Our potential

It is amazing to me that we can sometimes see things in a way that is completely opposite to the reality. One such example is that we often think we are lacking in some way, are 'not enough' or somehow uniquely deficient while other people are whole and have their act together. But this, as all spiritual teachers tell us, is not true. Listen to Joseph Campbell on the subject:

'You are more than you think you are. There are dimensions of your being and a potential for realization and consciousness that are not included in your concept of yourself. Your life is much deeper and broader than you conceive it to be here. What you are living is but a fractional inkling of what is really within you, what gives you life, breadth, and depth'.

- Joseph Campbell

in fact we are not only 'enough', we are much more than enough. As the Enneagram teaches, we are much wider and deeper than we imagine ourselves to be. Why is this? Because the moment we have an idea of ourself (a 'concept' as Joseph Campbell calls it here), we limit ourselves. In other words, the moment we have an ego - because our ego tells us who we are and who we're not and so it puts us in a box. We aren't aware of this and so we also aren't aware of the nature of the box we're in, which is why we need to be taught about it. This is what the Enneagram does. It shows us the nature of our ego and therefore the box we're in. But even if we don't learn about the Enneagram, it is important to know that who we are and who we think we are are separate and not the same. We are so much bigger than we think we are, our potential so much more. Our tragedy is that often we don't realise it.