The Nine Enneagram Types, from a 'Path of Realization' Perspective
Abstract
In this series we have put forward the view that the Enneagram may originally have been designed to help individuals work through issues that arise on the spiritual path, as the center of personality shifts from the 'Ego' to the 'Self'.
We've shown how the ENNEAGRAM OF TYPE characteristically emphasizes a 'Path of Renunciation' approach to the enneagram, which tends to treat personality type as a 'fixation' to be rejected. We have also discussed how the ENNEAGRAM OF PROCESS utilizes a 'Path of Transformation' approach which emphasizes those processes whereby the personality of the individual can be transformed, and habitual patterns transcended.
We've also explored how, in Buddhism, in addition to these two paths there
is an advanced approach - the 'Path of Realization' - which emphasizes
the manner in which the Qualities that are sought by practitioners on the
spiritual path can be said to pre-exist the search. This approach also typically seeks
to explain how these qualities may manifest in mundane personality traits
or neuroses - like reflections of the moon in water or the re-presentations of
a transcendental 'hyperbody' in a lower-level reality.
The 'Path of Realization' approach INTEGRATES and COMPLETES the other two
approaches. By treating the final goal as an already accomplished fact, it
puts the advanced practitioner in a good position to take the seemingly
impossible last step in the process - in which success on the path is
ultimately attributed not, in a counter-productive fashion, to some special
effort of the 'Ego', but to something more like a 'non-doing', a 'non-accomplishing'.
When the individual is permitted to conceive of the profound change as an 'awakening' into a wider reality - an unveiling of something that was present but hidden or obscured - or a 'remembering' of something that was always true but has become somehow 'forgotten', ego-inflation is more easily avoided. For the ego is deprived of the opportunity to claim the end-product as ITS achievement, its fabrication.
Although traces of this approach to the Enneagram can be found in Gurdjieff's
concept of 'rememberance', the Path of Realization has by-and-large been ignored in
contemporary enneagram literature and practice. In this series we have
endeavored to remedy this by introducing the ENNEAGRAM OF SYMBOL. Out of this
perspective a genuine Path of Realization approach to the Enneagram can emerge.
We have striven to articulate the fundmental principles governing such an approach.
In this final paper in the series we conclude our effort by presenting each of
the nine Enneagram types from a 'Path of Realization' perspective. Our emphasis is on treating the 'Spiritual Quality' that is associated with each Enneagram type as, in essence, a characterological paradox . It is experienced
as a very profound 'riddle', an existential dilemma with which
type-specific 'archetypal images' are associated. These symbols possess structural features that anticipate the 'liminocentric' organization of the personality, which is realized when its center shifts from ego to 'Self'.
We hope to be able to demonstrate that by knowing which MBTI type is 'prototypical'
of each enneagram type 1 it becomes easier for the individual to identify and appreciate the fundamental existential
dilemma that is at the core of each enneagram type. The dilemma is the result of a
struggle in the individual between the dominant and inferior function associated with its Jungian 'prototype'. When the two poles of the pair are experienced as mere opposites, unresolved tension results. But when the individual realizes, in a direct experiential manner, that the two functions have an interdependent 'enantiodromic' relationship, the opposites are reconciled in a new synthesis that restructures the personality as a whole.
Introduction - A 'Path-of-Realization' Approach to Neurosis
In this series we have seen how the mandala can be conceived in terms of
the reconciliation it performs between 'two incommensurable orders of
existence' - the temporal and the mundane. It was Jung who first pointed
out that at a certain juncture in the course of the self-actualization process
in individuals mandala-like designs are likely to naturally emerge, without conscious intention. It is as if a deep urge toward such a reconciliation of opposites
is being expressed. When that urge is impeded, or the reconciliation blocked, the
individual falls 'sick', becomes 'neurotic'.
