Rumi is a 13th century Persian poet who has captivated the minds and touched the hearts of the modern day Enneagram community, among others. In this 7th blog of the series, the focus is on Enneagram type Six, using the Rumi poem above. As for all of the Rumi poems in this series, the message, hopefully, speaks to all of us, no matter what our enneatype.

For all Sixes, trust and doubt are their central issues, both of which are based on their emotional pattern (called passion) of fear. This Rumi poem speaks directly to these challenges. As Sixes look to the external world to lessen their concerns with trust and their challenges with doubt – both the doubting of others and doubting of self – the transformative work always involves going inward to find the answers to their questions.

In this poem, Rumi aptly points out that trust and doubt arise from the ego, not the essence, of Sixes, as with us all. Further, Rumi guides Sixes to where the truth resides; it is in our inner spirit where the truth has existed all along. Our true inner voice can bypass all our external chatter, because our inner truth tells no lies, revealing only the truth. But, we have to trust it!

Ginger Lapid-Bogda PhD, the author of five best-selling Enneagram-business books, is a speaker, consultant, trainer, and coach. She provides certification programs for professionals around the world who want to bring the Enneagram into organizations with high-impact business applications, and is past-president of the International Enneagram Association. Visit her website: TheEnneagramInBusiness.com. ginger@theenneagraminbusiness.com