The Three Forces & You: The Most Fundamental Personality Typology

By Fariba Rofougaran

The last few decades have been a time when wisdom from myriad cultures has begun to cross boundaries into the West. ... In this valuable book Fariba Rofougaran brings insight from another cultural wellspring, one that most of us know far less about: Sufism, the tradition of mystical Islam. From this tradition, she beautifully articulates three types of people characterized by three fundamental motivations, Fortune, Fame, and Force, forming them primarily into the Providers, Lovers, or Protectors of the human community. From her descriptions, which are both rich and precise, each of us can discern the F type that describes our fundamental personality traits. One of the things that makes this book so extraordinary is Fariba Rofougaran's realization that the types she perceived in Sufic tradition were mirrored in other spiritual traditions as well. From her studies of Tantric Buddhist practices and the Indian chakric system, she recognized not only distinct echoes of the three types, but also the outlines of a dynamic system of development that, as she discovered, applies to each of the F types. This system contains three stages, Survival, Heroic, and Divine. One of the most remarkable things about this book is that Fariba Rofougaran describes each of these in terms of what, from a Jungian perspective, I would characterize as both sunlight and shadow. ... In the non-Western systems of thinking, development can be perceived as more cyclical, and may include a greater sense of self-acceptance with regard to our condition in life. The stages of Survival, Heroic and Divine may seem at first glance to express something similar to the Hierarchy of Needs described by Abraham Maslow, based on earlier work by Erickson and Piaget on stages of development, ... This has been most commonly understood as a one-way journey, from lesser to greater self-actualization. It also implies that some of us are more advanced, and better, than others. By contrast, Fariba Rofougaran shows us how each of the three stages has its own challenges as well as its strengths, and that a life of value may be lived through any of these three worldviews. This, to me, is one of the unique strengths of her thinking and of this book. ... Yet, after nearly three decades of experience in coaching, counseling and training regularly using more than a dozen of these typologies, I have sensed a missing link. Beyond a certain point of initial interest and perhaps behavior adjustment, there is no place further to go. We may feel the descriptions are accurate, but we may also lack a sense of what they mean to us in our personal and spiritual development. We may also feel judged by the cultures we inhabit, for example in workplaces where one kind of type preference is valued and sought-after, ... . The three Forces described in this book ... give us a very different set of lenses with which to view not only who we are but how we are and what we can best become. It gives us a non-judgmental, developmental-and, if one wishes-a spiritual framework that goes beyond simple description toward dynamic understanding and growth. Fariba Rofougaran has done a beautiful job of thinking-through the system she presents, and of making this a very accessible, clear, and readable book that speaks directly to a broad community of readers. This book is a tremendous contribution that will be greatly helpful for anyone who wishes to understand more about her- or himself. It will be enlightening to anyone interested in the practical applications of mystical teachings from a tradition previously little understood outside the esoteric circles of its teachers and students. It will be valuable to the practitioner, coach, counselor, or facilitator who wishes to extend and deepen her or his practice toward these beautifully-described and well-supported concepts. - Cheryl De Ciantis, Ph.D. Co-author, What's Important: Understanding and Working with Values Perspectives

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0692288074
• ISBN13: 9780692288078
• Release Date: September 2014
• Publisher: Heyraneh Publishing
• Length: 282 Pages
• Weight: 1.03 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.6" x 6.0"