The Wisdom of the Enneagram

by Don Richard Riso

If we reflect for a moment, we may realize that what our hearts yearn for is to know who we are and why we are here.

“There’s a part of every living thing that wants to become itself, the tadpole into the frog, the chrysalis into the butterfly, a damaged human being into a whole one. That is spirituality.” ELLEN BASS

Our hearts yearn to soar, yet we almost always come crashing down painfully on the rocks of fear, self-defeating habits, and ignorance.

In understanding ourselves, our relationships, our spiritual growth, and many other important issues, we will see that type—not gender, not culture, and not generational differences—is the crucial factor.

The main filter that we use to understand ourselves and the world around us, to express ourselves, to defend ourselves, to deal with our past and anticipate our future, to learn with, to rejoice with, and to fall in love with, is our personality type.

“What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?” THOMAS MERTON

Type Six: The Loyalist.

that's me!

their personality type—“Of course I get

paranoid! After all, I’m a Six,” or “You know

be more accurately described as Anxiety because anxiety leads us to be afraid of things that are not actually happening now. Sixes walk around in a constant state of apprehension and worry about possible future events.

oh, dear....me right now

Thus, in a literal sense, the Enneagram is “the bridge between psychology and spirituality.™”