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Presence & Pattern


  • Norman, Oklahoma USA (map)
Presence and Pattern — Empathy Architects

Thursdays  ·  6:00–7:30pm Central  ·  Beginning June 11, 2026  ·  Live on Zoom

Applications Now Open  ·  Limited to 7 Participants

Apply Now
What This Is

This is not a course. It is not a certification. It is not personal development in any ordinary sense of the phrase.

Presence & Pattern is a small, intentionally curated container for serious inner work — eight weeks of live, guided engagement with the architecture of your own ego, the accumulated weight of your pain body, and the possibility of living from something deeper than either.

The work draws primarily from Eckhart Tolle's framework of presence and ego dissolution, with the Enneagram used as a structural scaffold for understanding how your particular patterns formed and how they continue to operate beneath conscious awareness. You will not be learning the Enneagram as a system. You will be using it as a mirror.

The group is limited to seven people by design. This is not a webinar. It is not a community platform. It is a living container, intimate, rigorous, and held with real care by someone who has done this work himself and has spent over two decades studying the territory it covers.

The structure of the program is built around Tolle's framework because his concepts are unusually clear and accessible — precise without being technical, and deeply practical in the context of group work. But the container is informed by many years of Sterlin's own spiritual inquiry, drawing on the teachings of Meher Baba, Byron Katie, Carl Jung, and Welsh spiritual teacher David Cousins, among others. That breadth of study is woven into how the work is held and where it is willing to go, even if Tolle's language provides the primary vocabulary.

If you are ready to look honestly at your patterns — not to optimize them, not to reframe them into strengths, but to actually see them from a place of presence — this program exists for that.

The Framework

Three pillars. One integrated practice.

The work is organized around three foundational concepts, each of which becomes more useful the more precisely you understand it.

Pillar One
Ego

The conditioned self — the story you've built about who you are, what you need, and how the world works. The Enneagram maps the ego's architecture with unusual precision, showing not just what you do but why, and at what cost. The ego is not the enemy. But it is not the whole of you either.

Pillar Two
Pain Body

Eckhart Tolle's term for the accumulated emotional residue that lives in the body and activates automatically, often in patterns that feel older than the present moment, because they are. Understanding the pain body is not the same as processing it. Presence is what transforms it.

Pillar Three
Presence

The practice of conscious awareness itself — the inner witness that can observe pattern without being consumed by it. Presence is not a technique to be acquired. It is what you already are, beneath the noise. This work is about cultivating access to it.

A doorway opening to nature and light
The 8-Week Arc

A living container, not a rigid curriculum.

The arc below represents the intended movement of the work. What actually unfolds will be shaped by the group that gathers. The container is designed to breathe.

Week 1
Orientation & Foundation

Establishing the container. Introductions. The nature of this work and how it differs from coaching, therapy, or personal development. Foundational concepts: ego, presence, pattern.

Weeks 2–3
Ego and Its Patterns

How the ego forms, what it defends against, and how it perpetuates itself. The Enneagram as a map of the conditioned self. How personality becomes both a defense and a prison, and what lies beneath it.

Weeks 4–5
The Pain Body

Tolle's concept of the accumulated emotional body. How it lives in the personality, activates automatically, and perpetuates unconscious pattern. Recognizing it in yourself and beginning to meet it with presence rather than resistance.

Weeks 6–7
Cultivating Presence

Dis-identification from thought and emotion. The inner witness. Conscious awareness as the ground from which pattern can finally be seen and released. The practice — not as an idea, but as a lived experience.

Week 8
Integration & the Forward Path

What it looks like to continue this work after the container closes. Your specific patterns. Your specific practice. What an ongoing inner life looks like and how to sustain it without a structured program holding you.

Who This Is For

This program is for serious seekers.

You don't need a spiritual credential. You don't need to be an Enneagram expert. You need to be genuinely ready to look at yourself without flinching, and to do that in community with others who are equally committed.

