The following excerpts are from this link at the Riso and Hudson Enneagram site. If you have read other Writing pages (at left under the “Pages” heading) or some of my posts, you’ll see much that is parallel here. I think some of these thoughts are what I held before coming to the Enneagram and some have been assimilated into my own thinking as I’m moving forward. The match was so convincing I have been involved ever since. I encourage you to go to the above link or any others on my blog/web site.

“We do not move beyond human nature but beyond our delusions about ourselves and about reality. Living in Essence becomes a matter of seeing through our ego and, in so doing, of discovering and maturing our truest self. The search for Essence is not an escape from life but the reverse: a commitment on our most profound level of consciousness to participate in our own creation.

Personality depends on our identifying with certain states, feelings, thoughts, and reactions even though whenever we do so, we experience ourselves as less than the totality of who and what we really are.

The personality has the function of closing us down so that we can feel more defended against a threatening and uncertain world. At one time in our lives, in childhood, this response was adaptive and necessary. We had to identify with whatever qualities we found in ourselves in order to defend ourselves more efficiently and to find our place in the world.

In this state, we see reality more clearly, and when we are in touch with reality, truth governs. In the land of truth, there are no contradictions, no conflicts, no hindrances, and no fears. But first, we must learn to be present.

Personality is always in some kind of reaction to the present moment. When we are functioning in Essence, we are grounded, present, and receptive to the moment. We see precisely what is necessary, and with exquisite economy, we are able to do it without unnecessary effort or resistance. We are capable, substantial, and real.

The more we allow ourselves to feel the pain of our self-abandonment, the Essential qualities that we have been longing for begin to arise in us.

But until some degree of personality completion has taken place regarding the losses and vicissitudes of childhood, any spiritual attainment we have will be either fleeting or illusory.

Psychology without spirituality is arid and ultimately meaningless, while spirituality without grounding in psychological work leads to vanity and illusions.

The move to Essence is not an escape from ourselves but the growth of freedom from those aspects of ourselves that have made us unfree and subject to suffering. The move to Essence is a supremely positive thing—not a negation of our individuality, but the occasion in which we become deeply alive and in possession of ourselves.”

Used with permission from The Enneagram Institute, 2007