Living in the Dream

Most of us begin life immersed in a dream. The dream begins with the first identification as being an individual body. The conditioning of life brings the identification with emotions and thinking. As we grow up we find ourselves completely submerged in our thoughts, emotions, and the activities of life, barely coming up for air. This is the dream full blown.

There are always times when Awareness peaks through. Times when we relax, let go, and just be for a brief moment. This amazing moment usually goes by unnoticed. When these moments are sustained for a longer amount of time they are often understood as some type of peak experience. We wonder how that happened and try to recreate the events that led up to the moment. This of course never works, because it came about by letting go of everything, and the process of recreating is not letting go. So we go back to our sleep-walking state, and in time forget about this experience. The forgetting can be quite thorough because peak experiences always occur out of time. These moments of clarity are times when the fixation or ego knot has fallen away.

The relaxing of the ego fixation allows for the uncovering of the Awakened state of being. Where the True essence of who you are can be lived fully. Not just as a peak experience, but as an ordinary state of consciousness.

What is the Enneagram

The Enneagram is a geometric pattern discovered by mystic mathematicians. This sacred geometric form is the mathematical understanding of creation. It was originally a secret teaching for seekers, and was transmitted orally to prevent its misuse. It was only for people who were truly seeking peace, not for those who might use it to blame or justify behavior; or to manipulate others for personal gain.

The Sufi mystics used it hundreds of years ago, but no one really knows how far back the teaching goes. This pattern can be seen in some of the ancient temples throughout the East. Gurdjieff, a Russian mystic brought the Enneagram to the west at the beginning of the 20th century. Ichazo developed the first modern interpretation, applying the Enneagram to the psychology of the human being.

In most number systems there are nine numbers - all other numbers are created from these nine. The mystics put these nine numbers into a geometric pattern. There is a central equilateral triangle which forms the core, the other six points form around the center triangle. You will find patterns of three throughout this system.

The center triangle represents the core points of human identity. When the human being is born the first place of identification is with the body. The baby feels hunger, and physical discomfort. The next place of identification is with the emotions, and then the intellect.

There truly is only one real identity. This one identity manifests simultaneously three aspects - pure immortal being (awareness), totally pure empty consciousness (pure intelligence), and complete fullness/completly full (love/bliss). These are the essential qualities of your true nature. These are the three qualities of the inner triangle, all the other qualities are aspects of these three. They really cannot be separated they are aspects of the One. These three qualities are covered by the fixation or ego structure. The covering of our true nature causes the experience of the dreaming, sleep-walking state described above.

The Enneagram reveals the false identity of who you are not. It also indicates or points the way to uncovering your essence or true nature.

How to Use The Enneagram

The Enneagram is a tool for uncovering the true essence of our being. It is a tool for recognizing our connectedness to everything, and ending the illusion of being separate. Through working with the Enneagram it is possible to be liberated from the limiting influence of beliefs, and distorted perceptions of ourselves and the world. With this liberation comes peace and an ease in life.

The Enneagram is a way to understand the distorted perceptions and patterns of behavior that cover your essence. It is also a guide to learning how to relax out of these patterns to discover who and what you truly are.

The Enneagram is not a method of understanding your personality It is not an approach to developing a better personality by enhancing the good qualities and eliminating the bad qualities.

When the Enneagram is used effectively it is used as a way to recognize patterns. In seeing the fixation as a pattern that is not really who you are, you create space around that pattern. By observing the pattern you can no longer see it as you, it is now something inside your observation. This allows you to step back from these patterns without judgment, and just watch how they work.

This type of observation is like shining the light of consciousness or awareness on the behavior or perception. When we bring something into the light it loses its power and begins to dissolve. Just by putting our attention on our behaviors the knot of the fixation begins to loosen.

Dangers

Once you have figured out what your core fixation is, there is the danger of identifying yourself as this fixation. This can be done by either justifying or judging your behavior, through the use of the fixation. I’ve heard people say “I always do it that way, you know I’m a Five” or “if only I wasn’t a Five I would be able to do it differently.”. This is not useful, and is not what the Enneagram was intended for.

Another danger is that of labeling someone else. You recognize certain behaviors as being like those of a certain fixation. But to label someone else you are missing their essence and limiting the possibility of who they truly are.

Subtypes

The core fixation is ruled by one of the three animal instincts; self preservation, social, or sexual. Remember that we are in animal bodies and are effected by the animal instincts. In the animal kingdom it is essential for the animal to survive individually, to know its place in the hierarchy of the pack, and to propagate the species. These three instincts will be referred to as the subtypes of Self Preservation (SP), Social, and Sexual.

When the focus is SP we are concerned with issues of survival. The Social issue brings up themes of personal power and where we fit in the group. The Sexual instinct is not necessarily concerned with sex per se, it is more interested in one on one intimacy.

It is important to remember that the instinct which influences the fixation and therefore our behavior is the one that is our challenge. We are either obsessed with it; or uncomfortable and repelled by it - usually some of both.

The instinct that is your challenge is one of your sell out points. In other words you may be going along smoothly focused on Awakening until an issue arises that seems either to threaten your security, your place in the group, or an intimate relationship. Seems to threaten, are the operant words here. The threat is usually not literally real, it is just real from your perspective. Even when one of these instincts is truly threatened there is actually no real reason to act reactively. Reactivity creates tension, with tension the knot of the fixation tightens. Relaxing facilitates the untying of the fixation.

Physical Emotional and Mental

The fixation points fall into one of these three modes of identification. The human animal functions primarily with these three capacities for perceiving the world. The mind body and emotions are often referred to as the three bodies in much of esoteric, spiritual, and healing literature. Usually one of these bodies is favored over the others, yet all three are present.

The body that is most predominant is where the knot of identification with being limited to the human form develops. This is also the place where self realization as so much more than just a human being in form can occur.

The first place of identification is as a body, this happens early in infancy. Later there is the realization that the emotions we feel are ours. Later still the ability to think is developed. So we all have access to all three bodies; yet the way we view ourselves and the world takes form around one of these bodies.

Each of these bodies has its own qualities and characteristics and therefore its own way of perceiving, processing, and reacting to life.