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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The 3x3 Faces of God: The Holy Ideas of A.H Almaas

The three faces of God each have facets.

The first person experiences of God include:
I am the non-dual unity of all that is.
I am the intrinsic positivity of presence.
I am the luminous perfection of now.

Almaas calls these experiences Holy Truth, Holy Love, and Holy Perfection.

[More below]
The second person experiences of God include:
I relate by surrendering to the unfolding flow of Being.
I relate by articulating the self-arising of Being.
I relate by harmonizing with the dynamic pattern of Being.

These are Holy Will, Holy Origin, and Holy Law.

The third person experiences of God include:
I recognize the interconnected multiplicity within unity.
I recognize the creative design of transformation.
I recognize the essential nature of all things.

These are Holy Omniscience, Holy Wisdom, and Holy Faith.

[From Facets of Unity]

Loss of contact with a Holy Idea results in a particular delusion about the Kosmos. The nine delusions are interconnected, and they are the basis of all egoic activity. In an individual, one particular delusion is usually strongest, resulting in a certain ego fixation which forms the core of the personality. Each fixation represents one way in which the ego tries to manufacture a substitute for the Holy Idea:

[From Enneagram Institute]

In regard to spiritual practice:
  • Spiritual traditions emphasize not only different faces of God, but also different facets thereof. Christianity, for example, emphasizes the three theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity -- the central triangle of the enneagram.
  • Certain spiritual practices will feel easier or harder depending on how central to your personality a particular point of the enneagram is. Enneatype 7 with an 8 wing, for example, will find practices concerning Holy Wisdom very difficult, and those concerning Holy Unity nearly so. Thus, we will feel more "at home" in certain spiritual traditions than others.
  • The Holy Ideas are interconnected, and each leads to the others. Thus, practices focused on one Holy Idea are "true, but partial." An integral spirituality would "transcend and include" each Holy Idea, emphasizing their interconnectedness.

3 comments:

  1. I like this so much I'm going to post it on my wall. Is this a summary of a particular work by Almas?

    Can you explain:
    "faith, hope, and charity, the central triangle of the eneagram"?

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's based on one of his books, titled Facets of Unity.

    The central triangle of the enneagram consists of points 3, 6, and 9, whose Holy Ideas are Holy Law/Holy Hope, Holy Faith, and Holy Love. Faith, hope, and charity, the three theological virtues, are one expression of this triad.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think when people will understand Holy truth then they will be able to fell Holy Love. www.holytruthfortheworld.co.cc

    ReplyDelete