You are drawn to consciousness work and want a structured, guided container for it

You have done some personal development work and are ready to go deeper than any previous container has taken you

You are a coach or practitioner who wants to do your own inner work: not learn a new tool, but actually use one

You are in a season of real transition and feel called toward something more than surface-level support

This program is not for you if you are looking for a certification, a professional credential, an Enneagram education course, or a structured skills program with deliverables. It is also not for you if you are not yet ready to look honestly at your own patterns in a small group setting.
Your Facilitator

Dr. Sterlin Mosley

Dr. Sterlin Mosley
Certificate of Completion
Eckhart Tolle Teacher of Presence Certificate

Dr. Sterlin Mosley is an Associate Professor of Human Relations at the University of Oklahoma, the founder of Empathy Architects, and the author of two published books on personality, narcissism, and transformation. His work sits at the intersection of identity, cultural awareness, consciousness, and human development — a synthesis he has been building for over twenty years in both academic and community contexts.

In April 2025, he completed his certification as a Teacher of Presence through the Eckhart Tolle School of Awakening, certified by Eckhart Tolle and Kim Eng. He is also a certified Enneagram teacher. He brings both frameworks to this program not as abstract systems but as living maps he has walked himself.

His spiritual formation extends well beyond any single teacher or tradition. Years of serious study and practice informed by the teachings of Meher Baba, Byron Katie, Carl Jung, and Welsh spiritual teacher David Cousins, among others, have shaped both the depth and the generosity of his approach. Tolle's framework provides the primary language for this program because of its clarity and accessibility, but the container it sits inside is considerably wider.

PhD, Intercultural Communication; Associate Professor, University of Oklahoma
Certified Teacher of Presence, Eckhart Tolle School of Awakening (certified by Eckhart Tolle and Kim Eng, 2025)
Certified Enneagram Teacher and Coach; Founder, Empathy Architects
Author, The 27 Types of Narcissism and Center of the Universe
Logistics & Investment

Details

Format
8 weekly live sessions via Zoom. No recordings. No self-paced modules. Fully live.
Schedule
Thursdays, 6:00–7:30pm Central Time beginning June 11, 2026
Group Size
Limited to 7 participants maximum. Intake required.
Platform
Zoom. Link provided upon enrollment confirmation.
Paid in Full $897
Two Payments $448.50 × 2
Optional add-on: Enneagram type orientation session with Maeve Stoltz, Level 2 Certified Enneagram Coach at Empathy Architects. $100, redeemed via code provided after enrollment. Recommended for participants who are newer to the Enneagram.
Questions

Frequently Asked

What if I'm new to the Enneagram?

You do not need deep Enneagram knowledge to participate. The Enneagram is used here as a scaffold for self-inquiry, not taught as a system. If you are entirely new to it, the optional type orientation session with Maeve Stoltz (available after enrollment) is a useful foundation before the program begins.

Is this therapy?

No. This is not a therapeutic or clinical program and is not a substitute for professional mental health support. It is a spiritual mentorship and inner work container. If you are actively in crisis or primarily seeking therapeutic support, this program is likely not the right fit at this time.

What is the time commitment beyond the weekly sessions?

The sessions themselves are 90 minutes each week. Beyond that, there is no assigned homework in the conventional sense. The invitation is to bring your attention to your patterns in the ordinary moments of your life between sessions, which requires no additional time, only intention.

Will sessions be recorded?

No. Sessions will not be recorded. The live, unrecorded nature of the container is intentional — it creates the conditions for genuine presence and honest participation. If you cannot attend a session, that session will simply be missed. Please factor this into your decision before applying.

Applications

The application is a short intake, not a competitive audition.

It exists to help ensure the group is genuinely ready for this kind of work, and that this program is genuinely right for you. Completed applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Your spot is secured once your application is accepted and payment is received.

You will receive a confirmation email at the address provided. Applications are reviewed personally by Dr. Mosley and you will hear back within a few days.

Questions before applying? info@empathyarchitects.com

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