Reconciling the Personality and Process Enneagrams
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Reconciling Personality with Process: Linking Two Different Views of the Enneagram copyright by Susan Rhodes, rev. Dec. 2005, [email protected] There are two influential models of the ennea- Personality vs. Process gram, the “process” enneagram of George Gurd- If we look at the personality enneagram, we see a jieff and the enneagram of individual differences system that describes nine points on a circle as by Oscar Ichazo. The latter is more commonly nine point of view, each one looking at life in a called the enneagram of personality or personality different way. We can describe this view in terms fixations. For our purposes here, I’ll speak of the of a personality type. And we can look at how personality enneagram, although my own view is this type is motivated and how it relates to other that individuality is not exactly equivalent to per- types on the circle in predictable ways, given its sonality.1 placement on the circle and how the inner lines Most Gurdjieff (Fourth Way) schools regard connect with other points. We can study the na- the personality enneagram as a somewhat de- ture of each point from many different angles, graded usage of the “true” (process) enneagram; looking at such things as its fixations, passions, most users of the personality enneagram know virtues, gifts, Holy Ideas, symbolic animals, etc. relatively little about the process enneagram, We can also subsume each point into a broader unless they happen to participate in a Fourth Way category (such as a center, triad, or hexad) or di- Group. However, many people who discover the vide it into a narrower category (subtypes or wing personality enneagram regard as a wonderful tool types or a combination of both). for understanding the themselves and their rela- This whole approach rests on a spatial meta- tionships with other people. phor—the idea of having a point of view that dif- I always wanted to better understand the rela- fers from other points of view. It offers us a tool tionship between these two views of the ennea- to look at ourselves, and especially at the motiva- gram, but have no background in Fourth Way tions that underlie our actions. But what it seems philosophy. The books I initially read on the to lack is a mechanism for explaining the reason process enneagram2 were very interesting, but left why each type is motivated in a certain way—for me wondering how it related to the enneagram of example, why Ones seek perfection, Twos seek to personality. There are brief comments about this give, and Threes seek success. What is it about in Blake’s book (on p. 281 and p. 287), but these the actual position of each of these points on the were not sufficient to serve as the Rosetta Stone circle that gives rise to perfectionism, helping, for which I was looking. and achievement? Why isn’t position 1 associ- When I read Nathan Bernier’s recently pub- ated with success-seeking or position 3 associated lished book, The Enneagram: Symbol of All and with perfectionism? Everything, I found the connection I was looking What I’m getting at is the notion that these for. The relationship between the two approaches personality types are not just arbitrary mental began to make sense for the first time. It’s not categories, but are points on a circle. To really that Bernier was particularly interested in con- understand the nature of the point, it’s necessary necting the two, but that the language he uses may to understand the nature of the circle. If we want enable someone familiar with the personality en- to understand the nature of an organ, we have to neagram to see parallels between the two ap- look at the larger body of which it is a part. proaches. When we do this, we automatically shift our attention from the personal world and all that it entails—personal problems, personal develop- ment, and personal enlightenment—to the trans- 1 It’s my view that it’s a mistake to focus most of our attention on individual differences at the level of the per- personal world, where we are looking at broader sonality, because this limits us too much. Individuality purposes, processes, and creative activity. We exists on many levels of the psyche, not just the per- look beyond the personality itself to examine the sonality level. context within which personality exists. 2 Mainly Enneagram Studies by J.G. Bennett and The To do this, we have to be willing to examine Intelligent Enneagram, by A.G.E. Blake. our ideas about personality. Personality is a lim- 1 ited vehicle or function (just as each point is a phor to describe attributes while the second uses a limited view). If we look only at the point itself, time- or process metaphor to describe an event. we see only limitation and what it gives rise to— What is fascinating is that, for both ap- behavior that tends toward sin (from an ethical proaches, the energy of each of the nine points is point of view) or dysfunction (from a psychologi- identical. Whatever way we look at the ennea- cal point of view). But if we look beyond to the gram, the elemental nature of each point is the point, to the circle, then what appears to be inade- same. Only the application is different. quate when looked at in isolation may be seen as However, I can see why the process ennea- simply a kind of specialized function. We don’t gram is regarded as the primary or source ennea- expect the liver to think or the brain to digest gram and the personality enneagram as a subset of food—why do we expect the personality to be the process enneagram. For one thing, the process good at everything? Maybe that’s not its job. enneagram came first and was the one Gurdjieff Maybe it’s designed to make us pay special atten- originally taught. Also, it can be used to describe tion to certain things in life for reasons that can a wide variety of events, not just human personal- only be understood when we look at the larger ity. I think that’s why I thought that it would bet- whole, not the individual. ter inform my understanding of the personality The process enneagram does just that—it di- enneagram. rects our attention again and again to the circle itself. Each point matters, but only as part of A Purpose for Personality some larger process. The process enneagram Of particular interest to me was exploring not just looks at the world (the circle) as a place for crea- the motivation of personality, but the purpose of tive activity and at each point as a function or re- personality. It’s easy to think of personality in sponsibility that arises at a given time in the crea- wholly negative terms because of its limitations, tive process. From this perspective, limitation is which give us blind spots and a tendency to make not bad or wrong, but simply an inherent feature errors of judgment. The enneagram of personality of this kind of activity. is useful for telling us what sorts of errors to ex- Point 1 represents the beginning of the proc- pect based on our point of view. Then we can ess and Point 9, it’s completion. At the start of a avoid certain problems and compensate for others. new cycle of any kind, things usually seem pretty However, what we can’t do is to be rid of the chaotic—not very focused or organized. Point 1 personality. Learning not to identify with it is is the place where this changes—where half- about as good as it gets, because on this plane of formed ideas and vague imaginings are trans- existence, a personality is necessary and useful, formed into clear and focused intentions. Each whatever its limitations. But if we suppose that subsequent point represents a further refinement personality has an actual purpose to serve—that in the creative process, with the emphasis gradu- each personality is like a piece of colored glass in ally shifting from planning (at Points 1-4) to exe- a larger kaleidoscope of light—then it might be cution (at Points 5-6) to appreciation (at Points 7- possible to learn to relate to personality in a more 8). Point 9 is the place between creative cycles, productive way, to focus not just on its limitations where attention is directed less to creative expres- but its possibilities. sion and more to cultivating a state of receptivity. What would it be like if we were to shift our Each of the nine points on the circle repre- focus from reforming or transcending the person- sents a point in time (not space) when a change of ality to see the role that personality plays in ful- direction or emphasis is necessary for the process filling our life’s purpose or dharma? We would to continue. If this shift does not occur, then the be looking at the glass as half-full instead of half- process does not continue. empty. For me, this is easier if I see how my role So both approaches to the enneagram—the fits into a larger plan. And this is precisely what personality and the process approach—posit nine the process enneagram is helping me to see. points around a circle. In the personality ennea- Bernier discusses the practical applications of gram, the circle represents the sum total of all the the process enneagram on pages 325-333 of his possible attributes that a human being can ex- book, and it was by reading this section that I was press.