revisiting the relationship between the mbti and the enneagram

3/29/2014 Revisiting the Relationship Between the MBTI and the Enneagram

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This figure, whichappears on the coverof Maurice Nicoll'sbook, is taken byOuspensky to be asymbol of 'theabsolute'

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The Enneagram as Classic 'DoubleMandala' -

Part II - Shri Yantra, Kabbalah, and Inner Alchemy

© John Fudjack and Patricia Dinkelaker - April, 1999

Abstract

In 'The Enneagram as Mandala' wesought to show that mandalas may be conceived as

having a special kind of non-linearORGANIZATIONAL FORM that wecall 'liminocentric', in which thecenter of the structure wraps backaround on the structure's periphery -so that its innermost and outermostreaches are identical in their'undifferentiated' vastness, whileintermediary levels are discrete anddistinguishable. The twoincommensurable orders ofexistence are thereby reconciled,

and the mandala succeeds in representing what Jungcalled the 'Self'. We suggested that a special diagramthat is closely associated with the Enneagram (picturedto the left) suggests that it has a liminocentric structure.

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And then, in Part I of 'Enneagram as Double Mandala',we noticed that the Enneagram was also intended torepresent PROCESS. Like other double-mandalas, it iscomprised of two figures which, in combination, depictspecial kinds of 'movement' that are, in general,conceived as paradoxical - impossible, yet neverthelesssomehow in fact achieved.

In certain mandalas that are amongst the most profoundand spiritually meaningful, both characteristics of themandala - non-linear structure and paradoxicalmovement - are inextricably interwoven. In the ShriYantra, which we will be exploring in this paper,liminocentric structuring is combined with a very specialkind of paradoxical 'movement', a primordialsistolic/diastolic MOVEMENT OF CONSCIOUSNESS, inwhich awareness alternately (and ultimatelysimultaneously) contracts inwardly toward the center ofthe diagram and back outward toward the periphery, ina manner that is most aptly modeled by a three-dimensional 'spiral' made to wrap back around on itselfin a donut-shaped figure that is called a 'torus' bymathematicians. Mastery of this kind of mentalmovement is, as we shall see, the primary subject of theearly 'Yoga Sutras', which act as the theoreticalfoundation for the meditational systems out of which themandala, as a profound spiritual practice andvisualization, originally emerged.

In the Yoga Sutras nine stages of 'samadhi' arediscerned.1 They parallel the nine tiers of 'spiritualevolution' that are represented by the Shri Yantra when,according to authorities on the subject, the two-dimensional diagram is conceived as a three-dimensional object. 'Samadhi' is the special meditationalstate that an individual can enter into when she becomescapable of 'holding the object of meditation without any

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distractions' and it thus becomes possible for her 'toknow the object much more intimately than in ordinarythinking'. After the mind is 'pacified' in the requisitemanner, there are less distractions. With fewer simpleDEFLECTIONS of attention from one object to anotheroccur, the mind can be 'concentrated' at length on oneobject, and the SCOPE of attention can be widened ornarrowed at will. The result is not only access to specialtypes of non-ordinary 'knowledge' about the object ofmeditation, but also access to significant discoveriesthat the individual can make about the nature of the minditself. This most fundamental kind of movement of mind,which the individual becomes capable of 'in samadhi', iswhat is simulated by the Shri Yantra, and reflected in itsnine-tiered structure.

When the 'mandala offering' that we described earlier(associated with a specific meditationpractice in Tibetan Buddhism that issimply called 'mandala practice') isconstructed as a three-dimensionalobject, the nine-tiered structure in themiddle of the plate is visualized as

representing 'Mount Meru', at the central axis of aritualized cosmological scheme that describes thefundamental ontological STRUCTURE of reality. But it isalso interpreted as representing the central column('shushumna' in Sanskrit, and 'uma' in Tibetan) in acomplex network of channels ('nadis' in Sanskrit) thatpermeate the individual's body. Different energies or'winds' ('prana' in Sanskrit) flow through these channels,which intersect in seven wheel-like knots or 'plexuses'('chakras', in Sanskrit) that block the central channel.The chakras are visualized as mandalas constructedaround undifferentiated center-points or 'seeds' ('bindu',in Sanskrit). The network, in its entirety, is oftenalternately represented as a 'torus' or donut-shaped



arrangement, with the central channel depicted as thetube in the middle of the torus (the 'hole' in the donut).2

In these systems that are devoted to 'inner alchemy' it isCONSCIOUSNESS - as structure and process - that isultimately being symbolized. Profound personaltransformation is triggered when awareness is turned inon itself - ie 'introverted' in a radical manner that isdepicted as a resorption or withdrawal of energies intothe central channel, through its opening at the bottom. InIndian texts this is visualized as the unfurling of aserpent (called 'Kundalini'), which previously blocked theentrance at the bottom of the channel by coiled itself 31/2 times, in a spiral, at the base of the central channel.As it unwinds and straightens out, it travels up thecentral column, piercing each of the chakras insequence, in a movement that is CONTRARY to habit -as the individual travels a path that reverses the orderoriginally traversed as spirit initially embodied itself inform during the individual's physical birth, andundifferentiated awarness differentiated itself.

