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The Spiritual Dimension
of the Enneagram

On-Demand Course

With Sandra Maitri

Available Now!

Inner Work Includes Both Psychological Understanding and a Spiritual Orientation (the Enneagram)

The Enneagram of Personality describes nine personality or ego types that arise as a result of loss of contact with our True Nature in early childhood.

Fundamental to each type is a fixed orientation toward oneself and life that results from this loss.

Out of these “fixations”, whole patterns of mental, emotional, and behavioral tendencies develop. Through understanding the enneagram, we can develop a much clearer sense of what in ourselves is ultimately real and what is mechanical pattern.

This allows detachment from the inner structures that separate us from our spiritual depths, and helps us develop more understanding and acceptance of ourselves and of others.

While much information is currently available about the psychology of the nine types, the spiritual dimension out of which they arise is seldom recognized or taught.

In this 10-session course, we will explore how the particular ‘take’ on reality at the core of each of the nine types begins, and the belief-structures, emotional patterns, and behaviors that result.

In this way, we will understand the basic outlines of each of the nine types and the rationales underlying them.

While the enneagram is a very powerful and accurate map of the personality or ego structure, it does not tell us how to work through the terrain it describes.

This working through only happens through inner work that encompasses both psychological understanding as well as a spiritual orientation.

Sandra’s teaching of the enneagram is informed by her decades of work as a teacher of the Diamond Approach to Inner Realization.

The material will be taught through lectures and experiential exercises to directly connect with the teaching in the immediacy of one’s own personal experience.

This is a self paced course that you may follow at your own schedule.

Module 1 – Introduction

In this first module, we will receive an overview of the ancient system of the enneagram, and learn about its place in spiritual work. We will see how each of the nine ennea-types results from the loss of contact with our deepest nature, and how our personality or ego structure mushrooms out of this virtual disconnection. The module will focus on the process of this apparent disconnection utilizing the ‘theory of holes’ as taught in the Diamond Approach. We will explore:

  • How the ego is based on erroneous views of reality, and how this view results from loss of the nine realized views known as the Holy Ideas in the language of the enneagram.
  • How each of these distorted views colors how we think, feel, and behave.
  • How understanding the enneagram can support our Inner Journey and the transformation of our consciousness. This module gives a foundation for the rest of the program, giving you an understanding of this system that supports our inner work and unfoldment.

View the first module of the course above for free.

Experiential Exploration of the Nine Types

The following modules explore in detail the nine ennea-types, both from the perspective of finding each within ourselves and also from the perspective that one is most central to our personality or ego. Each is described, beginning with the disconnection from Being and the resulting loss of a particular truth about our deepest nature. In its wake, a distorted or erroneous view of reality results, which forms the core—or fixation—at the heart of each ennea-type. We will see how each of the types develops specific patterns of thought, of emotion, and of behavior based on this core distortion. Well-known exemplars are presented to help us get a feeling for each character type.

Each module, including Module One, includes exercises that can be done with others or on your own to help you experientially connect with the material and make it real in your lived experience.

Module 2 – Ennea-type Nine: Ego Indolence

In this module, we will explore the central ego-type out of which all the others differentiate. We will see how its manifestations in ourselves and especially in those of this ennea-type has to do with ‘falling asleep to’ or tuning out our deepest nature. It will provide you with an understanding of how the laziness characteristic of this ennea-type operates within yourself, so that you can effectively engage this tendency.

Module 3 – Ennea-type Six: Ego Cowardice

The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram with Sandra Maitri

We will explore in this module existential angst that is a characteristic of egoic life. It is the central issue for this ennea-type, and we will explore its root and manifestations in our lives. It will give you understanding to help orient your inner inquiry and practice in such a way that the underpinnings of this angst can relax.

