Introduction to the forthcoming book

As I write this introduction, I feel overwhelmingly privileged. I’m sitting in the main building at Pekwa, a private lodge in the Welgevonden game reserve in the Waterberg District of Limpopo Province, South Africa. Directly in front of me, beyond a substantial deck, is a vast open plain bordered by denser bush. There are two water holes to my left and an array of animals, including zebra, eland, warthog and wildebeest, all of which are calmly eating, drinking and interacting. There’s an occasional squabble between zebras involving an angry kick of hind legs and a quick retreat before calmness resumes once more.

I’m constantly reminded of how well the natural world works, yet we humans succumb all too easily to our interfering urges in the misguided belief that we know better. Nature has an intelligence of its own and profound wisdom that passes from one generation to the next, seemingly unencumbered.

There’s an inherent balance in the natural animal world that consists in the tension between individual survival needs driven by thirst, hunger, reproduction and so forth, and learnt ways of behaving and interacting – learning one’s place in the hierarchy is an example of this. Sigmund Freud highlighted a similar inner tension in us humans between the instinctual id and the learnt behavioural rules of the superego.

The animal kingdom seems to find this balance beautifully and perfectly. Unfortunately, the thinking, planning and scheming that we humans engage in is too often driven by greed, envy, vanity, the desire for power and inevitably, money. And so, we interfere with the natural order to such an extent that we create ugliness, imperfection and disarray in the natural order. We witness this in humankind’s destruction of natural habitats, the over-exploitation of natural resources, the poisoning and polluting of rivers and oceans, the horrifying destruction caused by war, and so it goes on.

We’re inclined to re-engineer what already works well in our world and we do exactly the same thing to ourselves. We interfere with our own internal processes that link thoughts, emotions and body with the way we express ourselves outwardly. I think most of us would agree that there are some unarguable values or principles that should be guiding our behaviour towards far more positive outcomes. Examples include honesty, integrity, respect, reliability, love, kindness and appreciation. Unfortunately, there’s a part of us that prevents these from becoming consistently actualised. This is a problem of the heart often referred to as ‘sin’ in Christian circles.

The Enneagram – this complex map of the human psyche – shows us this in a different way. Through representing nine ‘styles’ or ‘ways of being’, it reveals deep insights into the inner and outer workings of us, humans. It explains that whatever our primary Enneagram ‘style’, we show up at some point on a ladder of ‘integration’ ranging from the very best version of ourselves at the highest level of integration (i.e. ‘higher self’), to the very worst version at the lowest level of integration (i.e. ‘lower self’). It also shows us the common triggers that cause us to descend into our darker, more destructive persona.

As we ascend this ladder, we feel increasingly grounded, present, in touch with our whole being, and deeply connected to other people and to the natural world. There’s a sense of spaciousness as we tune into our higher intellectual and emotional centres and become fully aware of our physical bodies and intuitions. We start to have an increased spiritual awareness of ourselves, and we make a greater, more valuable, life-enhancing contribution to the world and the people around us.

The opposite occurs as we descend this ladder. We feel increasingly constricted, cornered, defensive and critical of ourselves and others. We become less confident, more aggressive and consumed with negative thoughts, emotions and stress. Our thinking and emotional experience become ever more distorted and dysfunctional. We become focused on scarcity and more dissociated from our natural life-enhancing instincts and spirituality.

These two poles of the higher and lower self are like two points on a map. The never-ending journey on which we all need to embark is a steady progression from the lower rungs of the ladder to the higher. However, the path of growth and development is never straight. We progress and retreat. We take side roads and, at times, encounter dead ends. For a while, it can feel like we’re making no progress at all. It’s important, wherever we find ourselves on this ladder, to stay on the journey of self-awareness, self-correction and self-improvement. As we do this, our overall ‘way of being’ incrementally improves, our relationships deepen, and our connection to all life forms strengthens.

The Enneagram shows us that we each have inherent gifts to share that we’re able to display more abundantly when we’re positioned in our higher, more integrated self. These qualities are central to the various Enneagram styles when functioning at their best. I can only imagine how incredible our world would be if a critical mass of people consistently displayed these special qualities:

Sadly, it’s impossible to function at our highest, most integrated self all of the time. We get taken off balance by life’s circumstances. But we need to be aware when the descent into the lower self happens so that we can do what is necessary to recover. This often includes authentically seeking forgiveness, being sure that we forgive ourselves, and implementing corrective action to redress any harm we may have done.

I hope that by reading this book, you will gain deeper insights into the nine Enneagram styles and, most of all, into yourself. I also hope that the practical suggestions I’ve included will support you on your journey to your highest, most integrated self.