Monkey Magic

Image by Nod Young via Flickr

I was always a big fan of the Monkey! series when I was a kid. If you don't know it, it's the dubbed into English version of a Japanese series based on a Chinese classic of literature. The hero Monkey is a monkey god (or demon or spirit) born from a stone egg called thought. In the first episode he is punished for running amok in heaven by being buried under a mountain for 500 years and is released on condition that he helps the monk Tripitaka travel to India to collect some holy scrolls. Pigsy (a pig spirit) and Sandy (a water spirit) have also been thrown out of heaven for bad behaviour and are likewise given a chance to redeem themselves by helping Tripitaka on his journey. The fifth member of the party is a dragon in the shape of a white horse. The rest of the first series and the second one are mostly about them fighting and overcoming demons, which is often made more difficult by Tripitaka's inconsistent pacifism.

I recently watched the whole two series again on dvd and still love it. It's not high art by any means but it is charming and entertaining. The plots are usually quite simple and often inconsistent. The costumes and special effects are reminiscent of early Dr Who (it can't possibly be the same quarry though). The wise Buddhist sayings that are thrown in and the unexplained sex changes also add to the strange and fascinating mixture.

One thing that is repeated every week is that they are on a journey as long as life. The series is full of metaphors like that. (Yes, I know it is a simile, but the journey is a metaphor for life as well.) They are travelling towards enlightenment by overcoming their personal demons (and the demons do quite often come out of their own heads).

But what does all this have to do with the Enneagram? I'm getting there.

After I watched the series again I decided to buy the book that it was based on, Journey to the West, in English translation of course. It had already struck me as I watched Monkey! this time round that Tripitaka's three disciples represented both the good and bad side of the three centres of intelligence.

Pigsy, representing the gut or body centre, is immensely strong and powerful and does most of the carrying. But he also gives in easily to his monstrous appetite for food and the opposite sex.

Sandy, representing the heart centre, is the one who looks out for Tripitaka most, and is concerned for him when he suffers from tiredness and  hunger. He also acts as a go-between when Tripitaka has fallen out with Monkey. But he tends to mope and complain and drown his sorrows in wine.

Monkey, of course, represents the head centre. He is clever, is a master of illusion, and can always think of a way out of their problems. But he is always looking for the easy way and prefers tricks to hard work. His tricks and deceptions always lead to his downfall.

Having started reading Journey to the West, their names also fit in with the Enneagram centres. The bodhisattva Guanyin gives Sandy and Pigsy Buddhist names (Monkey had earned his earlier). Pigsy is Zhu Wuneng, or Pig Awakened to Power. Sandy is Sha Wujing, or Sand Awakened to Purity. And Monkey is Sun Wukong, or Monkey Awakened to Emptiness.

So, bearing in mind the centres that they represent, Tripitaka sets out on his journey as long as life with a body awakened to power, a heart awakened to purity and a mind awakened to emptiness. What else could he possibly need?

Conscious Leadership with NLP and the Enneagram

Eric Salmon and Robert Dilts, leaders in the fields of the Enneagram and NLP, are offering a seminar on the use of these amazing tools in conscious leadership. This will be in Paris, February 7th and 8th 2011, and you can find out more and book a place here:

http://www.cee-enneagramme.eu/evenements/conscious-leadership/

Enneagram news: Naranjo to visit UK

Claudio Naranjo, who brought the knowledge of the Enneagram to California and from there to the world, will be visiting the UK this December to give a workshop on the psychospiritual approach to the Enneagram.

More details and booking information are available at http://www.naranjoinstitute.org.uk.

Still possible to enrol

Due to problems with the brochures not getting out in time, there are still plenty of places available on this course, so get in touch if you want to do it and didn't make the enrolment evening. There are also places left on plenty of other adult education classes at Lowton High School and Golborne High School, including tai chi or embroidery on Monday evenings, or belly dancing with Jane Hanley on Tuesday nights (women only, I'm afraid!)

Enrolment for Golborne Enneagram course

Image via Wikipedia

Enrolment for my introductory Enneagram course will be this coming Tuesday (7th September) at Lowton High School between 5pm and 7pm.

The course itself will be at nearby Golborne High School on Tuesday mornings from 10am to midday. It will run for 10 weeks from Tuesday 28th September and is called "An Introduction to Personal Development". The centre manager quite reasonably thought that calling it "An Introduction to the Enneagram" wouldn't mean very much to most people, so I did call it "An Introduction to Personal Development using Personality Typing". This is a bit of a mouthful and the last bit seems to have got lost somewhere along the way!

If you live locally and are interested in learning more about the Enneagram and using it for personal development, then come along and sign up. The course fees are very reasonable (£25 for the 10-week course).

10% discount offer extended

I've decided to extend the 10% discount on my Enneagram courses until Monday 30th August. Because I'm a 9, and 9s are nice. :)

You can sign up at www.enneangel.com.

Typing people close to you

I've always said that I think typing people close to you (family and close friends) is harder than typing strangers. Our Enneagram type is like a holographic image going through us that shows up in the smallest parts of our lives. So a complete stranger walking past me in an airport might say "yep, there goes a nine" based on a few minor details, and they would be right.

Whereas, with the people closest to you, you don't have the distance to see them as a whole. And your relationship with them can obscure things as well. When I first got interested in the Enneagram and tried typing my family, my first thought about my mum was "she's loud and bossy - she's an eight". After a while I started to think about her preoccupation with security and paranoia about certain institutions. She relates to me as a mother by worrying about everything that could possibly go wrong for me and any danger I might be in. So for many years I have thought of her as a six. Something was missing though. We've always had communication problems because we see the world in very different ways.

Having recently spent a lot of time with her on the holiday we spent together I've had plenty of opportunities to think about our relationship and where we are both coming from, and I've come to the conclusion that my first impulse was the right one. She is an eight. A lot of the issues with security are from her survival subtype. But the things that wind me up most about her come from her eightness - the being controlling and confrontational and being too busy putting her point across to listen to anyone else's. Don't get me wrong - she does have the eightish virtues as well. She can be extraordinarily generous and I know that if ever I was in real trouble she would fight my corner, whatever our personal differences.

Having this epiphany about her type and what it means in our relationship has come as something of a relief. She is just as infuriating as ever, but knowing where she's coming from makes it easier to deal with. So does recognising that her good points are coming from the same place as her bad ones. And that, I guess, is the beauty of the Enneagram.