Empathy And Empath

What is Empathy?

Empathy is the ability to read and understand people and be in-tune with or resonate with others, voluntarily or involuntarily of one's empath capacity.

Empaths have the ability to scan another's psyche for thoughts and feelings or for past, present, and future life occurrences. Many empaths are unaware of how this actually works, and have long accepted that they were sensitive1 to others.

Empaths Sense Deep Emotions

Empathy is a feeling of another's true emotions to a point where an empath can relate to that person by sensing true feelings that run deeper than those portrayed on the surface. People commonly put on a show of expression. This is a learned trait of hiding authentic expression in an increasingly demanding society.

An empath can sense the truth behind the cover and will act compassionately to help that person express him/herself, thus making them feel at ease and not so desperately alone.

Empaths experience empathy towards family, children, friends, close associates, complete strangers, pets, plants and inanimate objects. Empathy is not held by time or space. Thus, an empath can feel the emotions of people and things at a distance. Some are empathic towards animals (ie: The Horse Whisperer), to nature, to the planetary system, to mechanical devices or to buildings etc. Others will have a combination of the above.

Empaths Have Deep Sense of Knowing

Empaths are highly sensitive. This is the term commonly used in describing one's abilities (sensitivity) to another's emotions and feelings. Empaths have a deep sense of knowing that accompanies empathy and are often compassionate, considerate, and understanding of others.

There are also varying levels of strength in empaths which may be related to the individualís awareness of self, understanding of the powers of empathy, and/or the acceptance or non-acceptance of empathy by those associated with them, including family and peers. Generally, those who are empathic grow up with these tendencies and do not learn about them until later in life.

Empathy is Inherited

Empathy is genetic, inherent in our DNA, and passed from generation to generation. It is studied both by traditional science and alternative healing practitioners.

Empathy has both biological/genetic and spiritual aspects.

Empaths often possess the ability to sense others on many different levels. From their position in observing what another is saying, feeling and thinking, they come to understand another. They can become very proficient at reading another personís body language and/or study intently the eye movements. While this in itself is not empathy, it is a side-shoot that comes from being observant of others. In a sense, empaths have a complete communication package.

How Empathy Works

While there is much we don't yet understand about how empathy works, we do have some information. Everything has an energetic vibration or frequency and an empath is able to sense these vibrations and recognize even the subtlest changes undetectable to the naked eye or the five senses.

Words of expression hold an energetic pattern that originates from the speaker. They have a specific meaning particular to the speaker. Behind that expression is a power or force-field, better known as energy. For example, hate often brings about an intense feeling that immediately accompanies the word. The word hate becomes strengthened with the speaker's feeling. It is that person's feelings (energy) that are picked up by empaths, whether the words are spoken, thought or just felt without verbal or bodily expression.

Empaths are often poets in motion. They are the born writers, singers, and artists with a high degree of creativity and imagination. They are known for many talents as their interests are varied, broad and continual, loving, loyal and humorous. They often have interests in many cultures and view them with a broad-minded perspective. They are mother, father, child, friend, nurse, caregiver, teacher, doctor, sales people... to psychic, clairvoyant, healer, etc. (That is not to say that any of these categories are all empaths.) The list is extensive and really unimportant. It is more important to notice that empaths are everywhere--in every culture and throughout the world.

Empaths Are Good Listeners

Empaths are often very affectionate in personality and expression, great listeners and counselors (and not just in the professional area). They will find themselves helping others and often putting their own needs aside to do so. In the same breath, they can be much the opposite. They may be quiet, withdrawn from the outside world, loners, depressed, neurotic, life's daydreamers, or even narcissistic.

They are most often passionate towards nature and respect its bountiful beauty. One will often find empaths enjoying the outdoors, beaches, walking, etc. Empaths may find themselves continually drawn to nature as a form of release. It is the opportune place to recapture their senses and gain a sense of peace in the hectic lives they may live. The time to get away from it all and unwind with nature becomes essential to the empath. Animals are often dear to the heart of empaths, not as a power object, but as a natural love. It is not uncommon for empaths to have more than one pet in their homes.

Traits of an Empath

Empaths are often quiet and can take a while to handle a compliment for they're more inclined to point out another's positive attributes. They are highly expressive in all areas of emotional connection, and talk openly, and, at times, quite frankly in respect to themselves. They may have few problems talking about their feelings.