Module 4 – Ennea-type Three: Ego Vanity

A central characteristic of our personality or ego is that it has no ultimate existence and is a virtual reality. In this module, we will explore the ennea-type whose central orientation has to do with creating and maintaining this illusory structure. We will explore image-consciousness both in ourselves and as the central preoccupation of those of this ennea-type, and thus support our penetration of its mirage.

Module 5 – Ennea-type One: Ego Resentment

We all have to grapple with our inner critic, and that is the central focus for this ennea-type. We will explore the roots of our striving after perfection within ourselves, and our attempts to make others conform to our notions of what is ‘good’ and ‘correct.’ As we understand this ennea-type, we will discover how this universal human tendency is based on a distorted view, and in this way support our disengagement from the One inside ourselves.

Module 6 – Ennea-type Four: Ego Melancholy

The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram with Sandra Maitri

A basic assumption in all ego types is that we are disconnected from something precious, and our hearts mourn that loss. This is central for this ennea-type. We will explore how this perceived separation of our consciousness from its ground leads to striving for reconnection that is often sought through artistic pursuits and relationship. By understanding this ennea-type within ourselves, we will see that we have never been disconnected.

Module 7 – Ennea-type Two: Ego Flattery

The need for love is common to us all, and is the central focus of this ennea-type. Twos strive for connection with others as a means of completing or connecting to themselves. Our exploration of this ennea-type highlights our tendency to become dependent upon others for our self-love, self-value, and self-esteem; and even for a depth of contact with ourselves. Working with this ennea-type, we see that realization requires being at the center of our own consciousness.

Module 8 – Ennea-type Eight: Ego Revenge

I See You Mara! From Inner Critic to Inner Freedom with Martin Aylward

The tendency to blame others for our perceived deficits and to try to be invulnerable is another characteristic of egoic life. It is the central concern for this ennea-type, and we will explore its inner logic as well as the personality traits that result when this preoccupation is highlighted. In this way, we will gain understanding that supports opening our hearts and allowing ourselves to be deeply touched.

Module 9 – Ennea-type Five: Ego Stinginess

A building block of the ego structure is identification with our bodies and the resulting sense that we are ultimately separate. This is the central delusion for this ennea-type, resulting in characteristic patterns aimed at conserving what we have and what we are. By exploring this ennea-type, we will understand how this universal belief colors our lives until we recognize our inseparability.

Module 10 – Ennea-type Seven: Ego Planning

This module focuses on the ennea-type for whom mapping and planning how reality—both inner and outer—work. We will see how this results from a disconnection with the knowingness that everything, including ourselves, unfolds according to natural laws. By understanding this orientation, we support our trust in our own process.

On-Demand Course Details

Sandra Maitri

13 Hours of video teachings

Filmed in high definition with only you in mind, having an intimate and personal feel that will keep you engaged as your body, mind and heart tune in.

Experiential Inquiries

Deepen and embody your understanding of the teachings with exercises that Sandra provides with each module. These can be done with a partner, or alone in journalling form.

Recorded Q&A Sessions

Videos of 2 recorded interactive sessions from a previous live release of the course are included.

30 Day Refund Guarantee

If you're unsatisfied with the course for any reason, please contact us within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.

About Sandra Maitri

Sandra Maitri

Sandra Maitri is a supervising teacher in the Ridhwan School, home of the Diamond Approach, and a member of its leadership council. She leads groups in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the United Kingdom, and has a private practice in Marin County, California.  

In the early seventies, she became a student of Claudio Naranjo, MD, a pioneer in transpersonal psychology, synthesizing Western psychology and the Eastern and Middle Eastern spiritual traditions.  

Along with A.H. Almaas, founder of the Diamond Approach, she became a member of Naranjo’s original SAT group where he first presented the enneagram and its function as a spiritual tool.  

She has taught the enneagram for four decades, and is the author of The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram: Nine Faces of the Soul (2000) and The Enneagram of Passions and Virtues: Finding the Way Home (2005). Click here to learn more about Sandra Maitri.