Empathy

[AmelieJolie]

(i wrote this a while ago).

we must learn to walk in other people's shoes; understand that we are not all separate. we are all connected; mother earth and all her creatures. to hurt another is to hurt yourself. ghandi said that if we all follow the belief "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", the whole world would go blind.


loving only those who are kind to you won't set us free. loving your enemies will.

i feel that the only real evil is ignorance itself; a desensitization; an amnesia.....from our true nature, which is unity with all of life.

we must learn to find the truth with the help of our higher s-elf. we must be discriminate. listen to the quite voice within; the glow of our heart.

we must learn to understand ourselves, to fully love ourselves; balance the yin and yang within. accept it, harmonise it.

to know that we are all one and made of the same stuff. what separates us is we each have our own perspective based on experiences; the angle we view life from; the things we've seen and experienced to shape the way we think. each of us has our own illusion.

we must learn to understand ourselves and others. to walk 1000 miles in someone else's shoes. understand the yin and yang that is in everything. harmonise it. harmony.... no harm.

this is how we stop hating, and start evolving; loving. don't get frustrated with others you meet along the way who cannot see the things you do and don't have that illumination.

they will find their own way in their own time. not before they are ready. it must come from within.

if we listen to the spirit of our higher s-elf, we will know the right time to speak and what to say; how to say it in a way that particular person will understand.

the eyes we look out into the world with; this is our own window to our journey through space and time; our own trip.

eternal truth comes from the eternal light.

we each have something to share; every one of us. we are like a collection of various precious jewels linked together on a necklace. we all bring out the beauty in each other. (from a tibetan saying). we are all unique in some way; we all have our own special kind of beauty.

this is a beautiful planet with beautiful creatures. humans could be too, when they hearken to the spirit of higher consciousness. if only more of us could love the earth, and her creatures (including us!) more.

oh, we humans could be so much more! we have a special gift- we are healers.......we can create!


love, light and blessings

our mind is a matrix
our faces are a mask
our souls dwell within
our eyes are the looking-glass


i have been wondering- perhaps we are only 'free' or have 'free will' in as much as we are spiritually awakened. we are like gods in amnesia. this amnesia is the source of our soul-sickness.

[Rhonda]

ameliejolie, very nice, thanks for sharing.

[The Walking Tree]

thank you, beautiful.

[ginaraye]

hey shovelcut!
i read through some of these posts looking for help with my troublesome empathy. no help at all! but at least i know someone else is having the same problem. it is a problem. i spent three days in bed last year when the little boy next door broke his leg. i paced the floors restlessly and got no sleep two months ago saying to myself 'if only i could rest' when the junkie next door was going cold turkey. i was knocked to my knees breathless by incredible kidney pain one evening. my kidneys are fine, but kidney disease is rampant here. the physical pick-up is bad enough, but at least i know what is 'mine' and what i'm picking up from someone else. more insidious is the emotional pick-up. i can sit in an empty chair and tell you what the person before was feeling-- have been catapulted out of chairs from the strange energy lurking there. i can be careful in some instances but hey, gotta buy groceries, gotta this and gotta that. it agitates me to such a degree that people think i'm the one that's nuts or abusing some substance! (i've become unemployable. thanks, mom, for the cash gifts! anybody wanna publish some bedouin stories?) however, once i'm alone, the emotional stuff is pretty easy to let go of, which is how i figure out if it is mine or not.. i am aware of most of my own issues. the physical stuff, though, sometimes hangs on for days. walking down the street is physically painful-- i feel battered. i get back home exhausted. i do live in a sick society, even the children in this town are vicious. when i try to explain, people say, 'you're so negative!' i say, 'you're so blind!' insensate! what i'd prefer is to move! i've been told to surround myself with white light, but that takes more energy/focus than i have right now. i found in an animal wisdom book that feathers are protective and during winter i wore a down jacket and it works!! but it is summer now and i don't know what to do, can't just stay home because it's too hot.. if i knew what purpose it serves, or where it is leading me... i don't know, all i can say is it's a constant struggle-- it is almost 3 years now i have physical and emotional pain hitting me like i'm stuck inside some pinball machine-- and i sure do wish someone had some pertinent info and advice!

[11wanderer11]

hey shovelcut!
i read through some of these posts looking for help with my troublesome empathy. no help at all! but at least i know someone else is having the same problem. it is a problem. i spent three days in bed last year when the little boy next door broke his leg. i paced the floors restlessly and got no sleep two months ago saying to myself 'if only i could rest' when the junkie next door was going cold turkey. i was knocked to my knees breathless by incredible kidney pain one evening. my kidneys are fine, but kidney disease is rampant here. the physical pick-up is bad enough, but at least i know what is 'mine' and what i'm picking up from someone else. more insidious is the emotional pick-up. i can sit in an empty chair and tell you what the person before was feeling-- have been catapulted out of chairs from the strange energy lurking there. i can be careful in some instances but hey, gotta buy groceries, gotta this and gotta that. it agitates me to such a degree that people think i'm the one that's nuts or abusing some substance! (i've become unemployable. thanks, mom, for the cash gifts! anybody wanna publish some bedouin stories?) however, once i'm alone, the emotional stuff is pretty easy to let go of, which is how i figure out if it is mine or not.. i am aware of most of my own issues. the physical stuff, though, sometimes hangs on for days. walking down the street is physically painful-- i feel battered. i get back home exhausted. i do live in a sick society, even the children in this town are vicious. when i try to explain, people say, 'you're so negative!' i say, 'you're so blind!' insensate! what i'd prefer is to move! i've been told to surround myself with white light, but that takes more energy/focus than i have right now. i found in an animal wisdom book that feathers are protective and during winter i wore a down jacket and it works!! but it is summer now and i don't know what to do, can't just stay home because it's too hot.. if i knew what purpose it serves, or where it is leading me... i don't know, all i can say is it's a constant struggle-- it is almost 3 years now i have physical and emotional pain hitting me like i'm stuck inside some pinball machine-- and i sure do wish someone had some pertinent info and advice!