In much the same way in which Jung sought to betterunderstand the obscure elements in an individual'sdream by drawing on the symbols that are theircounterparts in mythology (a practice he called'amplification'), in these papers we attempt to shed lighton the Enneagram by comparing it to various othermandala figures about which more is known. To this endwe explore the Shri Yantra and the Tibetan 'mandalapractice'. But as the insights that are embodied in thesesystems seem not to be exclusively the product ofEastern minds and may in fact be universal, we will alsoturn our attention in this paper, albeit only for a briefmoment, to another mystical system that seeks todescribe the manner in which spirit 'emanates' intomatter - the Kabbalah. It also has apparently been



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diagrammed as a three-dimensional 'torus'.

Section One - The Shri Yantra

"There is no psychic wholeness without imperfection" (Jung, in Spiritual Disciplines, p. 394)

The Shri Yantra, an ancient Indian figure that wasdesigned for use as an object of meditation, has beenso thoroughly discussed in the West that it hasdeveloped a literature all its own. The advantage ofcomparing this figure to the Enneagram lies in the factthat the yogic practices with which it and similar figuresare associated, have been passed down in a reliableand accurate fashion from teacher to student throughunbroken spiritual lineages that continue to flourish todate. More thoroughly documented and clearlyarticulated than the spiritual practices that areconnected to the Enneagram, the yogic practices mayprove to be an invaluable resource in understanding theoriginal SPIRITUAL intent of the Enneagram.

One might think of yantras as mandalas in which the'form' aspect of the figure, as geometricallyrepresented, is emphasized. Both the mandala and theyantra, according to Mookerjee and Khanna, 'exemplifydynamic relationships concretized in the rhythmic orderelaborated out of the multiplicity of form'. But inconstructing yantras, as they explain, 'trantrikasdispensed with conventional ideas of the dynamics ofform, and concentrated instead on another aspect. Theyhad recourse to the explanation of primordial forces andvibrations in order to understand the hidden logic behindphenomena, so that in tantric abstraction, form is seenin the context of origin and genesis, in terms of the basicimpulse which shaped it.' 3



Unlike the mandala, the yantra is a 'pure geometricconfiguration without any iconographic representation'.'Whereas a yantra', Mookerjee and Khanna observe, isa directly accessible visual form, 'a mandala, especiallyof the classical Tibetan tradition, is a composition ofcomplex patterns and diverse iconographic images.' 4This may account for why the double nature of mostmandala figures is not VISUALLY apparent, in the waythat it is, as we shall see, in the Shri Yantra. In order toapprehend how the two 'orders' in a mandala arecombined, one usually needs to have some additionalinformation about the meaning of the iconographicsymbols. 5

In comparison, although the double-nature of the ShriYantra is subtle and elusive and can at first glance goun-noticed, it is nontheless an 'open secret' - one that is,as we shall see, readily accessible to any viewer who isprepared to actually LOOK at the diagram, even if he orshe has little or no knowledge of iconography.

Meditating on the Shri Yantra

'The yantras are not only based on mathematical form butalso on a mathematical method. The artist must look beyond

appearance and penetrate to structure and essence...' -Mookerjee

Closely consider the Shri Yantra as it is displayed in theline-drawing below. You have probably seen it before,on the cover of a book or in a photograph. There are960 yantras, according to the Tantraraja Tantra.Distinguishing itself from these others, the Shri Yantra isthe most celebrated, according to Mookerjee andKhanna.

'The Shri Yantra, in its formal content, is a visualmasterpiece of abstraction', they say, 'and must havebeen created through revelation rather than by human



ingenuity and craft'.6 This is high praise indeed, andmight seem, at first, like an exaggeration. But it is not.Although the figure is subtle, its profound meaning canbe discerned without having to know anything moreabout the diagram than what is physically manifest in thelines which comprise it. So take a moment to carefullystudy it visually. Please don't assume that because youare familiar with it, you have actually SEEN it.

Shri Yantra

What is unique about this figure? Treat it as a visualriddle or 'koan', if you can. Can you see the puzzle thatis embedded in the very design of the figure? There ISone, a puzzle that is subtly presented in a completelyvisual form, without words. Please take your time.

