(Either I am totally un-self-aware or else the person who invented the Seven story was clearly not a Seven.) In class there is a bubbly excitement about self-discovery. I hope you will find it quite profound, as I did. But I think there is something here that is still not being seen by enneagram afficionados, and if these deeper waters were better understood, a lot of people like myself, who still find themselves without a home base in the enneagram, might find a way in. Contemplative Liturgies created for Holy Week 2011, with introduction, liturgy and music. The hidden pearl within is your magnetic center, your equanimity, the Wisdom Way that you are cultivating., As you learn to sense your feelings instead of immediately jumping up in your head and story, try going lower, into your feet, and even lower into the earth. 179) Sobriety inspires Sevens to let go seeking out thehighs of pleasurable experiences, whether they are related to physical appetites, intellectual activity, or spiritual process. Maitri quotes Ichazo as describing sobriety as giving the body its sense of proportion, and as being in a state firmly grounded in the moment, in which you take in no more and no less than you need. This, to me, is what you were saying in the blog using different language. A brilliant synthesis that both situates the imaginal world and gives it more meaning that it has previously had [Bourgeault] is a true representative of the Western spiritual tradition. from the afterword by A. H. Almaas. I so resonate with your insights and conclusions. There is no path in the Seven that leads to accidie which the Oxford dictionary defines as, literary . Cynthia Bourgeault speaks of the Imaginal Roadmap, offering a much broader perspective o. It will transform your lives and through its power in your own lives will reach out to touch the world. This is a first gambit, but see what you think. To answer your question, yes I have met self-identified 7s who fit your description. Surrender, obedience, attention. Thomas Keating. Reference: While I can see certain points of congruence (after all, my mom was a Four, my dad a Six, and most of my partners Fives, so I know these types well), none of them really resonated and more important, none of them really captured my interest. This, https://cac.org/daily-meditations/2023-daily-meditations/. yes wholeheartedly to NOW. Thank you so much for your investigation and willingness to share. Id learned the secret of their game, and knew that I could count on it to protect me. Transformation for the Seven: The Holy Idea and Virtue, Sit in your cell and it will teach you everything. This is indeed the terrifying eye of the needle the Seven will have to thread to move from choice freedom (as both Thomas Merton and Beatrice Bruteau call it) i.e., freedom experienced as keeping my options open, to spontaneity freedom: freedom experienced as the capacity to say yes wholeheartedly to NOW; freedom to trust the primordial nurturing to be found only in the plenitude of presence. ), Thank you for the vulnerability and depth of exploration. But, your description and experience has caused me to again question my number. Reading this it caused me to say yes outloud, enthusiastically, a number of times. The price of admission is your narrative self, which is grounded in time., When you do conscious work, or any act of altruism, it is for the future., Time is a measure of resistance. 741 Kindle Edition $1399$16.95 Careers Amazon Newsletter We are all parts functioning to support the whole which allows for diversity and complexity contained within a unified wholeness. Please, there is too much information. . It is motion. Now I know you have called it ego bait, and it certainly can be seen that way, but for high school students who are generally adrift about so many things, to have a relatively simple tool that links psychological development to spiritual growth is brilliant, and certainly is far better than anything else Ive seen in helping them navigate the plethora of decisions they need to make about themselves. Hey Cynthia, Im in the process of becoming certified to teach the Enneagram and found myself landing squarely in the 7. Cynthia Bourgeault invites us to follow Jesuss path of self-emptying love, and she describes wisdom practices that we Christians can use every day to transform our own minds so that we too can see with the eyes of Christ.~ Jim Marion, author of Putting on the Mind of Christ. I am finding myself quoting you more and more, and cannot thank you enough for your using of Gods clear gift. Your work is SO CLEAR esp centering prayer dynamics and Christian non-duality. Love It follows must naturally when this becomes an all consuming passion that gluttony rules. Cynthia Bourgeault is a modern day mystic, Episcopal priest, writer, and internationally acclaimed retreat leader. Published by the Monkfish Book Publishing Company. When the words escape from pain are used by Enneagram authors, usually people think of the pain of loss or grief, which in fact some Sevens may be trying to avoid (David Richo says we are ALL always trying to avoid grieving). It was Rafe who taught her how to integrate the treasures of the Christian mystical and monastic paths with the mindfulness and self-inquiry practices they had both been powerfully drawn to in their independent encounters with The Gurdjieff Work. Thank you Cynthia, love and peace to you from the Holy Isle. Thank you, thank you. I love your courage to reveal yourself and your depth of self insight. . But I think the pain beneath the pain is truly an existential dread- a fear and anxiety of complete disconnection, or as you said, annihilation. Im not sure the words have to be changed that are used for the passion and virtue (Gluttony and Sobriety) if we could be more clear and comprehensive about what these words could mean and look like in the Seven. So that what is hidden becomes manifest., Align with the highest possible outcome when wrestling with judgment. La Casa de Maria squeaked through the fires only to succumb . When the doctor was finally summoned, at the insistence of my grandmother (herself a Christian Science practitioner), he examined me gravely and concluded that I was beyond help. I learned some of the depths of 7 while leading a panel of sevens. Avoid spiritual materialism., Our