As an Enneagram community member, I am writing this letter in order to request for all of us to consider calling on the wisdom tradition of the Enneagram to be practiced.

We have received a letter from a group of people, who have shared their experience of being in a working and friendship relationship with a fellow Enneagram Teacher and Leader, Chris Heuertz, and claims were made of largely injurious conduct from this leader.

I believe we are deeply affected by these claims. This brings a deep need of reflection and wisdom in what our response is going to be.

I feel deeply saddened by the nature of the claims. Given the delicate nature of the claims we cannot know the details of what occurred for the people involved. I give my unwavering support for people, who felt traumatized and experienced manipulation and wrong doing, and equally I feel the need to offer support to the Enneagram teacher in question, whose conduct is currently being brought to our attention.

From what I understand is that these claims are primarily dating back to 2012 and before when Chris and Phileena Heuertz were co-leading another non-profit organization, “Word made Flesh”.

Largely, these allegations have been addressed and at least attempted to be responded to by Chris and Phileena during the past 8 years, as they would periodically resurface.

It seems that reconciliation was not reached and therefore the latest action via a social media platform in an attempt to make the nature of his conduct publicly known. The intention stated was to warn other people, who may be subjected to a similar leadership and therefore risk being manipulated and traumatized.

It seems to me that this delicate matter deserves a wisdom response rather than a reactive judgment in order to reach a deeper healing for all parties involved.

Having worked with trauma over the past 42 years and knowing the delicate, very private and intimate aspects of a real healing process, I am deeply disturbed by the way this matter is being publicized. Moreover, I do not feel this is going to bring any resolution to either party involved.

What the Enneagram map offers is a wisdom approach recognizing the three creation forces or as Mr. G. I. Gurdjieff calls it the ”Three Rays of Creation.”

How is this of relevance here? The vast majority of experiences and the views that come with it are partial views.

Therefore, by the nature of our human existence we are partially obscured in being able to see the reality as it actually is.

These partial views are determined by the first two creation forces consisting of Affirming and Denying forces. These are at work at all times and will create an “either/or” reality. We are largely not in touch with the third force, “Reconciling” force, because we select and reject a preferred way of filtering reality and therefore can’t perceive its true nature and fall into a state of “self-forgetting.” This creates a “divide and conquer” platform of reality.

The Reconciling Force can only be actualized by giving equal attention to Affirming and Denying Forces without following the automatic reaction that ensues, and by not making a choice between them. This will allow for wisdom to enter into the field of partial reality.

It seems to me that a Call for Reconciliation can aid the true meeting and healing of the involved parties coming together and speaking from their hearts, how they experienced the way this trauma occurred and what is needed and wanted, so that the reconciling force can be experienced by the  people involved. Are we capable of not choosing sides to allow for a deeper understanding of what occurred for each party?

To strike back and injure as a reaction will only perpetuate and increase harm and therefore does not provide a space for healing and reconciliation. This results in the pendulum swinging from perpetrator to victim and then from victim back to perpetrator and so on.

Can we as an Enneagram Community come together and make space for both parties, the people who experienced the harm and the people causing the harm?

We are all humans on a path of development and none of us are free from doing harm or being harmed.

We are walking each other home.