August 27, 2001
Personality And The Soul
Our
personalities are no more than the familiar, conditioned parts of a much wider
range of potentials that we all possess. Beyond
the limitations of our personalities, each of us exists as a vast, largely
unrecognized quality of Being or Presence – what is called our Essence.
In spiritual language we could say that within each person is an
individual spark of the Divine, although we have forgotten this fundamental
truth because we have fallen asleep to our true nature. . . It is also important
to distinguish Essence, or spirit, from “soul”. . . If Spirit were water,
soul would be a particular lake or river, and personality would be waves on its
surface – or frozen chunks of ice in the river.
Don Richard Riso & Russ Hudson
The
belief that the body lives in the soul helps us understand why people react the
way they do to the pressures, cares, anxieties and experiences of life. . .
Living in their outer personality only (the identifications, defense mechanisms,
reactions and skills we name the “ego”), these people learn to get by, get
along and get ahead, or they can learn the reverse. . . However, when people
develop soul strength, the experiences of life must first pass through and be
interpreted by soul and its values. The
stronger the soul or true self, the more depth, purpose and direction their
lives have because the soul adds new dimensions of meaning to each experience.
Kathy Hurley & Theodorre Donson
Over the years I have taken many different
personality profile tests. The
first one I ever remember came during my college days while I was working for a
bank. It was a simple foursquare
diagram that labeled the participant a driver, expressive, analytical, or
amiable. This first exposure to
profiling was like a parlor game of sorts that, at my level within the bank, had
little practical use. What I do
remember is that made me think about not who I was, but what personality I
wanted to have based on my vision of leadership qualities.
For almost thirty years I have been involved in
business retreats or workshops that have used these profiles to categorize the
personalities of co-workers and then teach how to manage, communicate, and
empathize with those co-workers to gain greater cooperation.
Perhaps one of the most recognized methods is the Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator Ô
that has roots in Jungian psychology and places people into one of sixteen
different categories.
The
ancient Greeks had a four-part system by which the characterized individuals:
the label “choleric” described the mystical and/or idealistic person; The
label “sanguine” described the cynical person; the term “phlegmatic” was
applied to the skeptic; and “melancholic” described the pessimist.
American Plains Indians categorized people according to the directions of
the compass. Each direction was
related to a specific behavior type: North meant innocent; South meant wisdom;
East meant imagination and new ideas; and introspection was the quality of the
West.
Recently, I was introduced to two different
approaches to how personality profiles can be used to assist us along the
spiritual path. Soul Types:
Finding The Spiritual Path That Is Right For You by Sandra Krebs Hirsh and
Jane A. G. Kise uses the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Ô
to help seekers understand how their personality type learns and filters
information in order to aid them in their spiritual journey.
It follows the logic that if we all react to life differently, but
fundamentally fall into one of sixteen personalities, then we should find
spiritual resources or methods that best suit one’s personality type.
They believe that this will lead a person to the Divine in a direct path.
The other is an ancient method of determining
personality types developed by the Sufis (Hindu mystics) and enhanced by monks
and philosophers over the centuries. It
is called the Enneagram and has nine types from which to determine your
personality. This method is based
on the notion that through the years, the ego or personality becomes stronger
and takes us away from the soul. By
understanding your type and recognizing healthy and unhealthy characteristics of
each profile, you can bring your ego into balance with all other types then
begin to connect with your soul to experience a more spiritual existence.
Regardless of the method or practice by which we
discover the surface of our being, it is a wasted exercise if that reflection is
not channeled to understand how it can aid us or hinder us in understanding our
soul’s potential. Simply knowing
how we think without using that knowledge to enrich our experience of life and
our unique role is like skimming across the surface of the water.
But if we choose to use that insight about our ego or personality, then
transcend its limitations to a soulful path, we can experience what is above and
below the surface of life.
With respect, acceptance, and love,
Richard
©
Richard D. Olson and Awaken The Soul, 2001
Excerpts
from – Discover You Soul Potential by Kathy Hurley & Theodorre
Donson; Copyright 2000 WindWalker Press