. Their rage will often reflect a sense of betrayal of loyalty. This woman had just a few close friends through her life, not groups of friends. When she moved to the Eight point her rage was more focused on one immediate person whom she wanted to possess, like the sexual subtype. The Two knot relaxes into the Four fixation and becomes melancholy. The social Four feels shame and gets disoriented. This was not the case for this woman. When she relaxed out of the patterns of Two and Eight there was a feeling of competitive, special-ness, and jealousy - like the sexual subtype. When she noticed this difference she reassessed how she was a Two as well, and found that she had always seduced her teachers and her bosses. She realized that even though she always led groups, she lead them in a very individual way, with an intense intimate focus with each person. She really was a Two with the sexual subtype.

Subtype remains the same as the fixation moves
from Home Base to Stressed to Relaxed

One Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base	Relaxed
	Four	One	Seven
Self Preservation	Dauntless materialists	Worry	Driven for satisfaction
Social	Shame	Moral reformer	Martyr
Sexual	Insecure Romantic	Perfect mate	Novice, uncommitted

Two Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base	Relaxed
	Eight	Two	Four
Self Preservation	Survivalist	Sacrifice	Dauntless materialist
Social	Friends/honor/trust	Ambitious	Shame
Sexual	Possession	Seductive	Insecure romantic

Three Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base	Relaxed
	Nine	Three	Six
Self Preservation	Loner/overindulgent	Workaholic	Responsible
Social	Net worker	Social prestige	Friendly
Sexual	Merging	Desirable image	Strength/Beauty

Four Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base	Relaxed
	Two	Four	One
Self Preservation	Sacrifice	Dauntless materialists	Worry
Social	Ambitious	Shame	Moral reformer
Sexual	Seductive	Insecure romantic	Perfect mate

Five Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base	Relaxed
	Seven	Five	Eight
Self Preservation	Driven	Isolated	Survivalist
Social	Martyr	Expert	Friends/honor/trust
Sexual	Novice/uncommitted	Intimate secrets	Possessions
Six Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base	Relaxed
	Three	Six	Nine
Self Preservation	Workaholics	Responsible	Loner/overindulgent
Social	Social prestige	Friendly	Net worker
Sexual	Desirable image	Strength/Beauty	Merging

Seven Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base	Relaxed
	One	Seven	Five
Self Preservation	Worry	Driven	Isolated
Social	Moral reformer	Martyr	Expert
Sexual	Perfect mate	Novice/uncommitted	Intimate secrets

Eight Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base	Relaxed
	Five	Eight	Two
Self Preservation	Isolated	Survivalist	Self sacrificing
Social	Expert	Friends/honor/trust	Ambitious
Sexual	Intimate secrets	Possession	Seductive

Nine Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base	Relaxed
	Six	Nine	Three
Self Preservation	Responsible	Loner/overindulgent	Workaholic
Social	Friendly	Net worker	Social prestige
Sexual	Strength/Beauty	Merging	Desirable image

Chart 1

Comments

When there is movement, from the home base fixation to the stressed fixation and to the relaxed fixation, the qualities of the home base fixation are carried along. Therefore, only the home base fixations have the traits of the fixation in its full form. Moving to that fixation from our home base dilutes/blends its expression home base/stressed or home base/relaxed.

Stressed is lower functioning, relaxed is higher functioning

There is a continuum of functioning for each fixation. The lower levels of functioning tend to be dysfunctional, the average range is normally neurotic, and the higher levels are self-actualized. None of these levels of functioning are liberated. Since the purpose of the Enneagram is liberation or awakening it is important to look at how this works.

In this instance liberation or awakening refers to living in freedom from fixation. The fixation is the ego identity that distorts and blocks us from living fully in the moment, with no sense of separation. When we are free of fixation our expression is spontaneous, open, loving, and wise. There is no ownership of the doing or being that occurs through our human vehicle. While the qualities of the fixation may still be present and others may feel the essence of the fixation, there is no identification with either.

I refer to this as Awakening. When the fixated process rules us, it is like living in a dream, with distortions of reality, reactive emotions, obsessive thoughts, conditional love, and a feeling of being truly separate from others. When the fixation is released, there is a sense of waking from a dream; everything becomes clear; and the illusions dissolve.

There can be moments of Awakening at any level of functioning, even at the lowest levels. Based on my experience, research, and studies, the process of awakening seems to have a direction. There seems to be a gradual process and then a moment or moments of spontaneous Awakening.

