From Amazon
Recommended by two highly credible authorities, consciousness explorer Ken Wilber and spiritual-growth guru Harville Hendrix, this compendium of Enneagram information was assembled by the cofounders of the Enneagram Institute as an introduction to the subject. Designed with a plenitude of charts, boxes, and quotes (by noted illuminaries such as A.H. Almaas, Maya Angelou, and G.I. Gurjieff), this exceptionally easy-to-use, manual-size paperback teaches the reader how to figure out which of the nine types she is, identifies red flags to self-illusion, and provides practical suggestions for spiritual growth. Advice on how to observe your type's fixations and let go of the need to act out automatic and dysfunctional behavioral responses are down-to-earth and attainable. A distinctly accessible approach to cultivating daily happiness through understanding the complexity of fixations that weave together human personality types. --Randall Cohan
Review
"The Wisdom of the Enneagram is a very important book. By combining the horizontal types of the Enneagram with a system of vertical levels of awareness, Riso and Hudson have produced one of the first truly integrated models of the human psyche. In addition to the importance of this pioneering work itself, it goes to point up the utter inadequacy of anything less than a full-spectrum model of human growth and development. Highly recommended."
--Ken Wilber, author of The Marriage of Sense and Soul
"I highly recommend this book, not only to anyone on the path of personal transformation, but to anyone who wants to understand the complex inner world of others, whether a spouse, family member co-worker or friend. The questionnaires were fun and illuminating. I received some very helpful information about myself, felt challenged to grow and experienced a deepening of compassion. Perhaps the most profound contribution of The Wisdom of the Enneagram is reflected in the word "Wisdom." The authors clearly communicate the complexity of human nature, the spiritual yearning resonant in all of us, and the ascending levels of our possibility. But they do not leave us there. They offer a clear path for personal and spiritual evolution."
--Harville Hendrix, Ph.D., author of Getting the Love You Want
"Don Riso and Russ Hudson thoughtfully engage the richness and depth of the Enneagram, and conjure with its power as a tool of transformation. The Wisdom of the Enneagram is filled with its own wisdom and depth. You'll find yourself returning to it over and over again and discovering new treasures."
--Tony Schwartz, author of What Really Matters
"The Wisdom of the Enneagram is not only a clear and comprehensive description and discussion of this ancient personality typology, but also a major and original contribution to its use and further development. Don Riso and Russ Hudson have designed simple practical guidelines and tests that make it possible to determine one's own personality type and use this knowledge for healing and psychospiritual transformation."
--Stanislav Grof, M.D., author of The Adventure of Self-Discovery
--Ken Wilber, author of The Marriage of Sense and Soul
"I highly recommend this book, not only to anyone on the path of personal transformation, but to anyone who wants to understand the complex inner world of others, whether a spouse, family member co-worker or friend. The questionnaires were fun and illuminating. I received some very helpful information about myself, felt challenged to grow and experienced a deepening of compassion. Perhaps the most profound contribution of The Wisdom of the Enneagram is reflected in the word "Wisdom." The authors clearly communicate the complexity of human nature, the spiritual yearning resonant in all of us, and the ascending levels of our possibility. But they do not leave us there. They offer a clear path for personal and spiritual evolution."
--Harville Hendrix, Ph.D., author of Getting the Love You Want
"Don Riso and Russ Hudson thoughtfully engage the richness and depth of the Enneagram, and conjure with its power as a tool of transformation. The Wisdom of the Enneagram is filled with its own wisdom and depth. You'll find yourself returning to it over and over again and discovering new treasures."
--Tony Schwartz, author of What Really Matters
"The Wisdom of the Enneagram is not only a clear and comprehensive description and discussion of this ancient personality typology, but also a major and original contribution to its use and further development. Don Riso and Russ Hudson have designed simple practical guidelines and tests that make it possible to determine one's own personality type and use this knowledge for healing and psychospiritual transformation."
