The Amiel Blog

Enneagram mantras and mudras

Another wonderful week with Russ Hudson and other teachers at the Enneagram Institute. This time in upstate New York and with an experiential focus on the somatics of each type at varying levels of health. An energetic and wise woman named Andrea Isaacs showed us how each of the nine types moves its body in the world at healthy, average and shadow levels. And she asked us to practice this ourselves. We actually moved around the room in each of these twenty seven permutations of somatic experience.

By the end, each participant developed a mantra (saying) and mudra (body movement) for the healthy level of each type. Yes, not just their own type, but all nine types because each type lives within us.

Here are my mantras and a description of the mudras. (Sometime I'll get photos of me doing the mantras):

• Type 8: Stately inner solidity. (Stand upright with arms down and palms facing out)
• Type 9: I have depth. (Press left foot firmly on ground, then repeat with right foot, feeling my connection to the earth)
• Type 1: I have dignified poise. (Hold both hands in front of my chest with palms facing each other, then move them together outward and hold).
• Type 2: I am receiving your love. (Reach out both hands and scoop the air toward my heart)
• Type 3: I am the greater glory. (Pull arms out to sides and then above head, meeting to form a circle)
• Type 4: Quiet deep emotional strength. (One hand on heart center and one on belly)
• Type 5: Infinite clarity. (Create circular shape with thumbs and pointing fingers, place in front of each eye, and project arms outward)
• Type 6: Strong and confident. (Move arms as though doing biceps exercise then hold in downward extension)
• Type 7: Rapture and elated. (Move up the front of my body and out to the sides).

Each mantra and mudras evokes a different type of energy and mood in my body. "I am receiving your love" evokes warm feelings in my heart and a sensation of taking in. "I am the greater glory" produces a sense of brilliant grandeur, a feeling of being large. "Raptured and elated", particularly when said with a raptured tone, produces this very feeling in my being. The mantras and mudras for types 8, 9, 1, 4 and 6, while different, all call forth deep presence and solidity.

So the question then becomes: when to practice the mantras and mudras? For the past week, I've practiced them at least once a day. Last night, we experimented with incorporating them into our Shabbat ritual. After three cleansing breaths and before the candlelighting, I did the mantras and mudras while Julie and Jacob watched. It takes about 45 seconds. I have offered to share my Enneagram notes with Julie so she can create her own. As for Jacob, I hope that hanging out with us while we embody these qualities will nourish his development and his access to the many dimensions of human being-ness. (More on other experiments with Shabbat to make it "our own" while building on the tradition in a future post).

 

Exploring Jewish Renewal

Last night, Julie and I went to a two hour talk and discussion on the history of Jewish renewal. It was wonderful. Music, history, debate, stories, and a sense of community. P'Nai Or, a renewal congregation in Portland, hosted it.

We are in the midst of exploring our family's spiritual path(s), and I continue to discover my own path. Judaism is part of both.

What distinguishes Jewish renewal from most mainstream congregations? According to the two rabbis who spoke, renewal is about developing a personal connection with God. I bet many mainstream congregations would contest that renewal has a monopoly on this, so I'd say it's a matter of emphasis. What I've enjoyed about Jewish renewal is the emphasis on contemplative (inner) practices like ecstatic chanting (different from even the merriest singing) and meditation. Reb Zalman, the living grandfather of Jewish renewal, who came out of Hasidism, likes to say that renewal is the R&D laboratory of Judaism.

So what was the biggest lesson from last night? It was not something said. Instead it came as an insight. I realized that there is a difference between expecting a congregation to provide everything you want and choosing to create what needs to be created. The preponderance of Boomers in P'Nai Or and the relatively small size of the congregation are either reasons not to join or opportunities to take initiative. The seeming absence of a regular meditation group doing true transformational R&D is either a reason to stay away or an opening to create something new. 

It feels awkward to imagine myself taking a leadership role in anything Jewish and even more of a stretch to do this within Jewish religion. What do I know? the inner-critic repeats with great insistence. Don't know Hebrew. Never studied the liturgy. And so on.

Yet something deeper within feels called to step forward and at least gather a few folks to support my nascent Jewish meditation practice. And perhaps getting involved with P'Nai Or is a way to do this--as well as a place for our family to build community. Stay tuned...