Map these three kinds of information onto the 'torus', the three-dimensional figure that most closely simulates the essential nature of consciousness (the way that it wraps back around on itself, and is thus capable of turning itself 'inside out'). Put the information about the characterological pitfalls associated with 'personality type' on the outermost edge, the enlightened qualities at the innermost center, and the processes of transformation in the intermediary regions - and you have a mandala that is psychologically COMPLETE. It symbolizes the most profound of truths regarding human 'personality' - that we normally come closest to 'realizing' our deepest potential when we are seized by 'unconscious' urges that seem to threaten our most prized ego-formations. Or, turning that statement around - in order to fully realize our positive potential, we must actually prepare ourselves to see the unconscious core of 'wisdom' within characterological compulsions and obsessions that qualify, ironically, as our greatest 'flaws'.

Of course, not every negative quality is a gift in disguise. What is MOST interesting about the Enneagram, when all is said and done, is that it appears to be particularly adept at identifying those basic characterological flaws that DO contain pearls - the 'fault lines' in our Ego, as it were. Until this is realized about the Enneagram, its most profound truths will no doubt remain 'secret'.

The Structure of the Enneagram, Revisited

In 'Enneagram as Double Mandala', we actively explored the DUAL NATURE of the Enneagram, and did so by discerning two figures - the equilateral triangle and the six-pointed shape connecting points 1, 4, 2, 8, 5, and 7. But there is a THIRD figure, almost too obvious to mention, in combination with which these two figures form what we know as 'the Enneagram' - the outer circle which circumscribes the other two figures. These three, together, may be conceived as superimposed mandalas. Following the Buddhist tradition, we shall call them the 'outer', 'inner', and 'secret' (or 'innermost') mandalas.

outer mandala

plus

inner mandala

plus

innermost (secret) mandala

Let us briefly take a closer look at the third figure, the outer circle. It is segmented into nine sections, the equidistant nature of which seems to imply that one point does not have 'priority' or uniqueness over the others - they are each equally important. The first nine integers, starting with 'one', are placed, in sequence, in a clockwise manner, at the nine points on the circle. This tells us that the movement in the circle, taken as a separate figure, is conceived as clockwise and sequential.

In a way that is somewhat counter-intuitive, however, the number at the top of the circle is not the first number in the series, number One. Edinger, as we have seen, put the number One at the top of the nine-pointed circle that he used to model the nine stages of the 'individuation' process). But in the Enneagram it is the LAST number in the series that appears at the top. This is somewhat strange, as anyone who is new to the figure will attest - although with familiarity, we quickly become accustomed to it. What is the meaning behind doing it this way? What the diagram seems to be suggesting is that, in the scheme of things represented by this particular nine-pointed circle, the 'beginning' is not conceived as a place of 'rest', but as part of a movement that has already begun but is not yet complete. The number One appears 'off balance', as it were, in a place that requires further clockwise movement to reach fulfillment. We are asked to start, in other words, at a place where movement has already begun, and there is no choice but to go forward, or remain 'off balance'. We are thus almost immediately required to engage in a 'process'. Eight additional steps will apparently be needed to accomplish the 'completion' that is PREFIGURED in the number 'One'.

The six-pointed figure (which, as we have seen, plays the primary role when the Enneagram is used as a tool for understanding 'process') comprises the 'inner mandala', and suggests movement. In that context, as we've mentioned, the equilateral triangle is often drawn using dotted lines, suggesting that it is the manifestation of 'outside' forces present at a comparatively more subtle layer or level of reality in the figure.

The triangle thus qualifies, in the overall figure that we know as the Enneagram, as part of the 'innermost' level of the mandala. The smallest circle (depicted in gray) does not actually appear in the Enneagram as we know it. But we might say that it is VIRTUALLY present, in the sense that its presence is implied, as we have shown earlier, by virtue of an associated figure (represented to the left of this paragraph) that Ouspensky often utilized in combination with the Enneagram. As we have explained earlier, this figure symbolizes 'liminocentric' structure - since the outermost actual figure in the Enneagram and innermost virtual figure are identical (ie, circles). As the innermost circle has ONLY an implied presence, and is in reality invisible, it may even be considered 'secret'.