interesting, i don't think i've experienced quite as intense effects as what you're talking about, but i understand very much. i don't feel comfortable unless i'm by myself because of the same stressful/negative energy/emotional bombardment by other people & places. when i was first researching what could be 'wrong' with me, i resonated strongly with the term 'psychic vampire', thinking i was uncontrollably sucking in people's energies, good & bad, for 'food'. sounds like your 'intake valve' is stuck open. it's an interesting, highly misunderstood concept, & i feel i was led to a good website with many informative articles on this subject, which i can share with you if you wish. i do think i'm naturally empathic, & my main challenge now is balancing between being open & closed. personally i've gone through most of my life with heavy armor/shielding, avoiding people, eye contact, etc. because i didn't want to energetically compromise them or myself. but that's not the best way to go through life either obviously since i basically either become invisible or like a wall. so...anywho, my advice i guess is to learn about simple visualization/sheidling/filtering techniques (you don't have to constantly think of it to make it last) for protection & to also spend more time in nature to take in that purer ambient energy. i think when you can begin to concsiously be aware of your energy intakes and control them, then you're on the right path. over the last few years i've become able to take in energy at command (from the source i think because it can happen anywhere, but possibly it's just ambient). it's not that hard to do, just takes a little practice. posture doesn't really matter too much. the main 'secret' or 'trick' is the tightening of the muscles at the root chakra (in between your butt & groin), while being still, breathing deep & slow like meditation, & being aware of your energy body (got a great book on that as well). then you just will it to happen & it floods your whole body, feels great & i'm pretty sure it heals too.

[InBetweenPlace]

hello! i am new to this forum, and just read where 2 people on this thread mentioned they were having trouble adjusting to an increase in empathy - they said they were feeling the emotions of other people, and that it was a lot to handle.

these posts are rather old.

since i have been empathic since birth, and lived many years, before i learned to control it, if anyone is continuing to see too much empathy as a problem, i would like to suggest a possible solution to tone it down.

that said, i would like to express that if you are experiencing an increase in being able to feel the emotions of other people, this may not be a bad thing!

this line of thought was not pursued in the previous discussion, so i would like to add to it.

being at least somewhat empathic is necessary, in order to feel a connection with other people. in the beginning, it's a lot like clearing a blocked chakra. there may be a kind of "explosion" of energy, followed by a more peaceful feeling.

a little background on me, so that you can feel comfortable that i understand about sudden increases in empathy -

when i moved from dallas, texas back to florida, where i grew up, i left behind a life i didn't like, and which greatly restricted me spiritually, with the intention of starting completely over and doing it right this time, of exploring who i was. i was doing this under the influence of my saturn return, for those of you who understand astrology. this is a great example of that, actually.

after a few months in florida, i noticed that i would get all sentimental whenever i accidentally caught commercials on tv. i didn't watch tv, any more. i stopped that years ago, because there was some sort of weird emanation from television sets that caused me physical and mental discomfort. but, i was living with my mother, again, until i got my own apartment, and she watched tv constantly. anyway, whenever commercials for baby powder came on, or i saw images of nice family life (such as is shown for pharmaceutical commercials), of children running through fields of daisies, beautiful scenery (such as the kind shown in car commercials), and the like, my eyes would fill with tears and i would get all emotional.

what was happening was, even though i was already empathic, i was "opening up."

this was definitely a good thing, and i just felt it, cried, and went on. i allowed it to flow, recognizing that i was opening up. this lasted about a year.

so, if this is the level at which you are feeling "empathy," please just "go with the flow" and allow yourself to open up. see where it leads you. this is a necessary part of spiritual growth. for me, it led to a greater feeling that "all is one."

however, if you are feeling way too much empathy, and are experiencing higher levels of anger and pain from other people, please post your response, and i will explain what i did, a couple of years after the events described above, that helped me to feel my own feelings more, and be able to tell the difference between my feelings and those of other people.

using this technique, you don't completely block off the emotions of others. you still know what they are feeling, but at a reduced level, and you get to decide whether you want to feel it or not. practicing this helps you to learn control of yourself, which increases your ability to make choices. self control is also necessary, so that you don't accidentally invade the privacy of other people.

for me, it took several years, before i was any good at it. i think this was because i had lived most of my life "wide open." it may not take you nearly as long to become good at it, as it took me.

if this is something you are interested in, please post your responses, so i can gauge whether this is something people are still needing to talk about.

much love,

jc

[12thUranus]

i understand your usage of the word empathy, but i believe the correct term is sympathy.
sympathy is feeling what others are feeling.
empathy is understanding what others are feeling.
apathy is doing neither of the two.

the best description i've heard to remember is this:
upon seeing a drowning victim, sympathy would fall down and flail and feel they are drowning as well, empathy would understand the feeling and try to rescue, apathy would stare ahead without emotion.

