The different spiritual paths of Empaths & Narcissists [The Truth Uncovered Series - Part 3]

in #spirituality7 years ago

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In todays episode of „The Truth Uncovered“ we will have a deeper look at the different spiritual paths. To make this easier, we will go into the details of the two main personality types out there and what their lessons are on the spiritual path.
Then we will also have a look at some misunderstandings.
As with many of my articles, this read may be challenging and often evoke resistances or even anger. Let this be there, since this is an expected result and a sign, that this information is doing it’s job.

1. The Narcissist path

First let me tell you, that the word „Narcissist“ gets thrown around way too often as a synonym for egotism. If people want to blame someone of selfish behaviour, they often do this by using the name tag of „Narcissist“.
The way I use this word here is different, in the sense, that it simply is a name for someone, who believes he is his ego by identifying with their body and their personality without having insights about the true nature of their being.
The word „Narcissist“ here is not used as a judgement, but only as a way to describe a certain stage of development on a souls journey.

Here are some points and examples, what a narcissist believes, his/her (spiritual) journey is all about:
  • Empowerment
  • Becoming the creator of reality
  • Defining what makes one happy and working on a plan to reach this goal
  • Self-Confidence
  • Managing ones life and energy
  • Setting (energetic) borders
  • Defining (spiritual) success and working hard for that goal
  • Achievement
  • „Enlightenment“ as a final goal of liberation
  • Relationships as lessons to „become better“
  • Living a (spiritual) persona
  • Becoming liberated later, in the afterlife or next life
  • Working on believes and patterns of thought
  • Finding out „who I am“ and interest in wisdom teachings
  • Quietening the mind
And here is, what the Narcissists have yet to learn:
  • That they are not their thoughts, emotions or body
  • The meaning of emptiness and the experience of being empty
  • That the whole journey is not about themselves alone
  • Surrender
  • Letting go
  • Meditation
  • Empathy
  • Compassion
  • Learning to love others
  • Intuition
  • En-Light-enment

Again, all of this doesn’t make a narcissist „a bad person“ or is meant as a judgment, that any of this is wrong! This is perfectly ok this way and most spiritual teachings out there are tailor made for this group of people.

2. The Empath path

An empath is an energetic sensitive soul, who is aware of energies and emotion around other people and situations. While the narcissist gets his information through inquiry, communication and mental processing structured around plans and concepts, the empath knows all this without someone even opening their mouth and without any mental concepts or involvement. Again please be aware, that this is no judging. When an empath senses some emotion in someone, this is not judged, but only perceived through an inner sense that may appear as a feeling in the body, an inner voice or pictures - depending on the sensory channel the empath has as his primary gift.
Their main challenge is, that they do automatically believe, that everything they are sensing is a sign that something being wrong in them or that the emotions they are feeling are theirs.

Here are again some examples of how an empath experiences his spiritual journey:
  • Dealing with an overwhelm of emotions and feelings
  • Guilt
  • Victim-Consciousness
  • Anxiety
  • Unsecurity
  • Coming into the body (grounding)
  • Becoming one with everything/god
  • Handling misunderstandings due to different channels of perception
  • Feeling of having to understand more or better
  • Need for clarity
  • Need for safety
  • ….and many of the goals that are originally part of the narcissist journey, because of a misunderstanding I describe below
What an empath really has to learn:
  • Trusting your intuition (only 100%)
  • What you are feeling are not your emotions (only 100%)
  • What you are feeling is what you are healing (the healing is in the feeling)
  • You are healing/feeling for the collective
  • Becoming as self-assured in your being as a narcissist is in his doing
  • Everything is here to help you
  • Self-Love as the cosmic constant
  • You are the breath and totally safe (only 100%)
  • Oneness includes Duality
  • You have already achieved, what most spiritual paths have set as a distant goal

The big misunderstanding in spirituality

Now to the most important point. The point that causes the most confusion in the world of spirituality - especially for empaths.
Since most spiritual paths are made for narcissists (=people who have yet to discover all above), empaths are most likely to meet spiritual teachers and paths, where they are told that they have to reach a goal, that they have already accomplished (without knowing so).

To put it in other words: There are nearly no teachings out there („new paradigm teachings“) that are also a fit for the empath.
For example: An empath is naturally compassionate and aware that he is not the body and mind. If this empath follows a spiritual path, where he is told, that he still needs to become compassionate and realize, that he is not the body, the empath by nature will assume, that this is a goal that he needs to strive for. Empaths are totally insecure by nature, because they have such a wide array of information flowing towards them and innocently believe what they are told or feeling, in the need to bring clarity into their experience.
The result of this is someone who is in search for their glasses, while the glasses are sitting on their nose.

It is also very disappointing. Imagine an empath being born in the letting-go state and following a path where he is told, that he needs to let go.
This empath will feel like a failure and struggle his whole life trying to learn the „10 golden rules of letting-go“, all the time wondering what is being talked about and not being able to understand.
What empaths really need, is an explanation and description of what is going on here, and where they stand on their journey.
Since Love is the cosmic constant and soothes the overstimulated nervous system of the empath, it’s also the prime remedy.

