Following last Sunday's talk, yet another person recommended that I read Aldus Huxley's Grey Eminence. According to Alan, the recommender:
"It is a study of Father Joseph who was a monk, a mystic, and an advisor to Cardinal Richelieu during the Thirty Years war in France and persecution of miscellaneous protestants and heretics. Huxley was clearly intrigued by how a deeply religious man could have gone so far off track. He rejected the quick answer that Joseph could have just been using religion as a facade for manipulation, but looks deeper."
I read some excerpts and the material here does, indeed, resonate with the Enneagram. For instance:
"religion consists in the exact opposite of self-reliance and self-esteem -- in total self-surrender to a God... suffering himself to be experienced by those who are prepared to accept the conditions upon which that experience may be had: the sacrifice of all elements of their personality..."
and
"the real Satan is the element in every individual being which hinders that being from dying to its selfhood and becoming united with the reality from which it has been separated."
Compare these ideas to the following excerpt from the opening chapter of The Enneagram: A Journey of Self Discovery, by Maria Beesing, Robert Nogosek, and Patrick J. O'Leary:
"According to the Enneagram system, there are nine... types of human personality. Each personality type is is identified in a negative way though it also has positive characteristics. The identifying negativity stems from a specific compulsion ingrained in one's self-concept and having a great influence on one's behavior...
The journey into self offered by the Enneagram is not easy. To many it will turn out to be extremely threatening. It is unpleasant to think of one's basic personality as a 'sin type'. The compulsion serves to protect oneself and offers personal security. To seek to unveil it will be experienced as a kind of 'death' to oneself...
Through the discovery of one's Enneagram type there can be awakened a whole new sense of self-criticism. It will always give one something to repent, something to confess as sin... This self-criticism will in itself already be a basic step to that new freedom promised by the Enneagram, a freedom from being secretly led by the dark side of one's inner self.
The discovery of one's type will also point out a lack of faith on a deep level. Underlying the compulsion of each tye is a strategy for defending the self... As a strategy for self-protection it is a chosen way of 'self-salvation.' The personality has simply chosen a way to acheive security and fulfillment by its own efforts. This is, of course, a mistake. Through the discovery of one Enneagram type there can be awakened a whole new sense of needing salvation..."
Beesing, Nogosek, and O'Leary also offer this gem of insight:
"Although people are not generally proud of what they call their sins, they do tend to be proud of the compulsion characterizing their personality type. They think it makes them superior to those who do not have this compulsion."
In other words, that which we think of as our best trait is also our worst trait.
Let us return to the question of how a deeply religious Christian such as Father Joseph could be such a warmonger. (Check out this article that compares Father Joseph to Mahmoud Ahmadi-nejad.)
Huxley, in his examination of Father Joseph, discusses how nominally positive traits -- loyalty, passion, zeal, willingness to do God's will -- served evil purposes. He writes:
"Father Joseph... was intensely a patriot and a royalist. Born and brought up during the civil wars, he had conceived a veritable passion for national unity, for order and for what was then the sole guarantee of these two goods, the monarchy. This passion had been rationalized into a religious principle by means of the old crusading faith in the divine mission of France and the newly popularized doctrine of the divine right of kings... Hanotaux, the historian of Cardinal Richelieu, writes of [Father Joseph] that, 'he gave himself to two high causes, which absorbed his life, God and France, always ready to work and fight for either cause, but never separating one from the other, always responding to the call of an inner conviction, namely that France is the instrument of Providence and French greatness a providential thing.' Granted the validity of these doctrines - doctrines which he held with a burning intensity fo conviction - it was obviously Father Joseph's duty to undertake political work for king and country, when called upon to do so. It was his duty because, ex hypothesi, such political work was as truly the will of God as the work of teaching, preaching, and contemplation.