--Stanislav Grof, M.D., author of The Adventure of Self-Discovery
Book Description
The first definitive guide to using the wisdom of the enneagram for spiritual and psychological growth
The ancient symbol of the Enneagram has become one of today's most popular systems for self-understanding, based on nine distinct personality types. Now, two of the world's foremost Enneagram authorities introduce a powerful new way to use the Enneagram as a tool for personal transformation and development. Whatever your spiritual background, the Enneagram shows how you can overcome your inner barriers, realize your unique gifts and strengths, and discover your deepest direction in life.
The Wisdom of the Enneagram includes:
Two highly accurate questionnaires for determining your type
Vivid individual profiles focused on maximizing each type's potential and minimizing predictable pitfalls
Spiritual Jump Starts, Wake-Up Calls, and Red Flags for each type
Dozens of individualized exercises and practical strategies for letting go of troublesome habits, improving relationships, and increasing inner freedom
Revealing insights into the deepest motivations, fears, and desires of each type
Highly accessible, yet filled with sophisticated concepts and techniques found nowhere else, The Wisdom of the Enneagram is a strikingly new fusion of psychology and spirituality. It offers an exciting vision of human possibility and a clear map of the nine paths to our highest self-expression.
The ancient symbol of the Enneagram has become one of today's most popular systems for self-understanding, based on nine distinct personality types. Now, two of the world's foremost Enneagram authorities introduce a powerful new way to use the Enneagram as a tool for personal transformation and development. Whatever your spiritual background, the Enneagram shows how you can overcome your inner barriers, realize your unique gifts and strengths, and discover your deepest direction in life.
The Wisdom of the Enneagram includes:
Two highly accurate questionnaires for determining your type
Vivid individual profiles focused on maximizing each type's potential and minimizing predictable pitfalls
Spiritual Jump Starts, Wake-Up Calls, and Red Flags for each type
Dozens of individualized exercises and practical strategies for letting go of troublesome habits, improving relationships, and increasing inner freedom
Revealing insights into the deepest motivations, fears, and desires of each type
Highly accessible, yet filled with sophisticated concepts and techniques found nowhere else, The Wisdom of the Enneagram is a strikingly new fusion of psychology and spirituality. It offers an exciting vision of human possibility and a clear map of the nine paths to our highest self-expression.
From the Back Cover
"The Wisdom of the Enneagram is a very important book. By combining the horizontal types of the Enneagram with a system of vertical levels of awareness, Riso and Hudson have produced one of the first truly integrated models of the human psyche. In addition to the importance of this pioneering work itself, it goes to point up the utter inadequacy of anything less than a full-spectrum model of human growth and development. Highly recommended."
--Ken Wilber, author of The Marriage of Sense and Soul
--Ken Wilber, author of The Marriage of Sense and Soul
"I highly recommend this book, not only to anyone on the path of personal transformation, but to anyone who wants to understand the complex inner world of others, whether a spouse, family member co-worker or friend. The questionnaires were fun and illuminating. I received some very helpful information about myself, felt challenged to grow and experienced a deepening of compassion. Perhaps the most profound contribution of The Wisdom of the Enneagram is reflected in the word "Wisdom." The authors clearly communicate the complexity of human nature, the spiritual yearning resonant in all of us, and the ascending levels of our possibility. But they do not leave us there. They offer a clear path for personal and spiritual evolution."
--Harville Hendrix, Ph.D., author of Getting the Love You Want
"Don Riso and Russ Hudson thoughtfully engage the richness and depth of the Enneagram, and conjure with its power as a tool of transformation. The Wisdom of the Enneagram is filled with its own wisdom and depth. You'll find yourself returning to it over and over again and discovering new treasures."
--Tony Schwartz, author of What Really Matters
"The Wisdom of the Enneagram is not only a clear and comprehensive description and discussion of this ancient personality typology, but also a major and original contribution to its use and further development. Don Riso and Russ Hudson have designed simple practical guidelines and tests that make it possible to determine one's own personality type and use this knowledge for healing and psychospiritual transformation."
--Stanislav Grof, M.D., author of The Adventure of Self-Discovery
About the Author
Don Richard Riso, M.A., is one of the foremost writers and developers of the Enneagram in the world today. The most-published and bestselling author in the field, he is president of Enneagram personality Types, Inc., and co-founder of The Enneagram Institute. He has been teaching the Enneagram for over twenty years and is a founding director of the International Enneagram Association. His four bestselling books are available in British, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Spanish editions. He was a Jesuit for thirteen years, holds degrees in English and philosophy, was elected to the Jesuit honor society, Alpha Sigma Nu, and was a Ford Foundation Fellow at Stanford in communication (social psychology).
