Summing Up the First 14 Episodes

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Hari Prasada: So we wanna use this piece to drive home. These teachings, how do we most effectively use what we've learned in the Enneagram? Rasanath, thank you. For

Rasanath: me, as I have stated this in other episodes too, I began my Enneagram journey mistyping myself, and over time then grew to understand what my type is and, uh, what I have discovered over the years.

Is that the more we apply the lens of the Enneagram to our personal lives, the richer our understanding of our own type is. I put feel like when I first understood what the type three was, and I look back. I can, I can very honestly say that I didn't understand anything about the type three at that time, uh, than I do now because of how complex the human ego is and how over time you discover so many subtle nuances and quote unquote small ways in which the ego is showing up.

So the best way in which we can use this framework is to repeatedly. Apply it to our lives. It can be as simple as, at the end of the day, making an entry based on what we know of our own type. How many times did we actually show up in the controlling levels of consciousness? And we will see. Good list.

The other way to apply this framework is what do we need to do to climb up the levels of consciousness? And that is one is definitely observing our controlling behavior. That is definitely a way to climb up the levels of consciousness, but also to be able to look at the fears that hold us back and to systematically work through those fears is one other very important way.

In which this framework needs to be applied. So it starts with the self charity begins at term. We first apply this framework on ourselves and consistently apply it. It's not just about discovering the type, the discovering of the type is the beginning of the Enneagram journey and not the end of the Enneagram journey.

I had, uh, an Enneagram deep dive last week where. The person at the end of the Enneagram deep dive said, okay, so now what? What's the so what about knowing that I'm this particular type? And I told him, well, now the work begins and when we can learn how to apply this framework, we will see that it never stops giving in our own self love.

Hari Prasada: Yeah. It's constantly building our knowledge. Into realization, learning more, applying it to ourselves, seeing how this is affecting me, seeing how this is affecting others in my life, the behavior, the motivation, the fear that I am suffering from, that I am putting out into the world, and really being able to own it at deeper and deeper levels.

The, the growth doesn't stop. Until we're liberated from the ego altogether, the growth keeps going, and then that's a whole different kind of growth that happens, but it's not the same thing. So until we're completely free from the ego, we really lean on this work to better ourselves and to get closer to who we are more and more by engaging with it in a very sincere and serious way.

You used the term charity begins at home. I was smiling because I had just used that expression after quite a while with a coaching client right before this podcast. And I, and she had told me she's the leader at an organization and she had told me that she was not raised that way. She was not trained to think like that.

And it's so important. So we start with ourselves. Because we are the common factor in everybody else in our lives, right? We are impacting everybody else by who we are and how we are showing up. So raising our own level of consciousness is the key, but. When we have the desire to do that, we will naturally want to understand and empathize with and serve every other living being, and the Enneagram is invaluable for that.

We have a skeleton key to understand the inner world of everybody else. It's amazing. It's amazing. So let's not also lose sight of the fact that we have the opportunity. To really understand others and provide them the greatest service, which is that understanding and empathy and orienting around how can we really meet their needs and be the best we can be for them.

Rasanath: Thank you for emphasizing. Um, charity Begins at Home, uh, because everything else is a byproduct of that. And, uh, the one other thing that I want to mention here is that the Enneagram really shows us what the suffering is in being shackled by an ego. And what it also helps us do is stop participating.

That suffering. Now that leads to a different kind of suffering. Mind you. Um, when we, when we start to live more conscious lives, we will become very acutely aware of how our unconscious lives have such a strong hold on us. So awareness itself brings a very different kind of suffering, and the Enneagram can help us get to that place.

But what will take us further? Spiritual work. And so the Enneagram is not a substitute for our spiritual work, which I, I think is, uh, we have to really highlight that. It shows us where we need to start the work. It shows us why we are suffering and how we are shackled by the ego and brings acute awareness to it.

So much so that the awareness of that itself becomes the suffering. But what can take us beyond that suffering is a very genuine spiritual practice. So the Enneagram drops us off, I would say, at the corridor for true spirituality to really take hold.

Hari Prasada: That's what our teachers done, and Russ at the Enneagram Institute say that the Enneagram can take you so far.