Father Josseph believed that the cause of God and the cause of France were inseparable. We must now inquire why he chose to harbor this belief... [One reason] is that the circumstances of his upbringing had created habits of thought and feeling which, in spite of his long-drawn effort to kill out the Old Adam in him, he had found it impossible to eliminate." (emphsis mine)
I diagnose a terminal case of 6-ishness.
Showing posts with label negativity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label negativity. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Power of Negative Thinking
Note: This was originally published on 12/9/07.
Every so often, someone comes along to critique the Enneagram (or, at least, an interpretation of the Enneagram) on the basis that it is too negative. One such critic is Susan Rhodes. In her article "Let's De-Pathologize the Enneagram" in the October 2006 issue of Enneagram Monthly (downloadable, for free, here), she writes, "I never liked the idea of looking at personality as a way to measure pathology. I liked looking at personality as a way to explore individual differences. That's why the MBTI appealed to me so much.
When I encountered the enneagram, I tried to use the MBTI personality descriptions as a reference point for enneagram descriptions. But I found this almost impossible to do. It wasn't because the two systems had a different number of types or even a different way of determining the types. It was because the enneagram descriptions read more like 'neurosis types' than personality types. They seemed to reflect such a pessimistic philosophy of human nature."
I have a different perspective. I am a big fan of the Myers-Briggs system, but I think the Enneagram has a huge advantage over it, precisely because of the "pessimistic philosophy" which is, indeed, present within it. Here's an apt quote from The Enneagram: A Journey of Self-Discovery, by Maria Beesing, et al, "In the beginning of this Enneagramic journey into the self what is being asked is the willingness to acknowledge oneself as a sinner. Compulsions are selfish as is typical of sin. They amount to a distortion in being as one ought to be. All the nine types are sin types... If the Enneagram is to be useful, one must discover the negativity of one's personality. Only then can one begin the process of being freed from the compulsion."
This, to me, is the brilliance of the Enneagram. First, it lures you in with what seems to be a neutral to positive description of personality. To a five, it says, Would you agree that your mind is your strongest asset? Would you agree that privacy is something that you value? To the two it says, Would you agree that your personal relationships are of utmost importance to you? Would you characterize yourself as a helpful person? And so on for all of the types.
Next, it says, okay, if you agree, with that, Five, then how about this: Here are all the ways that greed manifests itself in your life. Two, pride is killing you. And so on for each of the types. This second piece is that much harder to dismiss because the first piece was so compelling, and with true realization of the cost of sin comes the willingness to change.
I remember being in Russ Hudson's Psychic Structures and the Superego workshop , learning to meditate, learning to cultivate Presence, growing in compassion, and thinking (as a skeptic and, until recently, an atheist), If it weren't for the Enneagram's precision as a psychological descriptor, I wouldn't even be here to listen to its spiritual implications. And, oh, how I needed to be there!
Every so often, someone comes along to critique the Enneagram (or, at least, an interpretation of the Enneagram) on the basis that it is too negative. One such critic is Susan Rhodes. In her article "Let's De-Pathologize the Enneagram" in the October 2006 issue of Enneagram Monthly (downloadable, for free, here), she writes, "I never liked the idea of looking at personality as a way to measure pathology. I liked looking at personality as a way to explore individual differences. That's why the MBTI appealed to me so much.
When I encountered the enneagram, I tried to use the MBTI personality descriptions as a reference point for enneagram descriptions. But I found this almost impossible to do. It wasn't because the two systems had a different number of types or even a different way of determining the types. It was because the enneagram descriptions read more like 'neurosis types' than personality types. They seemed to reflect such a pessimistic philosophy of human nature."
I have a different perspective. I am a big fan of the Myers-Briggs system, but I think the Enneagram has a huge advantage over it, precisely because of the "pessimistic philosophy" which is, indeed, present within it. Here's an apt quote from The Enneagram: A Journey of Self-Discovery, by Maria Beesing, et al, "In the beginning of this Enneagramic journey into the self what is being asked is the willingness to acknowledge oneself as a sinner. Compulsions are selfish as is typical of sin. They amount to a distortion in being as one ought to be. All the nine types are sin types... If the Enneagram is to be useful, one must discover the negativity of one's personality. Only then can one begin the process of being freed from the compulsion."