Russ Hudson is one of the principal scholars and innovative thinkers in the Enneagram world today. He is executive director of Enneagram Personality Types, Inc., and co-founder of The Enneagram Institute. He has been co-teaching the Enneagram Professional Training Programs since 1991 and is a founding director and former vice-president of the International Enneagram Association. He assisted Don Riso in writing Discovering Your Personality Type and Enneagram Transformations. He is also the co-author of Personality Types (Revised Edition), The Power of the Enneagram, and of their forthcoming book, Personality Types at Work. He holds a degree in East Asian studies from Columbia University in New York, from which he graduated Phi Beta Kappa.
Russ Hudson is one of the principal scholars and innovative thinkers in the Enneagram world today. He is executive director of Enneagram Personality Types, Inc., and co-founder of The Enneagram Institute. He has been co-teaching the Enneagram Professional Training Programs since 1991 and is a founding director and former vice-president of the International Enneagram Association. He assisted Don Riso in writing Discovering Your Personality Type and Enneagram Transformations. He is also the co-author of Personality Types (Revised Edition), The Power of the Enneagram, and of their forthcoming book, Personality Types at Work. He holds a degree in East Asian studies from Columbia University in New York, from which he graduated Phi Beta Kappa.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1: Identifying Your Personality Type
The Enneagram (pronounced "ANY-a-gram") is a geometric figure that maps out the nine fundamental personality types of human nature and their complex interrelationships. It is a development of modern psychology that has roots in spiritual wisdom from many different ancient traditions. The word Enneagram comes from the Greek for "nine"--ennea--and "figure"--grammos; thus, it is a "nine-pointed figure."
The modern Enneagram of personality type has been synthesized from many different spiritual and religious traditions. Much of it is a condensation of universal wisdom, the perennial philosophy accumulated by Christians, Buddhists, Muslims (especially the Sufis), and Jews (in the Kabbalah) for thousands of years. The heart of the Enneagram is the universal insight that human beings are spiritual presences incarnated in the material world and yet mysteriously embodying the same life and Spirit as the Creator. Beneath surface differences and appearances, behind the veils of illusion, the light of Divinity shines in every individual. Various forces obscure that light, however, and each spiritual tradition has myths and doctrines to explain how mankind has lost its connection with the Divine.
One of the great strengths of the Enneagram is that it steps aside from all doctrinal differences. It has helped individuals from virtually every major religious faith to rediscover their fundamental unity as spiritual beings. The Enneagram can therefore be enormously valuable in today's world to show white and black, male and female, Catholic and Protestant, Arab and Jew, straight and gay, rich and poor that if they search beneath the surface differences that separate them, they will find an entirely new level of common humanity. With the help of the Enneagram, we will discover that Sixes are like all other Sixes--and that they share the same values as others of their type. Ones who are black are much more like Ones who are white than they could have imagined, and so forth. A new level of community and compassion emerges that obliterates old ignorance and fear.
"The great metaphors from all spiritual traditions--grace, liberation, being born again, awakening from illusion--testify that it is possible to transcend the conditioning of my past and do a new thing."
--Sam Keen
The Enneagram is not a religion, however; nor does it interfere with a person's religious orientation. It does not pretend to be a complete spiritual path. Nevertheless, it concerns itself with one element that is fundamental to all spiritual paths: self-knowledge.
Without self-knowledge, we will not get very far on our spiritual journey, nor will we be able to sustain whatever progress we have made. One of the great dangers of transformational work is that the ego attempts to sidestep deep psychological work by leaping into the transcendent too soon. This is because the ego always fancies itself much more "advanced" than it actually is. How many first-year novices have persuaded themselves that they are just about ready for sainthood? How many meditation students have been certain that they attained enlightenment in record-breaking time?
