The Experiential Depth Approach to the Enneagram by Russ Hudson & Jessica Dibb

The experiences and qualities of life which are most fulfilling and significant for our journey often get overlooked or forgotten because we spend our days more focused on other matters and activities… and often doing so from a contracted state of fear, separation, or inertia.

Many of us have the capacity to contact the deeper layers of our heart and soul, yet we haven’t learned to stay connected to this parts of us as we move through our busy lives.

Why it is so difficult to stay connected the sacred? Why do fear, separation and inertia tend to be our default modes?

While often we will learn about the Enneagram as a classification system for human beings — simply finding out which of nine types best fits us — it is actually intended as a study of bringing the depth of our awareness and kindness to the patterns in our psyche that lead us to forget our essence and disconnect from the Divine.

In this first module, you’ll discover:

• The depth approach to the Enneagram and how it differs from other approaches
• Components and tools of this unique approach
• The real meanings of the passions, the fixations, the centers, the instincts, the Virtues, the Holy Ideas, as well as of Essence and Personality
• The original purpose of the Enneagram that takes us far beyond mere descriptions of our character structures

In its original sense, the Enneagram does not describe “who we are” but invites us to look at what we are usually “taking ourselves to be.” Through the cultivation of presence in our bodies, hearts, and minds, we develop the capacity to actually see andfeel the psychological patterns that usually dominate our experience.

In this way, we begin to participate in an inner marriage of soul and personality. This brings about not only spiritual experiences, but a genuine transformation of our lives through a genuine transformation of what motivates our choices and actions.

In this class, you’ll discover:

• The nature of experiential work in the context of the Enneagram
• The role of presence in working with the patterns of personality/ego.
• The “alchemical gold” of inner work — the results of cultivating our true inner life
• The difference between realization and actualization
• How to “be with” your experience rather than rejecting or judging it
• The correct roles of the three centers: body, heart, and head.
• The relationship between the ego’s strivings and a deeper wish for authentic qualities of being
• How different approaches to inner work can support your journey

The Instincts (or subtypes), and the roles they play in our lives and in our development, are one of the “hottest” topics in the Enneagram field. And while there are many teachers involved with this subject, presenting different theories, applications, and perspectives, the role of the instincts in inner work is seldom presented.

Here we will have the beauty of Russ and Jessica bringing together different facets of this teaching arising from the different elements of this work that they have focused on. Together they will weave a rich immersion in the topic, not to give final answers, but to launch all involved on a deeper investigation of how these fundamental intelligences operate in our personal lives.

The three basic Instincts as described in Enneagram theory and in Fourth Way teachings are nature’s intelligence acting through us. When these instinctual drives combine with our primary Enneagram pattern, it produces a primary “subtype,” with a particular set of behaviors. First, though, it’s important to recognize the Instincts as specific energies and sensations in the body.

In this module, you’ll explore the sense of all three drives and how they manifest in particular behaviors in your daily life. While one of these drives may be more prominent than the others, all three are operating in you in some way.

A big part of inner work is learning to recognize the deeply ingrained habits in relation to your instinctual drives — and to also acknowledge the areas of life you’ve unwittingly neglected. As you develop awareness and more balance among the Instincts, you create a stable platform for opening to the deeper mysteries of your heart and mind. From this foundation, you can more easily integrate these expansive, spiritual experiences into daily life.

We will explore the direct experience of each instinct and look at common ways that it appears in daily human behavior. And a practice will be introduced of consciously using all three instincts together to create new neurological circuits for integrated choices and actions.

• The innate life qualities called Instincts — and how they appear in nature and in you
• How to recognize and experience the deep qualities of Instincts as felt sensations, which are part of your body’s wisdom
• How to recognize Blind spots and inertia in each of the instincts
• 9 Zones within the Instincts that reveal different arenas of life in which these natural intelligences play out
• How the core suffering of the heart shows up in the Instincts, and interferes with their natural functioning
• How to create a set of customized practices for working with the Instincts and creating better balance between them
• How the Instincts are transformed from supports for the ego, to support for your soul realization and maturation
• An emerging feminine and right brain perspective and orientation to the instincts that brings in new possibilities for the transformation

From a depth approach, each Enneagram point, beyond being a type of person, represents particular qualities of presence. When these finer qualities of presence come to bear on our ego patterns and their inherent suffering, they create an alchemical reaction, the result of which are the nine Virtues.