A spiritual practice is what will take you beyond the limits of your personality, beyond the limits of your present identification. With the ego, it can help you to remove layers, and it must help you to remove layers of ego and to align closer to the self. But the only way that we become completely free, which is totally in line with our.

Practice of bhati yoga and our experiences monks, as well as what our teachers would say is through spiritual practice. That's, that's as critical as it gets. It's also interesting that I wound up in a monastery because I realized going back to charity begins at home, I realized that if I want to create the best works of art, I want it to become a filmmaker and put out magnificent.

Movies that would be like masterpieces to be remembered forever. And I, I realized that if I want to do that, the best way to do it is actually to work on myself. Because everything I do comes from who I am. It's only my consciousness that is going to produce whatever it is. I put out there, so the most efficient way to go and the absolute best way to go is by working on myself.

So I went into a monastery, and it's not a coincidence that in that monastery is where I discovered the Enneagram. And we were doing Enneagram work and spiritual work side by side to remove the layers of ego and invest in the actual self,

Rasanath: uh, and many times the Enneagram as a framework. Is employed for making my relationships better, understanding myself better, and understanding the other person better, whether it's in a personal relationship context or in an organizational relationship context.

And I think, um, the Enneagram can be substantially helpful there. Provided we are willing to do the actual work, so there is no substitute for the actual work. And when we do the actual work, we will also begin to see how, as I mentioned earlier, that the Enneagram is very powerfully and impactfully bringing us to the corridor of true spiritual inquiry.

Which we don't wanna shock, change the power of the framework. We don't wanna just keep it like, oh, this is a cool tool to understand what my team is and do some team building work. But if we were to truly apply the full breadth and depth of the Enneagram framework, it can give us much more than we truly bargain in for, which is really coming in touch with the true self.

That's what

Hari Prasada: the inner journey is all about. What happens if we come in touch with the true self? What do we stand to really gain? How do we understand what we truly stand to gain complete freedom from

Rasanath: suffering and an experience of, you know, unfathomable love for everybody that we see? Again, these are, when I use those words, when I speak those words right now.

It may seem very ethereal, but ultimately when we do get there, it's like the, the taste of any dish lies in actually tasting it. I can explain the taste in so many different ways and compare it to so many other things, but to truly discover the taste of something I have to, I have to be able to taste it.

So what I'm attempting to do here. Is give a sense for what it will feel like when we truly are free from the shackles of the ego, which is, uh, the experience of complete freedom from suffering and, uh, an experience of uninterrupted, unconditional love for not just other human beings, but every single species of life.

Which is the true characteristic of the self.

Hari Prasada: So

Rasanath: how do we take our next step? There are a few things that we would really like to recommend to our audience. We have put together the series with a, a certain, uh, intent in mind in terms of how this series can be used. The first thing that I would like to say is.

Really get to know your type, become very intimately acquainted with your type. And that comes by repeated hearing about your type and repeated reading of your type. And when there are so many nuances that this Enneagram framework offers, and when we learn how to repeatedly hear about our type. You hear it now, hear it again in a week, come back to it in a month again, you will see that, oh gosh, I didn't, I missed that somehow last time.

And I, I see how that is true. And that is what we want. We are looking for, we want to truly, completely ingest what it means to be a particular type. And, uh, that only comes by repeated. Listening, hearing, reading, and understanding the nuances. So please, uh, use the series that we have created. Just go back to your type and repeatedly hear your type again and again.

In a month, in two months, in six months, or at least every year as you start, the year can be

Hari Prasada: very powerful. The types of the people in your life because you're gonna be encountering all nine types. No doubt. That's true. That is true. Add infinitum. That

Rasanath: is very, very true. Thank you. Use the type tailored takeaways.

Uh, when we discovered, when we are talking about each, uh, type at the end, we have specifically given a place to start working on your own controlling tendencies for your type that we have. Thoughtfully constructed it. It didn't just come out of a whim, and our promise is that if you do the type tailored takeaways, the exercises, you will begin to experience newer insights and freedom from patterns of your ego.

It is a guarantee, but what it would require for us is to apply ourselves to doing the type tailor takeaways consistently. Every single day. So please again, use the type tailored takeaways and practice them. Uh, we cannot underscore the importance of practicing.