This, to me, is the brilliance of the Enneagram. First, it lures you in with what seems to be a neutral to positive description of personality. To a five, it says, Would you agree that your mind is your strongest asset? Would you agree that privacy is something that you value? To the two it says, Would you agree that your personal relationships are of utmost importance to you? Would you characterize yourself as a helpful person? And so on for all of the types.
Next, it says, okay, if you agree, with that, Five, then how about this: Here are all the ways that greed manifests itself in your life. Two, pride is killing you. And so on for each of the types. This second piece is that much harder to dismiss because the first piece was so compelling, and with true realization of the cost of sin comes the willingness to change.
I remember being in Russ Hudson's Psychic Structures and the Superego workshop , learning to meditate, learning to cultivate Presence, growing in compassion, and thinking (as a skeptic and, until recently, an atheist), If it weren't for the Enneagram's precision as a psychological descriptor, I wouldn't even be here to listen to its spiritual implications. And, oh, how I needed to be there!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Susan Rhodes on a More Positive Enneagram
What follows is Susan Rhodes' email response to my blog post "The Power of Negative Thinking." My comments on her comments appear in brackets. -- Cindi
"I enjoyed reading your article and agree with you wholeheartedly that negative thinking is extremely powerful. The problem, as I see it, is that it's a little too powerful. Yes, the enneagram is more powerful than the MBTI, which I believe is due to its esoteric origins, particularly its geometry. This is why the enneagram can so powerfully penetrate someone's defenses and create an opportunity to experience a life-changing shift in perspective."
[I am certain that you know more about the origins and geometry of the enneagram than we do and would love to have you elaborate on what you mean. Mary Beth and I both find that, when we try to read up on that stuff, our minds just sort of slide right off the page. ;-) Although... Mary Beth is working on an article on Gurdjieff. - C]
"However, when a tool has this kind of power, a little bit of insight goes a long ways. In other words, it's really easy for people to get overloaded with information, and when that info is mainly negative, it can potentially act like a powerful (and psychically destabilizing) drug. That's the short-term problem with studying the enneagram from a negative perspective.
I see the long-term problem as more serious. It's the problem of negative framing. Negative framing is what happens when we encounter a system that is intrinsically negative in orientation. If the system is powerful, and we if use it a lot in our daily lives, it will tend to make us look at things from a negative perspective. Take the example of "fire and brimstone" preachers--their attention is so oriented toward (avoiding) hell that they never seem to get around to embracing heaven. They might believe in heaven, but how can they make it a living reality, so long as hell is their primary focus?"
[A good metaphor. I agree with that. - C]
"I got the idea of advocating a more positive approach after I met so many experienced enneagram users and teachers who seemed disheartened about their type. Whatever breakthroughs they had made when they initially encountered the system, after years of working with it, many seemed to arrived at a place of rueful resignation. They still appreciated the system, but from my perspective, it no longer seemed to be helping them find greater freedom in their lives."
[Understood. I think some of the differences in our perspectives stem from the differences in the people we discuss the enneagram with. You seem to be surrounded with enneagram teachers and long-term users, but most of the people I speak to about the enneagram are beginners. They haven't become disheartened yet, because they might still be in denial of their type, or embracing their type in an ego-driven "I'm an 8, so of course I'm gonna be like such-and-such" way that doesn't take the type's pitfalls seriously. - C]
"And that's the whole problem with an approach that has a negative orientation: Where do you go after the first big breakthrough? Once you know the shortcomings of type, what do you do next? How do you proceed?"
