From Fixation to Freedom: The Enneagram of Liberation [Paperback]

Eli Jaxon-Bear (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2007

Your true nature is happiness and bliss. Ramana Maharshi Everyone wants to be happy. This is a universal component of the human condition and may seem so self-evident that it does not bear noting. So why is it that so few people are truly happy? If it is true that our nature is happiness and bliss, why has it been so rare for people to realize this? Why has it been so rare for people to live their lives in gratitude and love? There is a living intelligence in all people that seeks ultimately to discover its true identity and source. It is a fortunate and mysterious moment when the desire for happiness leads to the investigation into personal identity, also known as self-inquiry. In the light of direct self-inquiry, limitations that once seemed to define oneself are discovered to be more like transparent lines drawn on water. They exist only on the surface of consciousness in one s imagination. When these illusions of mind are clearly exposed, true limitless being reveals itself. The Enneagram has appeared in our time as an illusory medicine to cure an imaginary disease. The disease is the egoic idea of separation from God, from one s true source. The cure is to look in the wisdom mirror of the Enneagram to see past all false identification to the truth of being. Eli Jaxon-Bear presents a radically new model of the ego and the psyche. Bringing together his background in Buddhism with the Sufi work on essence, he presents a fresh approach to awakening by using the Enneagram s nine fixated structures of ego to clearly describe who you are not. You will see how habits of egoic identification continuously appear to veil the pure, pristine consciousness that you truly are. When these habits of mind are exposed, there is a clear choice to end the bondage of ego-based suffering and to realize the vast, inherent freedom of one s true nature. In this book, Eli gives us the map of the prison of mind and the keys to freedom.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Eli s profound teaching of the Enneagram is a support for true self-investigation. His model of the ego is useful for all seekers after truth. He shows the traps of mind and the possibility of waking up from the trance of suffering. --Gangaji

An enlightened Teacher opens a new path to direct self-inquiry. --H.R. McGonigal

From Fixation to Freedom: The Enneagram of Liberation is aptly named. Eli Jaxon-Bear has written a warm, engrossing book on the process of seeing through the veils. Readers sincerely seeking to use the Enneagram as part of their spiritual journey will be well-served by the wit and wisdom on these pages. --Russ Hudson & Don Richard Riso

About the Author

Eli Jaxon-Bear was born Elliot Jay Zeldow in Brooklyn, New York, in 1947. An 18-year spiritual search took him into many traditions and practices. His path and his search ended when he traveled to India in 1990, where he met his final teacher, Sri H.W.L. Poonja. Confirming Eli s realization, his teacher sent him back into the world to hold satsang and share his unique psychological insights into the nature of egoic suffering, in support of self-realization. Eli is the author of Sudden Awakening into Direct Realization, and the editor of Wake Up and Roar: Satsang with H.W.L. Poonja, Volumes 1 & 2.

Product Details

• Paperback: 266 pages
• Publisher: Leela Foundation (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893840263
• ISBN-13: 978-1893840263
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightenment and humor too- I give it an A+, March 18, 2002

By 

Hallie (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Enneagram of Liberation: From Fixation to Freedom (Hardcover)

With each new chapter, Jaxon-Bear unveils another breed of ego cover-up, another mask, another method of subconscious madness. And yet, he gives us a way out.

After all nine styles of "fixation" are revealed to be only self-hypnosis, role playing- the reader is then set free and may begin a life of true happiness, peace and mental quietude.

The Enneagram of Liberation differs dramatically from the Enneagram books of Riso, Palmer and the like...in that here, the tool is used to LIBERATE instead of further identify with another brand of personality, to better the surface area of personality.

The Enneagram of Liberation illuminates where the ego is stuck and believing itself to be real. When really, ego is mirage, nothing at all. The title is a signal alert to readers that unlike most books on the subject, this one is totally unique by freeing them from what they are about to learn, the very make-up of "who-ness" will be liberated.

Readers will no doubt examine that who-ness, who they have adhered to so adamantly as self. Other books on the subject while informational, lean towards further identification with the points...as in, "How to be a better Eight." But now we see in Jaxon-Bear's context, that is comparable metaphorically with "How to better dress up the jail cell of imaginary confinement and suffering." Clearly, this is a new way of presenting a very ancient symbol, one meant to liberate, not to further enslave.

