Past Programs: Lectures
This is your brain. This is your brain on the Enneagram. Or, more accurately, this is the Enneagram in your brain.
February 8, 2010 Lecture with Liz Bothwell
In February, we explored the fascinating links between Enneagram types, sub-types, and our brains. How does the fight-flight-freeze survival instinct get expressed in the Enneagram? What might be happening in the brain of a Type 6 — the Loyal Skeptic — that is different from the brain of a Type 3 — the Performer? How can the brain explain the habits of attention of the mental, emotional, and body triads? How do sub-types influence our relationships? The emerging field of interpersonal neurobiology is opening a new door to understanding and appreciating the wisdom of the Enneagram, and we can look forward to a body-felt, heart-filled, and mind-opening evening.
Liz Bothwell is a personal growth consultant helping individuals develop authentic relationships, navigate life transitions, and create fulfilling lives . She combines an eclectic set of interests and training from psychology, spirituality, and science with tools such as hand analysis and the Enneagram to help each person align with—and thrive in—their life purpose. Liz’s professional path has also included management, adult development, and consulting in non-profit organizations, the software development industry, and higher education, all of which built a foundation for understanding the ways we try to find meaning in our work and our lives. Liz brings 20 years of experience to her transpersonal consulting practice, and she offers a unique blend of intuition and practical application in her work with clients. Liz has a Master’s degree in Transpersonal Studies from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, California; she is a certified hand analyst with the International Institute of Hand Analysis in San Rafael, California; and she is enrolled in the Enneagram Professional Training Program. Liz is completing a graduate certificate at Portland State University in Interpersonal Neurobiology: the study of how relationships change the brain and how the brain impacts relationships. Visit her website to learn more.
In advance of this class, we read Toward the Neurobiology of the Enneagram by Jack Killen, M.D. Dr. Killen is Deputy Director at the NCCAM (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine) at the National Institutes of Health and a certified Enneagram teacher. His paper discusses the correlations between the head, heart, and gut triads and three primary mammalian survival instincts: fear, social distress, and rage. Liz included Dr. Killen’s material in the February 8 class.
Buddhist Perspectives on the Enneagram
Presented by the Interfaith Spiritual Center and The Enneagram Community of Portland
February 5, 2004
First Unitarian Church, Salmon Street Sanctuary
Santikaro Bhikkhu is a Chicago born Buddhist monk. After graduating from the University of Illinois in 1980, he went to Thailand, where he served as a Peace Corps volunteer and rural school teacher for 4 years. He ordained as a monk in 1985 and began studying with Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, a well-known teacher and reformer of Theravada Buddhism. In addition to teaching Buddhism and meditation, Santikaro Bhikkhu translates the work of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, writes on socially engaged Buddhism, works with various Thai and Asian NGOs, and makes prison visits.
After learning about the Enneagram in the mid-90s, he studied with Helen Palmer and David Daniels, eventually certifying in their professional training program. He oversees Enneagram work in Thailand, where he and friends explore its application to Buddhist teaching and practice. He returned to the USA’s midwest in 2001 and is working to build Liberation Park, a new community for Buddhist monastic training & Dharma study in the Chicago area. More at Liberation Park website.
The Buddhist path of ending suffering involves reflective and contemplative investigation of how clinging to “me” and “mine” occurs. The Enneagram enriches this work by illuminating the nine styles of ego concoction. Buddhist mindfulness practice fosters a deeper, clearer seeing of these processes and insight practice offers tools for relaxing and letting go of the boxes that personality creates. The nine ego styles also interact with these practices such that understanding them helps free our meditation from the common distractions, preoccupations, and dilemmas of personality. Finally, Enneagram teaching points to virtues that each type can utilize in crossing over to the other shore. Ven. Santikaro’s talk touched upon these and related issues.