Hari Prasada: I was just gonna say, we often refer to that as the practice for each type.

That's right. That's right. Because it needs to be repeatedly undergone in order to elevate our consciousness and help us. To become more aware and really inhabit a better version of ourselves, a more complete, honest, fulfilled, knowledgeable, caring version of ourselves. That type, tailored takeaway where the practice that we've boiled down everything too for the type is really remarkably beneficial.

It's just, it's exactly the next step for your type. It's not everything. There's plenty to work on. There's plenty to work on. No shortage. It's, it's really a, a universe when you discover things about yourself, but it is exactly that. It's the next step, and it's always relevant, and it's simple. It's very tangible.

It's very easy to see how this is central for me to work on.

Rasanath: And in doing the tailored takeaways, we will generate the practice of seeing the controlling tendencies of our ego. And again, that is not necessarily limited to the one single takeaway that we have been giving, but we have to develop the habit.

Of being able to see our controlling tendencies coming up and they are around, they are there every time it's happening to me. As I am doing this podcast, I am experiencing some of my own controlling tendencies of the, of the eco, specifically around my own type and, uh, in being able to develop the eyes and the ears to see it.

It takes practice. And the more we put that into practice, the more we want to actually become familiar with the controlling tendencies of our ego, the more we will start to become free from the shackles of the ego itself. The tailored takeaways, again, is a very good starting point, and it also puts the practice of seeing the controlling tendencies into motion.

Hari Prasada: And when you go back and you listen to these recordings, at the end of each episode, you'll hear us refer to the practice for the type. Key in on that and take that to heart. It's a really, really, uh, strong way to get momentum and keep growing. Is there anything else that we should know as we close this series and we take these teachings with us,

Rasanath: just reemphasizing that the, the main use of the Enneagram work is not to just discover your types.

The main work here is to climb up the levels of consciousness to become the healthiest version that of ourselves that we can be. I wouldn't necessarily say, again, I have to correct myself, not the version to come close to who we truly are is the right way to say it. And the more we discover the patterns of our ego, and the more we stop investing in it, the more closer we start to come to.

True self. So this work, the Enneagram work, is all about removing our masks and climbing up the levels of consciousness. And that's where the Enneagram framework will give its most substantial impact.

Hari Prasada: And if you don't know your type, that's fine. You're not expected to know your type at the end of these podcasts, right?

If you do, that's great. But in our workshops, as we've shared, people often don't know their type by the end of it. And that's even a, a more in depth run through, uh, and experience of the Enneagram. So you can start looking at the most important dimension of the Enneagram, which Sana you brought out. What are my controlling tendencies?

And that will eventually help me to find my type. But even if I'm not able to find my type yet, that will raise my consciousness. And frankly, the practices of all the types are beneficial for every one of us. So there's no harm in trying out the practice of a type that I think would be good for me to do.

But then when I zero in on my actual type, if I'm determined, seek aye shall find, then the type. Really getting my particular practice just adds another level of power to it. So we're looking at our consciousness, whether we have our type or we don't have our type. The most important dimension is always consciousness, and we don't have to feel stymied by the fact that we don't have our type.

There's plenty of growth to be had before that stage and. All of that will contribute us to our finding our type. Um, and if somehow it takes us a long time, that's not reason to leave this work behind. Consciousness is everything, and we can always find ways to raise our consciousness, understanding ourselves better, seeing our controlling tendencies and serving the people in our lives by understanding them and helping them.

Rasanath: Thank you, Hari. This was an absolute joy. Same this work. Same with you. Uh, and this work started together way back in Martha vignette in 2012 when we were going through some of our most difficult times in the monastery. And I'm so grateful to be working on this journey with you.

Hari Prasada: Uh, it's a true honor. I feel the same, and I, I think like that all the time.

I'm, I'm so happy and so grateful to be able to share with each of you who are listening. It really means a lot to us. We pray so much that this is exactly what you need to keep you going closer to the real self and to one day get to that full unfettered self free from ego and all suffering. Thank you very, very much.

All the best. And. See you soon. Thank you.