PLEASE REMEMBER:
Submissions over the 50-word limit will be deleted unread. Count “Egocentrickarmic- conditioning/self-hate” as one word. Do not include “R/L” in your word count.
Zen and the Enneagram: We Are All Nine Types
Saturday, August 12
Class 5
Practicing with the orientation of Enneatype 4 reveals how the world of ego is based on an assumption of loss, lack and deprivation. The focus on what’s missing, and the belief that when I have x I will feel y, perpetuates a quest not for fulfillment but for desire, which inevitably leads to dissatisfaction and suffering.
Practice assists us to cultivate the capacity to experience the completeness in the moment. We can practice having what we want rather that following the conditioned program to seek what we do not have.
Let’s move to Enneatype 5
Type Five – The Observer
Worldview: Knowledge will keep me safe.
Belief: People can be intrusive. People (and things) can take up your private time and deplete your energy. Emotions are unpredictable and scary. Knowledge is power. It can keep you safe or be used against you.
Focus of Attention: Conserving energy and gaining knowledge
Characteristics
Need for privacy extending to isolation
Delayed emotions; feelings withheld until safely alone
Wanting predictability – to know what will happen
Overvaluing self-control – drama is for lesser beings
Compartmentalizing of time commitments in life
Maintaining non-involvement, withdrawing, and restraining one’s emotions as a first line of defense
Five’s approach can be overly mental when a more feeling approach is called for. They can seem to be distant or emotionally unavailable. Observers can seem disengaged from life, preferring mental realms of thought to interaction. There is a strong need to protect their private time, and this need for privacy can extend towards isolation. A belief that energy is limited can lead to compartmentalization. There are compartments for work, relationships, and leisure, each with its concomitant time limits. Observers feel overwhelmed and drained if they don’t have enough alone time; too much input is exhausting. Fives can withhold information, time, energy, and even themselves.
Fives have very strong feelings but prefer to deal with them when they are alone and can try to understand them. It doesn’t feel safe to deal with emotions in front of others; it feels out of control.
Observers enjoy observing. They don’t feel they need to join in all the time. Rather, they have a great time watching everyone else.
Exercise
How are you an Enneatype Five? How do some of the qualities, processes, and characteristics of the Observer show up in you? How does a focus on “my” time, energy, and resources prevent you from participating and fully engaging in life? How does a preoccupation with safety keep you from being in touch with your feelings or giving your emotions expression and sharing yourself?
In 50 words or fewer, write to us about your process. Here is the link to use:
https://www.livingcompassion.
Submit your response after 9.00 a.m. PDT on Tuesday, Aug. 15. Submissions received before 9:00 a.m. PDT on Tuesday, Aug. 15 will not be accepted.
All submissions and responses will be posted as Cheri finishes with them. As we begin posting Cheri’s responses for each class, we will send a notice. All of the assignments can also be found here. https://www.livingcompassion.
NOTE
When writing your responses, please pay attention to spelling and punctuation. This will help Cheri to more easily discern your meaning.
We recommend recording the class, listening to it, responding, and recording your response before submitting it. Remember to include “R/L” with your response to indicate that you are Recording & Listening.
Gassho