Once there lived a metalworker, a locksmith, who was unjustly accused of crimes, and was sentenced to a deep dark prison. After he had been there a while, his wife, who loved him very much went to the king and beseeched him that she might at least give him a prayer rug so that he could observe his five prostrations every day. The King considered that a lawful request, so he let the woman bring a prayer rug. The prisoner was thankful to get the rug from his wife, and every day he faithfully did his prostrations on the rug.

Much later, the man escaped from prison, and when people asked him how he got out, he explained that after years of doing his prostrations and praying for deliverance from the prison, he began to see what was right in front of his nose. One day he suddenly saw that his wife had woven into the prayer rug the pattern of the lock that imprisoned him. Once he realized this and understood that all the information that he needed to escape was already in his possession, he began to make friends with his guards who provided him with the metal needed to make a key. He also persuaded the guards that they all would have a better life if they cooperated and escaped the prison together. They agreed since, although they were guards, they realized that they were in prison too

When the locksmith escaped he left the prayer rug behind so that any other prisoner who was clever enough to read the pattern of the rug could also escape.

an Idris Shah teaching story found in the "Wisdom of the Enneagram"

Each of us is in a prison created by our ego. The Enneagram helps us awaken to the pattern of the lock and escape.