Real self-knowledge is an invaluable guardian against such self-deception. The Enneagram takes us places (and makes real progress possible) because it starts working from where we actually are. As much as it reveals the spiritual heights that we are capable of attaining, it also sheds light clearly and nonjudgmentally on the aspects of our lives that are dark and unfree. If we are going to live as spiritual beings in the material world, then these are the areas we most need to explore.
Presence (awareness, mindfulness), the practice of self-observation (gained from self-knowledge), and understanding what one's experiences mean (an accurate interpretation provided by a larger context such as a community or spiritual system) are the three basic elements needed for transformational work. Being supplies the first, you supply the second, and the Enneagram supplies the third. When these three come together, things can happen quickly.
"Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand."
--Spinoza
Introducing the Nine Types
Work with the Enneagram starts when you identify your type and begin to understand its dominant issues.
While we will recognize in ourselves behaviors of all nine types, our most defining characteristics are rooted in one of these types. On page 13 you will find a questionnaire, the Riso-Hudson QUEST, that can help you narrow down your basic type, and at the beginning of each type chapter there is a second independent test, the Riso-Hudson TAS or Type Attitude Sorter, to help you check your findings. Between these two tests and the descriptions and exercises in the type chapters, you should be able to discover your type with a high degree of certainty.
For now, read the following type names and brief descriptions to see which two or three strike you as being most typical of yourself. Keep in mind that the characteristics listed here are merely a few highlights and do not represent the full spectrum of each 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 One: The Reformer. The principled, idealistic type. Ones are ethical and conscientious, with a strong sense of right and wrong. They are teachers and crusaders, always striving to improve things but afraid of making a mistake. Well-organized, orderly, and fastidious, they try to maintain high standards but can slip into being critical and perfectionistic. They typically have problems with repressed anger and impatience. At their best, healthy Ones are wise, discerning, realistic, and noble, as well as morally heroic.
Type Two: The Helper. The caring, interpersonal type. Twos are empathetic, sincere, and warm-hearted. They are friendly, generous, and self-sacrificing, but they can also be sentimental, flattering, and people-pleasing. They are driven to be close to others, and they often do things for others in order to be needed. They typically have problems taking care of themselves and acknowledging their own needs. At their best, healthy Twos are unselfish and altruistic and have unconditional love for themselves and others.
Type Three: The Achiever. The adaptable, success-oriented type. Threes are self-assured, attractive, and charming. Ambitious, competent, and energetic, they can also be status-conscious and highly driven for personal advancement. Threes are often concerned about their image and what others think of them. They typically have problems with workaholism and competitiveness. At their best, healthy Threes are self-accepting, authentic, and everything they seem to be--role models who inspire others.
Type Four: The Individualist. The romantic, introspective type. Fours are self-aware, sensitive, reserved, and quiet. They are self-revealing, emotionally honest, and personal, but they can also be moody and self-conscious. Withholding themselves from others due to feeling vulnerable and defective, they can also feel disdainful and exempt from ordinary ways of living. They typically have problems with self-indulgence and self-pity. At their best, healthy Fours are inspired and highly creative, able to renew themselves and transform their experiences.
Type Five: The Investigator. The intense, cerebral type. Fives are alert, insightful, and curious. They are able to concentrate and focus on developing complex ideas and skills. Independent and innovative, they can become preoccupied with their thoughts and imaginary constructs. They become detached, yet high-strung and intense. They typically have problems with isolation, eccentricity, and nihilism. At their best, healthy Fives are visionary pioneers, often ahead of their time and able to see the world in an entirely new way.
Type Six: The Loyalist. The committed, security-oriented type. Sixes are reliable, hardworking, and responsible, but they can also be defensive, evasive, and highly anxious--running on stress while complaining about it. They are often cautious and indecisive but can also be reactive, defiant, and rebellious. They typically have problems with self-doubt and suspicion. At their best, healthy Sixes are internally stable, self-confident, and self-reliant, courageously supporting the weak and powerless.
Type Seven: The Enthusiast. The busy, productive type. Sevens are versatile, optimistic, and spontaneous. Playful, high-spirited, and practical, they can also be overextended, scattered, and undisciplined. They constantly seek new and exciting experiences, but they can become distracted and exhausted by staying on the go. They typically have problems with superficiality and impulsiveness. At their best, healthy Sevens focus their talents on worthwhile goals, becoming joyous, highly accomplished, and full of gratitude.