When we are under stress we move from our home base or primary fixation to another fixation. Since stress causes a contraction, which causes our perception to be even more distorted, we move to a lower level of functioning in the stressed fixation. We carry with us the flavor of the home base fixation while taking on some of the traits of the stressed fixation. However, we are never quite as fully that fixation as those who have it as their home base.

When we relax out of the patterning of the primary fixation - which can only happen when we are not feeling stress - we move to yet another fixation. Since we have relaxed some of our fixated behaviors, we move to a higher functioning level of the relaxed fixation. Again, we keep some of the qualities of our primary fixation while taking on some of the characteristics of the relaxed fixation. We are never quite like those who have that fixation as their home base. The vertical and lateral movement of the fixation is illustrated in Chart 2. The highlighted fixations indicate the ladder like movement that can occur in the awakening process.

Examples

Years ago, Lenny, a man with the Nine pattern would need to spend a lot of time sleeping and meditating before he felt good enough to be with people, or be in the world. His work and his life style led him to live outside of society, which is a Nine trait. Living outside of society at times would bring up great fear for him. The law would literally get close to catching him.

There were other times when Lenny would lie awake at night thinking about paranoid scenarios, and how he would handle them. The Nine fixation moves to Six when under stress. The Six pattern avoids fear and danger by living in their minds, trying to figure out how to be safe before something threatening actually occurs. So, under stress Lenny would take on some of the Six behaviors, at a lower functioning level than where he usually lived as a Nine. He would plan what he would do in prison; or how he would go under ground to avoid prison; and how he would provide for his family; etc. His sleepless nights would cause even more stress because of his belief that he needed to be rested to be functional.

After doing a lot work to release these patterns Lenny began to be able to be with people and work effectively - without a lot of sleep and without needing to meditate first. He still had the Nine pattern of avoiding conflict and seeking comfort. He stopped moving to the Stressed point as much and began working through the Nine behaviors. He forced himself to join groups, and be with people even when he wanted to retreat. He began to express his anger to people directly - rather than keeping it to himself or saying he didn’t care. The Nine pattern began to dissolve. Lenny started moving to the Three more often. He became a successful businessman.

At first Lenny enjoyed his newfound success, and the things it allowed him to have. He was functioning at a high level of the Three fixation. He was in touch with his emotions and wasn’t deceitful. As he continued to evolve he began to move through life with ease - getting things done efficiently. In one workshop he was asked how he saw the Three pattern playing out in his life. At first he couldn’t see it; because he didn’t feel like he was working and he didn’t care about success. Then he realized that in fact he worked many hours a day; but felt like it was so natural and effortless that it didn’t seem like work. This is the non-doership of the Liberated or Awakened Three. When the Three pattern relaxes, it relaxes to the Six fixation. The clear open mind is at the highest essential level of Six. Lenny was efficient and productive and his mind was clear and open.

I worked with Julie, a woman with the Four pattern, for several years. When I first began working with her she was always going through some kind of emotional drama. Most of her dramas revolved around her mother, who also had the Four pattern. Her mother was always creating some type of drama that would either embarrass Julie, or make her think she had to fix them. Other dramas involved all the emotional politics at work or within her family. The Four pattern moves to Two when under stress. Julie felt a lot of stress when the dramas around her would escalate.She would try to give everyone advice and try to fix their problems - often to the detriment of her needs and sometimes her health. Then she would get angry, feeling neglected and over worked. These are lower functioning behaviors of the Two fixation. The Two goes to Eight under stress, even though it is like a third cousin to the Four there can be a taste of it.

Julie began to work through the pattern of the Four knot; learning not to over react to the emotional dramas around her. She started not trying to fix her mother when she would call with a crisis. Instead, she would just comment about it being difficult for her. Her mother eventually, after several tantrums, stopped looking for fixing from Julie. Julie began not to even notice the emotional dramas that were occurring at work. She felt a peace in all areas of her life.

The Four fixation relaxed and Julie began to notice some of the traits of the One fixation. At first she became critical and impatient. She was concerned because the emotions of the four were gone and things began to feel flat. She was able to see things clearly for what they were without all the emotional turbulence. This was scary at first because she didn’t know who she was. She had been so identified with her emotions and everyone else’s. When the criticality of the One began to relax she found that she felt solidly in her body; her mind was clear; she got her work done efficiently; and she was at peace. These are qualities of a high functioning One.

