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July/August 2004 Cosmic
The Sacred Enneagram: Wisdom Mirror of the Self

by Eli Jaxon-Bear

The enneagram is a sacred teaching that is often fundamentally misunderstood. Most people consider the enneagram to be about personality. It is not. If you are learning about the enneagram to become a better personality, a better worker, or a better lover, you are missing the essential by focusing on the inessential.

All animals have personalities. We see this in dogs, cats, and horses; even ants have been shown to have different personalities. But because most people identify their bodies as themselves, the personality of the body becomes a point of focus and work. People enter spiritual practices in the hope that the egoic personality will awaken. Although the personality is not a problem, neither does it become enlightened.

Rather than merely reflecting personality, the enneagram gives us the precise structure of the knot of ego. Awareness is our sword, and the enneagram shows us the knot that needs to be cut. In this way, enlightenment or self-realization is possible.

The enneagram shows how the ego veils true essence. The purpose of learning one’s egoic structure is not to become a better ego, but to wake up to one’s true nature and stop all false identification.

The enneagram reveals how we have falsely identified ourselves as the physical, emotional, and mental bodies. The core identification is the unexamined belief, "I am somebody." Once this thought arises, the ego becomes crystallized in the mind, and consciousness experiences itself as limited.

The first limitation is the sense that who one is, is inside, and who one is not, is outside. This identification as an object in space, that is called me or myself, is based on a very narrow perception of self. The enneagram clearly describes the nine variations of the basic belief that one is a limited and separate body. Once these patterns of subconscious identification are brought to light, they can be discarded in the search for true I.

The egoic mind imagines itself as the doer, the thinker, and the enjoyer. In this way, the ego assumes the place of God, imagining that it is in control. Every ego feels it is the one in control, yet secretly senses that it does not really have a clue as to what to do. When the suffering of this condition becomes unbearable, the prodigal son returns home to the source. The mind/ego returns in surrender to God, and individual consciousness finds its way home to the divine.

In order to realize the true Self, we must be willing to investigate all of the falsely assumed definitions of self. In spiritual traditions, this kind of investigation is called Self-inquiry. Self-inquiry is not a practice. It is not repeating the question, "Who am I?" Self-inquiry is an intelligent truth-telling that reveals false identification. The enneagram not only provides the road map of the false identity, but also points to what is beyond. Thru direct self-inquiry, it is possible to wake up from egoic fixation and realize the true Self.

The method of true Self-inquiry is to look within to find out what the I is made of. You can start by seeing what you have falsely identified as yourself. When all of your thoughts, mental stories, emotions, and body sensations are directly investigated, they are seen to not be who you are. They are all ever-changing, and you discover yourself to be what does not disappear or change. You are the consciousness that gives rise to all perception and experience.

The realization of yourself as pure consciousness cannot be learned, studied, or believed. It must be directly experienced and intelligently investigated so that you can discover it for yourself. In the plunge within, the I that is plunging, the same I that is reading this page, is discovered to be merely an idea.

In the light of Self-inquiry, limitations that once seemed to define us are discovered to be more like transparent lines drawn on water. They exist only on the surface of consciousness in our imagination. When these illusions of mind are clearly exposed, true limitless being reveals itself.

In service of this ultimate discovery, the enneagram appears as a wisdom mirror for consciousness to recognize how it has become falsely identified with particular forms.

If the enneagram is approached as just another possible self-help fix or another source of information, you will be missing the true possibility. Everyone is overloaded with information. The true possibility of the enneagram is to directly experience what is beyond ideas ands concepts. It is a sacred teaching that has been given to the world for the purpose of world awakening. If you are ready to give up your limited ideas of yourself and discover the truth of your being and your life’s purpose, then approach the enneagram with the intention of freedom. If your desire is for true freedom, and there is the willingness to face all the lies and fears of your life, you will uncover, experience, and see through everything that stands between you and your true Self, which is empty, intelligent love.

Eli Jaxon Bear is the author of The Enneagram of Liberation: From Fixation to Freedom (Bolinas: Leela Press, 2001); and Sudden Awakening (Novato: New World Library, 2004) to be released into bookstores this fall.

Eli and his wife, the beloved spiritual teacher Gangaji, will be returning to Oregon in July of 2004. A small group meeting, solely with Eli, will be offered on July 30, 7:00pm, at the New Renaissance Bookshop, 1338/1318 NW 23^rd Ave. For more information, or to register for the Portland intensive or Ashland retreat, contact the Leela Foundation, 1-800-879-4221, or visit www.leela.org.