How Vahl was introduced to the Enneagram

I recently read a post where a friend of mine explained how he took an Enneagram test and would figure out the results later. That post inspired me to share how I was introduced to the E-gram, in the hopes of simplifying and demystifying it.

Damian started telling me about the Enneagram about nine years ago. The more he described it, the more I wanted to learn more. One day, we finally sat down together and he showed me the book Personality Types, by Riso and Hudson.



First, we turned to Part I, which listed the 9 basic types, and four word description for each. He told me to read through the list and see which description or descriptions I related to the most. Here's the list:

The One, also called The Reformer, is principled, orderly, perfectionistic, and
self-righteous.
The Two, also called The Helper, is caring, generous,
possessive, and manipulative.
The Three, also called The Achiever, is
adaptable, ambitious, image-conscious, and hostile.
The Four, also called The
Individualist, is intuitive, expressive, self-absorbed, and depressive.
The
Five, also called The Investigator, is perceptive, original, detached, and
eccentric.
The Six, also called The Loyalist, is engaging, committed,
defensive, and paranoid.
The Seven, also called The Enthusiast, is
motivating, accomplished, uninhibited, and manic.
The Eight, also called The
Challenger, is self-confident, decisive, dominating, and combative.
The
Nine, also called The Peacemaker, is gentle, reassuring, complacent, and
neglectful.

Once I had chosen a couple of types, we turned to the Appendix and looked up more detailed descriptions of those types. Basically, there are more one-word descriptions broken down into three levels: healthy, average, and unhealthy.

Damian told me once I found my type, it would feel like a K.O. punch. He was right -- there was no doubt about it. I felt like I was reading a kind of biography for my personality, or my own internal programming code. It felt like someone knew me and described me to a tee. My strengths, weaknesses, fears, and desires that I had experienced throughout my life were there.

Slap me with a number six. I went on to read the full description in Part II, and gained even more perspective. As I read more about the other types, I began to see the ones and zeroes of the Matrix, so to speak.

If you're interested in figuring out your Enneagram type, I highly recommend the book Personality Types and trying out Damian's method. It's simpler, more intuitive than an exam, and does not require voluminous reading. You'll get more out of it than confusing test results!

Thank God Matrix Trilogy Is Not Popular Anymore

My friend Damian recently posted an article about the Star Wars Trilogy, where he basically turned in his Star Wars fan club card and walked away from that universe of stories. The main reason he did that had to do with the obsessive/compulsive/critical nature of Star Wars fans on the web, along with their hypocrisy.

Well, along those lines, I'd like to share with our six readers that I am HAPPY that the Matrix Trilogy has NOT stood the test of the time. I don't have to run across constant message boards or blogs that rip Matrix: Revolutions, how the last two movies should have explored the Buddhist feel of the first movie, when the prequels will be released (let alone sequels!), are the comic books in continuity, or whatever.

It's not that I disagree with the notion that the last two movies had some missed opportunities, in terms of inspiring movie goers towards being more Buddhist with their perspective and mindfulness ... it's just that I really enjoyed the last two movies for what they were -- great action flicks with comic book sensibility.

The car chase scene in the second movie is absolutely amazing, for example. From the music to the motorcycles to the Tomaz/Zamot clones chasing our heroes, and drivers turning into agents ... when Link yells "Yes!" at the end of it, I relate to his relief!

And for all the people that didn't enjoy the third movie -- I guess seeing Agent Smith take over the Oracle and enter the human world to kill Neo wasn't interesting enough? "That's fine."

You know what that means for me? I'll have plenty of years where I can occasionally plop that movie on my screen and see something I never noticed before ... there aren't legions of obsessive/compulsive fans that I'm aware of, like Agent Smith clones, out there to ruin the movie experience the way they've ruined Star Wars for Damian.

So, thank God for small blessings.

***

In related news -- The Lord of the Rings trilogy is better than all six Star Wars movies. I'd like to agree with Damian's comments on that -- the fact that those movies had a solid literary foundation and were filmed by people who loved the story and characters really shows. It's a brilliant, deep, meaningful tale. The Force is a snot rag compared to the magic in Lord of the Rings.

'Nuff said.