[InBetweenPlace]

[post 2 of 6]

i would like to express my apologies for what was, perhaps, not the best example of increasing empathy in a person. however, what sounds on the surface to be a trivial experience was not.

when people watch tv, go to a sports event, or suffer devastation (such as for an earthquake or tsunami), they feel emotions en masse. these emotions form a collective repository that anyone can tap - even accidentally. [this has even been scientifically proven, because this has been studied for more than 20 years using sensitive detectors placed all over the world, which correlated more activity with major devastating world events.] what was happening with me at that time of my life was, since i was already feeling the emotions of others as though they were my own, i was beginning to tap the repository of feelings that other people felt, whenever the events or scenes from these commercials happened in their lives. the commercials were like a window on the world, and i connected to the mass emotions through them. i found this overwhelming at time, thus my tears, because it was as though my body was not able to fully feel all of the emotions that were coming my way, and crying was the only way i could bear it. these were even positive emotions, but that didn't matter.

i first learned i was an empath by watching star trek. in the old series, which has wonderful personal lessons that are not in the new series at all, there was an episode where kirk and crew land on some planet, and kirk gets a near mortal wound. they accidentally find this woman, who is mute, and who the doctor, bones, describes as "an empath - a person whose nervous system can connect with another person's nervous system so that they can feel everything the other person is feeling - and in this case, to heal them, to take that person's wounds onto themselves, and then heal the wound on themselves." he made this statement after this woman healed kirk of his near mortal wound.

as i watched this episode for the very first time, i knew i was like that, and that that was the explanation for why i felt overwhelmed by what other people were feeling.

perhaps you will have a problem with someone learning life lessons from star trek. that's fine. you have your own experiences. however, for me, this episode helped me to identify what was going on in my life, even if i didn't yet know how to control it.

when i went through my own "opening up" phase, 15 years ago, it had to be something more than simply feeling the emotions of one other person, because i already felt emotions from more than one person at a time (including depression from people at work). that's why i began to tap the pool of emotions from everyone. that was how i began opening up to a greater experience than just myself. as a natural consequence of being like this, i tend to avoid crowds and crowded places. if i must go to such a place as disney world or the other theme parks (since i live in orlando) because i want to attend some special event, i have to make sure my protection is in place, or i will get worn out quickly, and not be able to enjoy myself.

jc

[InBetweenPlace]

[post 3 of 6]


solution for too much empathy

so, since i didn't really want to talk about myself, but would instead like to help others, i'd like to explain how i protect myself from being zapped by everyone else's emotions, in the hope that others will benefit from it.

this is my 3rd post in this thread, so if this is the first post you are reading, please go back and find my first 2 posts, so you can have the background.

in 1994, after i made friends at native american pow-wows and met new age and wiccan friends at a house every saturday night, where we learned about, discussed, and practiced new age stuff like seeing other people's auras, group meditation (where we one time had 3 of us see the same vision of a forest on fire – but from 3 different positions – mine above the trees, one among the branches of the trees, and the third on the ground!), how to use tarot cards, learning the basics of astrology, and the differences between “male” and “female” energy (put in quotes because i believe they are different, but not extremely so). we did many other things, too, such as drumming circles. it was quite a time of exploration for me! i learned psychic shielding from my native american friends, during an informal group meeting inside of a shop that sold native american art. my new age friends already knew about shielding, so when i told them what i had learned, we talked about lots of different other ways you can do it, too. this taught me that, although you may know people who know things that you need to know, many simply assume (incorrectly) that you know it already, so they never tell you they know it, so you cannot think to ask them!

here is the essence of psychic shielding: while you are learning, it is important to practice when you are alone, so that you can be more certain that what you are feeling right now are your own feelings. after you feel you can sustain your shields, practice with one other person around, if you can, and don't be discouraged if you end up in a group and your shields won't work. this takes time and practice, to find out what works best for you, and to sustain your shields when you aren't thinking about them. all i'm doing here is describing the technique. you can take that wherever you want to, to best suit your needs.

sitting, standing, or lying quietly, use your imagination to visualize yourself inside a shape, such as an egg shape. visualize that shape made of a substance that is capable of protecting you. the name of what it is made of will probably occur to you, so that you know what it is. you may begin by deciding ahead of time, what the substance is, but eventually, it will work better, if you allow it to protect you and then observe what happens. you can also increase or decrease the distance your shields are away from your body. sometimes, you may want to have layered shields of different kinds.

jc

[InBetweenPlace]

[post 4 of 6]

in the past, i have visualized my shield as made of golden light, white light, iron 3 feet thick, red and gold light, fencing, such as chicken wire, filled in with something impenetrable, but transparent, a reflective mirror, javelins, and the list goes on. over time, i noticed that my shield would change to fit the situation, even though i gave it no directions – and that it was more effective than if i had purposely chosen the substance myself. initially, i had a lot of trouble keeping the shields up. if i were not thinking about it at that moment, generally they stayed down. but, they were there whenever i needed them and remembered them. after several years, i discovered that they were staying up all the time, and that i now had the choice to decide whether to lower the shields and feel my surroundings or not. this opened up a whole new vista for me, and made life much easier.