The Theory of Neurosis Revisited
Jung's approach was an entirely different way of understanding neurosis,
one that turned previous thinking about mental 'illness' upside down. Jungian
analyst Lilian Frey-Rohn describes it in the following way -
[His] attempt at a new evaluation of neurosis was articulated as early
as 1913 when Jung perceived that this disorder was not 'an entirely
pathological formation' but contained 'a quite teleological significance,'
which very often heralded an attempt at a personal solution of hitherto
insoluble problems. Viewed from this finalistic aspect, neurosis represented
a miscarried attempt to incorporate the other, unrecognized side of the
total personality into conscious life'. (Lilian Frey-Rohn, From Freud to Jung,
page 213)
Others who came after Jung - like Abraham Maslow - took this
approach a step further, attributing to the human being an instinctual urge
toward enlightement - or 'self-actualization', as Maslow liked to call
it). When satisfaction of this instinct is denied or actively resisted, we
make ourselves sick.
Furthermore, the unconscious urge toward enlightenment, upon being banned,
continues to seek to manifest itself nonetheless. But now it can only do so in a
disguised, roundabout fashion, without the knowledge or the approval of the
conscious mind, as 'neurotic' behavior. This is what Freud called the 'return
of the repressed'.
From this point of view, the neurotic behavior may even be conceived as an unconscious simulation of the entire self-realization process - enlightenment in a nutshell, as it were. In the neurotic display that arises there is a bifurcation of consciousness into conflicting polar opposites, and these are cleverly juxtaposed in such a way as to achieve a 'reconciliation' of sorts. It is as if the unconscious is subjecting us to
a rehearsal for the real thing.
But the neurotic display that it foists on us is, alas, one that is MERELY symbolic. It does not, and by definition cannot, satisfy our most profound need - which is to become FULLY CONSCIOUS of the incommensurable opposites and the manner in which they
paradoxically reconcile.
The neurosis does, however, SIMULATE a real solution. And it thereby provides us with a
much needed map of sorts. It turns our attention to certain things that we
NEED to attend to if we are to succeed in achieving the goal of enlightenment.
It grabs our attention in no uncertain terms, by imposing on us an
existential conflict or dilemma that aches for a solution.
The riddle that it presents us with is one that is woven into the very fabric of
our being. It is not a mere intellectual conundrum, but a LIVED problem that we suffer
in an immediate and direct fashion, every day of our lives. And the answer to this riddle is nothing less than a solution to the problem of the opposites -
for which the mandala, as we've seen in this series, presents the structural
key.
A Path-of-Realization Approach to Therapy
If neurosis is the result of an impeded attempt at realizing one's Self,
then the ultimate remedy for neurotic behavior will be, according to this view,
enlightenment itself. Needless to say, to conceive of neurosis in this way
is to adopt a 'path of realization' approach to it. The enlightment that we seek
is manifest in the neurosis itself, albeit in a somewhat disguised fashion. The
key to the treasure, we submit, is the structural design of the neurosis -
the liminocentric organization that neurotic behavior spontaneously begins to
exhibit.
So, in this view, it is not a 'cure' that is sought - one which
wipes the neurosis away. What is sought, rather, is a method for bringing the
neurosis to FRUITION, in an aha experience that may best be described as
an 'enlightenment'.
A good place to start for anyone who wishes to understand the methods for doing this
would be with a serious investigation of the various forms in which
the existential 'riddle' that we have been talking about can appear.
The different forms the riddle takes parallels differences in psychological
type, differences in 'personality'. They may thus be considered 'characterological' in nature. Another way to say this is that personality type - especially as it is described in the Enneagram - constellates around a particular existential or ontological dilemma that forms its core. The 'play of opposites' in each enneagram type expresses itself
in a slightly different way that may BEST be conceived as reflecting a struggle that characeristically takes place within it between the 'dominant' and 'inferior' mental functions as these are described not by Enneagram theory, ironically, but by Jung.
The 'Opposite' Functions
The way Jung set up his psychological typology, the dominant and inferior
function in the individual are to be conceived as 'polar opposites'. If 'thinking'
is the dominant function, 'feeling' will be the inferior function (and
vice versa). Similarly, if 'sensing' is dominant, 'intuition' will be inferior.
What does it mean to think of these functions as 'opposites'? To the extent that
an individual attends to one function, and utilizes or prefers it, that function's
polar opposite will be neglected. Thus a developed 'thinking' function will
more often than not result in an underdeveloped 'feeling' function. In this
system their development is conceived as inversely proportional.
