The Path with no Goal: Simple but not Easy
Terry Saracino
“Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart.” Author Unknown
Seven years ago, this quote arrived in my mail on a greeting card from a dear friend. It spoke to me then and still occupies a prominent place on my desk. It’s a constant reminder to me that “success” in the world of psycho-spiritual development isn’t defined as getting rid of all the problems, but finding a way to be at peace with whatever shows up.
When I first started down my spiritual path, I longed to “arrive” as soon as possible and be finished with the “work” of transformation. Grace put the Enneagram in my path in 1989, and I was enchanted. The Rosetta Stone had arrived! I quickly identified as a Loyal Skeptic (Type 6), and the reasons behind some baffling past decisions suddenly seemed so much clearer.
One striking example related to a heart-breaking decision I made while in college. I had desperately wanted to be a dorm counselor my senior year. That year, however, the college instituted a new requirement. Those selected had to attend an Outward Bound course. The outdoors terrified me! I wasn’t athletic! I didn’t have the kind of stamina required! All I could see was how hard it would be. I was devastated. I didn’t apply and missed an opportunity of a lifetime.
Looking back at this decision through the lens of the Enneagram, the reasons were apparent. A deeply ingrained pattern of reacting to challenge with fear was at the root. Had I been able to see this pattern at the time, I might have approached the decision from a more realistic position. Waves of compassion for my young self swept through me.
But now I had insight and understanding, and things could be different. I read every book I could find. I attended many seminars, near and far. Vallombrosa became my second home. I enrolled in the certification program, took every new class Helen and David offered and started teaching the Enneagram with a passion I’d never known before. In 1993, I also joined the Diamond Heart work founded by Hameed Ali, which provided another container for me to further explore spiritual development.
I had hope. I believed there was a way to get beyond the pain and limitations of my habitual patterns and I was going to get there. Hard work and commitment were not alien to me. I was certain that if I just put enough effort into the task, I would find freedom.
Twenty-two years later, of course, I have a very different understanding of what it means to be “free.” In the beginning, I thought I could get rid of fear. It was a setback every time my type’s patterns reoccurred. As Helen teaches, however, I can see progress when I look sideways. Though my type structure still hangs around like an old habit, I certainly wear it more lightly than before, at least some of the time.
My path has become simpler and my expectations have been refined. Now I just try to be present to each moment as it is – not with my preferences or desires, but just here, aware. “This breath now.” Helen’s refrain echoes in me. But, but, but, my mind fills. I should be doing this or that. Back, back, back. The practice is really simple, but not easy. It is essentially what we’ve learned from Helen and David, strengthening our capacity to observe ourselves, captured in David’s famous “three little laws”:
1. Wherever attention goes, energy follows.
2. Management of attention and energy requires self-observation.
3. While self-observation can be taught and becomes easier, it never becomes habitual. It requires continuing practice.
When I hit blocks that don’t dissolve by applying attention, the challenge is, of course, much greater. Such difficulties require additional approaches and tools, but everything begins with the development of the inner observer and placement of attention.
What we practice in our work with the Enneagram and the Narrative Tradition coincides beautifully with the results of a ten-year research study conducted by the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and recorded in a book entitled Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life (2007). A team from IONS interviewed more than fifty teachers from different religions, cultures, and traditions to see if they could find the key elements of the transformation process. Four elements showed up consistently in each of the traditions: intention, attention, repetition, and a generous dose of guidance.
Intention
One has to engage the process. For most of us, change and growth won’t happen without our conscious participation. Hameed Ali speaks of “grace and impeccability.” Grace is always there; we don’t earn it. But impeccability is our part. It’s doing our best - not being perfect, but orienting toward wanting to know the truth.
Attention
As the Narrative Tradition teaches, how we pay attention and what we attend to is central to spiritual growth. When we shift our point of view, people and events do not remain the same.
Repetition
David’s third law says we have to practice, practice, practice. It takes repetition to make new pathways. The good news from neuroscience is that our brains are plastic. New grooves can be laid down in our brains, but if we don’t practice, our energy will keep following the same old pathways.
A Generous Dose of Guidance
It’s my experience that we need others on this path, other travelers as well as guides who has been around the block a few more times than we have. Some few may be able to engage this work alone, and they are to be commended for that. Most of us, however, need others to help us as we seek not only wisdom, but the capacity to live that wisdom every day in our ordinary lives.
I suspect that’s why I’m drawn to the Narrative. We are all each other’s teachers. It is through the sacred sharing of stories on panels that we gain compassion, open and grow. I also know that I would not be where I am today without the wise and loving support of the more “official” teachers who have been at my side these past two decades.
My desire to be “finished with the work of transformation” still lingers, but it, too, has taken on new meaning for me. When it arises, I no longer take it as a marker of my “failure” or a measure of how far I have left to travel before reaching my goal. Though it still triggers pangs of longing, I am now more able to greet it as a reminder of the need for compassion for myself, and for all who walk the path with no goal.
