Right Under Our Noses

One of the ego’s main defenses against doing so (experiencing our Essence) is the belief that spirituality is something rarefied, impractical, and very far away. In fact, it is closer than we think, as the mystics assure us; we do not have to go anywhere or accomplish anything. What we must learn is to stop running away from ourselves . . .

The good news is that you are already here: your Essence already exists entirely and perfectly . . . We do not need to learn something new or add anything to be our True Nature. Spiritual progress involves seeing what is right under our noses – really, what is right under the layers of our personality. Spiritual work is therefore a matter of subtraction, of letting go, rather than of adding anything to what is already present.

Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson, in The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the Nine Personality Types