Most people resent the idea that their actions may be ruled by personality, since they see themselves as free-thinking and unique. Yet every day on both the individual and collective levels, predictable and powerful personality dynamics are on display (if you know how to look) and these cause us to go round and round in circles.
I favour the Enneagram personality system (http://www.torontotaichimeditationcentre.com/TheEnneagram.html), which was used by the mystic Sufis and introduced to me by my own meditation teacher, Dhiravamsa. It has proved invaluable in all my relationships and in those of my students and intimates who have investigated their own personalities.
The election of Rob Ford as Mayor of Toronto as well as the constant bullying tactics of the right wing (both in the USA and Canada) constantly remind me of the Enneagram personality #8. Here are excerpts from my book, “The Conscious I”: #8s see the world as a hostile environment where justice must be enforced through strength. They seek power so that they can stand up for themselves and for those under their protection. Many leaders and bosses are #8s. They not only gravitate towards positions of power but are often physically strong and imposing. They tend to be combative, assertive and forceful, generally unselfconscious about displaying anger....Although #8s are good at fighting external enemies, they are not so skilled at combating the internal ones. They tend to suppress or avoid anything within themselves that they associate with weakness - tenderness, sensitivity, compassion, yielding. In so doing, they choke off their capacity to love and be loved; they isolate themselves. #8s try to fill this self-created void with sensual excess – sex, alcohol, drugs or food. #8s also avoid introspection because it might undermine their simplistic notions of right and wrong...They want to know who are the “good guys” and who are the “bad guys”. In their minds, they are of course the “good guys”.
Recognize anyone in your personal life, at work or in politics? #8s often elbow people out of the way to get to power positions, but we often let them or in politics, we often elect them or follow them because they seem so sure and their message so simplistic and righteous. They don’t back down and are often abusive in trying to enforce their will. Many of us understandably see these as leadership qualities, but in an era of increasing (if not overwhelming) complexity, simplistic and forceful solutions are inadequate (sometimes very destructive) and often lead to escalating conflict. What we need now in this era of global challenges is not more conflict and polarisation, but cooperation! Obvious #8s on the current political scene include Rob Ford, Rush Limbaugh (and most of Fox News shout-down team) and Gadhafi. Hells Angels, bosses in the workplace and lawyers are often #8s.
The American neo-cons (slavishly imitated by Harper’s Tories) have adopted policies and attitudes that largely conform to the #8 personality (with a good dose of the #6 personality paranoia):
1. Simplify the problem/ solution, using clear black and white terms: No regulations, no taxes, “family values”, elevation of the army etc.
2. Make positions extreme and polarized, staking out he position as the “good (All-American) guy: With us/ against us, American/ Un-American, Ordinary people/ Elites, Free Market/ Socialists
3. Never back down or apologize. Always go on the attack, even when attacked. Attack ads and verbal abuse (often spiced with unfounded “facts”) in the media are no surprise in this respect. Neo-cons count on the fact that people will forget their outrageous antics and pronouncements.. but mud sticks...bullying wears you down.
4. Grab as much power as you can: appoint your own people to power positions; cut funding to causes you don’t like and fund your own; use powerful friends to advance your cause and repay them with political favours; change the rules in your own favour.
Originally, the Enneagram was used for spiritual purposes – to help spiritual seekers understand the inner dynamics that sabotaged them. Each personality (there are 9 in all) has both positive and negative qualities. The aim is not to celebrate one personality over the other but to be able to learn from all personalities, which are all aspects of truth but not the whole truth...the One.