Primal Empathy

Primal Empathy 

( or my current take on understanding empathic awareness) 
Within ancient cultures ( especially of the indigenous form), animism seems to have been the original belief system adopted by humanity. It’s a little paradoxical however because the ‘practice’ of, and the animist beliefs associated them were never extrinsic to man’s early existence. 
“Our original way is not a belief system. It is a lived way of life, being a participant within the whole of the living world”. (Graham Harvey 2014).
We were closer to Nature, creatures, objects and places were all perceived to have a spiritual essence. All was deemed to be animate and alive. 

Bearing this in mind it would be quite understandable that the human race had a natural empathic relationship with the world around them. 

This may thus suggest that empathy was an organic and naturally occurring emotion in early Man. 

Even today, one can still read of other cultures for whom this ethos predominates i.e. Native American and the indigenous Aboriginal let alone historical references including Hinduism and Buddhism to name but two. 

The question is, what happened? 

It seems patently obvious that currently most of society are happy to act as blind consumers of the Earth’s resources, be it animal, plant or mineral. 

Even with each other there is an ongoing one upmanship. Individuals seeking more wealth and power than our peers in order to satiate our ego’s, thus warding off the underlying feelings of insecurity and disconnection. 

Have we been socialised and conditioned out of these feelings? 

For those of who are genuinely ’empathic’ or energetically sensitive, it would explain much. 

Many of us feel :

  – a natural loving affinity for all of Nature and the Earth 

  – an acute ability to feel the pain of others including humans, animals and the environment 

  – out of place in Western Society, as if we belong elsewhere 

  – often a sense of loneliness and anxiety eased when in Nature

 So if this were the case, what can we draw from this supposition? 

I personally feel that we need to remain authentic to ourselves and to individuate as individuals. This way we can be led by Spirit to serve our worldly purpose. We may not know the whole picture but in many ways we do not need to. We can be content in the knowledge that we are here to serve a purpose and to this we must be true. We should not mistake our empathic gift to be something to be used for personal gain or to be seen in isolation as a burden on ourselves as sometimes it may seem. 

For being energetically sensitive is all about connection and realising the interconnectivity of all creation. 

I have been fortunate in having experiences of feral vision and Advaita which seem to support this scenario. 

Therefore the existence of the Oversoul / Collective Unconscious /Paramatman appears to be a defining issue in understanding true empathic feelings. 
“I feel it with my body, with my blood. Feeling all these trees, all this country. When this wind blow you can feel it. Same for country … you feel it. You can look, but feeling … that make you. Feeling make you, out there in open space. He coming through your body, look while he blow and feel with your body…because tree just about your brother or father…and tree is watching you. Earth…like your father or brother or mother, because you born from earth. You got to come back to earth. When you dead…you’ll come back to earth. Maybe little while yet…then you’ll come to earth. That’s your bone, your blood. It’s in this earth, same as for tree” (Bill Neidjie 1985).

An Eternity of Enslavement

An Eternity of Enslavement……?

Frequently I ask myself why does the human race with all our supposed intelligence continue to promote and contribute to a society based on materialism and the egoic attainment of the individual?
I mean it’s not like we haven’t been around for millennia, it’s not like that as a race we haven’t made so, so many mistakes we should have learnt from. Also there have been many great minds and spiritual leaders who have spoke wisely regarding the human condition and how we create our own suffering.
Even modern science tells us that we are nothing but a miniscule bundle of energy in a vast, infinite sea of energy. Yet we still largely continue to fight amongst ourselves, seemingly forever choosing to believe that we are all separate, that ourselves and our immediate family comes first in all matters. We value our opinions and beliefs so strongly they are fought over, wars waged, racism and all other ‘isms’ remain to cause ongoing conflict between ourselves.
To add to the irony, supposedly religious groups divide and condemn others in order to validate themselves. Scientific research which objectively may point to the possibility of non self, the possibility of a better world where the ‘ego’ could be laid aside is frequently misrepresentated and twisted to conform to individual groups ideology and thus promote ‘their’ beliefs.
The big question is ‘why does this continue?’
Is it because most people do not or refuse to see a life outside of their own ego?
Is it because we are genetically engineered in this way?
Is the temptation of short term gain on an individual basis so more meaningful and worthwhile than a peaceful and less dangerous future?
Millions of people align themselves to religious and spiritual ideals but these ideals are often again twisted and redefined in a way that suits those individuals in them that seek power and influence.
I know also there are many of us who want an end to this hypocrisy, an end to the dividing up and condemning of groups and individuals. Those of us who want to learn, do things differently for the benefit of others, animals and our planet.
And we know we are right and most of us will continue to carry this belief within us until our dying day and will be unwavering in our conviction and our actions in this world.
Strangely there does not seem to be a ‘name’ which I can find to represent these ideas adequately. But then we all know that ‘identifying’ with groups / cultures and ideologies is often where things can go horribly wrong.