Empaths need confirmation more than a ready made plan or path.
They need to learn, that they have totally different goals and tasks to accomplish here on earth. They already come fully en-Light-ened and bring this Light into the 3D plane.
Another way of putting it is, that the empath is following the path of embodiment, while the narcissist is following the path of enlightenment.
Or while the narcissist is about to learn to transcend his ego, the empath must learn, how to live with an ego and be a spiritual guide to it and the body.
This is the up and down of life - the Yin and Yang.

Since there are not many teachings out there yet that are „empath teachings“, the reverse „danger“ for narcissists to become involved in an empaths paths is minor.
This would for example mean, that a teaching about self-confidence for empaths would lead to pure arrogance and real egotism for a narcissist.
As I said, this is not likely to happen…

This is only a very small excerpt of what could easily become many books on this topic. I hope I could (at least a tiny bit) explain these different paths and you are getting the main points.
As an empath who has followed many narcissist paths (since there were no alternatives) myself, it’s my passion to bring this knowledge to as many people as possible. Also most of my articles have this basic difference as a (hidden) topic and involve deeper reflections on its parts.

Please let me know in the comments, if I managed to bring some clarity to it or you are now more confused than ever before. 😉

Here you can find the other parts of „The Truth Uncovered“ series:
Part 1 „It’s not all love & light. The real meaning of the shadow.“
Part 2 „The Power of Intention“

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You're at it again, atmosblack, making entirely too much sense!

Wow, I never thought about it like this before, but now that you spell it out so clearly, this incredibly helpful to me.

I am definitely an empath. It took me a very long time in life to realize that what I was feeling were other people's feelings. And whenever negativity was directed toward me (which if you can imagine, happens a lot for a black person growing up in America) I identified with that negativity. I felt toward myself the negativity coming at me. Needless to say, it all created a pretty horrific life for quite some time.

I took refuge in the spiritual path and its promises of freedom from suffering. But now I see that it was all aimed at narcissistic concerns. Meanwhile, I was having spontaneous satori experiences of being able to read people's thoughts or even heal them without any clear intentions one way or the other.

Along the way, I developed considerable expertise along the spiritual path of the narcissist, to the point that I now teach those subjects. Yet it is true, it all comes from my mastery of someone else's path!

We empaths really do need to source within ourselves, within our true sense of self, and learn to do that when the input coming from others is strong. So much of our journey is developing that ability into a habit.

And it also helps a lot to experience unconditional love, like the love of a dog or a tree. That helps remind us of what is fundamentally true about ourselves, that we are infinitely lovable for we are infinite love itself.

You words are such a joy to read! ❤️
I know this feeling of "not belonging here" so well - not because of the color of my skin, but because I function so completely different than nearly all other people around here, that I always felt like an outsider. That's why it's such a pleasure to meet people like you - even "only" virtual...
Still having many moments during my daily life, where I'm feeling so insecure, that I feel as the source of unhappiness of other people.
I walk into a room where someone feels bad and immediately my inner response is: "Have I done something wrong? Did I cause the other person to feel unhappy?". It's sometimes shocking to see how deep these patterns run - even after years in spirituality and "working on myself", I still have these feelings of insecurity. What I have learnt is, that sharing these stories, does help others as well as myself. There is a huge empowering effect for us empaths, to openly admit our insecurities.
As Matt always says: Let us become so self-confident about our intuition and our feelings, as a narcissist naturally is about their personality.
This is also how we can learn from narcissists as the journey continues...

I am soooo grateful for having found you on here. I can't even imagine how much we are going to help each other with our paths (and with enjoying our paths!) in the months and years to come. ❤️

Yes, you are really demarcating perfectly between those two parties.
I often found the term "seeker" within the spiritual community. And this fits perfectly with the points you list under "what Narcissists believe the journey is about". "Seeking" always insinuates lack. That we haven't got it yet. This again fits very well with your points "making plans and goals" and "Oneness includes duality". No matter how much we experience duality we have never left Oneness to begin with. There is no goal. Our Soul is infinite and eternal. How should there be a goal but that of creating with the ultimate Freedom we have in every moment?
And as always, the more we seek the less we embody it. How should we when our seeking implies that we are not there yet?
We are already 100% leveraging our creative power as the Light we are, our thoughts are always going to tell us the opposite, but even this was our choice once we entered this Universe of duality as we wholeheartedly requested long time ago!

Thank you! ☺

Ha! I'm glad, that you understood my article. Now I can die in peace! 😂
Thanks for your beautiful additions! 🙏

Woah, very insightful! Definitely have parts of me in the narcissist and parts of me in empath....Followed you so I can read more of your content about self development spiritually and mentally

Thank you Brian for stopping by - it's my honor to have gained you as a follower!