We also previously explained why the spiral and/or vortex (as three-dimensional spiral) is sometimes alternately used to symbolize liminocentricity. Both figures literally depict circles in which there is an attempt to explicitly connect the center to the periphery. If we were to remove the triangle from Ouspenky's figure, and add a vortex to the outermost and innermost circles that remain, we would have (as in the figure to the left) a two-dimensional representation of the three-dimensional donut-shaped form called the 'torus', as seen from above.

If we were then to place the triangle that appears in Ouspensky's illustration back into the arrangement, we would have the figure that appears to the left of this paragraph. In structure it is identical to a figure (directly below) that is used in an advanced set of teachings in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, the 'Dzogchen' teachings, which seek to combine the 'outer', 'inner' and 'secret' teachings of advanced Buddhism into a consistent whole. ¹ As we have previously seen, this school discerns 9 'yanas' ('vehicles' or paths of spiritual transformation) that correspond to 9 stages of spiritual accomplishment. The Dzogchen teachings comprise the ninth and highest these. The word 'Dzogchen' literally means 'the great (chen) prefection (dzog)'.

The outer rim of the Dzogchen figure is segmented into 6 areas. In each is a maze-like figure that turns out to be a letter in an ancient script, according to Namkhai Norbu, a teacher in this tradition. It 'closes the gate' to rebirth in one of six realms into which the unenlightened being is destined to fall after death. So each of the six segments of the outer realm are associated with a comparatively undesirable realm, according to the ancient Buddhist cosmological system - the realm of hell beings, the realm of animals, the realm of 'hungry ghosts', the realm of unenlightened human beings, the realm of 'jealous gods', and the realm of 'gods'. Together these comprise 'cyclic existence' - socalled 'samsaric' existence, as opposed to the kind of existence ('nirvanic') available to the enlightened being.

Samsara is 'cyclic' over the course of the long-haul. After the unenlightened individual dies, she falls into one or another of the six realms as a result of the karmic merits and demerits that she has accumulated, according to this system. But whether she assumes a body in the lowest form of existence, as a hell-being (where life is comparatively restrictive and painful, and it take an enormous accumulation of positive karma to affect release), or reincarnates into the highest form, as a 'god' (for whom everything is pleasant and effortless), there is no escape from the cycle. Everything is temporary and subject to eventual changes as the individual's 'good karma' wears out and she inevitably descends into a lesser realm.

Only through the accumulation of positive karma can the individual hope to escape the entire cycle; and this can only be accomplished in the human realm. For only the human being has the opportunity, through an exercise of free-will, to accumulate merit by performing intentionally positive deeds. In the human realm, if the individual's accumulated merit is adequate, those spiritual teachings that are necessary to achieve 'enlightenment' and the release from the cycle of samsara, become available to the individual.

So, with the exception of certain favorable human conditions, the realms are all, in general, to be avoided (ie, 'renounced'). And the mantric syllables that are placed in those positions on the Dzogchen figure are put there in order to 'seal' the doors to those undesireable realms, precluding rebirth in the associated realm.

Similarly, in the (Indian) tradition associated with the Shri Yantra, nine syllables are associated with the nine bodily openings through which the consciousness of the individual can leave the human body at death. All of these openings are considered inappropriate means of egress, and the spirit that uses one of these will be reborn into an associated 'lesser' realm. So it is important to block those openings, and 'mantra' is one method that is used to do this.

