Contemplative Practices & the Enneagram
You are me, and I am you.
Isn’t it obvious that we “inter-are”?
You cultivate the flower in yourself,
so that I will be beautiful.
I transform the garbage in myself,
so that you will not have to suffer.
I support you;
you support me.
I am in this world to offer you peace;
you are in this world to bring me joy.
(from “Call me by My True Names – The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh”, Parallax Press, 2005.)
What is CPE?
CPE stands for Contemplative Practices & the Enneagram.
CPE groups are facilitated practice and support groups for those with basic knowledge of the Enneagram who seek to cultivate a discipline of contemplative practice in a compassionate, non-dogmatic, Enneagram-literate community.
Come as you are
Our mantra is “come as you are” and experience how this authenticity and bravery supports you in experiencing greater inner peace, wholeness, and belonging.
Inter-spiritual, International Cohorts
We believe that all people are born innately whole and worthy. We welcome spiritual seekers from all faith backgrounds, including those who identify as spiritual but not religious, spiritually open, and those who are deconstructing their faith of origin.
We practice 20 minutes of centering prayer every session and start each group with a brief meditative practice, drawn from diverse wisdom traditions around the world.
Applied Enneagram Wisdom
This is not an Enneagram class. While longterm CPE participants find that they gain in-depth, embodied knowledge of the Enneagram through group sharing, the focus of these groups are on applying each week’s contemplative Enneagram teachings or reflection questions to your conscious awakening.
CPE facilitators are not here to teach so much as to support a space of compassionate witnessing, which we have found ignites transformation.
CPE Cohort Size & Format
CPE groups typically meet for 90 minutes, once a week on Zoom for 12 weeks each term. A group’s size can range from 6 to 20 people. Space permitting, you can join more than one cohort at a time to deepen your practice and sense of community.
The commitment is to attend at least 10 out of the 12 gatherings, especially if you are new. We have found that consistency makes a marked difference in one’s transformation. Together we co-create a collective field for personal and collective awakening.
Why CPE?
EE Founder Nhien Vuong shares reflections on the value of combining contemplative practices with the Enneagram in conscious community.
Registration for Winter 2025 CPE is Now Open!
We’re thrilled to announce that registration for our Winter 2025 Contemplative Practices & the Enneagram (CPE) cohorts is now open.
The session begins the week of January 13, 2025, and runs through April 3, 2025.
This transformative 12-week journey is designed to support you in deepening your connection with Spirit (as you understand it) and nurture your soul’s unfoldment through contemplative practices, Enneagram wisdom, and authentic community.
Exciting New Feature: Online Community Chat Groups
- Share your insights, poetry, or reflections with others.
- Connect with like-hearted individuals from your own—and other—CPE groups.
- Foster deeper friendships and meaningful connections by organizing virtual or in-person meetups.
Countdown to Winter CPE 2025
2025 CPE Schedule & Themes
All CPE groups are facilitated by a team of experienced faculty, all of whom have been participants in CPE for over a year—and often much longer.
The schedule below lists the dates of our 3 CPE sessions in 2025 (Winter, Spring, and Fall) the dates and times of our five weekly 12-week CPE groups that happen during those times along with the names of your CPE faculty.
Please note that you can join more than one group at a time and many choose to do so for more opportunities to engage their contemplative practice.
Winter 2025 session starts the week of January 13th and ends the week of March 31st.
Spring 2025 session starts the week of April 14th and ends the week of June 30th.
Fall 2025 session starts the week of September 29th and ends the week of December 15th.
Winter 2025 CPE Theme:
Evolving toward A Unifying Vision
Weeks 1 & 2:
A Vision of Unity & 9 Myths of Separation
Weeks 3 & 4
Meeting the Moment: Responding vs. Reacting
Weeks 5 & 6:
Integral Theory: Growing Up and Waking Up
Weeks 7 & 8:
Critical Thinking
Weeks 9 & 10:
Compassion Communication
Weeks 11 & 12:
Contemplative Activism: Next Steps
Mondays
6:00-7:30pm CST/CDT
Group is full & closed.
Co-facilitated by
Nhien Vuong (lead) with Kristina Frank
(co-lead) and Macha Greenleaf-Maple (sub)
Tuesdays
1:00-2:30pm CST/CDT
Co-facilitated by
Angela Joy (lead) with
Kristina Frank (co-lead) and Nhien Vuong (sub)
Wednesdays
1:00-2:30pm CST/CDT
Co-facilitated by
Nhien Vuong (lead)
with Angela Joy (co-lead) and Jill Smith (co-lead)
Thursdays
7:30-9:00am CST/CDT
Co-facilitated by
Nhien Vuong (lead) & Aliyah Richling (co-lead)
Thursdays
1:00-2:30pm CST/CDT
Facilitated by
Nhien Vuong (lead) & longtime Thursday CPE Members (subs)
Meet Your CPE Facilitator Team
Nhien Vuong
Angela Joy
Kristina Frank
Macha Greenleaf-Maple
Jill Smith
Aliyah Richling
Pay it Forward - Pay What You Can
The suggested payment for CPE is $240 per 12-week session. However, Evolving Enneagram is committed to offering CPE to all who need it, irrespective of ability to pay. Please do not let cost be a factor in whether or not you apply for a group. Alternatively, if you currently have more to give, please consider contributing above and beyond the recommended amount to support us in keeping these CPE rooms open to everyone, around the globe.