Here is how one long-time zen practitioner described theinitial EFFECT that the diagram had on him when we



presented it without any further explanation and askedhim to visually meditate on it -

The visual effect of looking at the array oftriangles is of a shifting field of larger andsmaller triangles, giving almost a perception ofdepth, as one triangle shifts to one eitherlarger and seemingly closer, or smaller andseemingly farther away. The triangles formingthe array (i.e., not the smaller triangles themain triangles form) are either equal sided, ortheir bottom side is shorter than the twovertical sides. The smaller triangles aregenerally not uniform, although they are mostlynearly (or exactly) equalsided.

This is a precise and accurate phenomenologicaldescription of what may happen when one looks at thediagram, but not yet an insight into its most essentialnature. Here's a hint that might be helpful in taking youfurther into the diagram - What is 'wrong' with thepicture? Can you find the visual anomaly that isembedded in it?

Not yet? Need another hint? Try SKETCHING the figure.

Its not easy to draw the figure. But why not? Put yourfinger horizontally across the center of the figure. Whatcan you say about the remaining portion of the figure?Now remove your finger. What do you see in thehorizontal center strip, recently covered by your finger?

Still puzzled? Take a look at the following two diagrams.Which figure is the central figure in the Shri Yantra?How do they differ?



The figure to the right is the central figure in the ShriYantra. The figure to the left was constructed byremoving the horizontal strip from the middle ....

Double Mandala(Shri Yantra)

=

symmetric fringe

plus

asymmetric center

.... and replacing it with the SYMMETRICAL center that the remainder of thedesign visually IMPLIES and therefore causes one to expect.

By now it may have begun to dawn on you that the Shri Yantra is actually acleverly drawn visual sleight-of-hand! It is an ancientillusion that is a precursor to similar 20th centuryperceptual illusions, in the same class of figures asthose produced by the gestalt psychologists. Like thefamous 'duck-rabbit' diagram, or the portrait of the'young-woman/old-woman' (left), it demonstrates thatwe can be tricked by perception when the figure-groundrelationship in a picture is reversed or otherwisetampered with.

As in these other cases, the illusion that is deliberately built into the ShriYantra makes it very difficult to draw it freehand, as you no doubt came torealize if, in fact, you did try to sketch it. In order to achieve the intendedeffect one must keep in mind two goals that pull in different directions, justas in trying to draw the portrait of the young woman/old woman, you wouldhave to keep in mind that every line you make is a line in two completely



different portraits!

But the Shri Yantra is no MERE illusion, meant simply to delight or entertain.Nor is it just an object lesson in the psychology of perception. It has aprofound meaning, one which reveals itself only when the effects of thediagram are studied in relationship to how consciousness becomes capableof 'moving' in certain states that one can enter into in meditation. In their(1975) analysis of the figure, Evans and Fudjack remark,

.... how can we conceive of the [Shri Yantra] as an object formeditation? How is one to fixate attention on the diagram? Well,at first glance the diagram appears to be a symmetricalgeometrical design and we know how to fixate attention on sucha design by staring at the point of symmetry at its center.However, the Shri Yantra does not have a point around whichthe design is symmetrically fixed. Zimmer alludes to this bymentioning its 'elusive' center. So in focusing attention inwardtoward the center we wind up at a point, line, or configurationnone of which is a satisfactory center of symmetry. We findourselves compensating the small center triangle, for instance,by widening our scope of attention to it and some counterpartthat promises symmetry. But we pass to this wider symmetry-suggestive area by a quantum leap, so to speak - we loseourselves and find ourselves staring again at the entireconfiguration which suggests that the diagram is, after all,symmetrically composed. So we focus in toward the centeragain in search of that elusive point. We either becomedissatisfied or distracted by some other activity or we discoverthe joke, the trick. The diagram is designed to appearsymmetrical when we take it, in its entirety, as an object ofattention, but is also cleverly designed to have no point ofsymmetry. It is an illustration of paradox. Not so much theparadox of time and eternity as the paradox of a symmetricalobject without a point of symmetry - a logical contradiction.(C.O. Evans and J. Fudjack, CONSCIOUSNESS,1976.)

Representing Systolic/Diastolic Movement Graphically

If you were asked to draw what is being described in the above passage -the alternating narrowing and widening of the scope of attention that isinduced by the Shri Yantra - how might you do that? Without using words,what simple geometrical figure or motion might you use to capture theessence of this kind of movement? We submit that the simple spiral wouldbe the most apt and elegant solution. For the spiral naturally induces thiskind of mental movement, and has thus characteristically been used tocommunicate or represent it. If, having drawn a spiral, we mechanicallyrotate it in one direction it draws our attention into the center of the figure,into a seemingly endless tunnel - an effect that has been used to inducehypnotic trance. If we rotate the spiral in an opposite direction, it leads usaway from the center, towards the figure's periphery.

