The Enneagram

A Brief Surf on the Enneagram

The is some trippy stuff around the enniagram: a brief surf though wikipedia is enough to get the rough impression. It is nice to think that some whacked out ideas enter management thinking. The is all good food for the Procrastination King!

It is believed that the Enneagram figure is of ancient origin, possibly from within Sufism, while its introduction in modern times is credited to G.I. Gurdjieff . Gurdjieff used the figure in his teachings as a symbol that represents fundamental universal cosmic laws. Gurdjieff never disclosed where the figure originally came from besides claiming that it was the emblem of secret societies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram

Georges Ivanovich Gurdjieff was an Armenian- Greek mystic, a teacher of sacred dances, and a spiritual teacher. He is most notable for introducing what some refer to as "The Work," connoting work on oneself according to Gurdjieff's principles and instructions, or as some others refer to it, the Fourth Way. He is also recognized for introducing other concepts, such as the Enneagram.

At different times in his life he formed and liquidated various schools around the world to utilize his teachings. He claimed that the teachings he brought to the West from his own experiences and early travels expressed the truth found in other ancient religions and wisdom teachings relating to self-awareness in one's daily life and humanity's place in the universe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gurdjieff


sacred dances - perhaps a connection to the leadership dance? Richard Knoweles makes reference to one of Gurdeiff's books, 'the pseudo-autobographical Meetings with Remarkable Men' (his other books are Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson is described as 'deliberately obscure and practically unreadable' and Life is Real Only Then, When I am.'perhaps most lucid work'

Gurdeiff has attracted a cult, perhaps because of his main idea:

Gurdjieff's teaching mainly addresses the question of people's place in the Universe and their possibilities for inner development. He also emphasized that people live their lives in a form of waking sleep, but that higher levels of consciousness, higher bodies, and various inner abilities are possible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Way

Gurdjieff believed that, owing to the abnormal conditions of modern life, man no longer functions in a harmonious way. Man had to therefore develop new faculties through "work on oneself." He taught an exceedingly rigirous discipline of meditation and physical exercises. [...]body, emotions , and intellect) simultaneously, called the "Fourth Way" Gurdjieff presented his teachings in the threefold form of writings, music, and sacred dances (movements) corresponding to man's intellect, emotions, and physical body.

http://www.kheper.net/topics/Gurdjieff/Gurdjieff.htm

To explain "the secret of life" to a wealthy English woman who had offered him £1,000 for such wisdom, Gurdjieff brought a prostitute to their table and told her he was from another planet. The food he was eating, he told her, was sent to him from his home planet at no small expense. He gave the prostitute some of the food and asked her what it tasted like. She told him it tasted like cherries. "That's the secret of life," Gurdjieff told the English lady. She called him a charlatan and left. Later that day, however, she gave him the money and became a devoted follower.

http://skepdic.com/gurdjief.html

Categorisation

Here is a little experiment. The catagories at the bottom of wikipedia pages make interesting reading ..You get the rough wikipedia idea... sometimes it is all we need....

Enneagram | Esotericism | Fourth Way | Numerology | Sufi art
Year of birth missing | 1949 deaths | Russian philosophers | Russian spiritual writers | Fourth Way | Western mystics | Armenian-French people | Armenian Russians | Armenian people | Spiritual teachers | Enneagram | Greek people