As the One fixation relaxed Julie found that she was enjoying everything about life. All of life’s experiences brought her pleasure. When the One pattern relaxed she found some of the highest qualities of the Seven, which is the fixation into which the One relaxes. Her job was getting done more effectively and efficiently, but she didn’t feel like she was doing anything. She brought a sense of peace, clarity, and enjoyment to everything, with no ownership. These are qualities of Awakening or Liberation.

When I first met Don, a man with the One fixation, he was extremely self critical and held in his anger toward others for not being more efficient. He complained a lot about the things that would go wrong at work; how incompetent everyone was, except him. He seemed to be continually annoyed with life.

When he felt stressed out he would become depressed. This would happen when he was overworked or when things weren’t going well with his wife. The One fixation moves to Four when under stress. When Don was in the Four knot he would withdraw from everyone - believing that no one loved him, that he wasn’t valued, and that he was excluded. Instead of talking about these feelings he would isolate and behave as if it was true. His behavior was that of a low functioning Four fixation.

A couple of years ago Don was introduced to the Enneagram. It made sense to him and he began to apply it to his life. Don started to be able to recognize the patterns of the Four and instead of believing he was right about being abandoned he began to express his feelings and speak about his perceptions. He became willing to let go of the emotional dramas of the Four. He also learned not to be so critical of himself and others. He stopped trying to get everyone to do things the right way; realizing that he might not actually know what was right. As the One relaxed he stopped moving to the Four point. As the One fixation relaxed further Don began to be in touch with a higher truth that had nothing to do with getting all the details of life right. The One pattern began to dissolve.

At first when Don relaxed into the Seven fixation he was flamboyant and self centered. He felt open and life became more fun, but he still had a tendency to come on too strong. This is a higher functioning Seven than the One pattern that Don was used to experiencing. When the Seven pattern began to relax Don found himself at peace. For the first time he was able to have conversations with his friends and family that were open, not critical and yet, not self centered. People around him began to relax and open up in ways they couldn’t before when the fixated qualities of the One, Four, and Seven were present. He began to feel the peace of the Five, which is where the Seven relaxes. In this place of peace Don could see all possibilities and had no attachment to the choices anyone made, or the outcome. He began to live from a place of spacious openness, peaceful and wise. These are all qualities of Awakening or Liberation.

Linda, a woman with the Two pattern, was in her fifth marriage. She did the typical Two thing, she got involved with men she thought needed fixing. She would spend time, energy, and money on them, trying to get them to be the way she wanted them. The underlying hope was that then they would love her, and take care of her they she wanted. When they didn’t love her the way she wanted or take care of her in the right way, she would become enraged. She would often yell "after all I’ve done for you, etc., etc." This is typical for the Two knot under stress, because the Two moves to Eight and gets enraged. After years of exploding Linda would finally get divorced and move onto her next fixer upper. The raging she would do under stress was the behavior of a lower functioning Eight.

Linda was always involved in methods of self exploration. At first she used these methods to figure out how to get her men to change. Eventually Linda learned to stop looking at others and to focus on changing herself. After awhile she stopped being overly helpful, and began letting her men help themselves. She stopped giving others advice all the time and started accepting things the way they were. When this shift happened the two pattern began to relax. She began to notice she wasn’t getting angry as much. Since she wasn’t spending so much time on others she began to know her needs, and started doing what she needed to do for herself.

When the Two knot dissolved further Linda found herself being more introspective. At first she felt sad, and melancholy. In a way it was a relief because the Two pattern really felt cold, even though she was always giving. This sadness is a quality of the Four fixation, which is where the Two relaxes. Staying in the sadness of the Four was hard, because at first she felt alone; like no one really cared. It seemed like the sadness would never end. Linda would move back to the Two point and try to please people so she would feel loved again. This was a higher functioning level of the Four fixation. Even though there was so much sadness, there wasn’t all the emotional drama of a lower functioning Four. Eventually she relaxed and allowed the sadness to reach its depth. When she came out the other side her mind was clear and open, not obstructed by all the emotions of the Four. The Four relaxes into One, and that is what she was feeling.

After a while all the identification of the Two, Four and One fell away. Linda discovered the Awakened state of being. People would thank her for all she was doing and she had no awareness of doing anything. When she spoke with people wisdom flowed spontaneously. These are all conditions of Awakening or liberation.

