heracles wrote:crystal_richardson
I fully well know, but only intellectually, that my somaticism is a sickness, and I need to keep chipping away at it, but I'm not so sure that Buddhism is so anti-thetical to "NPD", or narcissism in the broader sense. (There are two Wikipedia articles. My main interest is narcissism as it relates to my angst, not so much "NPD".)
Here's something from the Buddha, in the Mahavagga I, 6-8:
"The all-subduing, the all-knowing am I, in everything that I am, without a spot. I have given up everything; I am without desire, a delivered one, By my own power I possess knowledge; whom shall I call my master? I have no teacher; no one is to be compared with me. In the world, including the heavens, there is no one like me. I am the Holy One in the world. I am the Supreme Master. I alone am the perfect Buddha."
There are many other similar self-descriptions by the Buddha.
Clearly, rightly or wrongly, this is "grandiose". Whether it's "narcissistic" I suppose would depend on whether, how much, or in what way, you're a believer. Same could be said of Jesus, Mohammed, Meher Baba, Baha'u'lla, Swami Prabhupada, Ayn Rand, Mani, ad infinitum, and you're opinion of them.
I have some volumes of the old Encyclopedia of Ethics and Religion. There's an article on egoism in it, and a section of that is "Buddhist Egoism" (Vol. 5). So to the extent that there's a relationship between philosophical egoism and narcissism, my thinking is that the relationship between Buddhism and "Narcissism" may be a bit more complex and nuanced than you do.
The Tathagata is humble. That doesnt mean he is blind to his own qualities. That means he dont feel superior or arrogant for those qualities, rather the opposite.
I could guess he see himself as someone very fortunate, privileged among others who are suffering. By fortunate you could understand lucky or even privileged.
Ok, I know I am here extrapollating the bodhissatva ethos. But my goal is solely to prove that there is no necessary link between feeling superior and recognizing a quality in the self.
But I agree, that to those of us, westerns used to christian religions, some signs may look like a bit grandiose. But you should compare it to religions of Buddha's time, like Greek religion. Greek gods like Zeus are a way more 'narcissistic' than Jesus. And indeed Buddhism has some greek influence, due to Alexander.