The 'Opposite' Functions As Enantiodromically Related
But when we say that there is a 'struggle' 2 between the dominant
and inferior functions in an individual, we mean more than this. We mean
to include an aspect of the relationship between dominant and inferior
function that is not included in the concept of 'polar opposite' - namely,
the socalled 'enantiodromic' interplay that takes place between the
two, according to Jung.
Jung borrowed the concept of 'enantiodromia' from Heraclitus, as
he mentions in the following passage -
Although Jung's use of the term is consistent with Heraclitus's
concept, his application of the concept is specifically 'psychological' -
Understanding 'Enantiodromia' in terms of Limincentric
Organization
We can explore the concept of enantiodromia more deeply be looking into
what Heraclitus himself had to say about it. Here are two of his statements,
as presenting by Jung -
"Men do not know how what is at variance agrees with itself. It is an attunement
of opposite tensions, like that of the bow and the lyre".
Nothing surprising here. They both seem to confirm Jung in his desire to view
the unconscious as operating in such a way as to 'compensate' for the one-sidedness
of the individual by offering an opposing perspective, as it were.
But the following quotations from Heraclitus describe a somewhat more complex
relationship, one that transcends simple compensatory opposition.
"Mortals are immortals and immortals are mortals, the one living the others'
death and dying the others' life'.
The first quotation seems to imply that it is somehow the PURPOSE of life
to bring into existence its opposite - death. Whether we agree or not,
we must acknowledge that Heraclitus is here not simply presenting us with a
simple dichotomy, such as 'hot' and 'cold'. He is apparently trying to present us
with something more akin to an intentional paradox - equivalent to saying that
it is the PURPOSE of 'heat' to bring about 'cold', and vice versa.
Let us leave that thought for a moment and look at the second statement,
which has even greater complexity. Structurally, it resembles the T'ai-gi-tu
(yin-yang diagram). As a mortal, I live a god's death. As an immortal, the god lives my death. This arrangement hints at a STRUCTURAL reconciliation of incommensurables.
It is not unlike the structural reconciliation that occurs in O'henry's
famous story about the Christmas gift. The husband secretly sells his watch
in order to buy his wife a comb for her beautiful hair, while unbeknowst to
him she cuts and sells her hair in order to buy her husband a watch fob.
At one level, we all can't help but think that the 'ideal' outcome
would be for the husband to have continued to have a watch to use
with his new chain, and for the wife to have hair to use her
comb on. We like to have our cake and eat it too. But O'henry is
telling us that things aren't structured that way.
What on first glance, however, may look like an ironic no-win
situation for the couple, on closer inspection turns out to be a win-win
affair. But only insofar as the couple is capable of recognizing that their
situation embodies the epitomy of love - mutual surrender. This is not
a surrender that takes place for some other (extrinsic) good, but
is good 'in itself', intrinsically, even if the woman winds up with
no hair on which to use the comb and the husband has no watch to
dangle from his chain.
In a previous paper in this series, we suggested
that the T'ai-gi-tu could be seen as a representation of liminocentric
organization. And we want to suggest here that such a structure
deepens our understanding of the 'enantiodromic' relationship,
as Heraclitus is trying to articulate in the second set of
examples above. The husband converts his prize possession (the watch)
into a comb for his counter-part, the wife. While, simultaneously,
the wife converts her prize possession (the hair) for a watch
fob for her counterpart. Together they continue to comprise 'opposites',
but ones which have been reconciled, at a structural level
of description, by the exchange.
We propose that the situation with respect to the relationship
between the polar opposite mental functions is similar. Intuition (for example),
in order to become complete in itself must permit Sensation to give
birth to the sensory object that 'fulfills' it. There comes a point in the
development of iNtuition when this enantiodromic shift to its opposite must
be permitted if the individual is to perfect it. Insofar as the individual
resists this shift, the further growth of the function will be stunted. It
becomes dead-locked in a struggle with its opposite, which continues to rear
its head in an 'inferior' fashion that may be strenghtened by the attempt to
repress it but is nonetheless without an avenue for constructive
deployment.