History of CPE
When Evolving Enneagram Founder Nhien Vuong launched the very first CPE groups in September 12, 2017, in Kansas City, Missouri, she hoped that community members would last the full ten weeks. At the end of ten weeks, not only were most of the participants still there, they wanted to extend the CPE groups another ten weeks. Eventually, the community members asked her:
Can we do this for life?
Nhien, who hadn’t been huge on longterm commitments, laughed and said, “Sure. If some of you are willing to step up occasionally and lead.”
Seven years later, our original Thursday CPE has become a cornerstone of Evolving Enneagram’s larger work in the world–a place where many tears have been shed and many joys celebrated, a place where some who might have never been friends are now family.
Nhien believes that the true purpose of spiritual community is not meant to be a place for “spot fixes” when our egos are devastated by personal tragedies or but a transformational way of life.
This is not to say anyone is obligated to commit. In fact, the commitment is only to 12 weeks at a time. Over the years, however, we’ve found that enough people re-up that, seven years later, we have grown! We now have five regular CPE facilitators and five weekly CPE groups. After each session, we take a break, then open enrollment to new participants, while also giving longtime participants the opportunity to intentionally decide whether to continue.
CPE is for anyone but it’s not for everyone.
The ideal participant already knows their Enneagram Type, has some experience with meditative practices, and is devoted to our individual and collective awakening.
Testimonials
I am so grateful knowing Nhien during our last conference in Egypt. Since then, I knew that our paths will come back together again, and I hope it will continue to cross. Knowing such a beautiful lady as Nhien is a blessing and value added for my soul, the level I have had during Nhien's Contemplative Practices & the Enneagram (CPE) sessions of love, acceptance, safety and friendship has been beyond my expectations, which helped me to connect with my inner world smoothly. Every session has had its own unique impact upon my heart. In other words CPE is a life- changing experience.
As a teacher of both contemplative practices and the Enneagram (certified teacher with the Conscious Living Center), I am thoroughly impressed with Nhien's work! Taking part in Nhien's contemplative Enneagram programs and spiritual tutoring groups has been a true joy! Nhien isn't only well prepared and informed, but more importantly, she is always grounded in presence. Whether she shows up to teach or to offer deep listening, I'm struck by how she consistently does so mindfully and fully present, body, mind, and spirit. Thank you Nhien for all the work you do and for being who you are!
I have loved being part of Nhien’s contemplative Enneagram programming. Her contemplative format is uniquely supportive, compassionate and authentic. It has helped me gently explore assumptions/blindspots I had been living with. It provided a safe space for my soul to come out of hiding. The questions and insights shared by Nhien have helped me to develop a deeper understanding of myself and the others in the group. Each week I could feel my empathy and appreciation for others growing as we shared (or sat with) the beauty and grime of our lives and held space for one another through this. The middle part of the session involves a beautiful centering prayer practice which gave us space to listen to the movement of the Spirit in the company of others. As a Spiritual Director and Enneagram coach myself, I felt so grateful to have been compassionately held by expert hands through a particularly challenging time of transition. I would highly recommend joining CPE.
I had no idea what I signed up for when I joined Rev. Nhien's CPE group. I could not have been more warmly welcomed into this beautiful community. I find Rev. Nhien's Enneagram teachings & shares to be deeply spiritual. Her emotional breadth & deep knowledge of the Enneagram supports and informs my individual transformation as well as my teachings. Additionally, by providing CPE group Rev Nhien makes space for my healing in community and I could not be more grateful. Thank you, Rev. Nhien, for all that you do!
I'm 67 years old and have been exploring spirituality and reading spiritual works since the mid 1970s - everything from The Cloud of Unknowing to the Tao Te Ching. I would earnestly meditate for a stretch of time until I hit the hard stuff, and then give up in frustration. I had good intentions and a lot of information but nothing fundamentally shifted in my life for the better until I began participating in the CPE groups founded and expertly facilitated by Rev Nhien. Through these transformational groups, I now see the problematic patterns that have not served me well in life, and have enough witness consciousness as the result of twice daily centering prayer meditation to be more mindfully aware of my thoughts and actions as they are expressed in my daily life. I can now change those patterns that separate me from my highest good, and I am closely supported by a loving community of fellow sojourners who share authentically and vulnerably, giving me internal permission and courage to do the same. This practice is nothing short of miraculous! It truly transforms lives for the better, and I am grateful beyond words for it
Evolving Enneagram has connected me to a community of like-minded people who love and support each other, allowing me to practice this work and connect with others on similar journeys is a safe, respectful community. I can’t say enough good things about EE's Founder Nhien. Her compassion, her intuition, her sense of understanding and weaving knowledge together, and her gift for sharing all of that make her an incredibly gifted spiritual coach, tutor and mentor. Thank you!
I have belonged to CPE groups since they were begun, about 5 years now (2017). Joining a CPE group has furthered my spiritual journey in numerous ways. The deep sharing of fellow group members helps me to understand others and gives me insights into my own personal journey. It has helped me to listen without the need to help or advise and the spiritual connection with myself and others is enriched beyond words. I have never felt more held than when I am sharing in my groups.
Free Contemplative Resources
To help you along your journey, Evolving Enneagram is pleased to provide the following free resources:
– Both the Welcoming Prayer and Centering Prayer steps are provided below as downloadable pdfs (simply click the image to download).
– Guided meditations by Rev. Nhien (click the image to go to the EE Podcast page to listen)
Voluntary contribution to CPE program
CPE is offered free to all who need it. Please consider that your voluntary contribution to our CPE programs is not meant to be “in exchange” for services offered but rather is intended as a pay-it-forward offering to keep these groups open to all who need it.🫶❤️ NOTE: For guidance, past CPE groups were $20/session.
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