[I will say that, for myself, reminding myself of the shortcomings of my type (5) has been enormously beneficial. Once I became sufficiently cognizant of the 5's lack of generosity, I was able to remember more and more often to be just a beat more generous -- with my time, my energy, my attention, my help, and my knowledge -- than I would be as a default. This simple move has paid off richly in vastly improved relationships. There's a lot to be said for "catching oneself in the act", and then stopping it. -- C]
"In my articles, I like to cite one of my favorite Sufi quotes: 'First remember your faults, then forget them.' Yes, knowing the shortcomings of the type can be helpful. But dwelling on them is not. ( How well I know this as a Four!) If we start with a value-neutral framework--one in which we can look at both positives and negatives--then we can look at type in many different ways, depending on the need of the moment."
[I can see that, as a 4, you might not need anyone to draw your attention to the negative! The negative aspects of truth are pretty difficult for the positive outlook types -- 2, 7, and 9 -- to see, though.
I agree that there is definitely value in looking at positive aspects of type. Knowing the healthy attributes of your particular type helps you "know which way is up", as Mary Beth would say. And seeing the positive attributes of the other types reminds you that you can borrow a strategy that works when your preferred strategy does not. -- C]
"I'd like to briefly comment on the idea of using positive type info to initially attract peoples' interest (in your words, to 'lure' them) and then hitting them with the stuff that's not so positive: I would not recommend this approach, because it does not respect the free will of those we are trying to attract. I think that each of us has to decide for himself whether he is ready for a big change in life. Why should I want to try to trick another person into changing? This is their responsibility, not mine. It's hard enough for people to change when they are already highly motivated.
Susan"
[Perhaps "lure" was a poorly chosen word -- but that's how it seemed to happen to me! I first encountered the enneagram through Baron and Wagele's The Enneagram Made Easy, which definitely puts a positive spin on things. Then I proceeded to Helen Palmer's writings. Palmer also draws her anecdotes from mostly high-functioning people. At that point, I found the enneagram fun, accurate, and interesting, but not much of an impetus for change. I saw some of the Riso/Hudson material and Margaret Keyes' book Emotions and the Enneagram, but those works struck me as real downers. It wasn't until I reached a really low point in my life that I started to look at the enneagram from a "Gee, maybe I'm doing something wrong here" perspective. I swam with that hook in my mouth for nearly a decade!
That said, I would never advocate purposefully presenting positive only, and then suddenly hitting up a prospective enneagram student with the negative. My experience is that people hear what they need to hear, when they're ready to hear it. On this blog, we present a balance of fun and serious, light and dark. People are free to take what they want and leave the rest.
Thanks for your comments, Susan.
Everyone -- Please visit Susan's website: http://www.enneagramdimensions.com/. -- C]
"I enjoyed reading your article and agree with you wholeheartedly that negative thinking is extremely powerful. The problem, as I see it, is that it's a little too powerful. Yes, the enneagram is more powerful than the MBTI, which I believe is due to its esoteric origins, particularly its geometry. This is why the enneagram can so powerfully penetrate someone's defenses and create an opportunity to experience a life-changing shift in perspective."
[I am certain that you know more about the origins and geometry of the enneagram than we do and would love to have you elaborate on what you mean. Mary Beth and I both find that, when we try to read up on that stuff, our minds just sort of slide right off the page. ;-) Although... Mary Beth is working on an article on Gurdjieff. - C]
"However, when a tool has this kind of power, a little bit of insight goes a long ways. In other words, it's really easy for people to get overloaded with information, and when that info is mainly negative, it can potentially act like a powerful (and psychically destabilizing) drug. That's the short-term problem with studying the enneagram from a negative perspective.
I see the long-term problem as more serious. It's the problem of negative framing. Negative framing is what happens when we encounter a system that is intrinsically negative in orientation. If the system is powerful, and we if use it a lot in our daily lives, it will tend to make us look at things from a negative perspective. Take the example of "fire and brimstone" preachers--their attention is so oriented toward (avoiding) hell that they never seem to get around to embracing heaven. They might believe in heaven, but how can they make it a living reality, so long as hell is their primary focus?"