The failure to permit the enantiodromic shift to take place creates
fertile ground for the spontaneous emergence of archetypal images,
of the sort that are typically associated with and emphasized
in the enneagram types 3,
but only the 'transcendent function', says Jung,
Personality Change, the 'Transcendent Function' and 'Active Imagination'
The reader will recall that we had occasion to consider the 'transcendent
function' when in the introduction to this series we entered into a discussion of the primary purpose of the mandala - the reconciliation of 'incommensurables'. Now we are in a position to explore it from another point of view, which takes us into a discussion of Jung's primary therapeutic methodology. He gave the method
that he pioneered for activitating the unconscious 'inferior' function in a beneficial
way a simple label; he called it 'active imagination'. It is a method that brings
the inferior function into conscious awareness and control.
This change of personality is naturally not an alteration of the original
hereditary disposition, but rather a transformation of the general
attitude. Those sharp cleavages and antagonisms between conscious
and unconscious, such as we see so clearly in the endless conflicts
of neurotic natures, nearly always rest on a noticeable one-sidedness
of the conscious attitude, which gives absolute precedence to one or two
functions, while the others are unjustly thrust into the background.
Conscious realization and experience of fantasies assimilates the
unconscious inferior functions to the conscious mind - a process
which is naturally not without far-reaching effects on the
conscious attitude.
The 'Blending' of 'Opposite' Functions
Furthermore, the 'transcendent function' is a personality
transformation, according to Jung, that takes place 'through' the
blending of dominant and inferior 'mental functions' -
... If we picture the conscious mind, with the ego as its centre,
as being opposed to the unconscious, and if we now add to our mental
pciture the process of assimilating the unconscious, we can think of this
assimilation as a kind of approximation of conscious and unconscious,
where the centre of the total personality no longer coincides with the
ego, but with a point midway between the conscious and the
unconscious. This would be the point of new equilibrium, a new
centering of the total personality, a virtual centre which, on
account of its focal position between conscious and unconscious,
ensures for the personality a new and more solid foundation.
I freely admit that visualizations of this kind are no more than
clumsy attempts of the unskilled mind to give expression to
inexpressible, and well-nigh indescribably, psychological facts.
I could say the same thing in the words of St. Paul, "Yet not I live,
but Christ liveth in me." Or I might invoke Lao-Tzu and
appropriate his concept of Tao, the Middle Way and creative
centre of all things. In all these the same thing is meant. (Jung, p. 221)
It is interesting that at precisely this juncture Jung appeals
to a metaphor similar to the one offered by Heraclitus, which
we discussed above - I live the immortal's death, says Heraclitus;
Christ liveth within me, says Jung, quoting St. Paul. We must
remember that Jung is here trying his best to articulate the
principle behind the 'transcendent function' - which achieves
the reconciliation of opposites - a problem that is first
manifest by the warring functions within us. And what he comes
up with is a metaphor that smacks of the same structural
reconciliation as the one that we have been considering.
But is there no more SPECIFIC product of the transcendent
function, vis-a-vis the relationship between the functions?
In analysing a profound vision that one of his clients had, which
Jung considered a 'symbol of individuation',
he had the following to say -
But in what does this 'union of opposites' consist? How, exactly, is
the 'blending' of the 'dominant' and 'inferior' functions that Jung
is talking about to be understood?
Von Franz gives one possible explanation, in the course of
trying to describe the product of the transcendent function -
What does one look like when he has detached ego-awareness, or
his ego-consciousness, from identification with certain functions?
I think the nearest and most convincing example would be in some
descriptions of behavior of Zen Buddhist Masters. ... If you
present people who are still identical with their thinking with
a thinking problem, they go right into it. This is necessary,
because if they do not learn to be right in it they will never
learn to think properly and appropriately. But after the transformation,
if you present them with a thinking problem they remain inwardly detached
from it, though they can apply their thinking to the problem: they can
stop thinking from one minute to another without having to continue
it. It is difficult to bring examples because there are very few people
who have reached that stage, but there are very good descriptions of
being detached from one's own conscious functions in these Zen
Buddhist examples. (Von Franz, Jung's Typology, pp. 79-80).
