The Buddhist Enneagram: Nine Paths to Warriorship

by Susan Piver

The Buddhist Enneagram is a personal exploration of Buddhist teachings on liberation from suffering and how the enneagram illuminates the way. This work is not an academic overview of interesting correlations between the systems. Rather, it shows how the enneagram gives powerful insight into your unique spiritual journey—and how you can support others in theirs.

Buddhist teacher and New York Times bestselling author Susan Piver has spent nearly 30 years in parallel study of Tibetan Buddhism and the enneagram. Piver masterfully weaves together two ancient schools of wisdom and magic in a compassionate exploration of the nine styles of traveling the path from confusion to wisdom.

With Buddhist teachings for each of the nine types, Piver illustrates that, no matter what your spiritual path is (including the path of no path), the enneagram offers profound support for living a deeply compassionate and fiercely awake life.

In this groundbreaking work, we find a way to untether ourselves from the merciless treadmill of self-improvement to see what is already perfect in ourselves, in others, and in every moment. This is the warrior’s journey.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Spirituality, Buddhism, Religion, Personal Development, Psychology

268 pages, Paperback

Published September 13, 2022

About the author

Susan Piver is the New York Times bestselling author of many books, including the award-winning "How Not to Be Afraid of Your Own Life", "The Wisdom of a Broken Heart", "Start Here Now: An Open-Hearted Guide to the Path and Practice of Meditation", and "The Four Noble Truths of Love: Buddhist Wisdom for Modern Relationships".

Piver has been a practicing Buddhist since 1993 and graduated from a Buddhist seminary in 2004. She is an internationally acclaimed meditation teacher, known for her ability to translate ancient practices into modern life. Her work has been featured on the Oprah show, TODAY, CNN, and in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and others.

In 2013, she launched the Open Heart Project, the largest virtual mindfulness community in the world with 20,000 members.

Reviews

[Narilka · Rating 4 out of 5]

My introduction to the Enneagram was through one of those quizzes "Which Enneagram Number Are You" you can find floating around online. So I took it and found the results interesting. Then I took another quiz and got completely different results, which was confusing. So when I saw a giveaway for this book, I entered and am glad I won a copy. Thank you GoodReads giveaways!

Enneagram is a philosophy to help us understand ourselves better and to enable us to travel from confusion to wisdom. It is more deep and complex than I was initially thinking. Susan Piver's passion for the Enneagram is felt on every page. Her writing is engaging and I liked her style of pairing what she was saying with a story to help with understanding. While I can't say I fully understand Enneagram, I do feel I have a much better foundation than I did from just a couple online quizzes. Pairing Enneagram with Buddhism was a interesting as it also helped me better understand some Buddhist principles at the same time. I suspect this book will be even better on future rereads should I decide to continue to deepen my knowledge of Enneagram.

[✨Arline✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s what I’ve been looking for. I learned a lot and know this will change my relationships.

Thankful I finally found a solid enneagram book without the Christian undertones.

[Winter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you, Goodreads Giveaways, and to the author, Susan Piver.
#Winner!
#GOODREADSGIVEAWAY

[Sammy Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Susan is a wonderful story teller and I loved her writing style. I am still lost as to which Enneagram I am, which is not her fault.

[Lynnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A keeper. Love Piver; love this expansion of the enneagram.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read many books on the enneagram, mostly from a Christian perspective. This book is helpful by providing a whole other angle and that made my understanding that much more expansive. I appreciate Buddhism in general for being non dualistic and this perspective on the enneagram, which can often sounds very dualistic, was refreshing.

[Logan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Are you a 2 or a 7? It doesn’t matter…

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is too self-referential for my tastes.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started off very strongly: the author's linking of Enneagram theory and Buddhism seems to be a great fit. Then her discussion of types One through Four was excellent, likely in part because the author is a Four (and this was by far the longest and most insightful chapter), her husband is a One, and she understands the Feeling Triad well.

Five was decent, but then Six through Nine showed a significant drop in length, quality, accuracy, insight, and nuance. She did not seem to grasp the complexities of Sixes, defining them simply as people who are fear-driven and uncertain. Sevens were basically "fun," Eights contained a lot of misunderstandings that seem to stem from the lack of comprehension of Sixes (e.g., lots of attributing Counterphobic Six behaviors, like plotting aggressions in secret, to Eights), and Nines felt like a tacked-on afterthought.

It's clear that the author loves talking about her own type and a few others, and those sections were truly insightful. But it also feels like she's had negative and/or incomplete experiences with the types in the second half of the book, and those come through as well. E.g., she mentions having frustrating bosses who were a Seven and an Eight, respectively, and mentioning those experiences in such short chapters feels odd (and is probably relevant to her stance).

[A.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s natural to want to turn around and head right back to practices that helped you feel better. However, you then find that the world becomes smaller and smaller. There are fewer places to go where the possibility of pain does not exist. (In fact, there are none.)

Piver, Susan. The Buddhist Enneagram: Nine Paths to Warriorship (p. 18). Lionheart Press. Kindle Edition.

In the Buddhist tradition I was trained in, the primary obstacle to spiritual attainment is being afraid of yourself. When we focus on what we lack rather than how much goodness we possess, we spend most of our time cutting ourselves down, disbelieving our insights, and abandoning our longings. The inner environment is filled with self-aggression. Even spiritual teachings can be weaponized when we use them to tear ourselves apart.

