Art and the Enneagram

The other day i went to a concert with Irish singer/songwriter Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova from the movie "Once". What a beautiful expression of life and love. I am amazed at the power music has to sooth my soul and draw me into the moment. As a type 6 it is good to lean into my 7 wing and relax the mind and look for adventure and fun. With my attention constantly going to the problem pieces of life, i have drawn from one of the things that Glen said at the concert, "When you are pushing up against a wall or some other problem, turn around and you have the whole world." Simple statement but put with the words of his beautiful lyrics that sing with power and beauty, "thread the light, seek the light, be the light, live the light, shine your light" one couldnt help but be moved to a bigger sense of the world recognizing the abundance of all that is.

Beyond music, i have found myself spending hours in the potters studio totally engrossed in the work of creating. Throwing pots, feeling the cool clay within my hands, shaping and molding it as it spins on the wheel. Again, focused and physical attention pulls me into my body and I am in a space of present moment awareness where all is well. What a gift the arts have been to me. Life does indeed give us what we need. Thanks to all those artists who keep looking outside of the box, expanding our senses and helping us to see beyond type.

The following is one of my favorite Swell Season songs. Enjoy!

Building a community

I have attended a number of Enneagram training sessions - Jerry Wagner, Riso Hudson, Helen Palmer, IEA conferences - and while I have learned a lot personally about the Enneagram and I am beginning to see that there is also a profound opportunity for growth from the community I am building.  Folks I didn't get to know well at on session show up at another. Someone I sat next to one day and had a meaningful experience with sends an email, I bump into someone at the IEA Conference.  There is an incredible space being held by those of us who study the Enneagram for ourselves and each other.  I am grateful.

Pangea Day

If you weren't able to "attend" Pangea day live today then you still can, the entire broadcast is available at www.pangeaday.org. According to the Pangea website there were more than 1000 events and parties and millions watched from the comfort on their own computer. I attended an event in San Francisco that had more than 100 people attending. We were all moved by the films and music that demonstrated we are all one. There was laughter when the man said he had been married for 24 years but was in love for the last two (forgive the inaccuracy of the numbers). Our hearts melted when the world was transformed from dark mechanical things to beautiful, colorful nature. I was personally moved to tears to see a family shouting at each other when a loved one came home, a time of seeming celebration disintegrated. All the emotions, concerns, fears we all feel around the world, no matter our color, religion, gender were being broadcast for four hours around the world today.

At a time when there is such strife in the world, Beirut, Israel and Palestine, Myanmar, Darfur, Tibet, just to name a few we look at the people and we see ourselves. As demonstrated in the films, we all share the feels of love, happiness, sorrow. We want to celebrate life around us in the form of our loved ones, mother earth, and the possibilities.

And I hold out hope when I saw Christiane Amanpour on the stage in London with a Christian and Muslim man who have moved past their feelings of anger and subservience to embracing and forgiving. And the film with Israeli and Palestinian men made my heart pound.

There is the possibility to create a beautiful world. What I experienced today demonstrated that though I must admit going in I was feeling pretty down after reading all that is happening in Myanmar. Which brings me to a point that Curt Micka brought home for me during Russ Hudson's Holy Idea's workshop. Russ talked about serenity and that it is chronic acceptance, the heart undisturbed by manifestations of reality. Curt leaned over to me and said, "that is the essence of peace building". And he is absolutely right. It is the Palestine and Israeli men sitting across from each other, accepting each other even though one's daughter is dead. If we hold on to the anger and sorrow we will never move on to "peace, peace, peace" as Gilberto Gil, Brazil's minister of culture spoke about today.

Namaste!

LIfting the Veil

I have been listening to a wonderful new CD created by my teacher Dr. Deborah Ooten and colleague, Ron Esposito. What a gift this cd has been as I have already used it twice in my work as a campus minister. Dr. Ooten takes us through a guided meditation which deepens the practice of awareness of those things that pull us from the present moment - Objects of thought -thinking, fantasy, memory, planning; Objects of Emotion - feeling; Objects of the Body- physical sensation. All of these if not observed take us from that place of essence. Put to the sounds of synthesized piano and the soothing voice of Dr. Ooten, one can feel presence emerging as she gently call us back. Later Ron Esposito takes us through the Holy Ideas of the enneagram as singing bowls and chimes create a backdrop of sound that draws the listener into the depths of being as you sit with the essence of each type.

These musical representations of the enneagram are a wonderful way of translating and deepening ones experience of the Enneagram or even introducing it. I first used the objects of attention meditation with my college age students at our weekly meditation group and students were fascinated by the idea of the enneagram and opening themselves up to enter into the present moment in a very simple way. As we continue this journey of raising consciousness it is good to know of the many resources that are at hand. I am very interested in what others are doing with music and art and the Enneagram.

Be sure to check out Ron Esposito's Meditation on the Holy Ideas at the IEA conference this August. I have experienced this meditation both live and on the CD and you won't want to miss this transformative experience.