This model - where the second and third function is slowly brought
into consciousness, and placed under its control, and the fourth
function is gradually assimilated to consciousness by
'active imagination, so that all four are tools from which the
individual can choose - emphasizes the freedom from
habitual preferences that is obtained as an end product of the
profound personality change that Jung was talking about.
But it doesn't describe the changes in the nature of the functions
themselves which may occur during this process. Elsewhere
Von Franz 4 articulates a rudimentary model of functional development, which basically distinguishes two levels of development for each function. But she does not apply that model here.
In contrast, we have attempted to articulate five levels of development
for each function, and so this problem - regarding how the functions
operate AFTER the 'transformation', interests us greatly.
The conclusion that we have come to is that a highly developed
function calls into play its opposite function - in a manner that can
be called 'enantiodromic'. But here we depart from an understand
of the term that sees it as describing a MERELY 'compensatory'
relationship between the functions.
It is not only a matter of concern that the dominant function can
become 'overused' by the individual, in a way that calls for
a compensatory utilization of the 'opposite' function. More
important is the fact that the functions are, at a very sophisticated
level of analysis, definitionally interdependent in a way
that they are not normally considered to be. So that in order for
the individual to achieve advanced development in one function, he or
she must realize how that function is inextricably entangled
with the others.
So, to go back to Von Franz's example, we can yes, in the process of
developing a mental function to an advanced level, the Buddhist monk or nun
learns to call into play ALL of the functions. But not necessarily in the
way that Von Franz's description may lead us to believe happens.
It is not a pallete of independently defined tools from which the
enlightened individual chooses - but, rather, one 'tool' (the mind),
which simultaneously has more than one function.
In the process of having arrived at the stage that Von Franz describes,
the Buddhist monk or nun will have had to apprehend the subtle and slippery
relationship between 'emptiness' (with which 'intuition' ultimately puts us
in touch) and how it is 'embodied', the form that such bodies can take
(with which the 'senses' put us in touch).
And the practitioner will also have had to explore the relationship
between the individual and his/her 'free will' (with which 'thinking'
is intimately related) and the larger whole, the social group - or
intersubjective 'field' - in which the individual participates as
a 'part' (which 'feeling' brings one into contact with).
Section 2 - The Enneagram Types
and the Functions
So it is not just a matter of the individual being free to use logic (T)
when it is appropriate on one occasion, look with his eyes on another (S),
listen empathetically (F) at a third time, or brainstorm (N) at some other
point. This simplification can mislead us terribly, because it causes us to
cease looking for the interconnection between higher-level expressions of the
functions. And as the functions become more developed, it becomes more
apparent that they are inextricably interwoven aspects of the mind.
Highly developed introverted 'intuition' (Ni), for example, naturally seeks to
manifest in an 'embodied' way (Se). Generally speaking, this can
happen in two different fashions -
1) The 'emptiness' that is the object of highly developed
intuition can be REIFIED by inferior 'sensing', which misconstrues
it as 'thing-like'. This is the pitfall of the enneagram E4, the socalled
'romantic', the 'introverted intuitive' who begins to treat 'absence', 'death',
'nothingness', and so forth, as intrinsically valuable things in themselves; or,
2) Objects in the material world can be recognized as essentially
'empty'. This is the 'solution' - the 'aha' experience, in which
'pure' intuition gives way to a 'sensing' that is highly developed.
The former option miscontrues 'emptiness' as yet another material
'object', whereas the latter permits iNtuition to complete itself
in a rather sophisticated display of Sensing. In the latter case
a positive and fulfilling enantiodromic shift is permitted to occur.
In the process of this shift, the two poles are 'reconciled',
although the associated paradox - that emptiness is form, and
form is emptiness - remains.
These are quite different ways of approaching a resolution to the N-s
(dominant N, inferior S) struggle. The former solution is labeled 'spiritual
materialism' in Buddhism, and warned against, while the latter is the hallmark
of enlightenment.
Similarly, for the individual with highly developed 'sensing' (Si), matter
seeks to reveal its 'potential' (Ne). There are two ways in which
this can occur -
2) ALL matter is recognized as a manifestation of potential, and thereby sacred.
Similarly again, highly develop 'feeling' (Fi) seeks to manifest in a
way that has a causal affect, is influential (Te). This can occur in two ways -
2) Influence is perceived as a function of the feeling field.
