The Fascinating Life of John Harper

john Harper

As Related by John Harper Imagine waking each day already mid-sentence—life speaking before thought catches up. Awe, wonder, delight, and then the quiet, uncontainable “oh wow… and then this” all before morning coffee. By the time curiosity finishes tying its shoes, the day has already begun dancing. There is a quality of innocence to it—not … Read more

Chanting as Micro-Meditation

mantra chanting micro-meditation

Intention, Vibration, and Resonance I am entranced as I read through your wonderful guidance like the streaming of the pathways of sound and how they have been incorporated into methods of healing and clearing the energies of our beings over the millennia. It transmits such love of being. – T.G, Vancouver, BC One of the … Read more

Coregulation as The First Language of Presence

coregulation essence

Mother’s presence helps anchor the infant to theirs The very first relationship in a human life has nothing to do with words. Before hunger and comfort become names, before smiles are interpreted as joy, there is a silent exchange happening beneath behavior. It is the transmission of presence. We often define co-regulation in terms of … Read more

Mercury, Sulfur, Salt: The Enneagram as Living Alchemy

Enneagram as Living Alchemy

Reading the Symbol Through Almaas and the Inner Architecture Trilogy The Enneagram reveals its deepest logic when read alchemically. The inner triangle functions as Mercury, the hexadic movement as Sulfur, and the enclosing circle as Salt. This is not an imposed metaphor. It is a recognition of how the symbol already operates as a transformational … Read more

Raising Children Without Breaking Them

Raising Children

What neuroscience, development, and emotional intelligence reveal about how children actually grow Between fear and performance pressure Parenting today often feels like standing between two loud and conflicting voices. One warns that ordinary mistakes are quietly damaging our children. The other insists that if we don’t optimize early enough—emotionally, cognitively, socially—we’ve already fallen behind. Caught … Read more

The Enneagram’s Ceiling Problem

enneagram glass ceiling

Why Personality Insight Alone Eventually Stops Working Seeing More Without Being More The Enneagram of Personality Types is remarkably effective at revealing patterns. It points to how identity forms, how defenses organize, and how suffering is maintained. For many, this brings real relief and real change. But for those who stay with the work, a … Read more

THE ENNEAGRAM’S HOMUNCULUS PROBLEM

THE ENNEAGRAM’S HOMUNCULUS PROBLEM

Why the Enneagram Still Imagines a Little Self Running the Show Much of modern Enneagram teaching still assumes there is a little manager inside each type—a miniature operator who decides how to grow, integrate, shift patterns, and “do the work.” It’s an invisible assumption, rarely named, but woven into nearly every instruction: your Type must … Read more

THE TRIANGLE OF EMERGENCE, RECESSION, AND THE FIELD

enneagram triangle

FORCE, DYNAMISM, AND THE BREATH OF BEING Most contemporary interpretations of the inner Enneagram triangle imagine it as a circuit—subtle energy moving along the lines, tracing a path from Nine to Three to Six and looping endlessly, like a mystical electrical grid. This has become the default picture: a flow, a current, a rotation. But … Read more

Why Acceptance Shapes Everything

parental acceptance

The Ground for Being Me A child arrives not knowing they exist. They discover themselves in the mirror of their parents’ gaze—not through words, but through presence. Before language, before memory, before the machinery of self-concept begins its relentless construction, there is only this: Am I welcome here? The answer to that question writes itself … Read more

Mother’s Warmth as Ground

mothers warmth

Touch, Temperature, and the Awakening of the Inner World I came across this article in Neuroscience News that explores how temperature changes during something as simple as a hug can deepen body awareness and emotional attunement. What struck me immediately was how profoundly this connects to what we explore in The Enneagram World of the … Read more