The Fraser Spiral (low resolution)

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Like the Shri Yantra, this figuredraws our attention toward thefigure's center. Because of thespiral? Look again - there is nospiral! These are cleverly drawnconcentric circles, creating theillusion of a spiral. See foryourself by using your mousearrow to trace one of the circles.

We can think of the Shri Yantra asa precursor to this diagram and, ingeneral, to 'gestalt' perceptualillusions of this sort.

(The Task of Gestalt Psychologyby Wolfgang Kohler, 1969Princeton University Press, p.43)

The spiral might even be conceived as a 'circle in which the center also ISthe periphery' - as paradoxical as this might seem at first. It is thus a figurethat BEGINS to suggest the kind of structure that we have called

'liminocentric', in which the outermost levels of theorganizational heirarchy (the circle, in this instance)might be conceived as identical to the innermost level(the point) - a structural fact that can lead to aphenomenological 'vicious circle' like the oneexperienced in the Shri Yantra, as we bounce back andforth between center and periphery in endless'systolic/diastolic' widening and narrowing of attention.

In one respect, however, the figure of the spiral fails in the end to adequatelyrepresent liminocentricity. For if we follow the line inward, when we reachthe center we must turn around and head back if we are interested inreturning to the periphery. We can easily imagine extending the figure byadding a short straight line that would directly connect the center of the spiralits outer edge. The resulting diagram could be thought of as illustrating whatwould happen were we to 'take a short cut' THROUGH the center, directly tothe periphery, instead of bouncing back, along the same line, in the oppositedirection. But such a line would make the figure look, at best, somewhatartificial.

How, then, might one better represent movement THROUGH a liminocentricstructure? We might take a hint from composer Stephen Nachmanovitch,who provides a wonderfully apt way of describing what it is like to movethrough a piece of music that is liminocentrically structured. As he describesit, in such a situation ...

We have a sense of Chinese boxes opening into one another,



until inevitably the final box opens up and contains - the first.(Stephen Nachmanovitch, Free Play - the Power ofImprovisation in the Life and the Arts page 107

As Nachmanovitch implies, movement through a limincentrically organizedstructure might best be represented THREE DIMENSIONALLY. And theparticular three dimensional figure that seems to best express a feeling for

what Nachmanovitch is talking about it, whilealso maintaining the systolic/diastolicmovement motif that the 'spiral' soadequately captured, is the 'torus' - a donut-shaped three-dimensional spiral. When, byusing the torus, we move into the realm ofthree-dimensional figures, we find a moreelegant solution than was available in our two

dimensional spiral diagram, as the center appears no longer as a mere inner'end point', but as an extended channel through which one can pass directlyto the 'other side' of the figure.

When the donut's central hole is reduced to a very small channel, or evenone that is only as wide as a mathematicalpoint, and the figure is viewed from above,what one sees might be alternatively describedas

1. a simple circle with a point as its center, suchas the one we discussed in Enneagram asMandala, Part I,

2. a spiral, or3. a figure (like the one to the left) that is

suggestive of a 'vortex'.

A vortex, of course, is a cyclone-like funnel that is similar in shape to thecentral part of the upper half of a torus. The nine-spoked vortex to the leftappears at the center of a mandala representing the old testament vision ofEzekiel, found in Edinger's The Creation of Consciousness on page seventythree.

In older theories of the universe, a presumed vortical movement of cosmicmatter accounted for the origin of the material world. In contemporaryphysics a torus is utilized to illustrate something similar - a 'singularity' in thespace-time continuum which, on one side, is a 'black hole' into which matterdisappears, and, on the other side, a 'white hole' out of which matteremerges or is created. Again, it is in the central column of the torus that isthereby created that an 'objectless' state of affairs pertains, just as the'undifferentiated' state of consciousness is experienced by the individualwhen awareness is withdrawn in meditation INTO the 'sushumna', thecentral column of her personal energy-field.

The mudra that is demonstrated in the photograph to the left represents theoffering that is made in the Tibetan 'mandala offering practice' and is the

equivalent of the nine-tiered structure thatappears on the mandala-offering-plate in the firstphotograph in this article. The ring-fingers that




extend upward in the middle of the configurationthus represent not only the nine-tiered 'Mt Meru'that forms the axis around which the mysticalcosmology that is being offered is constructed,but also the central channel ('shushumna') in theenergy system that permeates the body of theindividual. The complex arrangement of all of thefingers in this mudra brings the two hands into a

bowl shaped arrangement that approximates the shape of the lower half of atorus. And the manner in which the thumbs of each hand wrap around toconnect with the little finger of the opposing hand, instead of thumb to thumband little-finger to little-finger, is reminscent of a mobius-like 'figure eight',suggesting that the three-dimensional figure that is being represented heremust have a non-linear surface, one that folds in on itself. The figure-eightpath is also reminiscent of the the movements (corresponding to the 1-4-2-8-5-7 shape in the Enneagram) that we discussed in The Enneagram asDouble-Mandala, Part I. This suggests that the mandala-offering mudra is athree-dimensional double-mandala reconciling two incommensurable ordersof awareness - the undifferentiated (represented by the center column,composed of the two ring fingers) and the differentiated (represented by theother digits).

