That is a very important question and my answer is YES they can! Not only can they limit and label people but they can actually cause harm if one learns about and then perpetually dwells on the negative aspects of his or her personality! But they can also be amazingly helpful if used to: develop self-awareness, relish and appreciate others' differences, discover core needs and values, develop skills to accentuate innate gifts and talents, develop greater self-esteem, and find meaning and purpose in one's life. It all depends on how someone chooses to use the systems. I know an unself-aware person who "will never date a Leo again!" She has labeled "the Leo" and limited herself. Little does she know that what she vehemently doesn't like in someone else is what she's disowned in herself. I also know another unself-aware person who is a Four on the Enneagram who obsesses over his negative qualities and doesn't do anything to develop the positive aspects of his personality. So, yes, there is the potential to misuse personality systems.
Everyone has a personality through which they express their uniqueness but I think it is important to keep in mind that the essence of what we are is eternal, not our personality:
"The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.
The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things."
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, part of Verse 1, translation by Stephen Mitchell)
My intention for creating this website is to empower you! Nobody is great at everything. Everyone has blind spots and personality quirks. Each of us is a valuable, unique part of the puzzle of life and it is our job to find where we fit in, for our enjoyment, self-actualization, individuation, self-realization and for the benefit of humanity!
"If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you." - Jesus
By understanding yourself, others and the changeless, universal laws of life (as put forth in wisdom literature such as the Tao Te Ching, the Bible, the Dhammapada and other Buddhist scriptures, the Bhagavad Gita, the Koran, the Torah, the Upanishads, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and many other scriptures) one has the greatest opportunity to follow a path to personal fulfillment and world peace.
Next: Where should I start?