As strange as these teachings may appear to Westerners when they are taken literally, they make perfectly good sense (and are eminently practical) when the notion of 'realm' is interpreted psychologically and the six are seen as 'personality types' that result from a set of habitual psychological 'preferences' on the part of the individual. When, following what can be called the 'path of renunciation', the individual learns to avoid identification with 'false personality' (based on habitual patterns of 'attachment' and 'aversion' - considered, in Buddhist psychology, to be the key causal factors in the production of ego and human suffering), the 'lower' forms of existence are precluded.

But AVOIDANCE is not enough. The individual must have some alternative to existence in these 'lower realms'. This is where the teachings associated with the 'inner mandala' come in, and eventually also the 'secret mandala'. In order to better understand this, and apply it productively in understanding the teachings associated with the Enneagram, we must take a closer look at the Buddhist model.

The mandalas used in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition for the purpose of spiritual practice are often seen as comprised of three separate mandalas, concentrically superimposed in such a way that an 'outer' mandala (at, or near, the circumference of the figure), an 'inner' mandala, and an 'innermost' (or 'secret') mandala can be brought into relief.

In this tradition, the outer, inner and secret mandalas correspond to progressively more subtle (and hence difficult to comprehend) spiritual teachings. The three-fold breakdown is designed to meet the needs of individuals of varying spiritual capacity. But as it is also true that individuals are capable of developing their capacity over time, the three approaches are conceived as helpmates that are inextricably interwoven - and are thus physically rendered as superimposed figures in a concentric arrangement.

One typically walks through the outer door to a house before one can enter the bedroom, or into the closet within the bedroom. But just as it is the case that by entering into the closet one has not left the bedroom or exited the house - the outer, inner, and innermost mandala are also considered 'overlapping' terrain. Nevertheless, there is often a tremendous difference in the environment that is created in the vestibule of a house, the public rooms inside, and the inner sanctum - whether that be a meditation room or simply a private bedroom. There is a different approach to space and how it is used; a different psychological ATMOSPHERE obtains.

The 'Outer' Mandala & 'The Enneagram of Personality Type'

In the Buddhist tradition, the teachings corresponding to the outer mandala are based on the 'Sutras', and emphasize what is called the 'path of renunciation'. The path of renunciation involves repudiation of negative behaviors, a disowning or that which precludes genuine spiritual development, and a surrender to those principles and behaviors that promote progress. The individual on the path of renunciation may, for instance, take a series of very specific religious 'vows' in an effort to commit herself to avoiding that which is not conducive to spiritual growth. She may also participate in meditations, visualizations, or other 'purification' procedures intended to neutralize the karmic effect of previous bad behavior. In the following passage, Rahula takes a 'path of renunciation' approach toward describing 'meditation'.

The word meditation is a very poor substitute for the original term BHAVANA, which means 'cuture' or 'development', i.e., mental cultural or mental development. The Buddhist BHAVANA, properly speaking, is mental culture in the full sense of the term. It aims at cleansing the mind of impurities and disturbances, such as lustful desires, hatred, ill-will, indolence, worries and restlessness, sceptical doubts, and cultivating such qualities as concentration, awareness, intelligence, will, energy, the analytical faculty, confidence, joy, tranquility, leading finally to the attainment of the highest wisdom which sees the nature of things as they are, and realizes the Ultimate Truth, Nirvana. (Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught, 1959, Grove Press, New York, page 68.)

Notice that amongst the negative qualities that Rahula lists as 'impurities' are the 'sins' that are characteristically associated with specific Enneagram types. Indolence, for instance, is typically associated with E9, and skepticism and doubt with E6.

Interestingly, the approach to the Enneagram that corresponds most closely to the 'path of renunciation' teachings in Buddhism is the perspective offered by the practitioners of the now popular 'Enneagram of Personality Type' associated with Naranjo, Palmer, Riso, and others. To be sure, Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, as mentioned in an earlier paper, explicitly promoted such an approach by the manner in which they conceived of the very concept of 'personality'. In order to develop along the spiritual path, the individual would need, to cast off (ie, renounce) FALSE personality identifications so as to become capable of identifying, at some point, with 'essence'.