Hello atmos,
I want to share with you that I am a narcissistic who does have some certain empath insights. Many times I truly feel what the other person is feeling while talking to them, but I am very centered on myself and my own needs most of the time(when I´m not listening to someone). I refuse to surrender my ego and chose instead to follow a path to develop my connection with the universe at the same time. Yes, I realize I´m not my ego, or even my body, however I´m amused and amazed by my individuality, and I still believe a big part of my journey is still about empowerment.
However I experience great joy in helping others in need and I even go to great lengths to experience things from their perspective.
I think that maybe definitions of empath-narcissist are not really black and white, but rather a combination of characteristics, and maybe some people like myself walk the middle path, or a balance between them...
Anyway, great article, I´m going to read the rest of your articles!

That's a very nice reflection. My teacher Matt Kahn always says, that if you wonder if you are a narcissist, you are most likely an empath, because a narcissist won't think that he is one.
The empowerment part is in fact a huge difference. The narcissist believes, he needs to be empowered in his personality and ego, while the empath needs empowerment in trusting their intuition and that the emotions he is sensing are not theirs. The narcissist has an superior ego structure, while the empath has an inferior one. The Ego of an empath feeds off "not being good enough", Even if it's not black and white, from what you are writing, I would say, you are most likely more on the empath side. Thank you!

Great read, I vasicilate between narcissism and empathy, not really narcissistic but rather “self centerness”. Studying TCM is something worthwhile to find a good balance yin/yang.
It is yin and yang. Light is the left hand of darkness ... how did it go? Light, dark. Fear, courage. Cold, warmth. Female, male. It is yourself ... both and one. A shadow on snow.
~Ursula K. Le Guin

Thank you and great to meet you! ❤️

I'm definitely a narcissist, it looks like I have been barking up the wrong tree at times. I definitely have a lot to learn still, but feel I'm making good progress in removing my beliefs about what this journey should be and surrendering to let life show me and guide me. Really cool write-up, haven't seen much like this before

Thank you @jakeybrown - glad that I could help! I also just remembered, that I forgot to mention another teaching that is very important to me, and that is actually helpful for both types - I will write about this soon.

I found this article via a link on one of your recent articles. It is so insightful and I can relate to it well. At times I feel life is cruel to empaths because we don't even realize it when people take advantage of our emphatic nature until the damage is done. Articles like yours help to educate ourselves and understand ourselves better.

Thank you - glad that this is helpful to you! Blessings! 🙏

Blessings to you too xoxo

What a post, fascinating. I believe it to be your beliefs of course! I believe all humans are potential empaths. Lost knowledge has been lost for thousands of years, our connection to the spiritual realm. Even in the past, you can see depictions of holy individuals with a glowing sense around their head or body. I myself can see these. I had always been able to see them around trees, but I thought everyone saw them. I have witnessed a spirit, and so much more has happened.

I'm not sure its good to give this path a goal. I'm not sure labeling something more powerful than us is a good idea for anything. Enlightenment, the state scares me. This shouldn't be the goal, the path is much more important. The path of an Empath, in my eyes, is to practice pure alchemy. I take negative energy and convert it into positive energy. This is all based on ionization and frequencies. Its quite a phenomena.

I really enjoy your content niche. I'll keep an eye on your account, love the thoughts and mind stimulating material! Thanks for the new perspective.

I feel different, always have. That's why I am called Diff. Its nice to come into acquaintance with you @atmosblack

Thank you for your kind words!
Well, let me start by saying, that nothing I write has anything to do with belief. I only write out of experience.
Yes, maybe "goal" is a word, that has lots of potential misunderstandings and is not the best word to use in this context.
Why does enlightenment scare you? I mean, yes, for the ego, enlightenment is the most scaring thing there is. In its world, enlightenment can mean death.
In truth, enlightenment is just the beginning. It's the recognition, that you are the Light - pure divinity in form. If your center of perception changes from the ego to the light, the whole world changes and from this moment on, you are playing the game of life in a whole new dimension.
You transcend positive & negative energies and the path changes from the 3D/4D perspective to a galactic and universal one.
Pure alchemy then, becomes something you don't do anymore, but something you are. Every energy that comes into contact with your field gets transformed, without you doing it. It can't be otherwise.
Yes, dear Diff, even the electrical body and spins of atoms, electrons and protons get transformed in the quantum state into pure plasma - when the plasma and pure crystalline body begins to awaken, the meaning of embodiment changes, as you then embody the pure Light and transmit this beingness through your heart as the carrier frequency of pure Love - all the while, the mantra of your beingness is "I am the Light, the Light I am" with every breath and heartbeat as the cosmic heart...
This my friend, is just the beginning.... 🙏

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Very poignant; it often seems like a lot of emphasis is put on these boxes and definitions — and they can certainly be handy, for descriptive purposes; yet (for lack of better definitions) "light" and "dark" lives in all of us. As you say, it is indeed the manifestation of Yin and Yang.

Bright Blessings!

Right, sometimes you have to put things in boxes, just to smash them right away! 😀Thank you!

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