Pangea Day and raising awareness

In case it hasn't appeared on your radar May 10, 2008 is Pangea Day. "Pangea Day is a global event bringing the world together through film. Why? In a world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it's easy to lose sight of what we all have in common Pangea Day seeks to overcome that -- to help people see themselves in others -- through the power of film."

This event will be in Cairo, Kigali, London, LA, Mumbai and Rio with simultaneous coverage happening around the world. There are local events happening, check out how you can participate in this momentous event.

Seeing ourselves in others and gaining insight and compassion for others is a immense benefit of the Enneagram. Four hours of short films, live music and visionary speakers can only grow and cement our compassion and understanding that indeed, we are all one.

Softening the gaze...

Thanks to Pamela for the wonderful reflection on the Holy Ideas workshop with Russ Hudson. Your words helped me to get unstuck. 

The beautiful quote by Francisco Varela, helped me to shift with just a softening of my own internal gaze. 

To restate, he says, "This state -- where we connect deeply with others and doors open -- is there waiting for us. It is like an optical illusion. All we have to do is squint and see that it has been there all along, waiting for us. All we have to do is to see the oneness that we are." 

For the last couple of weeks I have been stuck in trying to find something to write about.  Wondering about what would be appropriate, what would be insightful or encouraging to others or even just worthwhile for others to read. Where was "I" in all of this?  The little "I" was lost in the rigidity of type.  Bound by structure and roles and imaginary expectations I got lost in a world of thoughts. 

But tonight, as I soften my gaze, "squint"....I feel an internal softening that physically and emotionally loosens the space around my heart.  As I think about the Enneagram, I think about what an amazingly accurate system it is and how I am constantly needing to remind myself that I am not my type 6 self.  It is the identification with this 6 self or any of the types that can get us into trouble in our interacting with ourselves and with those we encounter.  As I recognize type in myself and in others there is labeling that happens. This labeling of myself and others can actually create the illusion of distance and of safety as I notice the differences and type playing out in others.  This labeling and role identification can be what most people dislike about the Enneagram - the idea of being put into a box.  This wonderfully structured system for a six lends itself to a sense of certainty which every six is dying to have.  With the Enneagram I have a tool for knowing how to interact with others, a road map of sorts. I can say- you are a 4 so you will act like this, you are a 2 so you will be like this.  Right? Wrong.  At first glance one would think this, but the beauty of the Enneagram is that we as human beings live and breathe beyond the Enneagram of type and into Essence which is indeed a bit more blurry.  Even the teachings around Essence and Holy Ideas as Pamela said from her workshop are sometimes hard to grasp and are fuzzy in the least. It is in Essence that we surprise ourselves and are surprised by others as we jump out of the box into a world of spontaneity openness and unfolding- unbound.  Sixes no longer look like sixes, threes no longer look like threes and my little road map has just been rendered useless and thank God for that!  

What I am with today is that sometimes my gaze is so fixed on the type itself that i miss the essence of humanity.  I miss the essence of my own being.  The trick is to not identify with those labels or the roles that come along with type, but rather to soften that gaze, notice the habit within me and recognize the space between where awareness and essence happen.  To see myself and each individual I encounter with a softer gaze where the lines of separation are blurred and recognition of the one felt thing I am certain, we are all one.

The Enneagram and Holy Ideas

This weekend in Minneapolis Russ Hudson delivered an Enneagram and Holy Ideas workshop. It was well attended, 105-110 people from around the US and Europe participated. I have read Sandra Maitri's books and A.H. Almaas'‚ "Facets of Unity" but had never heard anyone talk about this deep and amazing work. Needless to say, the workshop touched a deep part of me and judging from the comments during and after the weekend, I wasn't the only person touched.

If I were to say the weekend was a walk in the park I'd be lying big time. Some of the concepts were so mind bending -- as my nephew says "my brain hurts". But that is the lesson, letting go of the "brain" and being present. And through the presence, being one with the universe, the universe which is us flows. We create the world, life, because that is what is unfolding, and through our language which is a mere expression of our experiences then become our experiences. How truly amazing! Then incredible Wisdom, Hope, Love, Perfection and all of the Holy Ideas just rise up and are.

I notice my desire to go to the thought "it is impossible to understand and live, give up". Then I hear Russ saying it is just a slight shift of your focus and read in "Synchronity -- The Inner Path of Leadership" a statement by Francisco Varela a well known biologist, philosopher and neuroscientist, "this state -- where we connect deeply with others and doors open -- is there waiting for us. It is like an optical illusion. All we have to do is squint and see that it has been there all along, waiting for us. All we have to do is to see the oneness that we are." It isn't hard work, it isn't penance on the mountain forever, it is "right here, right now" to borrow words Russ said many times this weekend.

I will admit ending the weekend feeling unsettled, and knowing I have a lot of work still to do. The blessing is I see there is a way to be part of the creation of a beautiful here and now and I am in it, it flows through me.

Thank you Russ and the board members of the Minnesota IEA chapter for making this incredible weekend possible!