Lets get more specific yet.
For the E4 (who has the 'introverted intuitive' as its Jungian prototype) - if 'emptiness' is to be fully realized, Dominant Ni must be augmented by Dom Se, instead of inhibited by inferior S (which mistakenly equates 'emptiness' with 'nihilism' - resulting in a longing for sleep-like states of sheer 'nothingness' as opposed to genuine appreciation for 'unborn' aspect of everyday mind). In order to successfully do this, the E4 must in effect adopt the perspective of the E3, exchanging places with him, as it were.
For the E3 (who has the 'extraverted sensing type' as its Jungian prototype) - if 'successful performance' (ie achievement) is to be fully realized, Dom Se must be augmented by Dom Ni (which turns 'achievement' into an egoless act), instead of inhibited by
inferior N (which equates 'performance' with 'fakery' and 'deception' - resulting in
a loss of self-confidence as opposed to a genuine appreciation and celebration of the illusory maya-like quality of reality, which invites one to interact creatively with it).
In order to successfully do this, the E3 must in effect adopt the viewpoint of the
E4, exchanging places.
For the E9 (who has the 'introverted feeling type' as its Jungian prototype) - if 'inter-relatedness' is to be fully realized, Dom Fi must be augmented by Dom Te, instead of inhibited by inferior Te (which turns 'inter-relatedness' into 'ethical relativity'
and a reliance on smug 'predestination' - resulting in stagnation as opposed to genuine peace). In order to do this, the E9 must in effect exchange places with the E8,
who understands that dominant Te is much more than outer-imposed 'fate'.
For the E8 (who has 'extraverted thinking type' as its Jungian prototype) - if 'mastery' (or control, in the best sense of the word) is to be fully realized, Dom Te must be augmented by Dom Fi, instead of inhibited by inferior Fi (which turns 'control' into 'interpersonal domination' - resulting in devalued instrumental relationships as opposed to genuine fellowship). In order to do this, the E8 must in effect exchange places with the E9, who
understands that feeling is not primarily a vehicle for value-judgement but,
rather, for connecting.
For the E2 (who has 'extraverted feeling type' as its Jungian prototype) - if 'com-passion' (the capacity to 'feel with' another) is to be fully realized, Dom Fe must be
augmented by Dom Ti, instead of inhibited by inferior Ti (which turns 'compassion'
into 'weak-willed submissiveness' - resulting in feelings of identitylessness
as opposed to genuine egolessness). In order to do this, the E2 must in effect
exchange places with the E5, whose understanding enables him to stand objectively
apart from the definition of others.
For the E5 (who has 'introverted thinking type' as its Jungian prototype) - if 'detachment' (the capacity to stand objectively back from a situation, in suspended judgement) is to be fully realized, Dom Ti must be augmented by Dom Fe, instead of inhibited by inferior Fe (which turns 'detachment' into 'social isolation' - resulting in feelings of being unloved as opposed to assuming a genuinely objective stance.) In order to do
this, the E5 must in effect exchange places with the E2, whose compassion permits
her to empathize with others in a way that doesn't require a loss of objectivity.
For the E7 (who has 'extraverted intuition' as its Jungian prototype) - if
'peak experience' (the capacity to recognize 'opportunity') is to be fully
realized, Dom Ne must be augmented by Dom Si, instead of inhibited by inferior
Si (which turns 'peak experience' into 'gluttony' - resulting
in mere adventurism as opposed to a genuine entreprenurial exploration
of the potential in every situation). In order to do this, the E7 must in
effect exchange places with the E6, who does not equate 'sensing' with
gross materialism.
For the E6 (who has 'introverted sensing' as its Jungian prototype) - if
'embodiment' (the capacity for 'life') is to be fully realized, Dom Si
must be augmented by Dom Ne, instead of inhibited by inferior
Ne (which turns an appreciation for the 'vital' body into 'substance abuse' - resulting in addiction as opposed to genuine love of a spirited life). In order to do this, the E6 must in effect exchange places with the E7, who does not conceive of
'possibility' as loss of life.
For the E1, the situation is a little different, in our model.
