Jack Labanauskas
My first 11 years were in a refugee camp in Germany after my Lithuanian parents fled their country in 1945 before the Iron Curtain snapped shut. It was a rather stimulating childhood among a gaggle of refugees, languages and cultures from a dozen or more countries -- an interesting Petri dish for studying cultural and ethnic differences -- observing and reading other's intentions while deciphering meaning out of foreign languages was a vital survival necessity...
Fast forward to my early 20's, after a tumultous period of travel, studying languages and working as a translator -- I was always curious and interested in esoteric/divinatory and spiritual /psychological subjects -- I settled down and started a steady practice of Transcendental Meditation (TM). Four years later, I went on a five-month intensive TM teacher training retreat. Liked it and managed to stay on by joining Maharishi's international staff in 1971. My task was to establishing the Maharishi International University Press for the TM organization (starting in Spain, then Italy then Austria). My stateless refugee status did not allow me to go to the USA when the Press was moved out of Europe, so I settled in Florence (Italy).
I continued with my practice and resumed my studies in a number of spiritual/healing/psychological type systems: most notably, oriental medicine, visual diagnosis, macrobiotics and other healing techniques. Late 70's until 1984 I worked as a healer, lecturer and running a Macrobiotic center in Florence. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1984 I worked in publishing and tried Tibetan Buddhism for a few years but came back to Advaita/Vedanta, it felt more "home."
In the early 90's I found the enneagram of personality, and it was like water for a duck, I had to jump in. After (and during) the Stanford Conference in 1994 there was a lot of talk about establishing a newspaper. Newspapers and publishing I was familiar with and thought I could best serve that fledgling community by starting a monthly publication for enneagram aficionados to exchange ideas or to publicize enneagram events. With my partner (for the first 70 issues of EM) Andrea Isaacs, we started the Enneagram Monthly in March of 1995.
The EM quickly became the premier publication in its field and remains so until today with current issue #224 and no end in sight....
to contact: em@guna.us
My first 11 years were in a refugee camp in Germany after my Lithuanian parents fled their country in 1945 before the Iron Curtain snapped shut. It was a rather stimulating childhood among a gaggle of refugees, languages and cultures from a dozen or more countries -- an interesting Petri dish for studying cultural and ethnic differences -- observing and reading other's intentions while deciphering meaning out of foreign languages was a vital survival necessity...
Fast forward to my early 20's, after a tumultous period of travel, studying languages and working as a translator -- I was always curious and interested in esoteric/divinatory and spiritual /psychological subjects -- I settled down and started a steady practice of Transcendental Meditation (TM). Four years later, I went on a five-month intensive TM teacher training retreat. Liked it and managed to stay on by joining Maharishi's international staff in 1971. My task was to establishing the Maharishi International University Press for the TM organization (starting in Spain, then Italy then Austria). My stateless refugee status did not allow me to go to the USA when the Press was moved out of Europe, so I settled in Florence (Italy).
I continued with my practice and resumed my studies in a number of spiritual/healing/psychological type systems: most notably, oriental medicine, visual diagnosis, macrobiotics and other healing techniques. Late 70's until 1984 I worked as a healer, lecturer and running a Macrobiotic center in Florence. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1984 I worked in publishing and tried Tibetan Buddhism for a few years but came back to Advaita/Vedanta, it felt more "home."
In the early 90's I found the enneagram of personality, and it was like water for a duck, I had to jump in. After (and during) the Stanford Conference in 1994 there was a lot of talk about establishing a newspaper. Newspapers and publishing I was familiar with and thought I could best serve that fledgling community by starting a monthly publication for enneagram aficionados to exchange ideas or to publicize enneagram events. With my partner (for the first 70 issues of EM) Andrea Isaacs, we started the Enneagram Monthly in March of 1995.