The Virtues are thus the result of inner work, and become the natural expression and way of being for a person. They represent a strength and fullness of heart, as distinguished the human tendency to get caught in endless reactivity or numbness.

In actualizing not only our own type’s Virtue, but all nine, love becomes the organizing principle of your thoughts, decisions, relationships and communities.

The first big step in this spiritual alchemy is learning to be compassionate with ourselves. The presence we have cultivated supports us in being with the inner hurts and reactions that have driven so much of our behavior.

As we look deeper, we may notice that the core of suffering in our hearts was created by a deep disconnection from Source, however we choose to define that. We discover how much of our ego’s motivation has been seeking ways to handle this core of suffering and to be able to get on with our lives despite it.

But if we keep looking, we see again and again, that as soon as we come home to ourselves and the living moment, real healing occurs. Our spirits can flower, and our capacity to be a vehicle of love and truth in each moment becomes REAL, sustainable and embodied.

You’ll discover:

• The specific relationship between the heart’s suffering, and qualities of presence and grace
• The alchemy of restored presence bringing about a turn of the heart towards it true source, the “Beloved.”
• The Nine Virtues as doorways to another kind of human life and community — the alternative to fear as an organizing principle
• How the Virtues reflect the qualities of a real teacher — the signs of someone who has actually been on the authentic journey of awakening
• The core suffering of the heart that is at the root of the passion of lust
• The real meaning of the passion of Sloth, which isn’t “laziness” but rather, habitual state of withdrawn attention, normal for egoic life
• The core suffering of the heart that is at the root of the passion of Angry Resentment
• The real meaning of the passion of Pride, often misunderstood, and a major challenge for those in helping professions

Realization is awareness of a truth, and it does partially transform us. Actualization is a permanent and enduring state of transfiguring the body, heart, and mind. In this class, you’ll experience somatically, emotionally, cognitively and spiritually, the virtues of points eight, nine, one and two.

Jessica will guide you to experience in all three centers, these heart qualities within you:

• Innocence
• Engagement
• Serenity
• Humility

We continue our journey, learning to bring Presence and Essence to our hearts, transforming them into the qualities of the awakened heart. In this module, we will focus on the virtues of point Three (authenticity) point Four (equanimity), point Five (non-attachment) point Six (courage), and point Seven (sobriety).

You’ll discover:

• The core suffering of the heart that is at the root of the passion of Vanity, and its corresponding virtue of Authenticity
• How to recognize and experience more deeply the qualities of Equanimity in your daily life, and how they are related to the passion of Envy
• The real meaning of the passion of Avarice, which is generally not the withholding of knowledge, and how it opens to the Virtue of Non-Attachment
• How to recognize and experience more deeply Courage in your daily life, and to learn how it is the result of the transformation of fear and anxiety.
• The core suffering of the heart at the root of the passion of Gluttony, and its transformation into Sobriety — the great stillness and intelligent sensitivity of heart.

Now that we have discovered something of the qualities of the Virtues for points Three through Seven, Jessica will take us through a multi-textured experiential journey through these qualities. Practices will bring somatic, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual intelligence to bear on the Virtues of points Three, Four, Five, Six, and Seven, embracing all of ourselves from Essence, conception, gestation, birth, childhood, adulthood, now and the future as:

• Authenticity
• Equanimity
• Non-attachment
• Courage
• Sobriety

Throughout the ages masters and teachers have talked about the potential of human beings to recognize and build a vehicle for higher consciousness within our body, heart and mind so that Essence can flow unimpeded through every aspect of our life, every breath.

The triadic intelligence of the Enneagram shows us how we can awaken, build and flower these dynamics by doing Inner Work with the awakened instinctual drives, the higher emotional capacities (the Virtues), and the higher intellect (the Holy Ideas). In the next four classes we will focus on the transformation of mind — from inner chatter boxes and dull states of consciousness, to bright, peaceful and spacious qualities of direct knowing. These qualities are referred to as the Holy Ideas, nine perspectives or vantage points of nondual awareness or of the Higher Intellectual Center, George Gurdjieff’s term for the Illumined Mind.