the shields do not take away your ability to feel what others are feeling, but it does lessen it a lot, so that you have some relief. your success in doing this is directly related to your ability to visualize in immense detail. so, as you increase your skill at visualizing with more and more detail, you will increase your skill at protecting yourself with a psychic shield.

you may also notice that you can read people's thoughts through this process. it's important to draw boundaries, so that you respect their privacy. if you are experiencing this spontaneously, explore it for a while, so that you understand this ability, with the intention that you will create proper boundaries soon.

i do hope that someone finds this information useful. i suspect there are many here who will. if you don't, and you further don't understand why i posted this at all, i suggest you purchase wanderer awakening and listen to it. this will be the most important thing you can do for yourself right now.

jc

[InBetweenPlace]

[post 5 of 6]

as a further note, to round out what it's like to be an empath, i'd like to tell how i use it to heal others (which ties in with my purpose, by the way).

since my tendency since early childhood was to absorb the negative emotions of the people around me, and because i was literally surrounded by negative emotions, almost constantly, i was nervous, tense, and in ill health constantly. when i grew up and moved 950 miles away, to go to college, i had a part time job in the library. there was a walkway through the back offices of the library that ran behind my desk. one day, an older gentleman, whose job was to put books back on the shelf, told me that he felt a huge amount of love emanating from me, every time he passed by that way. he said it felt very good, and it helped him to feel happy.

this was a surprise to me, since i may not have been feeling loving or happy at the time. already, i had begun to be able to rid myself of the negative emotions of other people, so that they didn't stay with me very long, but this was on a subconscious level. it was in college that i began “rescuing” people. during this time, i noticed that when i would hug someone, i would get very tired. i couldn't avoid that, but i did try to keep it to a minimum. for some reason, other people wanted to hug me! i was bewildered. i also did not have good health, due to some inherited conditions, so i needed to watch my energy, so i wouldn't get too drained. if i neglected this, i would get sick for days at a time.

jc

[InBetweenPlace]

[post 6 of 6]

some years later, after i learned psychic shielding, i realized what had been going on energetically earlier in my life. i learned to create a shield that was skin-tight, so that i could hug people, they could get some good energy, and i wouldn't be drained.

in the past 4 years, i began meditating while listening to some guided meditation cds. in these meditations were exercises for how to create “tubes of light” around yourself for protection. i found this very helpful on many levels. if you pm me, i will send you the name of these cds, in case you would like to try them.

after 3 years of meditating using these cds, i was able to meditate on my own, without them, and i had developed the ability to generate huge amounts of light and love, so that it no longer matters whether i absorb negative feelings from other people or not. i give hugs to people and give them all the energy they need so that they can feel better and get out of their down feeling, and i seem to just “burn up” their negative feelings, including feeling tired or exhausted. these feelings no longer stick to me (unless i am dealing with a bully, which requires a lot of shielding), and i am a functioning empath, with almost no hits to myself. i do still need lots of time alone, so that i can be sure to have this extra energy for other people, and i still need to watch my energy and the level of negativity or positivity in my environment, but i can recuperate much faster nowadays.

when in crowds of people, even such as shopping in a grocery store, i still must keep my shields in place. this helps me to not waste my energy and not to accidentally give it out to people who go around absorbing everyone else's energy like it's their own. however, i have also noticed that people must still be feeling a lot of energy from me, because they are now smiling a lot more often, and are a lot more helpful and relaxed around me. there – now you have had a peek at what it's like to be an empath.

jc

[mwr1026]

i understand your usage of the word empathy, but i believe the correct term is sympathy.
sympathy is feeling what others are feeling.
empathy is understanding what others are feeling.
apathy is doing neither of the two.

the best description i've heard to remember is this:
upon seeing a drowning victim, sympathy would fall down and flail and feel they are drowning as well, empathy would understand the feeling and try to rescue, apathy would stare ahead without emotion.

there is a lot of confusion on this. if you do a google search on "empathy vs sympathy" the answers are all over the map. but in fact, you have it backward. the prefix "em-" means to enter into or be within. in this case, to enter into the pathos, or experience of the other. the prefix "sym-" means to come beside or align oneself with. in this case, to align oneself with the pathos or experience of the other.

so sympathy is actually understanding and relating to the experience of the other, whereas empathy is vicariously entering into the experience of the other.

[12thUranus]

there is a lot of confusion on this. if you do a google search on "empathy vs sympathy" the answers are all over the map. but in fact, you have it backward. the prefix "em-" means to enter into or be within. in this case, to enter into the pathos, or experience of the other. the prefix "sym-" means to come beside or align oneself with. in this case, to align oneself with the pathos or experience of the other.

so sympathy is actually understanding and relating to the experience of the other, whereas empathy is vicariously entering into the experience of the other.

they are all over the map, correct.
sym- to align; come together; "with"
em- to enter; get into

actually, you are using the definitions backwards.
to align yourself, you are "with" the others emotional state. together, hand-in-hand.
to enter, you are able to "get into" the others mindset and still maintain your own faculties.

if two child siblings witness their dog die, their feelings are aligned together, with, therefore they sympathize each other's emotion.
their adult neighbor sees them crying and is able to enter their mindset with understanding and console them with empathy.
the gray area comes into play when the neighbor recalls a time in his childhood when he witnessed his dog die and he begins to cry. this emotion is the debatable variety between sympathy and empathy. i believe it is still empathy, because he is still not aligned with the same emotion the siblings felt for their own dog.

