Enneagram // What distinguishes the Enneagram of Personality from the Enneagram of Awakening and Self-Realization

The Enneagram of Personality assumes that a person’s personality typically manifests in one of nine ways. Through a type test, you can discover which personality type you are.

Many people feel relieved when they see themselves reflected in this way; they feel seen and understood. It helps them better understand themselves and others, especially since they find themselves embedded within a complex system. This can provide a sense of support, security, and, above all, orientation.

However, there is a danger of becoming overly identified with the Enneagram type that fits. You might hear someone say: „I’m a 2 – with these positive and those negative traits, and that’s why I behave this way in certain situations.“ Or, „You’re a typical 5 with a 6-wing, so we get along in this area but clash in that one.“ In the best case, this can lead to seeking a compromise that works for both.

Since each Enneagram type is directly connected to two others, many Enneagram books suggest that under stress, one tends to move toward one of these types, which is considered unfavorable, while it would be better to move toward the other, more beneficial type. This perspective introduces movement into the previously static system, loosens it up, and shows possibilities for growth and change. However, ironically, it also reinforces the view that you are a particular kind of personality defined by the Enneagram system.

This changes only when you recall what the original Enneagram teaching asserts: that human personality can be characterized by nine core traits. Then, you recognize and acknowledge that you encompass all nine aspects of human personality, some more, some less. The personality that develops through conditioning, repression, and compensation—the fixation on one or another Enneagram type—is what you **are not**. You have become this artificial self, which you now believe yourself to be—but you are not this at your core, at least not exclusively.

With this understanding, you recognize your own fixations and where you originally started within the Enneagram. You begin to see how you landed in the type where you now mostly find yourself—though interestingly, not in every situation. From this type, you can move directly to two other Enneagram types, either in a freeing or further entangling way. This reveals a dynamic process. You no longer see yourself as stuck, nor do you identify with the respective Enneagram types.

At this point, the real question arises: Who are you beyond these Enneagram types? The Enneagram system helps you realize that, at your core, you are not any of the types. You only find yourself by recognizing and fully dissolving the entanglements. And in doing so, you leave behind the Enneagram of Personality as the self-image dissolves, and the true self emerges!

This **True Self**—the cosmos individuated in the form of this person in time and space—now shapes and lives its life. It makes mistakes, learns from them, grows, and continues to resolve any remaining entanglements. Through this, it realizes itself in time and space in ever more essential and truthful ways.

Viewed in this light, one might say that only after loosening or dissolving the Enneagram fixations are you truly awake and free, enabling you to authentically shape and live your life in a way that resonates with your essential self. Only then does the journey truly begin!