Spiritual Narcissm

I see this a lot around me , the people who are so full of love and understanding , untill you step on their toes , intended or unintended , it worries me , how do you feel about this , we have to be so aware that our motives stay clear , we are not here to hide away and think we are better than others are we ?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-alan-lurie/the-allure-of-spiritual-n_b_803415.html

Working to develop love and understanding doesn't make one a master. Everyone alive is still a work in progress, you know? Compassion is easy to give to people who are always nice, you only really develop your own skill when stupid stuff happens or around those who are still imperfect too. And sometimes the ones who lash out are the ones who need it the most. Steamboat taught me that.

Besides, getting your toe stepped on hurts... the article assumed the poor guy was a narcissist just for reacting to pain, which seems just as unfair. Way to judge the hell out of somebody and make him look bad We need to have empathy for him too!

Snowy Aftermath wrote: Besides, getting your toe stepped on hurts... the article assumed the poor guy was a narcissist just for reacting to pain, which seems just as unfair. Way to judge the hell out of somebody and make him look bad We need to have empathy for him too!

I agree with your point about empathy Snowy, though it doesn't make his out burst any less ironic. If that is how he reacts when in a peaceful state of mind and consciously trying to covey love to others, imagine how he would react normally!

I think this is something we are all guilty of doing. It is, as Snowy says, very easy to be nice to nice people, or when we are not being bothered by anyone. It is our treatment of those that are not nice, those that do bother us by which we should judge our ability for compassion.

The second part of the Creed can be understood to guard against spiritual narcissism:

I shall never seek so much to be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

Never ask of anyone more than you offer of yourself.

It is one of the hazards of being a Jedi, I think. We built this Path around a myth that relies on a certain specialness. Go back to the fiction for a moment, and see that our name comes from special people with special powers who can do extraordinary things.

Certainly, we are ordinary people, but I think that problem of specialness is hard to shake off. We all come here, to one extent or another, believeing that we were always different, that no one understood, that we knew things others did not, that we saw things differently, that we were destined for more, and that we were do fortunate to have finally come to a community of people that were similarly special.

Until that community isn't special enough, and then we have to go back to being special by ourselves.

I'm sure this isn't in the front of too many peoples' minds, but I suspect it is crawling around in there for virtually all of us. Certainly, we teach ourselves to be patient and humble, but there can be a paternalistic element to that:

"Be patient with the poor, un-enlightened non-Jedi. They don't understand. They don't have our power."

It's a shame when you hear those words actually leaving a person's mouth. She was, some long time ago, a member here. No longer.

I remember something Proteus wrote a year or so ago:

To learn how to appreciate and take up a name such as Jedi:

Do not talk to them as if you are a Jedi and they are not.
Talk to them as if you are a human just like they are.
As long as you can do that (and stick to it), you will be what you say you are.

Otherwise, you won't.

I soo get your point Snowy, but i am only human too , and that is the crux that Cabur is adressing as well , we should not treat others as if we are special and they are not . we are all as special ...it was just funny how the guy reacted in a very agressive manner as he was supposed to be in a loving kindness state ...and off course he is easy to forgive because we dont like to be hurt , his reaction was understandeble maybee

And what Akkarin and Brick wrote ...agree

I love what Proteus wrote ...soo true

To learn how to appreciate and take up a name such as Jedi:

Do not talk to them as if you are a Jedi and they are not.
Talk to them as if you are a human just like they are.
As long as you can do that (and stick to it), you will be what you say you are.

Otherwise, you won't.

MartaLina wrote: Do not talk to them as if you are a Jedi and they are not.

I love this quote. As Brick said, spiritual narcissism is something we are all guilty of doing, at one time or another. Especially in the current state of our global culture, being, having, achieving is all about more. We might not intend to compare ourselves to others, only to ourselves, but the moment we set ourselves on the path to become "better", we are automatically setting a bar by which we measure its counterpart "worse". So then, when we observe others through our inevitable lenses (the paradigms and prejudices through which we see the world), we will often times, unwittingly, apply this same bar as a measure of others.

I like to think that Jedi, though superficially a label to designate a certain religious/philosophical way, is really the representation of our True Selves, which tries to shine through into being, but for that we need to remove all the curtains of prejudice and assumptions. In this manner, everyone is a Jedi, even if we are at different stages of "learning to unlearn" that which blocks us from simply being ourselves.

Manu wrote:

MartaLina wrote: Do not talk to them as if you are a Jedi and they are not.

I love this quote. As Brick said, spiritual narcissism is something we are all guilty of doing, at one time or another. Especially in the current state of our global culture, being, having, achieving is all about more. We might not intend to compare ourselves to others, only to ourselves, but the moment we set ourselves on the path to become "better", we are automatically setting a bar by which we measure its counterpart "worse". So then, when we observe others through our inevitable lenses (the paradigms and prejudices through which we see the world), we will often times, unwittingly, apply this same bar as a measure of others.

I like to think that Jedi, though superficially a label to designate a certain religious/philosophical way, is really the representation of our True Selves, which tries to shine through into being, but for that we need to remove all the curtains of prejudice and assumptions. In this manner, everyone is a Jedi, even if we are at different stages of "learning to unlearn" that which blocks us from simply being ourselves.

Yes we are all guilty of it and thats why i wanted to share this article , i feel different since i am aware that i am a Jedi , i behave differently but i really try not to feel more enlighted than others because the more i learn the less i know so i sometimes even feel dummer than the unaware loll ...the unaware ...hahaha :laugh:

MartaLina wrote: Yes we are all guilty of it and thats why i wanted to share this article , i feel different since i am aware that i am a Jedi , i behave differently but i really try not to feel more enlighted than others because the more i learn the less i know so i sometimes even feel dummer than the unaware loll ...the unaware ...hahaha :laugh:

It's a funny little circle. And then we find ourselves, thinking about thinking about thinking. :laugh:

I think this is covered by Watts in Lesson 2 of the IP. Language and thought make this "narcissism" inescapable. The important thing is that if we simply acknowledge it and accept it as a limitation of language (rather than actively seek out a way of repressing it), then we are less likely to be trapped by it.

Snowy Aftermath wrote: Besides, getting your toe stepped on hurts... the article assumed the poor guy was a narcissist just for reacting to pain, which seems just as unfair. Way to judge the hell out of somebody and make him look bad We need to have empathy for him too!

Like most things, it's true from more than one angle. Clearly, this guy is missing the point of what he is doing, but we are all similarly subject to that same weakness. Perhaps he needs a hug and a light whack to the back of the head. Can we do both?

Kindness all around. Try not to make it a thing.