Dealing with our own narcissism is how we end suffering.
If we are not internally oriented this way, no amount of effort or hope is going to make any significant difference in the quality of our experience.
Our own narcissism can appear in the typical overt ways, such as greed, bullying, and condescension, but it can also (and likely more often) appear in very covert forms of manipulation, projection, people-pleasing, and self-betrayal.
Narcissistic tendencies do not mean “bad”, it means there are unrealized aspects of our being that are not infused with true power or Will and so they run on autopilot without us realizing it.
Narcissistic programs themselves are not innocent – they are the epitome of the “gnashing of teeth”.
The dormant being, unconsciously experiencing narcissistic tendencies, while their programs are potentially very obnoxious and dangerous, is still innocent.
That doesn’t mean we need to subject ourselves to them, of course.
Avoiding taking responsibility for our narcissism is a deep self-betrayal as it prolongs our suffering. The ways in which these programs have hijacked our minds and behaviors to cause us to believe in destructive narratives are devastating to a healthy sense of self. And to a healthy physical body, as well.
We are tricked by these nasty parasitic programs into rationalizing and reinforcing the prolonging of themselves. It is invisible slavery.
The deeply embedded programs in our psyche and body can only be stalked if we summon the impetus to stalk them. The more we identify with our programming, the less energy we can muster to stalk that programming and the more cycles of the merry-go-round we experience, dancing around the issue all day every day for our whole lives.
Obviously, it does not sound “pretty” to encounter “our” narcissism because of the social stigmas and namecalling around this issue.
This is based upon a misunderstanding and an identification as the body. Not being willing to uncover narcissism can be equated to not taking a blindfold off because we are embarrassed that it was present there in the first place. So, we are concerned that if we acknowledge its existence it somehow makes us “guilty” of more.
Digging our heels into self-protection and self-righteousness (avoidance) accomplishes nothing, except for more self-betrayal and stumbling.
Our true being is innocent whether we “do the work” or not, but taking the process seriously at least gives us a chance to realize that innocence experientially in order to be capable of living our lives fully.
Joshua