Claudio Naranjo, in his approach to the Enneagram, almost exclusively follows a 'path of renunciation'. In describing each of the nine EnneaTypes in his first book on the subject, so strongly did he rely on exaggerated psychological descriptions that emphasize the grotesque, ludicrous, and debased aspects of type, that resorting to graphic illustrations that were outright CARICATURES of each of the types must have seemed only natural to him.

The Tibetan 'Wheel of Life' is, similarly, almost exclusively a path-of-renunciation tool. Like the Dzogchen diagram, it also has a threefold structure. But, in this case, the diagram intentionally depicts, at all three levels, the unenlightened 'samsaric' form of existence that is placed at the OUTER mandala in the path-of-realization Dzogchen figure. As such, the diagram may be taken as a more detailed ELABORATION of the Dzogchen figure's outer rim. In the 'Wheel of Life', like in the Dogchen diagram, the six realms of cyclic existence appear. But also depicted (at the center of the Wheel) are the three 'root-causes' of rebirth in these realms, and (at the outermost edge) the way in which these root-causes unfold in the life of the individual as twelve interdependent 'links' in the cyclic process out of which emerges the ego and its objects of desire.

In the 'Wheel of Life', each of the 'six realms' is respectively associated with an experience that characterizes it - heavenly joy, titanic power, human activity, powerless craving, animal fear, and hellish suffering. Furthermore, with each is connected a negative emotion (pride, passion, envy, ignorance, and hatred) which is recognized as the karmic 'cause' of rebirth in the respective 'realm'. And similar to the way in which the Dzogchen diagram works, there is a six-syllable mantra associated with the figure - in this case the sacred mantra of Chenrezig (the deity of compassion). Each syllable, when uttered, acts not only as a 'blessing' for the sentient beings trapped in the respective realm, it also closes the gate to rebirth in that realm for the practioner reciting the mantra.

Govinda describes the Wheel of Life in the following way -

In practically every Tibetan temple a vivid pictorial representation of the six realms of the SAMSARIC world can be found. And corresponding to the nature of this world, in which the endless cycle of rebirths takes place, the six realms are represented as a wheel, whose six segments depict the six main types of worldly, i.e., unenlightened existence. These forms of existence are conditioned by the illusion of separate selfhood, which craves for all that serves to satisfy or maintain this 'ego', and which despises and hates whatever opposes this craving.

These three basic motives or root-causes (hetu) of unenlightened existence form the nave of the wheel of rebirths and are depicted in the form of three animals ... a red cock stands for passionate desire and attachment; a green snake is the embodiment of hatred, enmity and aversion, the qualities that poison our life; and a black hog symolizes the darkness of ignorance and ego-delusion. (Lama Govinda, Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism, Rider and Company, 1960, page 237-8)

The Six Realms depicted in the 'inner mandala' of the Wheel surround three figures that represent attraction, aversion, and ignorance (or 'ego-delusion') , and the outer rim of the Wheel rim shows the 'twelve interdependent links' illustrating these three principles unfold in the personal life of individual human beings who are under the sway of 'dualism'.

The twelve interdependent links are, in summary - Ignorance (1), which is is represented on the Wheel by a blind woman. 'On account of this spiritual blindness', says Govinda, 'man blunders through life, creating an illusory picture of himself and the world, due to which his will is directed upon unreal things, while his character is formed in accordance ...'. (241). As a result of the volitional activity that occurs within this ego-centered delusion, 'karmic formations' (2) occur - every deed leaves a trace, creating habit. Consciousness is thereby structured (3) - it is, in effect, the repository of these karmic causes that carry over from one situation (or lifetime) to another, and becomes the basis for the psycho-physical organism (4), which is further differentiated through the six senses (5). Contact between the senses and their object (6) evoke feeling (7) and a craving (8) for pleasurable experience. This gives rise to clinging (9). This in turn leads to 'becoming' (11), depicted as sexual union, which gives rise to rebirth (10) in a new existence and death (12). ²