[mwr1026]

they are all over the map, correct.
sym- to align; come together; "with"
em- to enter; get into

actually, you are using the definitions backwards.
to align yourself, you are "with" the others emotional state. together, hand-in-hand.
to enter, you are able to "get into" the others mindset and still maintain your own faculties.

if two child siblings witness their dog die, their feelings are aligned together, with, therefore they sympathize each other's emotion.
their adult neighbor sees them crying and is able to enter their mindset with understanding and console them with empathy.
the gray area comes into play when the neighbor recalls a time in his childhood when he witnessed his dog die and he begins to cry. this emotion is the debatable variety between sympathy and empathy. i believe it is still empathy, because he is still not aligned with the same emotion the siblings felt for their own dog.

it feels to me like this debate has gone about as far as it can constructively. the two words are so frequently confused in common usage that it probably doesn't really matter much anyway, and we are getting a bit far afield for this thread. i'm ready to let it go.

[12thUranus]

@mwr1026

please hear me out. this can be on topic for this forum. this is great example of catalyst and its use thereof. i'm not attacking. i am learning.

you say now "i'm ready to let it go." twice you had opportunity to do just that. so, why say it during the very act of not performing it?

i initially was attempting to express "my light" of knowing to inbetweenplace.

you responded to me "if you do a google search on "empathy vs sympathy" the answers are all over the map. but in fact, you have it backward." this statement indicates that you did conclude that there are multiple perspectives on the definition, but then you proceed to exclaim that you "in fact" know the correct answer. if you did conclude both answers can be correct, you actually never needed to post and could have "let it go" much earlier. you didn't yet proclaim you do. this is fascinating to me.

this is terrific material for studying catalyst. it is another example of what i determine to lean toward the sts path.

i, in fact, did want to hold on to this and not let it go. i admit this. i recognized this "grasp" i held before responding.

what are your thoughts on how catalyst results can be contradictory to what we think the result is?
what abilities in this thread can be useful to seeing this concept?

[Enivid]

amazing, i do agree. the experiment with free will created amnesia. we are born, and we choose to forget. we was, we choose to be, and now we are.

thanks!

[Foghorn]

[post 5 of 6] was the last i could read.

on behalf of myself and perhaps others, i apologize for the thoughtless hijacking of your post.

i am most interested in learning more and would appreciate if you could continue with post 6 of 6.


i am sorry. please forgive me. thank you. i love you.

[mwr1026]

...
on behalf of myself and perhaps others, i apologize for the thoughtless hijacking of your post...
yes jc, things got a little out of hand with the debate over semantics. these 6 posts that you included here are remarkable. and very instructive. thank you for sharing them.

[12thUranus]

(i wrote this a while ago)..

and still very true and very beautiful.

i came to this thread in a roundabout way. i'm happy i did. your original post is wonderful and stands up to time.

it is kinda frustrating being the "negative cynic." it is my something to share, i suppose. i'm a jewel that goes unnoticed until its over.

love and blessings to all

[White Lotus]

having (finally after many years of apathy) come to understand the meaning of the word "empathy" in more than just a symbolic way, i would like to throw in my 2 cents, as i often love to do.
in my humble opinion-
empathy is not feeling one experiences through one's own eyes. it is like looking at the person before you as a mirror. through looking at the reflection created by the mirror, seeing yourself in the mirror, you may develop an understanding what you feel would be best for you at that particular time. then, act accordingly upon those reflective emotions based on what you yourself would hope for at that time.

it all boils down to the golden rule. "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

by the way, as i am an avid word lover and the root of words and how they all symbolize obvious clues in our search... notice how these words have the root of "path" a great analogy to the journey we take.
a-path-y: without path. perhaps those not ready to believe
sym-path-y: together path. perhaps those who believe that there are separate individuals
em-path-y: within path. perhaps those who believe all to be one

[12thUranus]

looking at the person before you as a mirror. through looking at the reflection created by the mirror, seeing yourself in the mirror, you may develop an understanding what you feel would be best for you at that particular time. then, act accordingly upon those reflective emotions based on what you yourself would hope for at that time.

i like that. i like it very much. i think there must be a better word for this, for it embodies something grander than what a single word can describe. it's a great philosophy. you know, we never really know who we are until we look into that "mirror" that is the other self, and the reflection can tell us much about ourselves.

if we can use this described empathy consistently and effectively, i believe we would lead much more pleasant and powerful lives.

too often, i'm afraid, the phrase "do to others as you would have them do to you" is negatively mistranslated as "i expect others to do to me as i want them to do to me". although, i do find it odd that the phrase is not "do to others as they want to be done to", because this seems to broadcast a much more favorable outcome for both parties.

i like the "path" analogies. very nice :)

[onething]

inbetweenplace,

i read your posts and i appreciate the time and effort that went into them. you are a good writer. it was quite interesting.