Type Eight: The Challenger. The powerful, dominating type. Eights are self-confident, strong, and assertive. Protective, resourceful, and decisive, they can also be proud and domineering. Eights feel that they must control their environment, often becoming confrontational and intimidating. They typically have problems with allowing themselves to be close to others. At their best, healthy Eights are self-mastering--they use their strength to improve others' lives, becoming heroic, magnanimous, and sometimes historically great.
Type Nine: The Peacemaker. The easygoing, self-effacing type. Nines are accepting, trusting, and stable. They are good-natured, kind-hearted, easygoing, and supportive but can also be too willing to go along with others to keep the peace. They want everything to be without conflict but can tend to...
The Enneagram (pronounced "ANY-a-gram") is a geometric figure that maps out the nine fundamental personality types of human nature and their complex interrelationships. It is a development of modern psychology that has roots in spiritual wisdom from many different ancient traditions. The word Enneagram comes from the Greek for "nine"--ennea--and "figure"--grammos; thus, it is a "nine-pointed figure."
The modern Enneagram of personality type has been synthesized from many different spiritual and religious traditions. Much of it is a condensation of universal wisdom, the perennial philosophy accumulated by Christians, Buddhists, Muslims (especially the Sufis), and Jews (in the Kabbalah) for thousands of years. The heart of the Enneagram is the universal insight that human beings are spiritual presences incarnated in the material world and yet mysteriously embodying the same life and Spirit as the Creator. Beneath surface differences and appearances, behind the veils of illusion, the light of Divinity shines in every individual. Various forces obscure that light, however, and each spiritual tradition has myths and doctrines to explain how mankind has lost its connection with the Divine.
One of the great strengths of the Enneagram is that it steps aside from all doctrinal differences. It has helped individuals from virtually every major religious faith to rediscover their fundamental unity as spiritual beings. The Enneagram can therefore be enormously valuable in today's world to show white and black, male and female, Catholic and Protestant, Arab and Jew, straight and gay, rich and poor that if they search beneath the surface differences that separate them, they will find an entirely new level of common humanity. With the help of the Enneagram, we will discover that Sixes are like all other Sixes--and that they share the same values as others of their type. Ones who are black are much more like Ones who are white than they could have imagined, and so forth. A new level of community and compassion emerges that obliterates old ignorance and fear.
"The great metaphors from all spiritual traditions--grace, liberation, being born again, awakening from illusion--testify that it is possible to transcend the conditioning of my past and do a new thing."
--Sam Keen
The Enneagram is not a religion, however; nor does it interfere with a person's religious orientation. It does not pretend to be a complete spiritual path. Nevertheless, it concerns itself with one element that is fundamental to all spiritual paths: self-knowledge.
Without self-knowledge, we will not get very far on our spiritual journey, nor will we be able to sustain whatever progress we have made. One of the great dangers of transformational work is that the ego attempts to sidestep deep psychological work by leaping into the transcendent too soon. This is because the ego always fancies itself much more "advanced" than it actually is. How many first-year novices have persuaded themselves that they are just about ready for sainthood? How many meditation students have been certain that they attained enlightenment in record-breaking time?
Real self-knowledge is an invaluable guardian against such self-deception. The Enneagram takes us places (and makes real progress possible) because it starts working from where we actually are. As much as it reveals the spiritual heights that we are capable of attaining, it also sheds light clearly and nonjudgmentally on the aspects of our lives that are dark and unfree. If we are going to live as spiritual beings in the material world, then these are the areas we most need to explore.
Presence (awareness, mindfulness), the practice of self-observation (gained from self-knowledge), and understanding what one's experiences mean (an accurate interpretation provided by a larger context such as a community or spiritual system) are the three basic elements needed for transformational work. Being supplies the first, you supply the second, and the Enneagram supplies the third. When these three come together, things can happen quickly.
"Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand."
--Spinoza
Introducing the Nine Types
Work with the Enneagram starts when you identify your type and begin to understand its dominant issues.