The EM quickly became the premier publication in its field and remains so until today with current issue #224 and no end in sight....
to contact: em@guna.us
Susan Rhodes
For many years, I’ve had an interest in psychology, spirituality, and the link between science and spirituality. During the 1980s and 90s, I studied human behavior from a mostly mainstream, scientific perspective at the University of Washington, focusing on the acquisition of communication skills, the influence of culture and cognition on communication patterns, and the effects of individual differences on psychological behavior. While I learned a lot about human cognition and the scientific method (earning two Masters degrees and a psychology Ph.D. along the way), I never lost my interest in understanding people from a more organic, intuitive perspective—and especially in understanding the role played by personality in making us unique individuals with a unique destiny in life. Discovering the enneagram around 2000 provided a vehicle for exploring human behavior from what I have come to call a “dharmic” point of view: one where we look not just at human behavior (especially in isolation) but at our inner motivation, energy signature, and typical patterns of interaction—with a focus on how understanding these dynamics helps us understand how to find our path in life. In 2006, I started writing articles for the Enneagram Monthly, becoming an official staffer for the paper soon after. At this point I have written over 50 articles for the paper, as well as three books on the enneagram: The Positive Enneagram (2009), Archetypes of the Enneagram (2010), and The Integral Enneagram (2013).
to contact: susan@enneagramdimensions.net
For many years, I’ve had an interest in psychology, spirituality, and the link between science and spirituality. During the 1980s and 90s, I studied human behavior from a mostly mainstream, scientific perspective at the University of Washington, focusing on the acquisition of communication skills, the influence of culture and cognition on communication patterns, and the effects of individual differences on psychological behavior. While I learned a lot about human cognition and the scientific method (earning two Masters degrees and a psychology Ph.D. along the way), I never lost my interest in understanding people from a more organic, intuitive perspective—and especially in understanding the role played by personality in making us unique individuals with a unique destiny in life. Discovering the enneagram around 2000 provided a vehicle for exploring human behavior from what I have come to call a “dharmic” point of view: one where we look not just at human behavior (especially in isolation) but at our inner motivation, energy signature, and typical patterns of interaction—with a focus on how understanding these dynamics helps us understand how to find our path in life. In 2006, I started writing articles for the Enneagram Monthly, becoming an official staffer for the paper soon after. At this point I have written over 50 articles for the paper, as well as three books on the enneagram: The Positive Enneagram (2009), Archetypes of the Enneagram (2010), and The Integral Enneagram (2013).
to contact: susan@enneagramdimensions.net
SueAnn McKean
I grew up in the Marine Corps, since my father was a fighter pilot. My early years included a lot of moving and exposure to different cultures, including living in Japan and Thailand as a teenager. I longed for stability and meaning in life. Things started calming down when I began a Yogananda Kriya yoga practice and then Transcendental Meditation (TM) in 1973, including going to Maharishi International University in Fairfield IA for a months-long teacher training course.
Around the same time I started Aikido which later became a career. It fit my need for grounding, energetic awareness and having more harmonious relationships. In 1977 I got my black belt and began teaching. Currently I have a 6th dan and still teach at Sofia University, formerly the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP).
In the early 90's after certifying with Helen Palmer and David Daniels I was invited for 7 or 8 years to teach at their teacher certification trainings "Center's Practices," where we were using Aikido to connect to the Enneagam centers. I also taught a much longer course at ITP on "Enneagram and the Body" to their Ph.D graduates. Combining the principles of the enneagram with those of Aikido seemed always a match made in heaven to me. Not for the similarities between the systems as their complimentarity between body, mind and heart. It always seemed that if one of these is under-used and one system can't tap into it, the other one will.
In 1990 during a meditative retreat in India, I was introduced to Jyotish or Vedic Astrology and it answered so many questions I was not able to explain by any other means. Upon my return, I started reading books, attend conferences and took courses with Jyotish experts like Hart De Fouw and Ernst Wilhelm. Ancient Vedic wisdom was a superb foundation to the understanding of human nature at its deepest.