[Psion 3-K]

however, if you are feeling way too much empathy, and are experiencing higher levels of anger and pain from other people, please post your response, and i will explain what i did, a couple of years after the events described above, that helped me to feel my own feelings more, and be able to tell the difference between my feelings and those of other people.


i don't experience overflows of empathy, but it i do get very distinct empathetic signatures from people. i want to mention two things specifically.

one is sudden emotional outbursts from others around me. sometimes i'll be minding my own business and doing something not at all related to what the other people in the room are doing. perhaps i'm sitting on the couch reading a book or something but out of nowhere, someone drops something or starts an argument. my reaction is distinct; even though i have no reason to feel the same way, i feel a stark change from my normal state of mind into whatever state of conflict those around me are experiencing.

these shifts are usually very brief and this is why i know that they are not being created by me. they happen often and while they can be uncomfortable, they've never caused me any enduring problems. the second one is rather different and i find it to be much more uncomfortable than the first...

this is when i come into the presence of those whom are still stuck to the old fashion 'hellfire' versions of religion. the reason why these people disturb me more than the former is because they tend to project their self assured beliefs in a psycho parent god into me. it goes something like this... i can be very secure in all that i believe and feel of the universe and the things i've created. my higher self speaks to me regularly and it's easy to see that 'hell' does not exist. but as soon as i go over to someone's house who does believe in the illusion god, i experience a major sense of interference.

it's always the worst when i am in their territory because their surroundings are imprinted with what they believe. i am very sensitive to the energetic state of my environment and i can sense things many people cannot. in public it's fun for me to examine what kind of energetic signatures are left behind. i've been practicing psionics in some capacity since i was about 14 or 15 so i'm pretty good at controlling this ability. public places never hold a one sided energetic signature because so many people are always coming and going.

so if i go to eat dinner at a friends house and we begin to talk about religion, my whole sense of my higher self, among a few other things gets totally scrambled. instead of being assured of what i believe, i become assured of what they believe for a period of time. i can't easily hear my guidance and access my other psionic techniques and i'm left feeling like i was when they tried to convince me of hell when i was younger. oh yes, there is a hell and you'd better stop trafficking with that thing you call a higher self as it is really satan in disguise and you will burn for eternity. right. because i'm doing the universe such terrible harm by recognizing the divinity and equality of all people and not condemning anyone...

it's the most sublime shift i can experience, really. i've shared my views with the religious people but they are about as assured as i am. yet technically speaking, we are both correct. the belief of hell only governs a physical life though so when they are shown that this belief is false as they return to the one, no real harm is done. ultimately there is no such thing as harm anyways as such a thing is just an illusion to give us experience. religious people don't believe this though so that's why they think hell exists.

eventually this state of mind wears off. it's pretty intense how well these people act as 'radar jammers'. i don't hate them for it... if anything this is yet another learning experience for me. the biggest evil of all hellfire religion, in this case christianity, is that it takes the responsibility away from the believers and pins it on a guy whom god sent to die for their sins. this means that people never see their true divine states yet they feel secure in the fact that someone else suffered on their behalf. am i the only one who sees how nefarious this is??

that's the biggest deception and theft of spirituality that has ever occurred, the teaching that yes, you are divine, but that divinity ends where this one man stands. it creates a feeling of separation and enslavement to ideals that will constantly have your soul convulsing as you diligently try to ignore it... yet again, i hate no one for this. life is an illusion and we will one day find that this strife is the only thing that allowed us to be our true divine selves....

[12thUranus]

good stuff psion


this is when i come into the presence of those whom are still stuck to the old fashion 'hellfire' versions of religion. the reason why these people disturb me more than the former is because they tend to project their self assured beliefs in a psycho parent god into me. it goes something like this... i can be very secure in all that i believe and feel of the universe and the things i've created. my higher self speaks to me regularly and it's easy to see that 'hell' does not exist. but as soon as i go over to someone's house who does believe in the illusion god, i experience a major sense of interference.

not that we will ever hear from them about it, but i would be very interested to know what said people experience as they enter your home. that would be intriguing!!

much love,

j

[Psion 3-K]

good stuff psion

not that we will ever hear from them about it, but i would be very interested to know what said people experience as they enter your home. that would be intriguing!!

much love,
j

thanks a lot. it means a great deal to me to know that someone is reading my posts.

the thing is that the religious types probably wouldn't be able to perceive the high degree of psionic augmentation i've implemented into the energetic background of my house. i sure as heck can feel it especially in my own room where i concentrated the most energy. it's the densest around my bed, of course. i find that my room is where it is easiest for me to meditate and check the status of my psionics.

in order for people to perceive the things i have created they'd need to at least acknowledge, on the tiniest conscious level, the possibility that maybe they are stunting their own spiritual growth. otherwise the only way my energy affects them is in a diagnostic fashion meant for me to learn how to continually manifest energetic counterbalances. my theory is that all emotion begins on an energetic level and in order to continuously maintain my own peace at least, the best method is to undermine the energetic signature itself, not the person's actual emotion. this may seem like gibberish to some but i'm always trying new things to advance this gift i have.

of course, none of this affects the person i'm analyzing. for me it's only ever a matter of improving the energetic background wherever i go because it is painfully obvious that 95 percent of the people on this earth are not aware of a very fundamental level of existence. that is the astral realm which contains every single thought people think in order for them to perform specific tasks. an active user of the loat would be able to continuously augment their thought waves in an attempt to achieve some kind physical goal. most people, however, have no clue that their thoughts are energy no different than electricity and thus the earth is... 'thoughtfully smogged' just as it is polluted with greenhouse gases...