Different……….

I think our whole society tries to stabilize itself by starting out to destroy sensitivity to incoherence starting with very young children. If people could see the vast incoherence that is going on in society they would be disturbed and they would feel the need to do something. If you’re not sensitive to it you don’t feel disturned and you don’t feel you need to do anything.
I remember an instance, a daughter was telling her mother, “this school is terrible, the teacher is terrible, very inconsistent, doing all sorts of crazy things,” and so on. Finally the mother was saying, “You’d better stop this–in this house the teacher is always right.” Now she understood that the teacher was wrong obviously, but the message was, it was no use. Even the message may have been right in some sense, but still it illustrates that the predicament is that in order to avoid this sort of trouble, starting with very young children, we are trained to become insensitive to incoherence. If there is incoherence in our own behavior, we thereby also become insensitive to it.

—David Bohm, seminar on Thought and Dialogue in Ojai, November 4, 1989

For as long as I remember I have always felt different to most people, not special or gifted, just different. My perspective of the world even as a child has seemingly been unlike others. I remember being in a history lesson at school being very concerned about the then Cold War between Russia and the West and being admonished by the teacher for not concentrating. I was outraged, how could an adult ( who I had been told was to be respected and obeyed due to their standing ) not be concerned or apparently give a thought to the plight of the world.
There have been many instances ( and still are ) where I have seen the world from a completely different standpoint to the majority. I seem to have some degree of empathic ability ( I can often feel others emotions, thoughts, intentions,history,motivations etc ) although this is deemed as science fiction by society as a whole. Nevertheless here I am receiving subtle information about others somewhat unbidden.
I believe that for many people who perceive the world differently there is a tendency to grow up invalidated to some extent, this can lead to low self esteem and anxiety as we sometimes feel we must be faulty in some way. Some will give up their unique perspective and replace it with a more socially acceptable one in order to not feel isolated or alone. Some, like myself do not seem to be able to do this. Despite years of feeling largely alone in the world in terms of shared ideology I am now extremely happy that I stuck with it.

The truth is many of us are different in many ways, this however should be acknowledged and nurtured not denied by a societal construct that does not allow for individual interpretations of events but would rather hide them away or deny their very existence . The reason being the threat to the status quo, the fear of descent into chaos if people are trusted to make free decisions without censure.

Life as perceived by most people is not coherent but rather than hide or bury this perception we should perhaps push ourselves so as we can arrive at a mote mutual reality.

“As a child I felt myself to be alone, and I am still, because I know things and must hint at things which others apparently know nothing of, and for the most part do not want to know.” 
― C.G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections

“Loneliness does not come from having no people about one, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself, or from holding certain views which others find inadmissible.” 
― C.G. Jung

 

 

 

 

Words to the Wise?

From a lifetime of reading the one person historically  I most resonate with in terms of similar beliefs / understandings is Carl Jung. There are far too many to list so I will just concentrate on one for now.

Throughout my life I have had many spiritual type experiences, usually at times I have felt more grounded e.g. following meditation. From what could be termed supernatural events to an Advaita like experience.

Some of these occurrences have been so powerful I have become concerned that I would become lost to myself and that I would be somehow caught between the worlds. Fortunately this has not happened and I have had the fortune to glimpse other perspectives  and return to my human self. Carl Jung describes it very eloquently:

It is under all conditions a most advisable thing to keep to the conscious and rational side, i.e., to maintain that side.

One never should lose sight of it. It is the safeguard without which you would lose yourself on unknown seas.

You would invite illness, indeed, if you should give up your conscious and rational orientation.

On the other hand, it is equally true that life is not only rational.

To a certain extent you have to keep your senses open to the non-rational aspects of
existence. . . .

The unconscious itself is neither tricky nor evil – it is Nature, both beautiful and terrible. . . .

The best way of dealing with the unconscious is the creative way. . . ~Carl Jung, Letters Vol. 1, Pages 108-109.

Jung has said that the unconscious long identified as the oceanic in man, is Nature.

The seeker of himself often feels cast adrift, setting a course between light and dark but ultimately moved along by unseen currents deep within. ~Claire Dunne, Wounded Healer of the Soul, Page 87.