Piver, Susan. The Buddhist Enneagram: Nine Paths to Warriorship (p. 23). Lionheart Press. Kindle Edition.

You can tell an Eight to let go of lusting for power or suggest that a Five pay more attention to their emotions, but this is not particularly helpful. First, you are asking the mind that created these patterns for excellent survival reasons to also dissolve them by the same logic that created them. That will not work.

Piver, Susan. The Buddhist Enneagram: Nine Paths to Warriorship (p. 41). Lionheart Press. Kindle Edition.

3 stars

[Eady Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Susan Piver comes across as someone well studied in both Buddhism and the Enneagram, able to give people a healthy dose of enlightenment on their journey as humans beings.

I am fortunate because Susan is an Enneagram 4 and so am I. I related to almost everything she said about Enneagram 4s and felt like she gave sound advice for me to follow as a 4.

Reading through all of the enneagram numbers illuminated some things about friends and family members that I believe will help me relate to them better.

Since I am not very familiar with Buddhism, this book further opened my eyes to see that this religion as one of peace and enlightenment which I am drawn toward.

If you are interested in understanding more about Enneagram types, and you are attracted to the peaceful path of Buddhism, you would probably really enjoy this book!

[Richard Heilbrunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enneagram ~ It’s in the numbers

Historically Susan has had a knack to open my heart and my eyes. I almost always avoid any system that typifies in any matter or one that allows one to pigeon hole what is meant to remain fluid. Susan describes the Enneagram in a very digestible manner, served with a side of Buddhist insight, which I found interesting and convincing. I’m left with the intention to understand this in relation to my everyday life and others. Hell who knows I might even figure out which number rings my bell!

[Rebecca Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last few Enneagram books I’ve read have been written by Fours. A consistent aspect among these Four writers has been that their interpretation of the other types contains a lot of personal anecdotes of experiences with other types and extrapolating those into generalizations. This is very much how my Four friends and relatives perceive the world! I don’t find it super useful, though. That said, I did gain some good, tough insight into how my tendencies might be incredibly annoying and frustrating to other people - so I guess that’s good? Always something to work on.

[Ileana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightening and simple

I love Susan Piver’s work and books. They are honest, clear, and very personal. It’s difficult to describe How close to your heart Susan gets while still having objectivity and clarity in her thoughts and work.
No woo, all descriptive and helpful to learn more about oneself.
I learned about the enneagram from Susan, and it fascinated me. This is a great introduction book and all I needed to figure out my type.

[kerrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was really great, if you already have a basic understanding of Buddhism and the Enneagrams. The parallels between the two are easily drawn.

My only qualm was that the book doesn’t help identify your Enneagram, and it isn’t until one of the last chapters that the author includes a “finding your Enneagram” section that tells you to just take a few quizzes online.

So know your Enneagram before reading!

[Jennifer L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! Pairing the enneagram types with Buddhist ideology has not only helped me understand myself better but understand Buddhism better and where the Buddhist practices fit into my life. Perhaps more importantly, I am getting a better glimpse into those I care for the most and how I can be more compassionate, receptive, and forgiving of them (and me). Thank you!

[Barb Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is probably not a great introduction to either Buddhism or the Enneagram. But if you’re familiar with either of them, it’s fascinating. She has a tendency to pack a lot of information into single sentences, so there were several moments of, wait, could you say more about that? But still, I learned a lot. And info overload aside, she is a wonderful writer and teacher.

[dearlittleg · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is truth ringing out from this book for every single person. You do not have to identify as a Buddhist to gain a new and helpful understanding of yourself and others. Susan Piver is warm, honest and inspiring in her offering of this information.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a therapist and retreat leader, who practices and teaches mindfulness, meditation, and parts work. I tried to get into the Enneagram several years ago, but it just didn't stick. Then for some reason I picked up this book. Everything just clicked for me. Now I can't get enough of the Enneagram.

[Jackie Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it.

I appreciated her view of not being rigidly held to states of health, the idea you could cycle through them all in a day.

Interesting to find connections between enneagram and Buddhism. This is a book I’ll probably revisit regularly.

[Helen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf- quit at 30%. Was bored. Agree that it was rambling very self-referential and didn’t cohere at all. I think you have to be a fan of the author to get excited about this. Two friends recommended it and love her so perhaps just not my cup of tea. A little bit of enneagram is fun but trying to overlay Buddhism on it didn’t work for me.

[Leigh Martella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was incredibly insightful and useful.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Bob Wainess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting if you like that sort of thing.

[Fluencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting perspective on enneagram

[Stormy Hickman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read for an enneagram 4!

[Tessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently went on retreat with Tina Rasmussen who cited the enneagram as a useful tool for understanding one's personality, and shedding the ego. This book provided some insight!

[Frederick Locke · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible integration of basic Buddhist concepts and the Enneagram, a profound heuristic for understanding oneself.

[Alison Smith Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to be a Buddhist now.

[atom_box Evan G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Commits the error of not describing 7's correctly. At all.
Susan Piver is a self-described 4. Maybe it is hard for a 4 to understand a 7; her take was brief and half inaccurate. I read the "4" and "7" chapters. This is a thin book and the perspective is not wise and the Buddhism is an awkward graft onto the Piver's understanding of the types. Helen Palmer's books are more dense and more able to present the different types.