Enneagram Book

Today is a very good day at Enneagram Book. I am proud to introduce you to Ken Ireland, a student of the enneagram since introduced in the United States more than 30 years ago.

Ken has a great story to share. It’s a story about being mistyped for 25 years. It’s a story about how it feels to uncover your true fixation after a quarter-century of work. It’s a story about working with an incredible teacher, but maintaining your personal responcibility nonetheless.

I now proudly present Ken Ireland’s story about being retyped after 25 years:

“Mr. Gurdjeiff, ‘chief characteristic,’ and getting your type on Enneagram

It was in my reading of the memoirs of C.S. Nott, that I got a glimpse of what it might have been like to work with Mr. Gurdjeiff in a way similar to our current work with Enneagram. Shortly after the liberation of Paris, amidst seemingly endless, exacting meal preparations, dinner toasts, music and piercing conversation in his Paris flat, Nott details G working with two young women, new students from England, who have to catch the night train to Dieppe and return to London. In a series of short, intense meetings with G, these students define their ‘chief characteristic’ in a precise way that they could use as they set out on the path of self-remembering and before they had to grab a cab to the Gare du Nord. The urgency of discovery is sketched out in simple, direct language.

There is, however, no mention of the Enneagram, no evidence that G used the Enneagram to identify the ‘chief characteristic.’ I find it very strange that if G did use the Enneagram in this way, we find no clear reference in his early students’ accounts. But what we do find is interesting: that students were equipped with personal, precise, and exacting tools for self observation; that defining one’s chief characteristic was a process, a conversation with the teacher; and that it was something that the student him or herself did as part of their inner work.

Fast forward to late Spring 1975. I am in a large living room on the Arlington in Berkeley. Kathy Speeth has organized a series of seven evening presentations about the Enneagram for the “therapeutic” community. In attendance, 15 or so therapists, not members of Claudio’s group, who are interested in the Enneagram. Among them is Helen Palmer, who has been hearing about the Enneagram from Claudio’s students in her own practice of psychic readings.

I remember that week’s conversations quite clearly. They were a departure from the usual work of his SAT group. Kathy had asked me to be on a ‘panel’ of seven’s, ego ‘Plan’ as both Icahazo and Naranjo referred to the point “Gluttony;” this is the first time several people of the same fixation spoke in front of a group and answered questions.

Claudio directed, laying a foundation with descriptions of the 9 points. In itself this was not unusual, but his comments were definitely phrased to inform an audience of trained psychologists, and not the personal conversation aimed at a student’s personal work that he normally used. The authentic tone of self observation may have been present, but I felt that the obligation of explanation (perhaps performance) distorted the feeling of each point.

In my previous 4 years in SAT, senior students were most involved in typing. In my case Bob Ochs, the Jesuit priest among Claudio’s original students, was my primary source of knowledge and understanding about the Enneagram. Ochs had organized a ’study group’ in Chicago shortly after he joined Claudio’s group, and the following Fall he offered a credited course on the Enneagram at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkley where I was a student. He followed the usual academic format - 14 weeks of lectures plus additional work - but his presentations and assignment were sometimes quite unusual. By Christmas, most of Ochs class was ‘typed.’ I was a seven, a ‘classic’ seven, a sexual seven.

During the evening of the panel discussion, I shared my understanding of ‘Plan.’ At some point, Claudio turned to me and asked: “Are you sure you’re a 7?” “Of course,” I said with a laugh. Claudio said, “Ah, there it is. Listen to that laugh. Ken really believes that everything will turn out. That is a clear sign of point 7 – the conviction that everything is OK.”

Fast forward again, this time 25 years. It is 1996 and I am taking care of a mutual friend who is dying of cancer. Claudio, back in Berkeley after teaching in Spain, often visits. One morning as he is leaving, he turns to me asks, “Did I type you a 7?” “Yes you did” I answered with certainty. (Didn’t he remember?) “I must have been crazy,” Claudio laughs. “You are a 9. No 7 has your earthy sense of humor. If you look for ways to take of yourself, I think that you will discover a rich vein.”

Of course I knew point 9, and I knew in an instant that Claudio had nailed me. I had been in the conversation too long not to recognize the truth. Of course 9 is blinded by forgetfulness of self. But I was sick and upset for a full week before that split second’s observation, saying goodbye and opening a door, opened a world that fit me exactly. (I have never seen convincing evidence that any of the Enneagram tests are reliable, but I am convinced that physiological reactions are strong indicators that you have really understood yourself on the Enneagram. Trust yourself, all of yourself, even when you don’t quite feel like yourself.)

So, why am I telling this story? Certainly not to discredit Claudio or his teaching methods or what appears to be an oversight. My 5 years with him changed the direction of my life. I love life - before I only pretended to love it. Is this a confessional for my own slowness to learn and understand. I hope not. I certainly do not feel that I wasted 25 years living as a 7. Is it to discredit the understanding of any particular teacher or school? That is not my intention. But it may contain a warning not to give yourself over completely to any teacher, in any circumstance – even if they are Jesuits.

Finding your place on the Enneagram may be instantaneous, or it may take years. Certainly don’t be disheartened if you leave your first weekend with no clear idea of your fixation. It is really OK not to know, to be hesitant, or even to change your mind as your understanding and your experience of self increase.

Is it also OK to live your life on the assumption that you are not the person you thought, or have been told, you are? That’s the way that most people live, and they may or may not suffer. Of course it does seem better to live your life honestly and authentically, but even if you experience a bright flash of an extraordinary insight, changes in your life seem to appear incrementally, slowly, and even painfully.

As our own understanding increases, we contribute to everyone’s understanding. Any powerful, genuine insight into the mind’s inner workings takes time to sort itself out and make itself useful. Of course exaggerations, missteps, and unfortunately misuse of the Teaching hurt people rather than liberate them, but conversation and debate are always healthy if intentions are not self serving.

“Notes on further reading.

Among the many wonderful accounts of Gurdjeiff’s teaching, Nott’s is only one. I have included two of Claudio’s books that I have found helpful. In my view, reading Claudio is essential for any student of the Enneagram. I have also written at more length about my own experience with Claudio Naranjo and the early SAT group. You can read them online. http://truthspinners.blogspot.com/2006/11/what-is-real-work-of-enneagram.html http://truthspinners.blogspot.com/2006/11/what-is-real-work-of-enneagram.html Please leave all comments, questions, and observations you want.”

I’d like to thank Ken for taking the time and energy to share his story with us. I hope that he becomes a regular here on Enneagram Book. I would highly suggest taking a look at his blogs (linked above). Please feel free to start the conversation about mistyping, Gurdjieff, or Caludio Naranjo in the comments below.

Update:  Ken has a great new website devoted to the Jesuit works around the enneagram.  You can find it here: The Jesus Koan.

-Thanks, Brad

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