[A good metaphor. I agree with that. - C]
"I got the idea of advocating a more positive approach after I met so many experienced enneagram users and teachers who seemed disheartened about their type. Whatever breakthroughs they had made when they initially encountered the system, after years of working with it, many seemed to arrived at a place of rueful resignation. They still appreciated the system, but from my perspective, it no longer seemed to be helping them find greater freedom in their lives."
[Understood. I think some of the differences in our perspectives stem from the differences in the people we discuss the enneagram with. You seem to be surrounded with enneagram teachers and long-term users, but most of the people I speak to about the enneagram are beginners. They haven't become disheartened yet, because they might still be in denial of their type, or embracing their type in an ego-driven "I'm an 8, so of course I'm gonna be like such-and-such" way that doesn't take the type's pitfalls seriously. - C]
"And that's the whole problem with an approach that has a negative orientation: Where do you go after the first big breakthrough? Once you know the shortcomings of type, what do you do next? How do you proceed?"
[I will say that, for myself, reminding myself of the shortcomings of my type (5) has been enormously beneficial. Once I became sufficiently cognizant of the 5's lack of generosity, I was able to remember more and more often to be just a beat more generous -- with my time, my energy, my attention, my help, and my knowledge -- than I would be as a default. This simple move has paid off richly in vastly improved relationships. There's a lot to be said for "catching oneself in the act", and then stopping it. -- C]
"In my articles, I like to cite one of my favorite Sufi quotes: 'First remember your faults, then forget them.' Yes, knowing the shortcomings of the type can be helpful. But dwelling on them is not. ( How well I know this as a Four!) If we start with a value-neutral framework--one in which we can look at both positives and negatives--then we can look at type in many different ways, depending on the need of the moment."
[I can see that, as a 4, you might not need anyone to draw your attention to the negative! The negative aspects of truth are pretty difficult for the positive outlook types -- 2, 7, and 9 -- to see, though.
I agree that there is definitely value in looking at positive aspects of type. Knowing the healthy attributes of your particular type helps you "know which way is up", as Mary Beth would say. And seeing the positive attributes of the other types reminds you that you can borrow a strategy that works when your preferred strategy does not. -- C]
"I'd like to briefly comment on the idea of using positive type info to initially attract peoples' interest (in your words, to 'lure' them) and then hitting them with the stuff that's not so positive: I would not recommend this approach, because it does not respect the free will of those we are trying to attract. I think that each of us has to decide for himself whether he is ready for a big change in life. Why should I want to try to trick another person into changing? This is their responsibility, not mine. It's hard enough for people to change when they are already highly motivated.
Susan"
[Perhaps "lure" was a poorly chosen word -- but that's how it seemed to happen to me! I first encountered the enneagram through Baron and Wagele's The Enneagram Made Easy, which definitely puts a positive spin on things. Then I proceeded to Helen Palmer's writings. Palmer also draws her anecdotes from mostly high-functioning people. At that point, I found the enneagram fun, accurate, and interesting, but not much of an impetus for change. I saw some of the Riso/Hudson material and Margaret Keyes' book Emotions and the Enneagram, but those works struck me as real downers. It wasn't until I reached a really low point in my life that I started to look at the enneagram from a "Gee, maybe I'm doing something wrong here" perspective. I swam with that hook in my mouth for nearly a decade!
That said, I would never advocate purposefully presenting positive only, and then suddenly hitting up a prospective enneagram student with the negative. My experience is that people hear what they need to hear, when they're ready to hear it. On this blog, we present a balance of fun and serious, light and dark. People are free to take what they want and leave the rest.
Thanks for your comments, Susan.
Everyone -- Please visit Susan's website: http://www.enneagramdimensions.com/. -- C]
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