For the E1 has all J-types as its Jungian protoypes. If 'perfection',
for the E1, is to be fully realized it must be understood as an urge
for 'completion' as opposed to a pedantic desire for mere 'accuracy'. In
order to do this, the E1 must be willing to let go of the presumption of
self-righteousness, and the desire to impose his/her view on others.
The remarkable thing about the Enneagram is that one sees these
different forms of 'internal conflict' expressed in the enneagram type descriptions,
even though the types are very infrequently discussed in terms of the opposition
between functions, or defined by reference to them. 6
Jung mentioned that it is sometimes difficult to decide whether certain insights
are incomprehensible because they are 'a morbid product' of the mind or simply because of their 'extraordinary profundity'. 7
Such is the case with the behavior that characterizes the enneagram
types. But if we are right, these behaviors may best be viewed as expressions
of the struggle between the dominant and inferior functions in the individual's
personality as these functions attempt to reveal themselves in a more-inclusive
type of structural relationship that is tantamount to a profound
personality change. Such personality changes have long been known in the
spiritual traditions as moments of 'enlightenment'.
In psychology we seem to 'get entangled in an insoluble contradiction', Jung
said in another context, because 'the thing that harms is also the thing that
heals'. It is true that the characterological riddle that we experience as we live the
opposition between the mental functions is a suffering. But if consciously
embraced, it brings to fruition a consciousness that recognizes itself as
organized like a mandala, liminocentrically. And then 'Such a paradox is true and permissible', according to Jung, since it 'sees the opposites as united on a higher plane.' 8
1. Here are the Jungian/MBTI types that we originally identified as 'protypical' of each enneagram type in a 1996 paper, entitled "The Enneagram and the MBTI: In Search of Common Ground",
In the same year we addressed criticisms lodged against this theory in a paper entitled "In Defense of Our Original Theory". At this time we also became
concerned that certain types might be being mislabeled by the MBTI, as a result of certain problems with the J/P designation. The iNfp would be showing up as INFJs, if we
were right, and this would cause 'noise' in the distribution studies.
In 1997, in "The Impact of 'S-N Blindness' on the Distribution of MBTI Type Across the Enneagram", we argued that certain anomalies occuring in our original theory could be seen as an artifact of how two of the four Jungian 'mental functions' (Sensing and iNtuition) are conflated in Enneagram theory and testing. If Jungian type is seen through an S-N blind lens, a 'hyrbrid' set of prototypes can be identified, using categories like 'EXFP' instead of 'ENFP' or 'ESFP'. In a 1998 "Addendum to that paper, we demonstrated that when the hybrid prototypes that we presented in the 1997 paper are tested against findings that later came out of the Richards/Flautt survey, 19 out of 21 of our 'assignments' match the MBTI types that their study identifies as 'most highly correlated'. Our modified assignments predicted their findings, in other words, with 91% accuracy.
Later in 1998, we presented a synopsis of our previous work in "A Brief Review and Update", and offered a "THIRD Principle Governing the Distribution of MBTI Type Across the Enneagram". With the addition of this third principle we summarized our position, as it then stood, in the following way -
2. This notion of a 'preference struggle' that is characteristic of each
Enneagram type was originally introduced on this site in a paper by Larry Gabbard, entitled
'Enneagram and MBTI'.
3. We will leave until another time a description of the cluster of archetypes that can be associated with each enneagram type, and the relationship of these to
the preference struggle and 'existential dilemma' that characterizes each enneagram
type.
4. In 5 Levels of the 4 Jungian
Functions, on this site.
5. See Michael Huber's articles, " MBTI Correlations With Enneatype-6 AODA Clients In a Clinical Setting in Southeastern Wisconsin", and '"My Name is Bill W, and I'm a Counterphobic Six" ', on this site, for a discussion
of the relationship between the E6, substance abuse, and the spiritual conversion
experience. 6. Gurdjieff had a 'four function' theory which very closely resembled Jung's. For a discussion of this, see Geldart's Fifth Function - an ingenious strategy for reconciling the Enneagram and MBTI, on this site. 7. Jung, Psychological Types, p. 192. 8. Jung, Psychological
Types), p. 220.
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