While we will recognize in ourselves behaviors of all nine types, our most defining characteristics are rooted in one of these types. On page 13 you will find a questionnaire, the Riso-Hudson QUEST, that can help you narrow down your basic type, and at the beginning of each type chapter there is a second independent test, the Riso-Hudson TAS or Type Attitude Sorter, to help you check your findings. Between these two tests and the descriptions and exercises in the type chapters, you should be able to discover your type with a high degree of certainty.
For now, read the following type names and brief descriptions to see which two or three strike you as being most typical of yourself. Keep in mind that the characteristics listed here are merely a few highlights and do not represent the full spectrum of each 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 One: The Reformer. The principled, idealistic type. Ones are ethical and conscientious, with a strong sense of right and wrong. They are teachers and crusaders, always striving to improve things but afraid of making a mistake. Well-organized, orderly, and fastidious, they try to maintain high standards but can slip into being critical and perfectionistic. They typically have problems with repressed anger and impatience. At their best, healthy Ones are wise, discerning, realistic, and noble, as well as morally heroic.
Type Two: The Helper. The caring, interpersonal type. Twos are empathetic, sincere, and warm-hearted. They are friendly, generous, and self-sacrificing, but they can also be sentimental, flattering, and people-pleasing. They are driven to be close to others, and they often do things for others in order to be needed. They typically have problems taking care of themselves and acknowledging their own needs. At their best, healthy Twos are unselfish and altruistic and have unconditional love for themselves and others.
Type Three: The Achiever. The adaptable, success-oriented type. Threes are self-assured, attractive, and charming. Ambitious, competent, and energetic, they can also be status-conscious and highly driven for personal advancement. Threes are often concerned about their image and what others think of them. They typically have problems with workaholism and competitiveness. At their best, healthy Threes are self-accepting, authentic, and everything they seem to be--role models who inspire others.
Type Four: The Individualist. The romantic, introspective type. Fours are self-aware, sensitive, reserved, and quiet. They are self-revealing, emotionally honest, and personal, but they can also be moody and self-conscious. Withholding themselves from others due to feeling vulnerable and defective, they can also feel disdainful and exempt from ordinary ways of living. They typically have problems with self-indulgence and self-pity. At their best, healthy Fours are inspired and highly creative, able to renew themselves and transform their experiences.
Type Five: The Investigator. The intense, cerebral type. Fives are alert, insightful, and curious. They are able to concentrate and focus on developing complex ideas and skills. Independent and innovative, they can become preoccupied with their thoughts and imaginary constructs. They become detached, yet high-strung and intense. They typically have problems with isolation, eccentricity, and nihilism. At their best, healthy Fives are visionary pioneers, often ahead of their time and able to see the world in an entirely new way.
Type Six: The Loyalist. The committed, security-oriented type. Sixes are reliable, hardworking, and responsible, but they can also be defensive, evasive, and highly anxious--running on stress while complaining about it. They are often cautious and indecisive but can also be reactive, defiant, and rebellious. They typically have problems with self-doubt and suspicion. At their best, healthy Sixes are internally stable, self-confident, and self-reliant, courageously supporting the weak and powerless.
Type Seven: The Enthusiast. The busy, productive type. Sevens are versatile, optimistic, and spontaneous. Playful, high-spirited, and practical, they can also be overextended, scattered, and undisciplined. They constantly seek new and exciting experiences, but they can become distracted and exhausted by staying on the go. They typically have problems with superficiality and impulsiveness. At their best, healthy Sevens focus their talents on worthwhile goals, becoming joyous, highly accomplished, and full of gratitude.
Type Eight: The Challenger. The powerful, dominating type. Eights are self-confident, strong, and assertive. Protective, resourceful, and decisive, they can also be proud and domineering. Eights feel that they must control their environment, often becoming confrontational and intimidating. They typically have problems with allowing themselves to be close to others. At their best, healthy Eights are self-mastering--they use their strength to improve others' lives, becoming heroic, magnanimous, and sometimes historically great.
Type Nine: The Peacemaker. The easygoing, self-effacing type. Nines are accepting, trusting, and stable. They are good-natured, kind-hearted, easygoing, and supportive but can also be too willing to go along with others to keep the peace. They want everything to be without conflict but can tend to...
