The Wisdom of the Enneagram

by Don Richard Riso

formation of new layers of superego that come from our psychological and spiritual work. We might call these the spiritual superego or the therapy superego. Instead of berating ourselves with the voices of our parents, we berate ourselves with the voices of Buddha or Jesus or Muhammad or Freud or our therapist! In fact, one of the biggest dangers that we face in using the Enneagram is our superegos tendency to “take over” our work and start criticizing us, for example, for not moving up the Levels of Development or going in the Direction of Integration fast enough. The more we are present, however, the more we will recognize the irrelevance of these voices and successfully resist giving them energy. Eventually, they lose their power, and we can regain the space and quiet we need to be receptive to other, more life-giving forces within us.