What is being explained here, of course, is the birth of 'Ego' - out of which all 'suffering' inevitably emerges, according to the Buddhist analysis. The twelves links provide a framework that is helpful in understanding the way in which the 'deficiency-based' existence that Maslow compares to a 'self actualized' state comes into being - what we have called the 'D-realm' and 'B-realm', respectively, in our 'Nine Qualities' paper. In the former, one is acting out of deep-seated neediness, whereas in the latter one's actions arise out of a profound sense of fulfillment that is possible when one trascends ego and dualism. The activity that emerges in this latter case is, in a sense, gratuitous - a (super-fluous)overflow of joy and satisfaction.

In the 'path of renunciation' approach in Buddhism the spiritual paths are conceived as REMEDIES to dualism, as the following passage by Namkhai Norbu suggests -

These paths all have the common aim of seeking to overcome the problem that has arisen as the individual enters into dualism, developing a subject self, or ego, that experiences a world-out-there as other, continually trying to manipulate that world in order to gain satisfaction and security. But one can never achieve satisfaction and security in this way, because all the seemingly external phenomenona are impermanent and furthermore, the real cause of suffering and dissatisfaction is the fundamental sense of incompleteness that is the inevitable consequence of being in the state of dualism. (Namkhai Norbu, The Crystal, page 26 )

Insofar as dualism prevails, the world is divided for the individual into 'ego' and its 'objects'. What is actually ESSENTIAL to us as human beings, our core being, becomes alienated, and confusedly projected onto outer objects, which become the objects of our desire. Attraction toward these, and aversion to other objects, which we see as threats, become the fundamental modes in which we operate in this 'ego-based' terrain. This is why 'attraction', 'aversion', and 'ignorance' are conceived as the central motivating forces in the 'Wheel of Life' diagram.

The 'Inner Mandala' & The Enneagram of Process

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition the teachings associated with the 'inner mandala' are based on the 'Tantras', and it is the 'path of transformation' that is emphasized. The transformation that is referred to here ultimately involves a profound metanoia ³ or change of heart - an 'enlightenment' experience. These processes, albeit SPIRITUAL, are often likened to PHYSICAL transmutation processes - hence the metaphor of 'inner alchemy' that is often used in 'path of transformation' teachings. Among the the specific practices that promote profound change of the type emphasized on this path are mandala visualizations and the yogas that individuals use to work with the chakras and energies within the body. ⁴

The approach to the Enneagram that corresponds most closely with these 'path of transformation' teachings is J.G. Bennett's. As a student of Ouspensky's, and a proponent of the 'Enneagram of Process',

THE KITCHEN AS A COSMOS (J.G.Bennet, in Enneagram Studies, 1974, page 25)

Among the systems that Bennett modeled using the Enneagram, is, of course, the human individual in the process of profound personality change. In doing so, he even identified 'exoteric', 'mesoteric', and 'esoteric' levels of change ⁵that are roughly equivalent to the 'outer', 'inner', and 'innermost' levels of the Enneagram as mandala. As we have mentioned, there are problems associated with using Bennett's 'Enneagram of Process' to model the individual-in-change as a 'system'. What, precisely, is the relationship between the STAGE OF THE PROCESS represented by Point Four, say, and the specific personality TYPE represented by Enneatype Four? By using the diagram to the left, Bennett is NOT trying to say that E4s would be better suited to slicing and dicing the carrots ('preparing the food') than at boiling them, or serving the meal afterwards. To conclude that this is true would be to misconstrue the relationship between the 'Enneagram of Personality' and the 'Enneagram of Process'.

