Episode Description

Each of us lives from one of three distinct inner stances, yet hardly ever realizing it…

“Don’t mess with my world.”

“See me the way I want to be seen.”

“What can I trust?”

In this episode, Michael, Hari Prasada, and Rasanath explore how Anger, Shame, and Fear function as the Predominant Emotions of the Enneagram (and of the human condition). These emotions correspond to the Body types (8, 9, 1), Heart types (2, 3, 4), and Head types (5, 6, 7), and point to the deeper forces shaping how we experience ourselves and the world. More than surface-level feelings, they reveal what the ego is organized around and what it is constantly trying to manage or avoid. Moving through the three emotional triads, they explore what provokes each emotion, how it is experienced internally, and how it shows up externally. The gift we stand to gain through this knowledge is the freedom to act differently, instead of being habitually forced to act on the emotion. That’s a lifelong pursuit of self-awareness and self-regulation. But by understanding these emotions, where they come from, why they affect us, and seeing their specific hold on us personally, we can become so grounded and judicious in how we respond to them.

Podcast Hosts: Michael, Hari Prasada Das and Rasanath Das

Listen to this episode on Apple, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform

Highlights

• [00:40] Introducing the Predominant Emotions: Anger, Shame, and Fear

• [04:00] Predominant Emotions and their relation to the Centers of Intelligence

• [11:10] The Body Center with the Predominant Emotion of Anger: “Don’t mess with my world.”

• [13:00] Type 8

• [14:50] Type 9

• [18:20] Type 1

• [23:40] The Heart Center with the Predominant Emotion of Shame: “See me the way I want to be seen.”

• [25:50] Type 2

• [27:00] Type 3

• [33:30] Type 4

• [38:20] The Head Center with the Predominant Emotion of Fear: “What can I trust?”

• [41:10] Type 5

• [43:10] Type 6

• [46:30] Type 7

• [53:30] The importance of this Enneagram dimension on the spiritual path

Quotes

• “You sometimes experience one emotion and that emotion is more palpably felt…You may think that the emotion that you're expressing is the Predominant Emotion, but it's not. It is a result of the Predominant Emotion – the emotion that is actually pulling the strings.” -Rasanath 

• “It's okay to start with looking at the emotion that feels most prominent right now. But… what's behind that? ...If you're honest and sincere and really, truly introspecting, then you will get to the heart of the Predominant Emotion.” -Hari Prasada

• “We need to take full responsibility for our emotions. Otherwise it's very easy to blame circumstances or people for what they're causing us. The wound, and the emotion resulting from the wound, is ours. Understanding the emotions really helps us walk toward that wound and then over time really heal it.” -Rasanath

• “[We are] drowning in our Predominant Emotions. And if [we] don't even see that we are drowning, then [we are] living in an illusion.” -Hari Prasada