Arthur Kranz, MD
G. I. Gurdjieff distilled his “science of the harmonious development of man” into a simple formula: “To Know – To Understand – To Be.”
If you open your mind and eyes, the secret paths of the Gurdjieff Enneagram are hidden in plain sight. Over the years, many observers have noted that the Enneagram looks like a clock, with a 9 in the top position. This observation hints at an important aspect of the Enneagram: like a clock, the Enneagram contains movement and change. It is not a static diagram, as Gurdjieff reminded his students repeatedly. Gurdjieff’s Enneagram was often depicted with no fixed numbers (or arrows). In my understanding of the Enneagram as a diagram of growth and transformation, the static diagram we have become familiar with is an unwitting depiction of the Enneagram’s configuration relevant to Type 9 only. In this article, I will show how a moving Enneagram functions to reveal nine different configurations, one for each personality type. Each of these nine configurations entails a unique sequence of nine Hidden Path Movements – the unique growth path for each type. The Enneagram is an intriguing geometric figure with three distinct parts:
If you open your mind and eyes, the secret paths of the Gurdjieff Enneagram are hidden in plain sight. Over the years, many observers have noted that the Enneagram looks like a clock, with a 9 in the top position. This observation hints at an important aspect of the Enneagram: like a clock, the Enneagram contains movement and change. It is not a static diagram, as Gurdjieff reminded his students repeatedly. Gurdjieff’s Enneagram was often depicted with no fixed numbers (or arrows). In my understanding of the Enneagram as a diagram of growth and transformation, the static diagram we have become familiar with is an unwitting depiction of the Enneagram’s configuration relevant to Type 9 only. In this article, I will show how a moving Enneagram functions to reveal nine different configurations, one for each personality type. Each of these nine configurations entails a unique sequence of nine Hidden Path Movements – the unique growth path for each type. The Enneagram is an intriguing geometric figure with three distinct parts:
As Rhodes comments, these three figures are not merely symbols used to depict the Enneagram: they combine to create the Enneagram, and united they contain all the information and directions needed to experience within ourselves the various growth paths of all nine types.
Gurdjieff’s method promises to teach three things to the student: “To Know,” “To Understand,” and “To Be,” in that specific order. Each of the three learning objectives can be associated with one of the three physical components of the Enneagram diagram. The first goal, “To Know,” is associated with the central triangle.
“In all ancient teaching the first demand at the beginning of the way to Liberation was: Know Thyself”-Gurdjieff. (1)
The first goal represents a journey of self-knowledge: to “know thyself” in all three Centers – Body, Heart, and Head. This journey utilizes the structure of the central triangle – for all nine types – by aligning each type and its Dominant Affect triad with the inner triangle. (This will be explained in more detail below.)
The second goal involves a journey “To Understand” or “To Know Others.” This second stage of the Hidden Path Movements is represented by the hexad.
The third goal of the work is “To Be” – to accept that we are all part of one great whole and that there is no separation. It is represented by the outer circle component of the Enneagram, which encompasses and unites all nine types. This stage of the work requires that you accept and love all the other types as well as your own. Realistically, if you are unable to accept and love the other types, you will not be able to fully accept and love yourself.
To Know Oneself
In the traditional understanding of the Enneagram of transformation, derived from the work of Claudio Naranjo, there are two separate structures for growth, depending on one’s type. For the types on the inner triangle, the growth path is 9-3-6. For the types on the hexad, the growth path is 7-5-8-2-4-1. There is no connection between these two growth paths, and furthermore, there at least two obvious imbalances: the growth path for the hexad types is twice as long, and you wind up with five types that cover all three Centers in the first two movements (3,6,9,5 and 4) and four types that need either three or four movements to cover all the Centers (1,2,7 and 8). It has never made sense to me that the growth paths for the nine types should contain this kind of imbalance and disconnection. Intuitively, the structure of the Enneagram suggests that all nine types should be connected and that the nine growth paths should be balanced and Harmonious.
There is an elegant solution to the problem: the Enneagram is meant to be a moving diagram, in which each of the nine types can be placed at the top position on the clock-face. In each of the resulting configurations of the types, the first two steps in the growth direction move along the inner triangle and result in a balancing of the three Centers.
Gurdjieff’s method promises to teach three things to the student: “To Know,” “To Understand,” and “To Be,” in that specific order. Each of the three learning objectives can be associated with one of the three physical components of the Enneagram diagram. The first goal, “To Know,” is associated with the central triangle.
“In all ancient teaching the first demand at the beginning of the way to Liberation was: Know Thyself”-Gurdjieff. (1)
The first goal represents a journey of self-knowledge: to “know thyself” in all three Centers – Body, Heart, and Head. This journey utilizes the structure of the central triangle – for all nine types – by aligning each type and its Dominant Affect triad with the inner triangle. (This will be explained in more detail below.)
The second goal involves a journey “To Understand” or “To Know Others.” This second stage of the Hidden Path Movements is represented by the hexad.
The third goal of the work is “To Be” – to accept that we are all part of one great whole and that there is no separation. It is represented by the outer circle component of the Enneagram, which encompasses and unites all nine types. This stage of the work requires that you accept and love all the other types as well as your own. Realistically, if you are unable to accept and love the other types, you will not be able to fully accept and love yourself.
To Know Oneself
In the traditional understanding of the Enneagram of transformation, derived from the work of Claudio Naranjo, there are two separate structures for growth, depending on one’s type. For the types on the inner triangle, the growth path is 9-3-6. For the types on the hexad, the growth path is 7-5-8-2-4-1. There is no connection between these two growth paths, and furthermore, there at least two obvious imbalances: the growth path for the hexad types is twice as long, and you wind up with five types that cover all three Centers in the first two movements (3,6,9,5 and 4) and four types that need either three or four movements to cover all the Centers (1,2,7 and 8). It has never made sense to me that the growth paths for the nine types should contain this kind of imbalance and disconnection. Intuitively, the structure of the Enneagram suggests that all nine types should be connected and that the nine growth paths should be balanced and Harmonious.
There is an elegant solution to the problem: the Enneagram is meant to be a moving diagram, in which each of the nine types can be placed at the top position on the clock-face. In each of the resulting configurations of the types, the first two steps in the growth direction move along the inner triangle and result in a balancing of the three Centers.