From 2005 onwards I seriously began to delve deeper into Jyotish study under the tutelage of Pundit Sanjay Rath. Aside from hours of daily homework, it included 5 yearly trips to the Himalayas for intensive one or two month immersion courses to study the Jaimini Sutras and Brihat Parasara Hora Shastra. In Oct. 2011 I graduated from (or in??) the Jaimini Sutra Upadesa course.
Concurrently I'm also studying with Pandit Souvik Dutta at Ancient Indian Astrology School and do some mentoring.
Since 2007 I attend with my husband Jack L. a weekly Vedanta study group at Stanford University where we study the Bagavad Gita, the Upanishads and the teachings of Swami Vivekananda under the guidance of Swami Vedananda of the Ramakrishna Order.
A pet project of mine is to find correlations between Vedic Astrology and the Enneagram. As is the case with most systems, each sepcializes in somewhat different aspects of study and as one goes deeper these aspects begin to melt together into one. I believe both systems have a lot to offer and together their effectiveness is multiplied by more than the sum of the components.
to contact: sueann@guna.us
I grew up in the Marine Corps, since my father was a fighter pilot. My early years included a lot of moving and exposure to different cultures, including living in Japan and Thailand as a teenager. I longed for stability and meaning in life. Things started calming down when I began a Yogananda Kriya yoga practice and then Transcendental Meditation (TM) in 1973, including going to Maharishi International University in Fairfield IA for a months-long teacher training course.
Around the same time I started Aikido which later became a career. It fit my need for grounding, energetic awareness and having more harmonious relationships. In 1977 I got my black belt and began teaching. Currently I have a 6th dan and still teach at Sofia University, formerly the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP).
In the early 90's after certifying with Helen Palmer and David Daniels I was invited for 7 or 8 years to teach at their teacher certification trainings "Center's Practices," where we were using Aikido to connect to the Enneagam centers. I also taught a much longer course at ITP on "Enneagram and the Body" to their Ph.D graduates. Combining the principles of the enneagram with those of Aikido seemed always a match made in heaven to me. Not for the similarities between the systems as their complimentarity between body, mind and heart. It always seemed that if one of these is under-used and one system can't tap into it, the other one will.
In 1990 during a meditative retreat in India, I was introduced to Jyotish or Vedic Astrology and it answered so many questions I was not able to explain by any other means. Upon my return, I started reading books, attend conferences and took courses with Jyotish experts like Hart De Fouw and Ernst Wilhelm. Ancient Vedic wisdom was a superb foundation to the understanding of human nature at its deepest.
From 2005 onwards I seriously began to delve deeper into Jyotish study under the tutelage of Pundit Sanjay Rath. Aside from hours of daily homework, it included 5 yearly trips to the Himalayas for intensive one or two month immersion courses to study the Jaimini Sutras and Brihat Parasara Hora Shastra. In Oct. 2011 I graduated from (or in??) the Jaimini Sutra Upadesa course.
Concurrently I'm also studying with Pandit Souvik Dutta at Ancient Indian Astrology School and do some mentoring.
Since 2007 I attend with my husband Jack L. a weekly Vedanta study group at Stanford University where we study the Bagavad Gita, the Upanishads and the teachings of Swami Vivekananda under the guidance of Swami Vedananda of the Ramakrishna Order.
A pet project of mine is to find correlations between Vedic Astrology and the Enneagram. As is the case with most systems, each sepcializes in somewhat different aspects of study and as one goes deeper these aspects begin to melt together into one. I believe both systems have a lot to offer and together their effectiveness is multiplied by more than the sum of the components.
to contact: sueann@guna.us
Andrea Isaacs
Movement and imagery always facinated me. In my college years, I was practicing Yoga and meditation, but it did not quite give me a sense of being truly alive and present. That changed when I saw how modern dance could united the somatic with the emotional and it became my career. After working with some dance companies in Chicago I started my own called "Moving Images" and kept it for a good 10 years while at the same time teaching dance at the Emma Willard School in New York.