(good quote alert:)

"Here we have a radically different approach. Those interested in waking up shouldn't miss a page of the book's wisdom, truth, and humor. No one need pass a new age exam to understand. There are no practices, no mandatory mantras. Just a direct route to the core Truth... through self-examination."

With his masterful insight, Jaxon-Bear places the sacred tool of the Enneagram within the context of enlightenment, Satsang, Truth, of waking up to a different kind of identity..no identification at all. He leads us so wisely and simply to what the Tibetans call Super-Consciousness, our own nature. He shows that Self awareness is possible in this life.

(Enlightenment and humor too- I give it an A+)

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars if you enjoyed The Power of Now check this out, June 14, 2004

By 

J. A. Bos "emperor of ice-cream" (some brothel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Enneagram of Liberation: From Fixation to Freedom (Hardcover)

I just wanted to address the one negative review as I feel that it is misleading
The negative review mistated that Eli's book "veers away and does not give appropriate credit to Enneagram pioneers." in a sense this is true it definitely veers away from the mainstream interpretation of the enneagram but lets illuminate. Eli has given much credit to Gurdjieff (who has been credited with bring the enneagram to the west) and also Eli gives credit to Oscar Ichazo who was a pioneer in applying the ennegram to humanistic psychology. What he does not give much credit to is the jesuit interpretation and the current Riso-Hudson books, the Palmer books, and the countless magazine personality/romance tests.
Where as the Riso-hudson books and the like are interested in defining who you are and maybe helping you create a healthier you. The Jaxson-Bear book is solely interested in you seeing what you have unconsciouly limited yourself as and your experience to and then showing you that boundlessly much more is possible.
So there is a big diference. The Riso-Hudson books say, and I'm paraphrasing - this is who you are and lets make you the best you you can be - the Jaxson-Bear book says -this is what you have unconsciously identified yourself as and it is a cage - lets find the whole truth of who you really are!
All in all it is a powerful book that might just change your entire life.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spiritual Self-Actualization with the Enneagram- Great Book!, August 21, 2004

By 

Peter Messerschmidt "denmarkguy" (Port Townsend, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Enneagram of Liberation: From Fixation to Freedom (Hardcover)

I thought I was ready to review Eli Jaxon-Bear's "The Enneagram of Liberation" shortly after I first read it, about a year ago. However, in spite of having been a student of the enneagram for many years, I realized that I really didn't have a clear sense of how to describe the book. After a recent second reading, followed by a five-day workshop based on the principles outlined in the book, the penny finally dropped-- this is definitely a fresh new approach to an old system. Indeed, the reviewer with the negative opinion (elsewhere in these pages) is EXACTLY right in saying that this is NOT like other enneagram books.

Eli Jaxon-Bear really did not write a book "about" the Enneagram-- as most people are familiar with it-- as a work to determine psychological personality types; rather, he wrote a book about self-actualization, "using" the Enneagram as a "framework" to guide the reader. If you are looking for a "descriptive text" about the history, use and mechanics of the Enneagram strictly from a personality type perspective, this is probably NOT the best book for you-- I'd recommend something by Riso & Hudson, or by Helen Palmer. However, if you are looking for an insightful spiritually-based guide to self-understanding, this is a very insightful book. Having a working knowledge of the Enneagram might be helpful before starting this book, but is by no means essential.

The author uses the Enneagram to examine the nine different psychological fixations and "ego-structures" that correspond to the nine enneagram points, and explains how each Enneagram type's "fixation" is also what prevents them from living and experiencing an "authentic" life. The text is clear and easy to understand, with the first part of the book covering some basic explanations and background of the system; the largest (middle) section describing the different ego-structures and fixations of each of the nine Enneagram types; the final section offering insights towards attaining an "enlightened" or "liberated" state of being through the realization and acceptance that the limiting "identities" we assume through the ego are no more than illusions. Throughout, Bear offers examples from his workshops, as well as from his own journey of self-discovery, which draws predominantly from Eastern thought and philosophy (Buddhism & Sufism). Overall, I have found "The Enneagram of Liberation" to be a very valuable addition to my library of enneagram books.

Final thoughts: Highly recommended (10 out of a possible 10 bookmarks). However, it is important to remember that this is NOT a book about "personality typing," but a book about self-growth. In general, I'd suggest a working knowledge of the Enneagram prior to reading this, or at least a working knowledge of the self-examination process.