ENNEAGRAM SPIRITUALITY From Compulsion to Contemplation SUZANNE ZUERCHER, O.S.B. ENNEAGRAM SPIRITUALITY ENNEAGRAM SPIRITUALITY From Compulsion to Contemplation SUZANNE ZUERCHER, O.S.B. AVE MARIA PRESS Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 Suzanne Zuercher brings a wealth of experience in spiritual directionandclinicalpsychologytothis,herfirstbook. Amemberof theBenedictine SistersofChicago,sheworksasawriteranddirector ofworkshops and retreats. She regularly conducts enneagram work- shops aroundtheworld. A graduate ofLoyola University ofChicago, she also earned her master'sdegreeinClincalPsychology andis a licensedpsychologist inIllinois. Shehasservedasa campusministeratLoyola andasco- director of the Institute for Spiritual Leadership. Her articles have appearedinanumberofperiodicalsincludingPraying, HumanDevel- opmentand LivingPrayer. Firstprinting,January, 1992 Secondprinting,October, 1992 25,000copiesinprint © 1992 by Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, IN 46556 All rights reserved. No part ofthis book may be used or reproduced in any mannerwhatsoeverwithoutwrittenpermission, exceptinthe case ofreprints in the context ofreviews. International Standard Book Number: 0-87793-471-1 0-87793-466-5 (pbk.) Library ofCongress Catalog Card Number: 91-76188 Coverand text design by ElizabethJ. French Printed and bound in the United States ofAmerica. Table of Contents Introduction 7 1 The First Task of Life 17 2 The Second Task ofLife 27 3 Vice and Virtue 33 4 The Story of Mary Magdalene 53 5 The Story ofThomas 59 6 The Story of Peter 65 7 The Meaning of Incarnation 73 8 The Present Moment 95 9 The Contemplative Attitude and Discernment 113 10 The Way to Contemplation 135 11 The Enneagram: A Help to Contemplation 157 Endnotes 167 Introduction No way of articulating the human situation has proven more helpful in my personal development or in my professional work than has the enneagram. Having been introduced to the initial descriptions nearly twenty years ago, I continue to find them a seemingly endless font of awareness about myself and other people. It is the fruit of these years ofreflection that I offer in this book. Its purpose is not to pigeonhole selfor others. The intent of any enneagram study ought to be the contemplative pondering and wondering over that creation which is the hu- man person. In this contemplative experience I invite you to join me. Many people have been exposed to readings or workshops on this system of conceptualizing the human person. If you are one ofthose, you probably are already concerned, as I am, with considerations beyond these descriptions. It is some of those I discuss in the following pages. If, however, you are unfamiliar with enneagram theory, you will still be assisted to further understandings about yourselfand others through these reflections on varying life dynamics and issues. Several traditions are said to be sources for enneagram the- ory. The word enneagram itselfcomes from the Greek and refers to a circular figure with nine points on its circumference. In this Sufi philosophy the Divine expresses itself in nine mani- festations, which this figure, derived from the decimal system, makes graphic.1 A number of authors have treated in detail the history of enneagram theory. I will not repeat their work. Let me say only that all aspects ofcreation, not only the creation ofhuman beings, have nine different expressions according to the Sufi Enneagram Spirituality 8 philosophy. However, it is this enneagram ofthe human being ratherthan aphilosophical discussion ofa theory ofcreation that is the focus ofmost contemporary interest in the enneagram. For myself, a helpful image ofenneagram theory applied to those varying kinds ofhuman beings who people the world is that ofa prism oflight. As one colorin a prism gradually shades into the next, so the nine types ofpersonality merge from one to another around this circular figure representing the fullness ofhuman creation. As there is significance and interrelationship among the numbers aroundthe enneagram, so there are nuances ofenergy, shades, and colors ofperson, ifyou will, changing as one space blends to anotherand that white light which contains all colors is manifest in its varied facets. The Enneagram and the Human Process Knowledge about the various ways people view life is en- lightening. Realizing the differing ways individuals perceive, process, andrespond to their environment not onlyhelps toward self-knowledge, but to understanding ourselves in the context ofhuman relationship. To study the enneagram and to observe the reality of what it describes is to become a more sensitive instrument through whom life can flow for selfand others. As we study the enneagram, we gradually come to see how we frustrate what we most desire for ourselves. We become aware of what clouds our perceptions and blocks our energy. We learn what strikes fear into our hearts and paralyzes them as well as what sends them into automatic, compulsive reaction. We come to know the patterns of personal dynamics and life themes as these recur in experience. Through these awarenesses we can become reconciled with who we are and learn to flow with our life energies. We discover what endowment of ours is a gift for others as well as for us. In other words, we are in- troduced to our reality more and more. Over time we become betterfriends ofourselves, discoveringwhere we had made our- selves our own enemy. As more inclusive, more honest, more contemplative awareness ofinner and outer reality expands, we Introduction 9 grow in consciousness, that experience which makes us human. Denial is less, and the light ofcontemplative reality shines into our shadow places. We grow in wisdom as we grow in self-awareness. Life teaches that we will always look at reality from varying vantage points, and the enneagram can help to articulate and expand in- sights about these. Humility will forever demand that we keep on listening and learning. Humility will also assure and en- large the perspective that teaches us no single individual has everything to offer. We also find we need patience and humor as we admit our and others' limitations. We grow in forgive- ness of ourselves and others, too. The enneagram can move us toward that contemplative life which is the destiny of the human person. Several books have been written describing each numbered space on the enneagram with distinguishing characteristics of people who flesh out each of the nine. My intention is to move beyond these basic descriptions to a discussion of how the dynamics ofeach space shape the adult developmental pro- cess of people in that stance. Conversion or transformation or individuation2 are all ways to talk about the task of coming to maturity. Balance and centeredness, both physical and psychic, come about through allowing denied parts ofthe personality to enter consciousness. Overview ofDiffering Dynamics The early chapters ofthis book describe what needs to hap- pen for anyone on the adult journey, which is filled with the pain and fear that risk always causes. This process is the uni- versal task, whatever the personality of an individual may be. Even so, each enneagram number faces slightly different issues.3 There are 2/3/4s, those who respond to life instinctively by do- ing somethingabout it. In contrast, 5/6/7s instinctively perceive things first, and 8/9/Is have an initi—al emotional response.4 The arena—ofinstinctive personal energy where theirlife force pulls them is toward the outer world for 2/3/4s, and they try to