Abi Robins - The Conscious Enneagram: How to Move from Typology to Transformation

Abi Robins

Foreword by Leslie Hershberger

Broadleaf Books

Minneapolis

THE CONSCIOUS ENNEAGRAM

How to Move from Typology to Transformation

Copyright 2021 Abi Robins. Printed by Broadleaf Books, an imprint of 1517 Media. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Email or write to Permissions, Broadleaf Books, PO Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1209.

Cover art: Sarah Duet

Cover image: enjoynz/istock

Cover design: James Kegley

Print ISBN: 978-1-5064-6502-9

eBook ISBN: 978-1-5064-6503-6

References to internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor 1517 Media is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.

For Juniper and Farren,

may this work make the world a better place for you to grow up.

The Enneagram isnt the first thing; its the second thing. Abi instinctively understands this. They understand that the first thing is our life and lived experience. In order to survive as a human, we come hardwired for both present-centered aliveness and struggle. We are equipped with protective mechanisms like patterns of judgment, addictive desires, behaviors, and anxious reactions. Abi understands that these defenses limit our capacity for resilience along with grounded, genuine aliveness when we remain on automatic pilot.

They are also unflinchingly honest in laying out what spiritual teacher George Gurdjieff calls intentional suffering where we consciously engage practice in order to awaken to these patterns. We all know the familiar feelings of a need for approval and connection or the need for power and control or the need for safety and security. The moment you decide to engage in a practice, youll begin to understand why they worked in the first place. Its no small thing for an Enneagram 8 to approach things with openness and innocence and to come fresh to each moment holding paradoxical truths. Their entire self-system is setting off alarm bells, saying, Warning, this is dangerous territory. Defend. Now. Or if a 2 begins to relax into their own repressed needs, the amygdala in the brain gets hijacked, and what surfaces is the existential anxiety that I will lose connection.

As I write, we are experiencing a worldwide pandemic that has pulled back the veils on individual, relational, and communal suffering. We are feeling a collective loss of connection, control, and security. Our Enneagram patterns are designed to offer protection, and in these times, they are in full throttle. Furthermore, the collective field is activated, which impacts you and me. Its intense out there, and in comes Abi. They dont make empty promises of enlightenment in three days by reading this book, nor do they grandiosely try to convince us that theyve arrived at the pinnacle of awakening and a life of bliss. (Amen and amen to that.) Rather, they walk the path of student and teacher.

They invite us into our own experience with their suggestions rather than one-size-fits-all prescriptions. Abi invites you to adjust and test out the practices for yourself yet clearly states the core truth that we may miss when we first become enamored of the power of the Enneagram, which is the second thing: we need to have a practice of witnessing our habits, accepting their function and their adherence to a practice. Otherwise, the Enneagram is simply another cognitive personality tool that offers fascinating information but little possibility of transformation. Knowledge of this powerful system is not enough. Enneagram memes are fun entertainment, learning about the Enneagram is interesting education, but practice offers the transformation of the passions of our type structure and ultimately our lives, relationships, and communities.

Abi also offers a practical reason for practice when they write, Practice does not prevent; practice prepares. It prepares us for the day-to-day challenges of being human on this planet. Your practice gives you some handles when the pressure is on.

When I first came across Abis Instagram feed, I had a sense that this is someone who isnt putting out Enneagram memes for entertainment. They clearly had a knowledge of this powerful system, but more obviously, they were clearly doing the inner and outer work of transformation as they supported others on the path.

In spiritual work, the boomer generation has had the tendency to hyperindividualize our practice. Theres an unconscious belief that If its to be, its up to me. I have to go it alone, the proof will be my enlightenment, and I need to push anything that looks to be its opposite out of my awareness. This leads to excessive self-criticism if we stumble and much time and energy wasted on questions like How come I have to go through this same thing yet again?

We need a guide. The Institute of Noetic Science did exhaustive research on this question: How do people change and sustain that change? They interviewed hundreds of people and discovered four qualities of lasting change: attention, intention, guidance, and repetition (practice).

A solid guide (teacher/facilitator/coach/therapist) is grounded in a lineage and roots. In their book, Abi expands on why lineage matters and why the model has lasted hundreds of years. Abi spells out their guides, their lineage, and why it has mattered.

Yet the boomer style of hyperindividualization and an exhausting pursuit of perfection led to an overelevation of gurus, spiritual teachers, and clergy. These guides were often idealized as enlightened or as virtuous and pure. Some have not been held accountable for behaviors out of alignment with the very principles they teach. Guides have also had a tendency to hold themselves to a standard that doesnt honor their humanity, which pushes human foibles and frailties to shadow. Eventually, these frailties and foibles erupt as shadow behaviors that cause lasting damage. Weve heard the stories and sustained the damage, and its rattled many to the core.

Abi busts this illusion of their perfection at the gate. Theyre honest about their struggles, which gives space for you to be honest about yours. Theyre a few steps ahead on the trail because of their commitment practice, so they know some of the familiar stumbling blocks. They give you some solid perspective on what you might experience on the path. This is a different quality of guidance. Its one of authentic humility rather than pseudohumility (which is a construct of prideful self-importance). Authentic humility comes from the Latin word meaning low, on the ground in the soil, and in spiritual practice, this means Im with you, sib. This stuffs hard. Were in it together. This is Abi. Abis a voice of their generation saying, Welcome to the human race. Im not going to try to sell you on some illusion that I dont struggle too. Practice helps, but life still can knock me to my knees. Its one of the first things I noticed about them. It also points to Abis grounding in a lineage that knows the limits of the human condition.

Another pitfall of my generations hyperindividualization of practice was that we lost our way somewhere between the 1960s/1970s era of social change and the 1980s era of acquisition and individualism. While experience has taught me the imperative of an individual practice as I cant do as much good in the outer world if I dont attend to my inner life and transformation, I have also learned that the outer world shapes me