job is to hold a post in the resonant field. Thank you, Cynthia! But the real driving motivation, I believe, is never the self-nurturing itself, but maintaining the freedom-of-motion which the Seven believes is required in order to perform these self-nurturing rituals. Less and less does it draw its waters from the old springs of romance, and you should not worry if over time these dimensions fade or are seen less frequently. In remarkably diverse and myriad approachesfrom the practical, personal, and social to the infinitely sublimeshe invites all of us to participate in the conversation. . Cynthia shows how an understanding of Mary Magdalene can revitalize contemporary Christianity, how Christians and others can, through her, find their way to Jesuss original teachings and apply them to their modern lives. . To connect to a sense of rhythm and proportion, to live with humility and humor, to beat as a heart within the Divine Heart of Hearts. Just an observation. The drop is the ocean, not separated. I do think its important to accurately understand our chief feature, but we can spend a lot of time thinking on this, and I wonder if at times unhelpfully. Im a recent convert to the Bourgeault gestalt of spiritual awakening, having dabbled with myriad spiritual traditions throughout my life. She divides her time between solitude in her seaside hermitage in Maine and a demanding schedule traveling globally to spread the recovery of the Christian contemplative and Wisdom paths. There are panels, and there are panels. I would add that in the various tests Ive taken online (RHETI andotherwise), the Seven doesnt usually come up as a strong contender. Reason seeks a profit. She then applies her own reasoning and intuition, informed by the wisdom of the ages-old Christian contemplative tradition. However I notice the playfulness in me my one daughter told me that I was basically a kid at heart.and another daughter has said that you never act like that when I just let go of another situation less than ideal. Cynthia Bourgeault is an Episcopal priest, Teacher, and retreat and conference leader. What a revelation!, what a shock..brought me pain and tears and then tremendous relief.. Published by the Center for Action and Contemplation. I practice and teach the Christian spiritual arts , Cynthia grew up in the rolling countryside just west of Philadelphia and experienced her first tastes of silence and mystical presence during the weekly Meeting for Worship at the Quaker school she attended. I have thought of Teilhard as possibly being core 6 with a 7 wing, though in reading your analysis of the 7, the other way around 7w6 does feel right. I love and respect you, Cynthia. This feels different from lack of nurturance. Some even look like a 6. Read up on Cynthias theological insights on the cutting edge between contemplation and ordinary life. The relational field has the properties, not each one of us., Practices are not a means to get somewhere, but an expression of a relationship with something that is., Health is in the quality and integrity of relationship. Because the Fours ideal is along the lines of beauty or lyrical feelings and the World being what it is sets the stage for disenchantment, the trap for the Four. You cant do equanimity in your head!. That teaching was characterized by a nondualistic approach to the world and by a deep understanding of the value of the feminine. https://cac.org/daily-meditations/2023-daily-meditations/. A brilliant analysis of nondual Christianity in theory and in practice and a major contribution to the Centering Prayer movement and to interspiritual dialogue.~Thomas Keathing, author ofOpen Mind, Open Heart. I have reread this a bunch of times and thought quite a bit about this since my last entry and know that it will follow me for years to come. Another dimension which this book opens up is that of the real place of eros in Christian mysticism and the act of living mystical experience.~ Andrew Harvey, author of Son of Man, Just as shes done in her previous books, Cynthia Bourgeault asks us to take a look at an idea from traditional Christianitythis time the formula of Father, Son, and Holy Spiritas though were looking at it for the first time. I too experienced death at a early age while being a Christian Science pre-schooler; the death of my little sister. Thanks Cynthia for your post. We are in the middle of individual presentations right now on their Enneagram types, and I have two students who are torn between 4 and 7. As long as I continue self-inquiry, the more honest I can be with myself, the less important landing on a particular number seems to be but the more important is understanding the whole enneagram and the relationships of the personalities. I will be publicly pushing the bookas all of themwhenever I find a crowd ready for such inner work and brilliance.~Fr. Heres why: The Seven Central Motivation is for gratification, in what ever form it might take it is still the thirst for experience. CAC core faculty member, Cynthia Bourgeault, beautifully describes growth in "conscious love" in her sermon, given at her daughter's wedding. Hugs, . Spiritually I was inspired and attracted to the way of Brother Lawrencenoticing the Presence of the Sacred in every aspect of life here and now. and that is moving toward Seven. She has a fairly strong 6 wingit creates that loyalty and dutiful tendency and tempers any moves towards gluttony. Sioux. Thanks so much for your contribution. ???????? To bear [also] means to give birth, to be fruitful. So love is that which in any situation is the most life-giving and fruitful. Adopting a title inspired by Thomas Mertons moment of revelation at the Corner of Fourth and Walnut Cynthia Bourgeault describes the foundations of her theology: a cosmological seeing with the eye of the heart, and classic Benedictine daily rule informed and enlightened by wisdom from the Asian traditions. 3rd Thursdays, 10.30am (BST): Contemplative Pause. Bourgeault explores both aspects of imaginal reality and shows readers how we can cooperate more fully with its guidance in our lives. Thank you for your insights! I feel like you nailed it for me as a 7. i also accidentally received communion by just following the line of people to the altar at 7 years old . 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