But how does the structural advantage that we gain when we move from atwo-dimensional representation of systolic/diastolic movement (as spiral), toa three-dimensional model (as torus), help us to understand the nature ofthe profound spiritual TRANSFORMATION that the Shri Yantra, and theseother 'mystical body' systems promise? To answer this question let us firstturn to the Kabbalah, in order to refresh our memories about the overallpurpose of these spiritual systems.

The Kabbalah

Jill Purce diagrams the Ten Sepiroth thatcomprise the 'Tree of Life' in the mysticalKabbalah as a torus (left). Each of theSephirah, Dion Fortune explains, 'is aphase of evolution', which, 'in the languageof the Rabbis ... are called the Ten HolyEmanations'. At the center of the centralchannel is the 'essential self'. The NinthSephirah is 'Yesod', which interfaces thematerial and spiritual worlds. It appears atthe bottom of the central channel, at thepoint in the process where the spirit willtake form as body. 'The study of the

symbolism of Yesod', it has been said, 'reveals two apparently incongruoussets of symbols', which 'partake of the nature of both mind and matter'.Yesod is 'the all-important sphere for any magic which is designed to takeeffect in the physical world'. 7 Again, undifferentiated awareness is mappedonto the center of the torus, which is still and quiet, like the eye of ahurricane.

Z'ev Ben Shimon Halevi describes the general purpose of the system - toinduce a personality transformation of the most profound sort -




The transformation of the ego is the first major step inKabbalistic work, because while a person may study the subjectassiduously, until he begins to actually change, it remainsmerely an academic operation, no matter how much he maywork at theory and practice. To change means growth, and thisrequires the death of the old personality and its uselesspatterns. Because there are few who are prepared to do this,Kabbalah is only for those who are willing to sacrifice and risk...

... Here, the interior and exterior events of a person's life aredealt with in [different ways]. Depending on temperament, oneof the processes will dominate so that one person will beconsidered a thinker, another a feeler.... In Kabbalah one of the first psychological exercises is torecognise one's own psycho-body type and to cultivate the[others] in order to balance the ego. This is done by work ontheory and practice. For example, the thinker may be givenpractical problems to solve, while the doer is made to writepoetry, and the feeler learns some intellectual skills. Thisprocess also teaches the ego to become obedient and discardmany of its habitual patters. Often the process is long, andsometimes the student will continually retreat from a realcommitment to Kabbalistic work. This crisis is often brought toa head by the phenomenon that the person begins to undergochange, so that sometimes he, and particularly his old cronies,no longer recognize his personality. (Z'ev Ben ShimonHalevi, "Order: A Kabbalistic Approach", in Order -Maitreya 6, 1977, Shambhala Press, pages 36-37)

The author goes on to explain that this transformation of the ego is only theFIRST step in the Kabbalistic work. 'To change means growth', he says,'and this requires the death of the old personality and its useless patterns'.Further achievements along the path entail 'the ability to operate not from theego, but from the self'.

So we are talking here about precisely the same kind of profoundtransformation, which, in the introduction to this series, we identified as thesubject proper of our investigations - the shift from an Ego-centeredpersonality arrangement to a Self-centered arrangement. And here,interestingly, we again see the torus used as the figure on which such atransformation can be most easily mapped. Why? Because with the toruswe can begin to illustrate how 'undifferentiated consciousness' is'differentiated consciousness' turned 'inside out' as it were, and vice versa.And this gives us a glimpse of how the 'unconscious' (undifferentiatedawareness) is, and always was, integrated into 'consciousness'(differentiated awareness). All we need do is adopt a perspective that is wideenough to experientially acknowledge this truth in a manner similar to the tohow the torus 'represents' this achievement graphically.

