The Enneagram of Passions and Virtues: Finding the Way Home [Hardcover]

Sandra Maitri (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 5, 2005

How the mysterious nine-pointed symbol of the enneagram illuminates the worst pitfalls and highest virtues of our psyches.

The Enneagram of Passions and Virtues elucidates human experience beyond the personality structure. In the tradition of the enneagram, the Virtues are said to be the affective atmosphere that replaces the compulsive and reactive emotional patterns-called the Passions-as one becomes freer of the ego.

Sandra Maitri shows how the shift in our consciousness, or soul, from being informed by the Passions to being informed by the Virtues, is one of the hallmarks of inner development. In this book, Maitri explores how our awareness of the Passions, in turn, leads to the manifestation of the Virtues. This shift supports rowth on the level of personality as well as on the level of what is beyond-Being, or True Nature.

Maitri is widely known as one of the most literate and indepth writers and teachers on the uses of the enneagram as a tool of inner development. In this book she provides what can be for some an entry into inner work, and for others, who have been engaged in the journey for a longer time, a uniquely incisive explication of concepts they may have missed.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In this second book on the enneagram by Sandra Maitri, she succeeds again, and in a more effective way, in showing how the enneagram is-more than anything else-a tool for inner transformation. She achieves this in a new way, one that illuminates the basic and subtle aspects on the path of transformation."
-A. H. Almaas --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Sandra Maitri was a member of the first group of students to whom the Chilean psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo presented the enneagram system in the U.S. almost three decades ago. Throughout her many years of studying and teaching it, Maitri has preserved the legacy of this original transmission. In addition to her work with Naranjo, she has studied with various Eastern and Western spiritual and psychological teachers, including A.H. Almaas, founder of the contemporary spiritual path, the Diamond Approach. As one of the principal and supervising teachers of the Diamond Approach, she teaches the enneagram as part of the larger work of personal transformation, working with hundreds of students each year in the U.S. and Europe. She lives in Marin County, California.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher (May 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585424064
• ISBN-13: 978-1585424061
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,002,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE NEXT STEP, November 8, 2007

By 

A. Ensor (Minneapolis, Mn) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Enneagram of Passions and Virtues: Finding the Way Home (Hardcover)

I read this book about two years ago so unfortunately it is not fresh in my memory. However, the book did make a big impression on me at the time and I have frequently recommended it to others who have just begun their enneagram inquiries. I had previously read three books written by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson (Personality types, Understanding the Enneagram, and another less impressive I can't remember the title...). I found that "The Enneagram of passions and virtues" was the perfect next-step in learning about the enneagram. Each chapter more profound than the next, everything tying together beautifully. The author basically underlines nine virtues and nine passions- She goes into decent detail over the pairing of these virtues and passions. She says that she has found that most people relate most frequently with one of these pairs of virtues and passions. An example of this would be "Envy vs. Equanimity" or "Fear Vs. Courage". I really recommend this book to someone new to the enneagram, someone who is looking to dig a little deeper. This begins with basic psychology, like Riso and Hudson, but goes beyond into the realm of the spiritual and existential (which, if you continue looking into the enneagram you are going to find its roots in spirituality anyway.) This book really helped me to understand myself and others, also what to do with the information in Riso and Hudson's books.

Another really great thing about this book is that it was much more of a gateway into this topic because it had so many great sources that after I finished reading this book I knew exactly where to go next. I was able to trace some of the roots and history of the enneagram as well as read other authors (such as Claudio Naranjo and Gurdjieff) who have written a great deal about the enneagram.

Finally, one criticism I do have about this book is that... well.... it was a bit cheesy. It seemed like the author would ocassionally go off for a few pages about how you can let your heart go free and let your soul go and move towards the light of ever-loving majestic type crap. I didn't really mind it at the time I was reading it, but it was a bit of a turn off. I guess it was just a bit excessive.

All in all, wonderful amazing book for the right person at the right time. Highly recommended to enneagram beginners. This book can be very intense and really open your eyes to human behavior and human intentions. It can really open you eyes and wake you up. This is a good thing.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spiritual view of the Enneagram, March 16, 2009

By 

John Hempstead (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Enneagram of Passions and Virtues: Finding the Way Home (Hardcover)

Reading Sandra Maitri is a little like wading through dark waters with gems in the creek bed. Reading is not quick and easy, but there are many rewards if you persist. I highly recommend any works of Sandra Maitri.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a broad perspective, February 15, 2010

By 

Michael George (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Enneagram of Passions and Virtues: Finding the Way Home (Paperback)

Sandra Maitri's book is useful for someone who knows a little about the enneagram (to the point at which they have narrowed down the possibilities for their type and appreciate the potential for understanding human experience provided by the enneagram). Then one wonders: Where do I go from here with this system?
S. Maitri provides a somewhat broad perspective on where she sees that people can go with the enneagram as a map into new territory. She focuses on a duality for each type, one choice seeming to lead us to an evolution our ego structures underwent when we were young, and we were filtering our experience through the lenses of the various types in order to enhance our survival and establish a distinct identity, and other visceral (or what one might call instinctive) goals of humans, and the other seeming to lead to greater and greater levels of interconnection and unity, as we probe (and possibly go beyond the sharp boundaries we established for ourselves when young) the seeming universal, within our particular experiences, and which transcend our particular filters or ennea-types.
She obviously seems convinced that this "higher" pursuit takes us in a direction beyond our materialistic orientation of science and technology, but what this might mean seems somewhat elusive (despite using capitalized words like "Being", suggestive of a supernatural orientation). She presents quite a balanced perspective, and frequently brings into the picture Freudian or Freudian-related viewpoints. This particular psychological vantage point is helpful, due to the broad interests of Freud and those who advanced the science after him.
I thought that her project in this book was very ambitious, and perhaps deviated a little into vagueness and superficiality by attempting to make so many connections. On the other hand, this large perspective is a valuable one to be exposed to as one person's vision about a direction for further investigation after assimilating some of the important ideas about the enneagram.