But what, then, IS the relationship between the Enneatype Four (to continue with the example above) in the 'Enneagram of Personality Type' and the 'Enneagram of Process' as applied to the process of PERSONALITY CHANGE? In order to provide an adequate answer to this question, we will first have to delve more deeply into the third ('innermost') area of the Enneagram. But for now, let it suffice to say that Bennett's 'Enneagram of Process' does not by itself seem to provide a definitive solution to the dilemma. It seems to leave us hanging. ⁶

The 'Innermost' Mandala & The Enneagram of Symbol

In the Buddhist tradition, the perspective associated with the 'innermost' mandala is based on a special group of advanced teachings referred to by different names in different schools - 'Dzogchen', for instance, in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. These can be said to comprise a third approach, the 'path of realization'. By 'realization' we mean here the recognition that 'enlightenment' is not really a state that comes into being as the product of a temporal change process, but rather a quality that is present in the individual from the very beginning. It only needs to be recognized, or 'realized'. There is a play here on the word 'realization', which means both 'to comprehend accurately', but also 'to actualize'. The individual who 'realizes' not only recognizes a truth that was previously obscured, she thereby becomes the embodiment of that truth.

If the 'path of renunciation' is like purification, in which a metal is cleansed of 'impurities', and the 'path of transformation' is like a chemical process in which some common metal is turned into gold, the 'path of realization' is more like discovering that the car keys for which one was looking were all the while in one's hand! Amongst the negative qualities associated with specific Enneagram personality types, in other words, will be qualities that are expressions of the most profound spiritual truths. But when these are obscured by the psychological attachments and revulsions associated with a personal psychology that is Ego-centered, the transcendental or enlightened nature of the quality becomes, in effect, obscure, hidden or lost. Its true nature is rendered 'secret'.

Sogyal Rinpoche, a Dzogchen teacher, describes the path of realization (sometimes called the 'path of self-liberation') associated with the these teachings in the following way -

To illustrate the differences taught in the various yanas [i.e., paths], Dudjom Rinpoche always used to recount the story of the poisonous plant. The plant is a symbol for emotional defilements or negativity. A group of people discover that a poisonous plant is growing in their backyard. They begin to panic, as they recognize that this is very dangerous. So they try to cut down the plant. This is the approach of renunciation, which is taught in Hinayana as the method to eradicate the ego and the negative emotions. Another group of people arrive, and, realizing that the plant is dangerous, but that simply cutting it will not be sufficient since its roots remain to sprout anew, they throw hot ash or boiling water over the roots to prevent the plant from ever growing again. This is the approach of the Mahayana, which applies the realization of emptiness as the antidote of ignorance, the root of ego and negativity. The next group of people to appear on the scene are the doctors, and when they see this poison they are not alarmed; on the contrary, they are very pleased, since they have been looking for this particular poison. They know how to transform the poison into medicine rather than destroying it. This is the tantric approach of the Vajrayana, which does not abandon the negative emotions, but through the power of transformation uses their energy as a vehicle to bring realization.

Finally, a peacock lands, and dances with joy when it sees the poison. It immediately consumes the poisonous plant and turns it into beauty. It is a Tibetan belief that the peacock owes its beauty to the fact that it eats a particular species of poisonous plant. The very nature of the peacock is such that it can actually consume poison, and THRIVES on it; hence it does not have to transform the poison, but eats it directly. The peacock represents Dzogchen, the path of self-liberation, the fruition of all the nine yanas. (Sogyal Rinpoche, Dzogchen and Padmasambhava, 1990, Rigpa Fellowship)

Unfortunately, with the exception of our 1995 attempt to provide some rudimentary theoretical underpinnings for a 'path of realization' approach to the Enneagram ('The Nine Qualities of the Enlightened Being'), there is little work that has been done along these lines. A.H. Almaas, in his recent work (1998), ⁷ seems to come close, at times, to wanting to take a 'path of realization' approach to the Enneagram. And his work is, without doubt, an attempt to reveal the 'spiritual' side of the Enneagram. But at crucial points, he too easily falls back into a perspective governed by a combined 'path of transformation' and 'path of renunciation' approach. The 'Nine Holy Ideas' that he associates with the nine points are more often than not conceived as diametrical OPPOSITES to the primary psychological qualities that underwrite the respective EnneaTypes. They are basically viewed as compensatory, providing something that is seen as MISSING in the respective enneatype profile.