Stepping Out of the Double Bind

Citing Evans and Fudjack's analysis of the Shri Yantra, contemporaryphilosopher of science John Schumacher (1989) describes how the



diagram succeeds in '... opening attention, as it were, to the periphery of thevisual field', that part of the field that is normally relegated to the backgroundof consciousness. 'Consider the Shri Yantra', he says,

... an apparently symmetrical figure that actually has no centerof symmetry - staring at such a figure turns into a constantshifting of the focus of attention from the whole to the center andback again, and again, until ultimately we resist the shift to thecenter, opening attention as well. (John Schumacher,Human Posture,State University of New York Press,1989, page 162)

When Schumacher speaks of the 'opening' of attention, he has in mind aspecial state of consciousness that is relatively uncommon and istantamount to 'dropping through' the center of the diagram, as opposed tomerely bouncing back and forth between center and periphery. This state issometimes referred to by the yogic term 'samadhi', as Evans and Fudjackoriginally pointed out. As they mentioned, the Shri Yantra is actually a visualDOUBLE-BIND that pits the tacit 'assumption of symmetry' (subtlysuggested by the whole drawing) against the actual fact of the ABSENCE ofa point of symmetry in the diagram. For the viewer, the only way 'out' of thisvisual double bind is to consciously RECOGNIZE the built-in contradiction,and then ...

... the realization that the diagram is a trick approximates'enlightenment' insofar as this realization is concommitant withdropping the assumption that the diagram is symmetrical...(Evans and Fudjack, CONSCIOUSNESS, 1976,page 78)

This realization is commensurate, they explain, with the third stage of Yogaas described in the Yoga Sutras, according to Taimni - in which one is'purged of assumptions or attitudes in respect of the object of meditation',and there is a 'reduction of the subjective role of the mind to the utmost limit'.In Taimni's The Science of Yoga this 'third stage' is described as 'a new kindof movement or transformation of the mind in which consciousness beginsto move IN DEPTH, as it were', instead of merely deflecting restlessly fromone object to another. As a result of meditation practice the individualincreases her capacity to hold the same object of attention firmly in attention,while simultaneously concentrating or diffusing awareness at will, and theobject '... is denuded of its coverings or non-essential elements' and canactually be psychically entered INTO in a way that it not normally possible ineveryday consciousness. Evans and Fudjack suggest that the 'denuding'process that Taimni describes is tantamount to removing the object from itscontextual underpinnings, resulting in a radical re-orientation of the individualtoward it. A dropping off of the individual's habitual 'implicit attitudes towardthe object' are the result, and the object is seen in a totally new light, as itwere. The individual passes into or through the empty 'center' or ESSENCEof the object. This special movement of mind, which breaks through theobjectness of the object, may be construed as producing an altered ortranscendent state of consciousness in which, in the words of Eliade, thereis 'recovery, through Samadhi, of the ORIGINAL NON-DUALITY'. In his work,

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Following the pathdescribed by a spiral

Taimni lists a total of nine 'stages of samprajnata and asamprahnatasamadhi', 8 which the meditator works her way through in progressingtoward 'full enlightenment'.

In the following passage, Atum O'Kane describes the role that samadhiplays in the seven-stage inner 'alchemical' process taught by Sufi Pir Vilayat,in which the individual's personality is 'dissolved' and 're-created' in amanner that he connects with Ouspensky's work. It is in the 3rd stage ofVilayat's process that the 'whole personality has dissolved', and the'movement of consciousness' from the personal to the transpersonaldimensions is completed. O'Kane explains -

This is experienced in meditations that promote SAMADHI,dissolving one's sense of individuality and returning to a statebeyond all forms as in a deep sleep. The purpose in descendingfrom SAMADHI back into individuality is that personality can bere-created. The last [four] stages are concerned with thisreintegration of the personality. (Atum O'Kane, 'The Art ofSpiritual Guidance', in Sufism, Islam, and JungianPsychology, 1991, ed. J. Marvin Spiefelman, NewFalcon Publications, Scottsdale Arizona, page 68)

So, turning our attention back to the Shri Yantra, we can conclude that theanomalous asymmetry that has been cleverly designed into the center of theShri Yantra not only generates the attentional 'vicious circle' ('samsara' inSanskrit) that causes the viewer to repeatedly expand and contract herscope of attention in a never-ending search for the elusive center ofsymmetry. It also demonstrates that this kind of systolic/diastolic movementof mind, when permitted to be taken to its ultimate conclusion, provides itsown antidote and is capable of transcending 'cyclic' consciousnessaltogether. The 'trick' is to move THROUGH the center, through theundifferentiated state AT the center, and back out again, but in such a waythat everyday consciousness has been turned 'inside out'. In the case of theShri Yantra this is simulated when the individual becomes conscious of theanomaly that is central to the design. One must become aware of it ASanomaly, and of the central role of that anomaly as generative 'mystery'. If,after being acknowledged, it remains the focus of attention, the lensTHROUGH WHICH we see the myriad forms in the 'differentiated' world,consciousness has been, in effect, turned 'inside out', and its liminocentricnature is subject to continuous conscious appreciation.

