Bantam The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the Nine Personality Types

I’ve been studying Emotional Intelligence for about 7 years. I try to strengthen my level of calm in parenting, leadership presence, and in life decisions. Candidly, I seek to better understand my gaps, so that not only can I practice techniques to “treat the symptoms“ such as focused breathing, meditation, and practicing “awareness of the now”, but also so that I can understand where these gaps come from. In the early days, I examined some self help books, and they were “ok” for treating the symptoms, but it wasn’t until I was given two major recommendations, that I started to understand the source. The first was “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle, which unlocked the understanding of ego for me. And the latest, and hands-down the most insightful for me, is “The Wisdom of the Enneagram”. I’m a seven, and time and time again I found the book to be mind-blowingly accurate. Due to this, it was also validating, bringing a sense of katharsis and explanation that I had never experienced before. It’s a heavy read, but if you are truly seeking an understanding of who you are, get it. This is a large book, but read the entire thing, at least for the number you end up being. It is now in my top 5 recommended books, and it is number 1 if you are seeking deep self-awareness. Special thank you to my friend, Adam for recommending it.Below is an AI generated summary (Gemini’s was the best one from Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok).”The Wisdom of the Enneagram” by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson presents a comprehensive guide to the Enneagram, a system of personality typing that describes nine interconnected personality types. The book delves into the core motivations, fears, and patterns of each type, explaining how these influence our perceptions, thoughts, and behaviors. Beyond simple categorization, it emphasizes the Enneagram’s potential for self-discovery and personal growth, providing tools for understanding our strengths and weaknesses, recognizing our automatic responses, and ultimately, transforming our limiting beliefs and behaviors. The authors move past basic type descriptions to explore the levels of health within each type, highlighting how we can move from unhealthy, reactive patterns toward greater integration and wholeness.The book emphasizes that the Enneagram is not about putting people in boxes, but rather about understanding the underlying motivations that drive us. It explores the interconnectedness of the types, illustrating how each type relates to others through wings (adjacent types that influence our personality) and the “lines of connection” which show how we change under stress and in security. By understanding these connections, we can gain insight not only into ourselves but also into our relationships with others. This deep dive into the nuances of each type, including subtypes based on instinctual drives (self-preservation, social, and sexual/one-to-one), provides a more accurate and individualized understanding of the Enneagram than simpler introductions.Ultimately, “The Wisdom of the Enneagram” offers a path towards self-awareness and spiritual growth. It encourages readers to use the Enneagram as a tool for self-observation, allowing them to identify their core fears and desires and consciously choose more fulfilling ways of being. By understanding our type’s patterns and working with the specific practices and suggestions provided, we can move towards greater integration, compassion, and freedom from the limitations of our personality structures. The authors emphasize that the goal is not to change our type but to transcend its limitations and embrace our full potential.

I work with this book and this personality model for years. The book is well structured and describes the model and each of the types very well. With the questions in the beginning of each type it gives also a hint how good the type might fit.All in all I can recommend it to everybody who likes to understand himself and the people around better. It gives a good overview and helps to find growth.

Great quality, hard to find this book but amazon had it. Be sure to check indigo and order there if you can in the future, they often have the best prices and offer ins-tore pick up.