I read somewhere that the narcissist is someone who has lost their sense of self in which this loss is filled by a false self. This reminds me of Hollywood types who spend great sums of money trying to keep their false self from suffering any injury such as aging. The false self also has an ego who makes sure the false self is well taken care of. Keep in mind that Freud’s ego stands for reason and circumspection. It’s not to be confused with the “id” which it often is.
As we can see, there is no hope for the false self or even the ego who takes care of the false self—its servant. The sense of self (our true self) is hidden under a mountain of obstructions as if it were non-existent. The future for this kind of narcissist is not good insofar as what they are trying to maintain is a complete fiction while at the same time need fans, that is, people who look up to them being almost codependent.
In Buddhism, the narcissist is tied to the conceit of I am (asmimāna) this being the psychophysical aggregates made up of corporeality, feeling, perception, volitional formations and consciousness. In the Majjhima-Nikaya we read:
“As they do so, they give up the conceit ‘I am’ (asmimāno) regarding the five grasping aggregates. In that case, they understand: ‘I have given up the conceit “I am” regarding the five grasping aggregates.’ In this way they are aware of the situation.” (M. iii. 115).
What leads to this powerful conceit and wrong identification? It is attachment to what is false and illusory out of ignorance (avidya). Since our birth, we have been deceived by appearances, especially, by the very body that we presently inhabit which we believe to be ours (in Near Death Experiences [NDEs] people leave the corporeal body. They notice no difference except the lack of a dense corporeal body which they might see on the floor or on a surgical table. They feel quite normal, in fact. Some don’t even know that they’ve died).
Normal, everyday narcissism is really more about wearing a persona, a socially constructed “mask” through which one interacts with others. The sense of self is not lost. In fact, an individual may seek out a religious path such a Buddhism believing that the self or Buddha-nature is greater than the sum of the mask and its temporal life. This person is not a narcissist like our Hollywood actors where the mask is far more elaborate and the sense of an authentic self is almost lost.
It is with the building up of the mask and the subsequent loss of the sense of self that nihilism comes to be and much, also, that is deceptive and immoral due to a lack of empathy. By another name, this is malignant narcissism. Such individuals have been participating in a long process of destroying the higher self (nātha) by living only for the mask and its benefits. For what it means to be human is to be in Nietzsche’s words , “a rope, tied between beast and overman—a rope over an abyss.” The malignant narcissist rejects the overman for the life of the beast.
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