__________ Enneagram Monthly, Issue 183, December 2011
Terry Saracino has been teaching the Enneagram as a tool for personal, professional and spiritual growth since 1989. The Enneagram is her life long passion. She is currently the Executive Director of Enneagram Studies in the Narrative Tradition and a training associate for the Enneagram Professional Training Program. For more information, visit www.enneagramworldwide.com
Seven years ago, this quote arrived in my mail on a greeting card from a dear friend. It spoke to me then and still occupies a prominent place on my desk. It’s a constant reminder to me that “success” in the world of psycho-spiritual development isn’t defined as getting rid of all the problems, but finding a way to be at peace with whatever shows up.
When I first started down my spiritual path, I longed to “arrive” as soon as possible and be finished with the “work” of transformation. Grace put the Enneagram in my path in 1989, and I was enchanted. The Rosetta Stone had arrived! I quickly identified as a Loyal Skeptic (Type 6), and the reasons behind some baffling past decisions suddenly seemed so much clearer.
One striking example related to a heart-breaking decision I made while in college. I had desperately wanted to be a dorm counselor my senior year. That year, however, the college instituted a new requirement. Those selected had to attend an Outward Bound course. The outdoors terrified me! I wasn’t athletic! I didn’t have the kind of stamina required! All I could see was how hard it would be. I was devastated. I didn’t apply and missed an opportunity of a lifetime.
Looking back at this decision through the lens of the Enneagram, the reasons were apparent. A deeply ingrained pattern of reacting to challenge with fear was at the root. Had I been able to see this pattern at the time, I might have approached the decision from a more realistic position. Waves of compassion for my young self swept through me.
But now I had insight and understanding, and things could be different. I read every book I could find. I attended many seminars, near and far. Vallombrosa became my second home. I enrolled in the certification program, took every new class Helen and David offered and started teaching the Enneagram with a passion I’d never known before. In 1993, I also joined the Diamond Heart work founded by Hameed Ali, which provided another container for me to further explore spiritual development.
I had hope. I believed there was a way to get beyond the pain and limitations of my habitual patterns and I was going to get there. Hard work and commitment were not alien to me. I was certain that if I just put enough effort into the task, I would find freedom.
Twenty-two years later, of course, I have a very different understanding of what it means to be “free.” In the beginning, I thought I could get rid of fear. It was a setback every time my type’s patterns reoccurred. As Helen teaches, however, I can see progress when I look sideways. Though my type structure still hangs around like an old habit, I certainly wear it more lightly than before, at least some of the time.
My path has become simpler and my expectations have been refined. Now I just try to be present to each moment as it is – not with my preferences or desires, but just here, aware. “This breath now.” Helen’s refrain echoes in me. But, but, but, my mind fills. I should be doing this or that. Back, back, back. The practice is really simple, but not easy. It is essentially what we’ve learned from Helen and David, strengthening our capacity to observe ourselves, captured in David’s famous “three little laws”:
1. Wherever attention goes, energy follows.
2. Management of attention and energy requires self-observation.
3. While self-observation can be taught and becomes easier, it never becomes habitual. It requires continuing practice.
When I hit blocks that don’t dissolve by applying attention, the challenge is, of course, much greater. Such difficulties require additional approaches and tools, but everything begins with the development of the inner observer and placement of attention.
What we practice in our work with the Enneagram and the Narrative Tradition coincides beautifully with the results of a ten-year research study conducted by the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and recorded in a book entitled Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life (2007). A team from IONS interviewed more than fifty teachers from different religions, cultures, and traditions to see if they could find the key elements of the transformation process. Four elements showed up consistently in each of the traditions: intention, attention, repetition, and a generous dose of guidance.
Intention
One has to engage the process. For most of us, change and growth won’t happen without our conscious participation. Hameed Ali speaks of “grace and impeccability.” Grace is always there; we don’t earn it. But impeccability is our part. It’s doing our best - not being perfect, but orienting toward wanting to know the truth.
Attention
As the Narrative Tradition teaches, how we pay attention and what we attend to is central to spiritual growth. When we shift our point of view, people and events do not remain the same.
Repetition
David’s third law says we have to practice, practice, practice. It takes repetition to make new pathways. The good news from neuroscience is that our brains are plastic. New grooves can be laid down in our brains, but if we don’t practice, our energy will keep following the same old pathways.
A Generous Dose of Guidance
It’s my experience that we need others on this path, other travelers as well as guides who has been around the block a few more times than we have. Some few may be able to engage this work alone, and they are to be commended for that. Most of us, however, need others to help us as we seek not only wisdom, but the capacity to live that wisdom every day in our ordinary lives.
I suspect that’s why I’m drawn to the Narrative. We are all each other’s teachers. It is through the sacred sharing of stories on panels that we gain compassion, open and grow. I also know that I would not be where I am today without the wise and loving support of the more “official” teachers who have been at my side these past two decades.
My desire to be “finished with the work of transformation” still lingers, but it, too, has taken on new meaning for me. When it arises, I no longer take it as a marker of my “failure” or a measure of how far I have left to travel before reaching my goal. Though it still triggers pangs of longing, I am now more able to greet it as a reminder of the need for compassion for myself, and for all who walk the path with no goal.
__________ Enneagram Monthly, Issue 183, December 2011
Terry Saracino has been teaching the Enneagram as a tool for personal, professional and spiritual growth since 1989. The Enneagram is her life long passion. She is currently the Executive Director of Enneagram Studies in the Narrative Tradition and a training associate for the Enneagram Professional Training Program. For more information, visit www.enneagramworldwide.com