Tag: Enneagram

LOVE IN EAST AND WEST

In Buddhism, Warrior-Boddhisattvas

(those who delay entering Nirvana 

to help others on Earth get there)

train in: interdependence –

if I hurt others I hurt myself –

it is love not aggression that will save the planet –

others are not different from themselves –

we are all one –

and they train their hearts to open 

in increasingly difficult situations

getting in touch with our True Self/God within

enables Boddhisattvas and us to listen/speak/act from the heart

“For without compassion all religious beliefs and practices

are useless and empty” – Albert Nolan

we now have so many tools to help us be compassionate

such as the Enneagram which exposes the hidden worldviews

we have been unconsciously operating out of our whole lives

and thus helps couples to view 

their partners foibles more compassionately

and their own foibles more critically

in previous cultures  

belief in God had nothing to do 

with the modern obsession with weighing evidence 

for the existence of God –

God must laugh at our attempts  

to weigh God in the balance

as if our thoughts or intellectual choice of doctrines

determined whether God existed or not –

in previous cultures

belief in God

was like a marriage vow –

“I do” commit myself 

to love and serve you, my God

mindful presence 

spent with the one we love

is the fullest expression of True Love

and mindful generosity

is the greatest gift 

we can offer our loved one –

the gift of our True Presence.

BEING AND LOVE

Our consciousness and therefore our subjectivity

cannot be explained

by science –

it just is –

it cannot be explained

by reference to anything more simple

because it is a fundamental/primary datum

 

similarly, True Love

cannot be explained –

it just is –

it requires being in the here and now

with your Beloved

practicing mindfulness

letting go of all distractions

making “quality time”

a habit

 

similarly, the Dharma of Buddhism

requires being here now

but it does not give you security

or a ground to stand on

because it is all about impermanence/groundlessness/

hopelessness – because as long as you hope

for being a better person

in a better place

you never accept who you are

and where you are

right now

you are never in the Here and Now

never in Love

 

the Enneagram is the face of Love –

it cannot be explained –

it just is –

the face of Christ

the face of God

the face of the True Human

since Jesus the Christ

is both the True Human and God

and has all the Enneagram virtues:

righteousness/compassion/excellence/creativity

wisdom/loyalty/discipline/power/peace

to the max.

 

FALLING AND RISING CONSCIOUSNESS

 

If there is such a thing, “original sin” would be the fall

of the human person from contemplative union with God

and “kyriarchy” would be the fall from union with others –

it is “lordship” – it goes beyond male patriarchy –

white women have lorded it over

both black women and black men for centuries –

lordship is a deeper problem than patriarchy

 

Ken Wilber’s Integral Vision has color-coded levels

of consciousness that explain all our falls and risings

and cause us to interpret divine beings differently

depending on our level:

red: the magic Jesus

amber: Jesus the lawgiver

orange: Jesus the world wisdom teacher

green: Jesus the savior through multiple paths

turquoise: Christ-consciousness in all people

violet: Jesus the Eternal Self beyond all suffering

 

similarly, the Enneagram, a powerful tool for alleviating suffering

distinguishes three different types of human beings:

gut/sexual

heart/social

head/self-preserving

who develop/grow/love in different ways

 

since love is the drawing and driving force

which activates and empowers the universe

it is seemingly contradicted

by “survival of the fittest”

plus nature’s other ways of being violent:

volcanoes/hurricanes/tornadoes/earthquakes –

but love is not always a purely positive force –

it often involves suffering in its movement

towards greater wholeness/greater being

 

in all our ordinary activities

sin and grace contend

so what we need is sober realism

rooted in the hope the Holy Spirit gives us

rather than naïve optimism – we need to:

despite trying family problems exercise charity

despite deadening routine find meaning

despite the frustrations of daily life nurture contemplation

despite powerful oppressive systems work for justice.

DOGMA-KOANS

Catherine of Siena pondered 

two most important 

human states: being and non-being

and thought: God reveals God 

by revealing humans to humans

no one understood that

but she died at 33

Doctor of Church.

In Christ reside

all treasures and wisdom,

primary model of universe’s design

God’s plan: evolutionary unfolding of Cosmic Christ

Divine Love, the heart

of evolutionary universe

constantly giving birth.

Every human relationship a birth, a search

for love, love of self and God

the summum bonum, greatest good

Love the focal energy

giving meaning to all.

With Jesus Law is written 

on hearts not stone tablets 

outer authority: scripture and tradition 

balanced with Inner Authority: True Self.

Each stage: egocentric-ethnocentric-worldcentric 

involving greater care and compassion

hierarchy of love not power.

A Buddhist hierarchy: 

In first watch of night 

Buddha experienced previous incarnations

In second watch 

Buddha received divine eye of omniscient vision

In third watch 

Buddha understood Chain of Causation

At dawn 

Buddha reached perfect enlightenment.

Macquarrie versus Rahner: 

Buddha no “anonymous Christian”

Buddha teaches Christians

everything holy: 

frogs, poison ivy, enemies

so only one God, one truth 

one human and natural community.

Becoming a child

really hearing bird sing 

really seeing blue sky

makes real touch of Holy Spirit.

Splitting things 

spiritual/secular

led Church to “contemptus mundi”

world-contempt.

Church sinned against Truth 

when suppressed 

science as secular

science is search 

for God’s Truth.

Polarity-thinking misses much 

prayer-thinking takes in: 

ownership of my failings 

compassion for others’ failings.

Enneagram Five’s 

greatest gift and sin:

detachment

essence of Buddhism.

Relativists assume 

one interpretation of life 

good as any other.

If true

dogmas become dazzling mysteries

koans 

for pondering 

over and over.

Bruce Tallman

May 20, 2021