The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram: Nine Faces of the Soul by Sandra Maitri opens with a parable from the recently deceased Sufi teacher Indries Shah.  It’s about an unjustly imprisoned tinsmith who miraculously escapes from prison.  The following synopsis tells the methods he used for escaping when asked about it years later.

When the tinsmith was asked how he escaped, he replied that his wife (a weaver) had woven the design of the lock to his prison cell into the prayer rug upon which he prayed five times a day.  He realized that the rug contained the lock design, so he struck a deal with his jailers to get tools to make small artifacts, which the jailers then sold for a profit. He surreptitiously used the tools to fashion a key, by which he eventually made his escape.

The moral of the story is: understanding the design of the lock that keeps us imprisoned can help us create the key that opens it.

Moving Past Blockages and Denial

Basically because the mind functions like a machine; experiences, facts, feelings, or beliefs that are unacceptable to it are routinely blocked out or denied. This happens in even the best of minds because the whole purpose of denial is to keep experiences, facts, feelings, or beliefs which would most likely overwhelm or disrupt us out of our everyday consciousness.

The Emotional Fallout That Precedes Destructive Patterns

People become overwhelmed most often when the worst of circumstances come into their lives. Upon reaching a state of overwhelm, they will tend to drop into hopeless or helpless states more easily.  It’s dangerous to remain in either of these states for any period of time because they often induce the destructive life patterns which include overeating, overspending, too much radio, television or movies, etc.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’ pioneering books on death and dying helped establish the modern hospice movement and brought to mass awareness the five stages that precede and give closure to the act of dying—(1) denial and isolation, (2) anger, (3) bargaining, (4) depression, and (5) acceptance.

Take note of these five stages of grief.  When people let go of preciously-held beliefs, many times they will pass through these same stages before reaching and accepting a new awareness.  Often each loss, whether the death of a loved one, dropping an old belief, or releasing a limiting behavior pattern, needs to be grieved and honored in the natural process of the five stages before the individual can move to a higher level. 

Sometimes dreams help facilitate the transition that begins with these five stages. At other times therapy exercises like the ones found in Not Your mothers Diet by Dr. Fuller or other self-help books can help.  In certain cases a support system of friends who understand the process can offer assistance to you, as you would for them.

The ideal way to shift to new states of consciousness is to move alternately between the five stages in a random pattern that’s comfortable for you, until you gradually reach a state of acceptance. It’s imperative to avoid getting stuck in any one state for too long (which can bring on feelings of confusion or hopelessness before you default to a destructive life pattern).