The Self as Central 'Anomaly'

'The idea of the Self', Jolande Jacobi tellsus, 'is solely a limiting concept comparableto Kant's 'thing in itself' [and] is thusessentially a trancendental postulate...'. 9This 'center' that is the 'Self', is, in otherwords, not itself available as an 'object ofattention' and is thus MOST aptlyrepresented by ANOMALY or ASSYMETRY,such as the one present at the center of theShri Yantra. It therefore cannot be



we approach thecenter, but onlyindirectly, in a 'roundabout' fashion

A two-dimensionalrendering of a torus,with the central 'hole'reduced to the size of apoint.

approached 'directly', but only tangentially, ina circumambulatory way, which, accordingto Jung, can be represented by thegeometrical figure of the 'spiral'.

'The conscious mind is forced tostand the tension [between consciousand unconscious] by means ofCIRCUMAMBULATIO. The magiccircle thus traced will also prevent theunconscious from breaking out again,for such an irruption would beequivalent to psychosis'. (Jung, inSpiritual Disciplines, page 386).

Speaking of the Shri Yantra, Jill Purce says -

From the marriage between thecentral point (the original non-manifestseed Bindu), which is the pureconsciousness of Siva, and his ownfirst manifestation as the initialinvoluntary and creative vortex of the

female Sakti (the downward triangle [at the center]), comes thedifferentiation of the entire manifest world. Jill Purce, TheMystic Spiral- Journey of the Soul,1974, The HearstCorporation, footnote 61)

But both the vortex and the entire differentiated world to which it gives birthowe their existence to the 'anomaly' at the center. Like Emerson's 'woundedoyster', who 'mends his shell with perl', the flaw at the center of the ShriYantra gives birth to an additional figure at the innermost reaches of theyantra, the superfluous NINTH triangle about which we spoke in an earlierpaper. Whereas the pseudo-shri-yantra in the diagram above needs onlyeight triangles (four upward and four downward) to complete the figure in apleasing fashion that has both horizontal and vertical symmetry, the anomalyat the center of the actual Shri Yantra brings into existence this remarkableninth triangle, the curious 'black sheep' of the arrangment.

But like 'the stone which the builder refused' in the Psalm of David (118:22),the piece that eventually 'comes to be the cornerstone' of the building, theninth triangle winds up as the manifest centerpiece of the arrangment.'Sometimes the very sin of omission or commision for which we've beenkicking ourselves', composer Stephen Nachmonovitch tells us, in a passagethat is curiously reminiscent of the miraculous appearance - the veritablevirgin birth - of the ninth triangle in the Shri Yantra, 'may be the seed of ourbest work'. This principle, a basic one in the TANTRIC psychology out ofwhich the mandala emerged, is the theoretical basis on which the 9 'sins' or'drawbacks' that are manifested respectively in the 9 Enneatypes can becorrelated to 9 'enlightened qualities'. Nachmanovitch might as as well bespeaking about these characterological pitfalls associated with theEnneagram types when he says ...



For a web sitethat provides anin-depthdescription ofthese ninemandalas, clickhere

The power of mistakes enables us to reframe creative blocksand turn them around. ... (In Christianity they speak of thisrealization as FELIX CULPA, the fortunate fall.) Thetroublesome parts of our work, the parts that are most bafflingand frustrating, are in fact the growing edges. We see theseopportunities the instant we drop our preconceptions and ourself-importance. Stephen Nachmanovitch, Free Play -the Power of Improvisation in the Life and the Arts,page 92

As we have seen in earlier parts of this series, the eruption of the sacred intothe mundane is a central motif in the mandala. But now, in the Shri Yantra,we see for the first time precisely how this eruption occurs - in the form ofthe 'superflous ninth' that is conjured into existence as a result of honoringanomaly. When the fortunate 'mistake' (in the form of a 'gap', or acausalevent, or incongruous element) is recognized as anomaly, and that anomalyis honored as the centerpiece of the arrangement, as 'mystery', then thatwhich is marginal, fringe, 'liminal', is made central. And out of that creativematrix that resides at the center comes a different KIND of 'object' - anobject with a somewhat different status, as 'unborn' yet 'manifest'.

Nine-Tiers, Nine Strata

We have thus come to a point in our analysis at which we can begin to viewthe nine tiers along the inner column of the torus not merely as discrete'stages' of development of consciousness, but also as 'strata' - everpresentlayers of the structure which can be (and are) brought into relief by thesystolic/diastolic focusing of selective attention in the manner perscribed inthe Yoga Sutras.

