100. Nine Lenses on the World: the Enneagram Perspective

This is my primary text for the Studio E (Enneagram) Professionals Certification I am currently taking from October to May. I am glad I learned about personality theory in graduate school because this author refers to many of those early pioneers. This is definitely more academic in origin than other books I have read on the Enneagram (I think I am up to nine books now). It is not my favorite, but it is quite thorough on the explaining end. 

I think if I had to pick my favorite, it would be The Wisdom of the Enneagram for its comprehensive nature and practical application exercises sprinkled throughout. I am also a little biased because I love Russ Hudson's teaching, having taken a class on the instinctual variants in 2018-2019, and currently taking another one this fall on the Holy Ideas. He has such a heart, and I think he understands Type Two a lot better than most Enneagram experts. Riso and Hudson make The Wisdom of the Enneagram generic for all faiths (and might be alarming for some evangelicals), but I hear Riso's Ignatian roots throughout that book. I also really love The Sacred Enneagram for its tie to contemplative spirituality. 

The major drawback of Nine Lenses on the World is that it has no exercises. It tells you about "correcting lenses" that are healthy for you, but it offers no road to get there through exercises. I also don't think he totally gets the Type Two. (As I mentioned above, this is the reason why I like Riso/Hudson. I know Hudson gets them because I have heard him talk extensively about how Type Twos often feel very misunderstood by the majority of Enneagram gurus, and he gets why they feel that way. He is close to a lot of Type Twos, and I appreciate that he has years of experience to back that up.)  

This book is thorough at explaining things to the point of being too dry at times. I do love his references to characters in movies and literature who exemplify the nine types. That was fun. I have emailed with the author, and he seems like a lovely older gentleman. It was through him that I was connected to my current certification program. My trainer, Dale, is heavily influenced by this teacher and less influenced by Riso and Hudson, as he acknowledges in his cohort. I was glad to hear that one of my cohort members read The Wisdom of the Enneagram at a retreat once, and it changed her life. (She read it in 2 1/2 days - how on earth? It took me weeks to get through it.)

My next book will be by Bea Chestnut who everyone seems to really like. She is a Type Two (but a Self-Preservation Two, which is quite different from the other two instinctual variants because it is a counter type) which should be helpful since I am also a Type Two. It is good to hear from a variety of types who write these books though. 

The journey continues . . .