The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram

By Sandra Maitri

The following is an excerpt from the Epilogue from Sandra’s first book, The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram: Nine Faces of the Soul.

The directions that I have pointed toward regarding the inner work each of the types’ needs for real personal transformation are easily summarized in a few pages. On the other hand, the actual working through of the personality such that our souls are progressively less occluded and so that they become increasingly more transparent takes many years, no matter how dedicated we are and how much we apply ourselves. It is also work not easily done alone. Since true transformation requires overcoming the inertial pull of identification with the personality, support in the form of a spiritual school or a Work group is usually necessary. Also, because becoming conscious means seeing what we are blind to, the guidance of a teacher is often required for our Journey to be successful.

This Journey requires facing painful and sometimes deeply frightening aspects of ourselves, tucked away in the recesses of our souls. Things definitely feel as if they get worse before they get better, as we get closer and closer to some of the deep strata of the personality, with abysses and primitive energies that sometimes feel as though they will sweep us away. It is not an easy journey and it requires a degree of honesty with ourselves only possible if we are personally driven to know who we really are and if getting in touch with the truth—no matter how uncomfortable—brings joy to our hearts.

For those who choose to undertake it, it is infinitely rewarding. A whole universe awaits within us, complete with its infinite vastness and its paradoxes, its strangeness and its exquisiteness. While we will sometimes encounter black holes and vast empty places, all the beauty of the cosmos is there to unfurl itself. As we take this journey, we increasingly understand what being human is all about: becoming transparent windows of the Divine, traveling through all of the limitless beauty of the creation, and living lives informed by Being, lives filled with profundity, contentment, and meaningful expression and contribution. It is my sincere hope that this book has shed light on the terrain and that it will continue to support your Journey Home.
 

Sandra Maitri is the only prominent teacher of the system of the enneagram to have learned it when it was originally taught by Claudio Naranjo, M.D., beginning in 1970. She is currently a supervising teacher of the Diamond Approach® to Inner Realization, leading groups in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the United Kingdom. Sandra’s latest book is The Enneagram of the Passions and Virtues: Finding the Way Home. Her first book is The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram: Nine Faces of the Soul. For information about Sandra’s work, click here to visit her website.