The Miraculous Part 4
January 21, 2026
The Miraculous Part 4
In 1986, I asked Sister Maria Beesing, one of my Enneagram teachers, whether there was any other written material on this fascinating subject besides the book she co-authored with Patrick O’Leary, The Enneagram: A Journey of Self-Discovery. I wanted more… much more. At the time, the only book on the Enneagram was theirs.
She looked up, then down, and quietly said, “There is one other book, but it is no longer in print.”
“What is the name of it?” I asked.
“If you can find a copy,” she replied, “Its title is In Search of the Miraculous, by Peter Ouspensky, who was one of George Gurdjieff’s students. It was published in London in 1949, and its original title was Fragments of an Unknown Teaching”.
The title, In Search of the Miraculous immediately captured me, because I, too, had always searched for the miraculous, though I had never named my quest. Through the National Interlibrary Service, I borrowed a copy for two weeks. And I understood immediately why Ouspensky chose that title. It laid the foundation for all I would come to learn in the Enneagram world.
After much searching and reflection, I believe that the search for the miraculous is itself miraculous. Why? Because when our eye is set upon a star—our true aim—the journey toward that aim reveals wonders we would never have discovered otherwise. The miracle is not only in reaching the destination; it is in what is unveiled along the way, simply because we chose to follow the call.
The esteemed spiritual teacher Babuji (1899–1983), founder of the Heartfulness movement in India, wrote a prayer still recited by practitioners around the world:
“O God, You are the real goal of human life.
We are yet but slaves to wishes, putting bar to our advancement.
You are the only God and power who can bring us up to that stage.”
This simple prayer reminds us that our true purpose is union with God. We cannot accomplish this on our own. Our ego’s desires block the very path we long to walk, unless we awaken to the truth that only God can lift us to a higher consciousness. What the prayer implies, yet does not say outright, is that we have become receptive to this divine help through our spiritual practice. And that practice is itself part of our search for the miraculous.
Reunification with God does not arrive in a single moment. Instead, we are gradually illuminated. Each illumination on our life’s journey is a miracle of its own.
Spiritual practice: What are some of the Ah Ha’s you have experienced on your journey to wholeness? Would you consider these miraculous in any way?
Self-inquiry: What are some of the reasons that would distract you from the miraculous?
Prayer:
Dear God, I am so grateful to Maria for her thoughtful response. Maria’s telling me the title of a long-lost book was a miraculous gift. Amen