my ultimate goal is to foster a background which will let people see their divinity much more easily. these are just a few things i think about in performing this task. it's ridiculous the kinds of smoggy negative vibes mankind is dealing with. the problem, more than anything though, is ignorance of the fundamental level of existence which allows our will to be fulfilled. i've been trying intently to get as close as i can to this realm but even though i sound like i'm assured of what i know, don't be fooled. i sure as heck am not. i'm working off of faith alone and the realization that the way mankind has been doing things is not working at all. i have no clue if my efforts have produced a single physical result for other people at large. i know 100 percent that i've evolved. their's no doubt about that. as for the earth in general, i have no way of telling if my work on it's own has changed anything.

i don't care, though. life is totally pointless anyways but that's our greatest gift, to give it a point. it bothers me how so many try to make life objective, that only certain things are right and all else will get you torched by the god whom has a magnifying glass over the anthill called earth. i'm not going to give up on my endeavors because i know that the alternative is to become a mundane earth junky, addicted to the flat pleasures which do not fill a desire much greater within my soul... i hope someone sees where i'm coming from.

simply put, i have absolutely nothing to lose and if there is one thing i'm certain of, it is that.

[onething]

psion 3-k,


am i the only one who sees how nefarious this is??

oh, no, i think about it quite a lot. the christian religion has been almost completely hijacked, a tool that prevents spiritual growth.

they teach a wicked god and this is the big preventer. jesus taught a god of unconditional love and a human ethic to reach that perfection. in so saying, he therefore taught that god's perfection is his unconditional love.

"for your father in heaven sends his rain upon the just and the unjust. be ye therefore perfect, as your father in heaven is perfect."

he taught that god does not love sacrifice:

"go and learn what this means, 'i will have mercy and not sacrifice." (he quoted isaiah)

he taught that god forgives even huge debts in the parable of the wicked servant who was forgiven a huge debt and would not forgive his fellow servant a tiny debt.

yet christianity teaches that god does not and will not ever forgive. not only the "unbelievers" but christians as well. for if god demanded a sacrifice, demanded a death as billy graham said, then he did not forgive. he had his debt paid, and that is not forgiveness.

jesus taught every kind of compassion, especially making it clear that his examples were naturally compassionate, of their own nature, and yet what truly compassionate person could ever be happy while even one person writhes in agony for ever and ever and ever, without hope or release? thus the hell teaching prevents true compassion from developing!

fundamentalist and also nonfundamentalist christianity, for the most part, teaches the opposite of what jesus taught. they have an imaginary system that suits the powers that be of this world. they need no deep moral inventory so long as their god is no better than they are, and in fact often worse.

sigh.
jesus' teachings were so simple, really.

polarizing positive is to embrace simplicity. god is good, goodness never uses force, intimidation or violence of any kind. goodness remembers no wrongs and does not judge. goodness feels unconditional love for all beings all the time, can forgive everything, and is compassionate.

[12thUranus]

onething,

agreed!!! well put.

i'd like to add how intensely these very realizations you've described are transforming me. the question is "why now?" i am coming full force into the realization that religion is entirely bogus, and the force is coming from all angles. not just me, the people with whom i speak about such matters are all coming to the same realizations on their own. separate persons who don't speak with each other, just me, and we are all expressing this. the only answer to the question is that we do know that it is happening, this is not our imagination.

an additional observation: the "light/love warrior" has been the axiom of all the elite renegade sects of newbie religions since sumer.

[Psion 3-K]

psion 3-k,

sigh.
jesus' teachings were so simple, really.

polarizing positive is to embrace simplicity. god is good, goodness never uses force, intimidation or violence of any kind. goodness remembers no wrongs and does not judge. goodness feels unconditional love for all beings all the time, can forgive everything, and is compassionate.

a lot of things are quite simple, really, but i'm sure you know of the 'telephone effect'. you know, if you have a line of people whom tell the same message right down the line, eventually you have a completely new one by the time it gets to the last person. the difference here is that the line of people is instead a time period 2,000 years long augmented by the personal motivations of a specific group of greedy people. christianity has been keen to start crusades and kill those they did not understand all in the name of the god of mercy and kindness... irony, irony, irony... the worst thing is that people never thought for themselves and thus thought that this contradiction was totally rational.

for the fledgling spiritualist, i'd recommend they start by reading the texts of modern teachers like deepak chopra or rhoda byrne. i find that these people are much more likely to affect a noticeable and effective change in people because because they actually live in modern times. it's woefully obvious that sooo much of what is in the bible, especially the old testament, is totally directed towards the people of that time period. somehow it all became super undead spiritual text and meandered into modern times like the zombies you see in modern horror flicks, though...

the reason for that was simple... $$$ and power. somewhere along the line that is all that mattered to the ones who trashed the actual work of christ. i respect him as a good teacher and all, i just do not respect the actions of those who have ruined countless lives. all hellfire based thought is based off the concept that you can suffer harm to your actual essence by living but like i said before, this is all just an illusion. in terms of those whom i know like this, the empathetic signature they emit is as if they are trapped within a very secure cage.

it's no coincidence that so many people are finally getting out of that prison. modern technology leaves no room for this as we now have a capacity to destroy ourselves unlike ever before. that's the biggest reason for the current massive shift in consciousness, i think. the things i'm doing to foster a clean shift really amount to an advanced form of prayer. i've read before that there was a yogi master who was able to change the physical state of water just by meditating on it and calling upon his own inner power. this is the effect i'm seeking just in different forms...

i've heard all kinds of evidence to support the fact that awakened individuals can really affect the universe on a profound, quantum physical level. it's just so hard for me to see if i've been doing this.