The Holy Ideas aren’t to be strived for; nor is there a finish line in this process. Yet, as we bring more presence to the habitual patterns of our thoughts and perceptions, alternative views of reality can empower us to open to a much broader range of understanding and response, softening rigid ego patterns, without rejecting them.

In Module 8, you’ll discover:

• The definition and meaning of the Holy Ideas
• The Holy Ideas relationship to the Virtues and the Essential Qualities or Gifts of each of the 9 types
• How these deeper states of consciousness or nondual awareness relate to your usual mind and mental patterns, described in Enneagram teachings as the Fixation
• The Holy Ideas of Enneagram points Eight through Two
• The Law of Three from which you can discern ordinary knowing from growing awareness of the deeper qualities of Mind
• Body-centered principles and techniques which support an opening to Higher Mind and help you live truly in the moment
• The specific relationship between the mind’s ego fixation and the direct experience of unity of being

The Holy Ideas cannot be grasped in the usual ways that we understand things, and indeed they are an experience of Mind beyond our usual mental activities. They are not qualities, and not exactly any felt sense.

Yet without an ability to abide in our felt sense, they remain elusive. We come to understand that these qualities of Mind need to be experienced directly, and that all of our centers are needed for this to occur. In this module, Jessica will help us come to deeper realizations and experiences of these perspectives.

In this class, we will bring somatic, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual practices to support the realization of this non-dual ground of our consciousness, embracing all of ourselves from Essence, conception, gestation, birth, childhood, adulthood, now and the future.

We will explore presence from the perspectives of:

• Holy Truth
• Holy Love
• Holy Perfection
• Holy Will
• Holy Freedom

In this class, we’ll continue our exploration of the Holy Ideas, discovering the non-dual perspectives of points 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

We will explore presence from the perspectives of:

• Holy Hope & Holy Harmony
• Holy Origin
• Holy Omniscience & Holy Transparency
• Holy Faith
• Holy Plan & Holy Wisdom

At some point, it becomes clear that the Holy Ideas cannot be grasped in the usual ways that we understand things, and indeed they are an experience of Mind beyond our usual mental activities. They are not qualities, and not exactly any felt sense. Yet without an ability to abide in our felt sense, they remain elusive. We come to understand that these qualities of Mind need to be experienced directly, and that all of our centers are needed for this to occur. In this module, Jessica will help us come to deeper realizations and experiences of these perspectives. We will bring somatic, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual practices to support the realization of this non-dual ground of our consciousness, embracing all of ourselves from Essence, conception, gestation, birth, childhood, adulthood, now and the future.

We will explore presence from the perspectives of:

• Holy Hope, Harmony, and Law
• Holy Origin
• Holy Omniscience & Transparency
• Holy Faith
• Holy Plan & Wisdom

We’ve spent many weeks opening pathways to the true depth of what we are, practicing embodying presence and integrating its many qualities into our lived lives. We have of necessity focused on our own internal work as a necessary foundation for this development.

However, if we truly want to live from our essential being, we must learn to stay present with other people — which for many of us is a more challenging journey.

Most of us may be able to stay awake and focused in meditation or other solitary spiritual practices, but quickly revert to our egoic patterns when other people are around or when we need to accomplish tasks with them. So we need to understand and experience presence and radical relatedness with others.

This relatedness is alive and ever-changing. We encounter ourselves, others, and reality freshly moment by moment, and it is in the immediacy of this encounter that we gain much greater freedom from our egoic patterns, but also come to a deeper love and appreciation for our lives and for the people in them.

In this module we will:

• Learn to recognize some of the psychological patterns that tend to dominate our relationships
• Come to recognize and appreciate relationship as a structure — necessary for life, but not able to bring the heart what it truly seeks
• Work through some of the patterns to open to new qualities of genuine relatedness: appreciation, aliveness, and kindness
• Explore the feeling of relatedness through experiential practices
• Learn how relatedness can become a powerful tool in maintaining our inner work and development