The Enneagram of the Body - Chi and the Chakras
Part I
by Alan Sheets and Barbara Tovey
"All paths are the same: they lead nowhere.
...ask yourself, and yourself alone, one question.
...Does this path have a heart?
If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use."
- Don Juan Matus to Carlos Castaneda
The teachings of Don Juan: a Yaqui way of knowledge, pages 105-106
When we first began working with the concept of the Enneagram of the Body (in conjunction with Gina Catania), we noticed that all people assume one of nine unique postures which go hand in hand with a feeling of well being. Each posture has a direct correlation with an enneagram type. Once a person achieves this posture of strength, energy or "chi" seems to emanate most strongly from one of seven distinct locations in the body. (Enneagram points 3, 6 and 9 share a location, the sternum, but each of the three assumes a different posture of strength.) Further reflection and study of the seven points of emanating chi led us to discover that these points correspond with the locations of the seven "chakras" historically associated with Hinduism, Tantric Buddhism, and other religious traditions.
LEARNING ABOUT ENERGY OR "CHI"
I see and I forget
I hear and I remember
I do and I understand
- Chinese proverb
In Chinese and Japanese, "chi," "ki" and "qi" are all words which translate to mean the "universal life energy." In Sanskrit, the word is "prana," which means "absolute energy." They each are identifying the energy of life and of all things
There is an easily reproducible exercise in Aikido that demonstrates the concept of "chi" which is called the "unbendable arm." A student is asked to extend his or her arm in front of the body. The student is instructed to prevent the Aikido instructor from forcibly bending their arm at the elbow. Invariably, the student cannot keep his or her arm straight, and the instructor will be able to bend the arm at the elbow. Then we ask the student to imagine projecting energy through the arm and out the fingertips, directed to the wall in front of them, as if he or she were painting a picture on the wall with their fingers. They are directed not to use any muscular strength. After the student masters this visualization, the Aikido instructor will not be able to bend the arm at the elbow, as long as the student keeps the energy, or chi, flowing.
A black belt in Aikido, Alan noticed a similar thing happening when we started exploring the enneagram's relationship to the body. It felt to him that each enneagram type had a unique place in their body from where this same kind of energy projection, so familiar from Aikido training, would spontaneously and invariably occur. Whenever he guided an individual into their enneagram posture of strength he would find that, like the "unbendable arm" phenomena, he would feel an increase in energy emanating from them and he would then be unable to upset their balance and push them backwards.
ALAN: "I can still remember the first time my energy was enhanced by another person. It was during an Aikido throw by my teacher, Robert Nadeau. From the outside it looked like he redirected my attack by first lifting me high in the air and then slamming me into the mat with such force my teeth rattled. From the inside, it seemed time stood still and that he really saw me in a totally non-judgmental fashion. It felt like he had slowly picked me up, and then held me suspended in midair so he could adjust the mat for a smooth landing. Then it felt like he put me down so slowly and gently that I landed like a feather. It was such a powerful, intriguing experience; it made no sense to my conscious mind. I was driven to learn what he did and spent 13 years studying and practicing to accomplish this.
I was quite surprised to see this kind of seemingly magical/mystical experience coming out of the enneagram. Up to that point, I had known in the core of my being that there was much truth in the enneagram, but I had no explanation why. Once we discovered this body connection, its energetic component and the ensuing feeling of well being, the power of the enneagram began to make much more sense to us."
THE CHAKRAS
"The chakras are conceived of as focal points where psychic forces and bodily functions merge with and interact with each other. Among the supposed 88,000 chakras in the human body, six major ones located roughly along the spinal cord, and another one located at the crown of the skull, are of principal importance." - The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol 3, 1993, page 58
Rosalyn Bruyere describes the chakras in her book Wheels of Light, page 18, this way: "Different religious traditions have called these subtle energy centers different things, but the most commonly used is chakra from the Sanskrit word meaning "wheel of light." These seven chakras are who and what we are, what we feel and how we think and change. They are how we express ourselves and how we create. Although we as Westerners have no cognitive awareness of its energies, the chakra system is precisely the means by which we gain awareness. It is how we experience life, how we perceive reality, and how we relate to self, others, and the world...it is important for us to view our journey (the study of the chakras) not as revolutionary, but rather as very traditional. Chakras, as well as auras and electromagnetic fields, are as old as the earth itself. The chakra system, in fact, is a part of the ancient and lost mysteries."
There are many practices designed to "open" the chakras in order to increase the flow of energy in the body. Many of these come from Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism. It is thought that as the chakras are activated and awakened, one becomes increasingly aware of other realms of existence and gains the power to enter those realms. In turn, one develops an improved ability to function in the world of daily affairs.
The methods used to achieve this experience involve bodily postures, the purificatory practices, breathing, and meditation exercises that are common to Yoga. Traditionally, very long periods of time, usually many years, are devoted to these practices as the practitioner learns to shift into altered states which, in turn, stimulate the body to respond in new ways.
Upon reading from authoritative works about the chakras (works by Hiroshi Motoyama, Reverend Charles Leadbeater, Harish Johari, Barbara Brennan, in addition to the Gorakshashatakam, Purnananda's Shat-Chakra-Nirupana, and the Upanishads, etc.), it soon became very apparent how rich and complex a system this is and at the same time how difficult it is to consistently explain this virtually unmeasurable energetic phenomenon. It is beyond the scope of this article to go into greater depth about the purpose and function of the traditional chakra system.
THE ENNEAGRAM: A CHAKRA EXPLANATION
We are hypothesizing that there is a direct correlation between the enneagram and the chakras and that the enneagram may identify the qualities that come from having one chakra more "opened" or activated than the others. Hiroshi Motoyama states on Page 282 in Theories of the Chakras: Bridges to Higher Consciousness: "In each person one chakra is naturally more active than the others, but which one it is differs from person to person according to the individual's karma and nature."
We have observed that each type has an ability to do something better than the others. From where does this ability come? The chakras are purported portals to other dimensions. Might we, perhaps, be accessing this information from some other energetic level?
Our observations of the manner in which the chakras and the enneagram are related are limited to our own personal experiences. The Enneagram of the Body is a work in progress, and there is yet much to be learned! It is nevertheless an exciting possibility that these physical energetic configurations of the enneagram types could be intimately tied in with the chakras.
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CHAKRA NUMBER
|
ENNEAGRAM TYPE
|
PHYSICAL LOCATION
|
|
1
|
8
|
pelvis |
|
2
|
4
|
lower abdomen |
|
3 |
2
|
upper abdomen |
|
4
|
6
|
sternum |
|
4
|
3
|
sternum |
|
4
|
9
|
sternum |
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5
|
1
|
throat |
|
6
|
7
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forehead |
|
7
|
5
|
top of head |
ENNEAGRAM CHAKRA CORRELATIONS
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TYPE
|
NUMBER
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CORRELATION
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8
|
1
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Abdomen/Pelvis: The EOB identifies 8, 4 & 2 as dealing directly with human interactions. In the chakra system, this area is associated with physical and emotional earthly pursuits. |
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4
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2
|
|
|
2
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3
|
|
|
6
|
4
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Chest: The EOB identifies 6, 3 & 9 as dealing directly with the process for the mechanics of living. The 4th chakra is the transition chakra between earthly and spiritual pursuits. |
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3
|
4
|
|
|
9
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4
|
|
|
1
|
5
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Head: The EOB identifies 1, 7 & 5 as specializing in brain functions. In the chakra system, this area is associated with mental and spiritual pursuits. |
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5
|
6
|
|
|
7
|
7
|