[mwr1026]

once again, a thought takes on a life of its own and creates a natural branching structure that seems off topic but worthwhile.

i grew up southern baptist. i'm well versed in the evangelical/fundamentalist perspective, and for the past 17 years or so, i have been "in recovery."

my take on all of this is that there are grains of truth peppered throughout the world religions but that they are all tightly choked and entwined in the vines of manipulation and control. some of this is about money, some is about power, and some is about insecurity.

the guideline i use to decipher what i hear is very simple: "does this feel like manipulation and control?" about 80% of the christianity i grew up with does. a system that is 80% manipulation and control will inevitably bring much suffering and pain. this brings us full circle back to empathy and the co-dependence that can make it unhealthy, since co-dependency too is manipulation and control, and is rife in the evangelical world.

[12thUranus]

psion

agreed :). although there is evidence that the same "foundations"/
manipulative god-control" that formed "the christ church" has made it through not just 2000 but 5000 years. it's all a pervertion of the truth- that god is us. we are our own judge and when time comes, we judge ourselves in the light of infinity. in essence, we have nothing to fear but closing ourselves into a self made "cage."

if i may say so, i think wanting to see your effects may hinder your effectiveness, ;) if you get my drift. i say this, not from a perch of knowing, but from a place of seeking.

[InBetweenPlace]

@ psion - thank you so much for your posts! you are truly an advanced soul!

you are truly clear that you are feeling the feelings - and thoughts and beliefs - of other people. this is empathy. these feelings do not belong to you, yet you are feeling them.

i have also experienced the change of beliefs around others whose beliefs are very strong, leading to difficulty in determining or remembering what i really believed. this is a time when you may benefit from constructing some psychic shields around yourself. i use them, and it really does help! i have found the same thing to happen with tv. if you don't use shields, as a matter of course, angry people will give you their anger, fearful people will give you their fear, etc., just because they can, and because you are open to it.

your experience, as explained in splendid detail, is one of the very situations i thought other people may be experiencing, and is why i posted my experiences with empathy.

@ onething - thank you, also, for your posts! you are an insightful being!

some people have been pming me about setting up shields. if you are lurking and you want to know, too, please pm me, so i can know what people need, before i make a post about this.

much love to all,

jc

[onething]

hello 12th uranus,


i'd like to add how intensely these very realizations you've described are transforming me. the question is "why now?"

i very much hope and would like to believe that something is indeed happening here on planet earth. goodness knows, it is high time. for me, it is the energy of the holy spirit, which came to me at a time when i made a positive decision, to allow myself to turn away from dislike and exclusion of others. it was presented to my consciousness as a clear choice. the holy spirit is my teacher, and has revolutionized the way i understand spiritual things. christianity didn't hold up very well to its scrutiny.

i personally have come to believe that the reason jesus did not buck the scriptures more than he already did, and take on people's religious belief system head-on in systematized way, was that he knew how futile it would be and how violent the reaction (which he didn't live long anyway). you know how einstein is supposed to have said that you can't solve a problem with the same mindset that created it?

instead, he tried to uplift people into a new mindset by telling them what god was really like, which was the exact opposite of the scriptures, and by telling them that in order to be fit for the kingdom of heaven (close to god, love for all) you must be born again by the holy spirit (receive this divine,energy and have your brain and mind transformed) so that they would then be able to think and see for themselves a new way of being, and no argument would be needed to dismantle the complexity of the religious structure.

for example, after my experience with the holy spirit, one day i said to myself, "oh, what about hell?"

and the answer was "nah!"

it was to be years before i found really good arguments, from a logical and even scriptural point of view dismantling the hell teaching. i thought i was all alone...but it didn't matter to me that i belonged to a church of one, because i was very, very sure that i knew the character of god, so to speak.

i believe people need to have their whole organism uplifted, including the brain. divine energy can do this. somewhat like activating a switch. i think that this is actually what jesus was talking about when he said we needed to be reborn in the spirit.

[onething]

hello psion,

the telephone effect has certainly played a role in messing up what may have been original writings, but it is really not the major cause of the trouble with religion.

the major cause is what you said, the personal motivations of greedy people, and the inability of the masses to think for themselves.

most of the old testament is negative drek, having nothing to do with the real god, yet with a few gems in it.

yeah, i've thought a lot about the misfortune of how the old testament got dragged in. if not for that, perhaps jesus' mission could have been more successful...maybe.

i guess the early christians wanted the ot for its prophecies of a messiah - with these they thought to gain legitimacy of this upstart jesus fellow.

i looked up psionic on google yesterday. very interesting. one spiritual writer i think highly of says that one very advanced person can undo the negativity of a very large number of people.

[Smikejam]

for your entertainment purposes only,
i give you the royal society for the encouragement of arts, manufactures and commerce (rsa) animate presentation as to where i believe we are coming.

the empathic civilization (http://youtu.be/l7awnffrc7g): jeremy rifikin

don't worry if you can't keep up, its fast and deep.
just watch the dry erase, it imprints better then a tv advert.

[12thUranus]

smikejam

that was fun. thanks. and we all know how part two starts.....

[mwr1026]

thanks for the link to the rsa whiteboard talk! after i watched the one on empathy, i was hooked, and watched a bunch more of them. what a great way to present info.