Then I came across the Enneagram in 1994 and, deeply moved by the insight it brought me about relationships, I dove head first into studying as much as possible, certified with Don Riso and Russ Hudson and have been on their faculty since 1994. I also certified with Helen Palmer and David Daniels, and with Kathy Hurley and Theodorre Donson.
As a partner in the founding and running of the Enneagram Monthly (EM) along with Jack Labanauskas, we had the opportunity to conduct numerous interviews with leaders in the field, including Oscar Ichazo, Claudio Naranjo, Don Riso, Russ Hudson, David Daniels, A. H. Almaas, Sandra Maitri, Tom Condon, Jerry Wagner and many others. When the EM and Jack Labanauskas moved from upstate New York to California, I stayed on as a Consulting Editor and became a board member of the International Enneagram Association for six years.
Soon after first encountering the Enneagram, it became apparent to me (as a good type 4) that something was missing. My combined 20+ year background as a modern dancer/choreographer, and my studies of humanistic and transpersonal psychology, dance therapy, tai chi and Taoist meditation helped me to find a way to integrate it all with the Enneagram by creating EnneaMotion, an experiential way to learn the Enneagram, with Somatic Focusing as a way to transform “bad-feeling” into “good-feeling.” It felt like, “I created EnneaMotion to save my life,” because it transformed my shyness into authentic confidence. My ongoing collaboration with neuro-science researcher, Dario Nardi, is validating that this work changes the brain. After years of teaching internationally and coaching others, I can see and vouch for the effectiveness of the system and believe in the blessing that is the enneagram and in the Enneagram Monthly as a voce open to all schools of thought and a priceless treasure for the community.
to contact: Andrea@EnneaMotion.com or go to www.EnneaMotion.com.
Movement and imagery always facinated me. In my college years, I was practicing Yoga and meditation, but it did not quite give me a sense of being truly alive and present. That changed when I saw how modern dance could united the somatic with the emotional and it became my career. After working with some dance companies in Chicago I started my own called "Moving Images" and kept it for a good 10 years while at the same time teaching dance at the Emma Willard School in New York.
Then I came across the Enneagram in 1994 and, deeply moved by the insight it brought me about relationships, I dove head first into studying as much as possible, certified with Don Riso and Russ Hudson and have been on their faculty since 1994. I also certified with Helen Palmer and David Daniels, and with Kathy Hurley and Theodorre Donson.
As a partner in the founding and running of the Enneagram Monthly (EM) along with Jack Labanauskas, we had the opportunity to conduct numerous interviews with leaders in the field, including Oscar Ichazo, Claudio Naranjo, Don Riso, Russ Hudson, David Daniels, A. H. Almaas, Sandra Maitri, Tom Condon, Jerry Wagner and many others. When the EM and Jack Labanauskas moved from upstate New York to California, I stayed on as a Consulting Editor and became a board member of the International Enneagram Association for six years.
Soon after first encountering the Enneagram, it became apparent to me (as a good type 4) that something was missing. My combined 20+ year background as a modern dancer/choreographer, and my studies of humanistic and transpersonal psychology, dance therapy, tai chi and Taoist meditation helped me to find a way to integrate it all with the Enneagram by creating EnneaMotion, an experiential way to learn the Enneagram, with Somatic Focusing as a way to transform “bad-feeling” into “good-feeling.” It felt like, “I created EnneaMotion to save my life,” because it transformed my shyness into authentic confidence. My ongoing collaboration with neuro-science researcher, Dario Nardi, is validating that this work changes the brain. After years of teaching internationally and coaching others, I can see and vouch for the effectiveness of the system and believe in the blessing that is the enneagram and in the Enneagram Monthly as a voce open to all schools of thought and a priceless treasure for the community.
to contact: Andrea@EnneaMotion.com or go to www.EnneaMotion.com.