As Mookerjee and Khanna remind us, the Shri Yantra is sometimes calledthe 'Nava Chakra', since it is composed of 'ninecircuits, counting from the outer plane to the bindu[center]'. When the Shri Yantra is sculpted inthree-dimensional form, this results in a nine-tiered central structure (literally nine STEPS),which is often understood as the superimpositionof 9 mandalas, stacked one on top of the other,like the chakras in the central channel in theindividual.

According to Mookerjee and Khanna,

Through contemplation on the Sri Yantra, the adept canrediscover his primordial sources. The nine circuits symbolicallyindicate the successive phases in the process of becoming....The nine circuits within the Shri Yantra move from the grossand tangible to the sublime and subtle realms. (Mookerjee,page 59)

For Heinrich Zimmer, the Shri Yantra was 'a kind of chart or schedule for thegradual evolution of a vision while identifying the Self with its slowly varyingcontents, that is to say, with the divinity in all its phases of transformation'. 10

http://www.hubcom.com/magee/tantra/tripura.htm



The NumberNine,As Spiral

'The nine [triangles]', he explains, 'signify the primitive revelation of theAbsolute as it differentiates into graduated polarities, the creative activity ofthe cosmic male and female energies on successive stages of evolution'. 11

Here, as in the enneagram, the number nine is associated with successivephases in the process of spiritual growth, and in the mundane processes of

birth and death, 'becoming' and 'deconstruction'. And the 'ninesteps' are also steps in the 'evolution of consciousness' - ninephases, increasingly subtle, in the conscious integration of'differentiated' and 'undifferientiated' consciousness, ninestages in the reconciliation of 'emptiness' and 'form'.

But even more importantly, the nine constitute 'strata' - layerssuperimposed, one on top of the other. Like nine steps, eachbuilt on the previous step, or a nine-storied building, with eachlevel presupposing the previous level, there remain some trace

of previous layers in the present one. Like 9 Chinese boxes, one withinanother, arranged in a liminocentric fashion, so that the innermost boxopens on the outermost - each hold an ambiguous place in its relationship tothe other. It can be construed as either container/context for another box(indeed, for the entire series of boxes), or as a content WITHIN the others.The difference is only a matter of perspective. Likewise, whetherconsciousness is experienced as 'differentiated' or 'undifferentiated' at anygiven moment is really a matter of perspective - a matter of how wide (andinclusive) or narrow (and exclusive) the SCOPE of the focal part of ourawareness - our ATTENTION - is at the moment in question.

As we will see in the next paper, this fact about the nature of consciousnessimpacts in a most important way on how we choose to view the Enneagramas a personality typology. For only from our deepest faults can we extractthe most unfathomable treasure. And this process - whereby ignorance isalchemically transformed into wisdom - requires us to intimately know thechannels in which consciousness runs.

Footnotes

1. I.K. Taimni, The Science of Yoga, 1961, TheosophicalPublishing House; Madras, India; page 38.back to text

2. See, for example, the figure on page 174, in LamaGovinda's Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism, 1960, SamuelWeiser Inc, New York. back to text

3. A. Mookerjee and J. Khanna, The Tantric Way, 1977,Boston, The Graphic Society, pages 49 and 51back to text



Beginning of This Paper

Back to Front Page

4. A. Mookerjee and J. Khanna, The Tantric Way, 1977,Boston, The Graphic Society, pages 50 and 62.back to text

5. This may be why Jung, who was not himself part of a livinglineage, missed the fact that all traditional Mandalas, due tothe meaning that they carry by virtue of the iconographicmeaning of various aspects, are 'double-mandalas' in thesense in which Von Franz uses this term.back to text

6. A. Mookerjee and J. Khanna, The Tantric Way, 1977,Boston, The Graphic Society, pages 56 and 62.back to text

7. Fortune, The Mystic Qabalah, 1935, Ibis Books, New York,pages 252-4.back to text

8. I.K. Taimni, The Science of Yoga, 1961, TheosophicalPublishing House; Madras, India; page 38.back to text

9. Jolande Jacobi, The Psychology of C.G.Jung, YaleUniversity Press, 1962, pages 127-9.back to text

10. Heinrich Zimmer, in Mookerjee and Khanna, The TantricWay, New York Graphic Society, 1977, page 50. Mookerjeeremarks that the nine circuits mentioned by Zimmer areassociated with nine classes of yoginis (female yogis).back to text

11. Heinrich Zimmer, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art andCivilization, edited by J. Campbell, 1946, New York:Pantheonbooks, page 140back to text

http://tap3x.net/EMBTI/journal.html

revisiting the relationship between the mbti and the enneagram

Documents

liminocentric structure

enneagram picturedto

special kind of

threedimensional object

double mandala

shri yantra

nonlinear structure

wecall liminocentric