Chart of Movement (Essence, the expression of liberation, is in the parenthesis) Movement of the One Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base		Relaxed	Relaxed
	Four (radiance)	One (Clarity		Seven (Bliss)	Five (peace)
Liberated	No separation	Purity		Flowing	Omniscient
Actualized	Self aware	Discerning		Present	Competent
Average	Self centered	Preaching		Distracted	Deficient
Low	Self destructive	Punitive		Manic depressive	Schizoid

Movement of the Two Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base		Relaxed	Relaxed
	Eight (power)	Two (kindness)		Four (radiance)	One (clarity)
Liberated	Shakti	Grace		No separation	Purity
Actualized	Surrendered hero	Selfless giving		Self aware	Discerning
Average	Confrontational	Prideful giving		Self centered	Preaching
Low	Violent	Victim		Self destructive	Punitive

Movement of the Three Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base		Relaxed	Relaxed
	Nine (right action)	Three (love)		Six (wisdom)	Nine (right action)
Liberated	Being	No-Doer		Empty mind	Being
Actualized	Peaceful	Authentic		Cooperative	Peaceful
Average	Avoiding	Over achiever		Confused	Avoiding
Low	Dissociated	Revengeful		Paranoid	Dissociated

Movement of the Four Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base		Relaxed	Relaxed
	Two (kindness)	Four (radiance)		One (clarity)	Seven (bliss)
Liberated	Grace	No separation		Purity	Flowing
Actualized	Selfless giving	Self aware		Discerning	Present
Average	Prideful giving	Self centered		Preaching	Distracted
Low	Victim	Self destructive		Punitive	Manic depressive

Movement of the Five Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base	Relaxed		Relaxed
	Seven (bliss)	Five (peace)	Eight (power)		Two (kindness)
Liberated	Flowing	Omniscient	Shakti		Grace
Actualized	Present	Competent	Surrendered hero		Selfless giving
Average	Distracted	Deficient	Confrontational		Prideful giving
Low	Manic-depressive	Schizoid	Violent		Victim
Movement of the Six Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base	Relaxed		Relaxed
	Three (love)	Six (wisdom)	Nine (right action)		Three (love)
Liberated	No Doer	Empty mind	Being		No Doer
Actualized	Authentic	Cooperative	Right action		Authentic
Average	Deceitful	Defensive	Avoiding		Deceitful
Low	Revengeful	Paranoid	Dissociative		Revengeful

Movement of the Seven Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base	Relaxed		Relaxed
	One (clarity)	Seven (bliss)	Five (peace)		Eight (power)
Liberated	Purity	Flowing	Omniscient		Shakti
Actualized	Discerning	Present	Competent		Surrendered hero
Average	Preaching	Distracted	Deficient		Confrontive
Low	Punitive	Manic depressive	Schizoid		Violent

Movement of the Eight Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base	Relaxed		Relaxed
	Five (peace)	Eight (power)	Two (kindness)		Four (radiance)
Liberated	Omniscient	Shakti	Grace		No separation
Actualized>	Competent	Surrendered hero	Selfless giving		Self aware
Average	Deficient	Confrontive	Prideful giving		Self centered
Low	Schizoid	Violent	Victim		Self destructive

Movement of the Nine Fixation
	Stressed	Home Base	Relaxed		Relaxed
	Six (wisdom)	Nine (right action)	Three (love)		Six (wisdom)
Liberated	Empty mind	Being	No-Doer		Empty mind
Actualized	Cooperative	Right action	Authentic		Cooperative
Average	Defensive	Avoiding	Over achieving		Defensive
Low	Paranoid	Dissociative	Revengeful		Paranoid

Chart 2

Comments

Liberation occurs through relaxing out of the home base fixation into the relaxed fixation and then continuing to relax. In the relaxed state and in the stressed state the qualities of the home base fixation remain. In the relaxed state there is less and less identification with these qualities. It is important to note that it is more than useless to try to produce any of the liberated qualities. These qualities as well as the self-actualized characteristics cannot be intentionally produced. They develop naturally by putting attention in the present moment and letting go of the tendencies of the fixation. By releasing fixation characteristics, liked and disliked, higher qualities are allowed to emerge, until finally liberation is reached. If liberation is imitated the system becomes stressed and there is a sinking to a lower level of functioning.

Conclusion

Both the first section and the second section of this article deal with the movement of the fixations. The first section discussed using the subtype and the movement between the home base, stressed, and relaxed fixations to determine the subtype and the fixation. Pinning down the fixation and subtype is necessary when using this tool for the purpose of Awakening. The second section presented the understanding that Awakening or liberation occurs through a relaxing out of the home base fixation into the relaxed fixation; then the further relaxing into the next fixation; and ultimately relaxing out of fixation completely.

Riso, D., & Hudson, R. (1999). The Wisdom of the Enneagram. New York: Bantam Books.