Russ Hudson, one of EPP's Board of Advisors, came to work with us on the inside this past spring; the experience was precious. This revered teacher of ours, whom we track all over the world, brought himself to four EPP classes over two days with some serious presence, and left us in a wake of gratitude. It was both validating and a delight to share our approach with Russ, real time. Long before EPP's actual inception, both Russ and Don Riso were firmly behind the impulse to do this work "inside." Enneagram Institute provided hundreds of the first Wisdom of the Enneagram books for EPP's pilot classes at each of the institutions where we were introducing the Enneagram to the incarcerated. This renowned, respected Enneagram school and Susan's alma mater has offered scholarships and faculty support of EPP graduates to pursue their Enneagram certification.

What was most touching about having Russ with us in prison was to observe the ways both the men and women honored him with their own attention to what he had to share. Just like we see so many Enneagram enthusiasts flock to this master teacher, trying to glean what wisdom Russ has to offer them, the EPP students sat with an attentive silence as he spoke, they lined up to offer their sincere appreciation for what he penned in their textbooks long ago, and many wanted him to sign their cherished copies. They eagerly peppered him with questions. The week after his visit, several of the men spontaneously created a handmade card that they each signed for this tender man and thought-leader who helped them see more of themselves, by showing up in each class and for each inmate with the kind of love and care Russ has been cultivating within himself for years. 

Knowing that our growing Enneagram community now extends beyond the physical jail and prison walls, and vastly beyond the metaphorical ones which we create inside of ourselves, is something that moves each of us at Enneagram Prison Project deeply. 

It is exactly this that inspires us to continue striving toward our vision. It is our intention and hope to bring the Enneagram to every jail and prison inmate we possibly can, to bring it those who are ready for the work. For those who may ever find themselves "on the inside," looking to know themselves in a new, compassionate, insightful way; in a way that just might make a difference.




Journey to the Real;  My First Teaching Experience with EPP | by Russ Hudson

In our earliest days of teaching the Enneagram, Don Riso and I became aware of something that we had not anticipated: that the work we were doing was reaching prison populations and having a positive effect. We received letters from incarcerated people, sharing their realizations with us, and we were always deeply moved by these testimonies. We felt renewed in our conviction that with the right information and the right holding environment, that people with very difficult histories could turn their lives around. 

We met with a number of individual counselors who were training with us over the years and who were using the Enneagram effectively with people in prison and were always inspired by their stories. We felt that a concerted effort from individuals in the Enneagram community could perhaps make a big difference in the lives of the incarcerated, but we were not the ones to start such a major initiative.
Enter Susan Olesek and Suzanne Dion, who contacted us with just such a proposal. We were deeply impressed with their sincerity, their sense of mission, and their humility in wanting to really learn the Enneagram material from the deepest place - a process that is of course much more than merely learning the information. In short, we saw that Susan and Suzanne, as good Enneagram Type 1s, were devoted to walking their talk, and in a relatively short time, they were gathering the support of talented Enneagram students from both the Enneagram Institute as well as from the Narrative Tradition community and a number of other schools-all drawn together by the vision of using this amazing tool to make a difference in the world. Don and I enthusiastically backed this project and made any teaching resources we had available for the good work that the nascent Enneagram Prison Project needed to accomplish their mission.

Our next great delight was meeting a number of the first "EPP Ambassadors"- formerly incarcerated men and women who had learned the Enneagram through EPP and were motivated to share their experiences both inside and outside the prison systems. I was deeply moved by their stories, their realness, and their genuine turn toward, what in my view is what the Enneagram is really about, not simply typing people, but using this profound system for the genuine transformation of the human psyche. Hearing the stories, the transformation was real, obvious, and affecting. I now count a number of the EPP Ambassadors as close personal friends, and feel this work is perhaps one of the greatest gifts that has come out of this system of self-understanding.

As you may know, Don Riso passed away in 2012 after a long and brave battle with cancer, but he left the world knowing some of the good that we had done, and encouraged me to continue to work with EPP in any way possible. I wholeheartedly agreed, and was honored to become an official advisor to the project along with my dear friend and colleague David Daniels, who had already done some work with the team in jails. Still, I wanted to taste firsthand the work EPP was doing and was determined to find a way to contribute more directly. I had several conversations with Susan about coming to one of the prisons with EPP, but given my very heavy teaching and travel schedule, the opportunity did not arise until this March, 2016.
 
In short, I was scheduled to come to the San Francisco Bay Area for a retreat, but came a few days early to be able to join Susan and Suzanne on teaching trips to two institutions: Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas and San Quentin Maximum Security Prison in Marin County. After a couple days rest in San Francisco, I was brought at dawn to Elmwood to have my first session.

Many years of meditation practice and inner work come in handy when you enter an environment as intense as a prison. Yet, I noticed in Susan and Suzanne a lightness that was supportive and actually found myself feeling much more at ease than I would have imagined. We passed through security into this inner world, and after some brief organizing of ourselves and our materials, I went with Susan to my first class, which was about the third session in a series of eight for a group of men who for various reasons were being isolated from the rest of the prison population.
 

What struck me immediately is that the faces I saw there were much like any class I have ever taught. I saw quite a range of expressions; everything from eagerness to wariness, from soft relaxation to tense defensiveness. In other words, this was just about like every other Enneagram class. What was different though was that I could feel the enormous hunger for something real in the room. These men did not want to be "cheered up." They wanted truth, something that they could live with.

...  Read On, continued on the EPP Blog >>


 
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EPP is a non-profit dedicated to the self-awareness education of the incarcerated, using the Enneagram as the fundamental tool for self-study, self-responsibility, and awakening. The education process includes in-depth application of the Enneagram system and its methodologies combined with mindfulness meditation and sensate-awareness practices. Your contributions go a long way in supporting our ability to send teachers, materials, and compassion to those among us who need the support to meet their potential and ensure a brighter future.