Although Almaas recognizes that each individual 'will perceive the world most strongly through the Holy Idea associated with his or her ennea-type', he believes that 'each of the ennea-types, with its fixated views of reality, is constellated around the ABSENCE of the associated Holy Idea'. Each of the 'core convictions' associated with an ennea-type, says Almaas, 'is the opposite of its corresponding Holy Idea, and so is an unholy idea, a corrupted idea'.⁸

For Almaas, the 'fixations' associated with type arise out of 'specific delusions' manifest in each type, and bring about 'specific difficulties'. So far, so good. But, then, when these concepts are combined with the notion that the 'core conviction' and the 'holy idea' for each type stand in opposition to each other, a tremendous theoretical (and empirical) difficulty ensues.

Take, for instance, the E2. The 'stance' that characterizes the E2, according to Almaas, "is one filled with pride and stubbornness in which you assert 'I am going to get my own way'". (34) 'People of this type', he tells us, 'have a strong willfulness'. But E2s overwhelmingly test as extraverted feeling types [ESFJs and ENFJs]. Empirically speaking, E(S/N)FJs (and Enneagram Twos) are more likely to feel 'loss of self' than 'willfulness'. They are inclined to derive their identities from the identify of others, feeling that they themselves have NO underlying identity of their own. This condition can run so deep in the individual that it has sometimes been called 'ontological insecurity'.

Now, perhaps this condition derives from some problem associated with early childhood development - some deficiency. But looking at things from a 'path of realization' perspective we might alternately view the E2's way of being in the world as more akin to a state of incipient EGOLESSNESS. The E2, we might say, characteristically has natural INTIMATIONS of egolessness. It is what she excels at, even if she has no idea that this is what is happening. She somehow realizes that the ego, which we all take as something solid (and even valuable), is, indeed, empty. This is the E2's 'spiritual gift'. Only when these intimations of egolessness are mis-interpreted, by taking them as claims about the actual status of the ego ('I don't exist', 'I am nothing', 'I am unworthy') does a problem occur for the E2. This may involve a recourse to 'willfullness' on the part of the individual, as a secondary strategy formulated in reaction to an ego-based fear that accompanies the threat of fully experiencing egolessness. But the remedy, from the point of view of a 'path of realization' approach, is quite different. It involves HONORING the core WISDOM of the E2, by turning her attention to a more fundamental level of description, at which her unique insight DOES apply - the level at which the 'Self' (as a non-object) pertains.

In some sense, then, as practitioners of the 'path of realization' approach to the Enneagram, we must learn to celebrate the E2's intimations of egolessness, and help those E2s who would draw false conclusions about their mundane 'identities' from such experiences to discover its deeper meaning.

From the point of view of the 'path of realization', that which each type is ultimately in search of actually pre-exists the search, but in a form that seems to elude the individual and cause a never-ending stream of problems. From this perspective, the 'path' is one of restoring or reclaiming what was always present to begin with, but which has somehow fallen into disuse and dishonor. It is a matter of redemption or recovery, as opposed to renunciation or transmutation.

The notion of this type of path is not limited to the Buddhist spiritual traditions, as the following poem by the 13th century Sufi poet, Jallaludin Rumi, suggests.

This is how a human being can change  -

There's a worm addicted to eating 
grape leaves. 
              Suddenly, he wakes up,
call it Grace, whatever, something
wakes him, and he's no longer
a worm. 
        He's the entire vineyard,
and the orchard too, the fruit, the trunks,
a growing wisdom and joy that doesn't need 
to devour. 9