Someone once said that when you are surprised by encountering the same truth in what appear to be two completely unconnected sources you need to pay attention because the Divine is trying to tell you something important.  That dynamic occurred in my life several years ago as I was part of an immersive enneagram training on the Dominant Instincts, how their stack order determines the various enneagram Subtypes and, thus, how our behavior is being unconsciously but dramatically shaped.  As soon as the teacher named the three human instincts - Sexual/Self Preservation/Social - my mind connected to the moment years earlier when I first laid eyes on the opening lines about Step 4 in The 12 Steps and 12 Traditions: “Creation gave us instincts for a purpose…(but) our desires for sex, material and emotional security, and for an important place in society often tyrannize us.”   Here were the same three instincts, almost word-for-word, being offered as a key to becoming self-aware at a level that offered the hope of transformative change, in both of these seemingly disparate and unconnected systems!

That epiphany launched me on a search to see if this was mere coincidence or if the enneagram and 12 Steps had other touch-points, and to my delight, there were many. That led to discovering some mostly-obscured (and somewhat indirect but tangible) historical influences of enneagram principles on the development of the 12 Steps wisdom principles and practices.  Which launched my next search: who out in the world of recovery and consciousness work had also noticed this, were ahead of me, and might guide me deeper in my own spiritual journey?  The search led to the subject of our podcast interview today: author, poet, spiritual director, attorney and one of my mentors, Don Carroll. Join me on How’s That Working for You for Part 1 of a beautifully wise and strong conversation with one of our generations gentle elders.