June 9, 2023

Archaeologists in South Eastern Turkey have discovered an 8th century B.C. stone slab that provides the first written evidence that people believed in a soul (World Archaeology Issue 33, Jan 6, 2009). Also, as early as the Old Kingdom (ca. 2649–2130 B.C.), Egyptian theology held that the soul has nine different parts (Arab America, Sarah P. Young, 2019). And the ancient Vedas of India, sacred Sanskrit texts, attest that as early as 3,000 BC, people believed the soul is our essence and contains various qualities. See The Four Desires: Creating a Life of Purpose, Happiness, Prosperity, and Freedom by Rod Stryker (Delacorte Press, July 2011).

Looking closely at Mr. Stryker's work and that of other scholars, the ancient Vedas have four distinct aspects of the soul, each of which carries a distinct desire. The four soul desires are dharma, artha, kama and moksha. As a part of our essence, each fulfills a specific function.

June 7, 2023

We often hear the aphorism, “Time is money.” Attributed to Benjamin Franklin (although it appeared earlier in a Whig newspaper, “The Freedom Thinker,” in 1719 before Franklin was an adult), Franklin used the phrase to encourage young people to work instead of being idle.

But the truth is that time is not money. It is a space where we can do anything, including work, play, rest, family, study, helping others, travel, etc. Therefore, we fill our time with what we consider most important. Everyone knows what is essential to them. Many feel their time is worth more when they use it to make money. But that is not true for many who consider time with family, time creating, time nurturing others and time exploring the world to name a few, to be the most essential things in their lives.

June 5, 2023

There is saying that many believe to be true: “You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out.” When the ego’s wishes come true, we win and the ego is pleased. However, many of its wishes don’t come true and it loses, leaving it sad, disappointed or even angry. When the hoped-for possibility is rained out again, the ego is hurt, disappointed or angry.

June 2, 2023

I was a student in graduate school, but before leaving home that summer, my dad and I had a few disagreements. We were not exactly estranged, but we were not talking. It felt terrible to be out of sync with my dad because he was my father who'd always loved me and done so much for me.

Yet in my struggle to individuate as a man, I had to establish boundaries he did not like. At twenty-one, I was not following his advice on some crucial decisions, so he withdrew in anger.

From my apartment at school, I called my mom long distance each week for our usual chat. It was still painful that I was not speaking with my dad. But one day in late autumn, the call to my mom was different.

May 31, 2023

There is a spot in our backyard where our dog Byron is buried. He died in 1990 at age 16. Byron had been our only "child" for seven years until Ben arrived, and they became fast friends. Shortly after that, Byron and our second child, Lauren, became very close. 

Our family was not complete without Byron; he went everywhere with us. 

When I bring myself to Byron's little grave at the bottom of our shaded yard, there's still a tug in my heart, my eyes fill with tears, and my heart swells with gratitude. Wonderful memories flood my being. For us, Byron was many qualities of the Divine all rolled into one. So in a way, he was part of the kingdom, right in our household, to love on, laugh with, sit by, walk with, run with and walk the beach with for hours. 

May 29, 2023

Soul grieving is conscious grieving. To consciously grieve is to perceive reality without the ego’s distortions. Therefore, the optimal way to consciously grieve is to embrace our Holy Idea. When we lose someone, we love, the ego submits to the soul for the grief process to proceed. Our Holy Idea is the bridge to the soul and is how we perceived the world when we were fully connected to our soul, our soul child. The following are each Ego Type’s Holy Idea in the context of their grief.

May 26, 2023

In the Spirituality of the Enneagram, our quest is to return to our soul and eventually reunite with the Divine Source. But the soul has many challenges along the way, the most difficult of which is loss and grief. The ego has its way of dealing with grief as well.

We resolve our hunger when we finally get what we long for: food. But we resolve grief very differently.

May 24, 2023

No one can type us on the Enneagram because no one can accurately tell us who we are. No other person living or dead has walked in our shoes and experienced what we have experienced.

Other people may think they know who we really are, but how could they? They are not privy to our depths. They evaluate only what they observe. However, they are not the only ones in the dark about who we are. Many times we too are unaware of who we are. How can that be?

Make peace with your ego and discover your true path today. We will share Dr. Howell's full daily reflection and prayer on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

May 22, 2023

I read George Orwell's books 1984 and Animal Farm as a teenager in the mid-sixties. I thought Orwell's predictions about society and its evolution were farfetched fantasies and too many years into the future. But I was wrong.

Orwell's book 1984 was published in 1949. This means that Orwell's predictions were to occur only thirty-four years from the book's publication. Thirty-four years is not long in the big scheme of things. And what has happened? The world has changed, and much of the change has been as Orwell predicted and in the period he outlined.