However, they can be the exact opposite: reclusive and apparently unresponsive at the best of times. They may even appear ignorant. Some are very good at blocking out others and that's not always a bad thing, at least for the learning empath struggling with a barrage of emotions from others, as well as their own feelings.

Empaths have a tendency to openly feel what is outside of them more so than what is inside of them. This can cause empaths to ignore their own needs. In general an empath is non-violent, non-aggressive and leans more towards being the peacemaker. Any area filled with disharmony creates an uncomfortable feeling in an empath. If they find themselves in the middle of a confrontation, they will endeavor to settle the situation as quickly as possible, if not avoid it all together. If any harsh words are expressed in defending themselves, they will likely resent their lack of self-control, and have a preference to peacefully resolve the problem quickly.

Empaths are sensitive to TV, videos, movies, news and broadcasts. Violence or emotional dramas depicting shocking scenes of physical or emotional pain inflicted on adults, children or animals can bring an empath easily to tears. At times, they may feel physically ill or choke back the tears. Some empaths will struggle to comprehend any such cruelty, and will have grave difficulty in expressing themselves in the face of another's ignorance, closed-mindedness and obvious lack of compassion. They simply cannot justify the suffering they feel and see.

People of all walks of life and animals are attracted to the warmth and genuine compassion of empaths. Regardless of whether others are aware of one being empathic, people are drawn to them as a metal object is to a magnet! They are like beacons of light.

Even complete strangers find it easy to talk to empaths about the most personal things, and before they know it, they have poured out their hearts and souls without intending to do so consciously. It is as though on a sub-conscious level that person knows instinctively that empaths would listen with compassionate understanding.

Here are the listeners of life. Empaths are often problem solvers, thinkers, and studiers of many things. As far as empaths are concerned, where a problem is, so too is the answer. They often will search until they find one--if only for peace of mind.

déjà vu

Have you ever had a déjà vu experience? It's the feeling, or impression that you have already witnessed or experienced a current situation.

The term déjà vu is French and means, literally, "already seen."

It is a rather common, yet little understood phenomenon. Most of us have experienced being in a new place and feeling certain that we have been there before, but we have difficulties understanding how it is possible.

For a long time, this eerie sensation has been attributed to everything from paranormal disturbances to neurological disorders.

In recent years, as more scientists began studying this phenomenon, a number of theories about déjà vu have emerged, suggesting that it is not merely a glitch in our brain's memory system.

Psychologists have suggested that déjà vu may occur when specific aspects of a current situation resemble certain aspects of previously occurring situations.

If there is a lot of overlap between the elements of the new and old situations, we get a strong feeling of familiarity.

Alternative explanations associate déjà vu with prophecy, past life memories, clairvoyance, or a mystic signpost indicating fulfillment of a predetermined condition on the journey of life.

Whatever the explanation, déjà vu is certainly a phenomenon that is universal to the human condition, and its fundamental cause is still a mystery.

Another intriguing possibility is that there is a hidden connection between déjà vu and the existence of parallel universes.

As some already know, the multiverse is a theory in which our universe is not the only one, but states that many universes exist parallel to each other. These distinct universes within the multiverse theory are called parallel universes.

According to Dr. Kaku, quantum physics states that there is the possibility that déjà vu might be caused by your ability to "flip between different universes".

Dr. Kaku mentions, Professor Steve Weinberg, the famous theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize winner, supports the idea of a multiverse. Weinberg says that there are an infinite number of parallel realities coexisting with us in the same room. "There are hundreds of different radio waves being broadcast all around you from distant stations. At any given instant, your office or car or living room is full of these radio waves. However if you turn on a radio, you can listen to only one frequency at a time; these other frequencies are not in phase with each other. Each station has a different frequency, a different energy. As a result, your radio can only be turned to one broadcast at a time. Likewise, in our universe we are tuned into the frequency that corresponds to physical reality. But there are an infinite number of parallel realities coexisting with us in the same room, although we cannot tune into them." While your radio is tuned to pick up a certain frequency and thus a single radio station, our universe consists of atoms that are oscillating at a unique frequency that other universes are not vibrating at.

Universes are usually not "in phase", that is vibrating at the same frequency, with each other due to the divisions caused by time, but when they are "in phase" it is theoretically possible to "move back and forth" between universes.

So although it is "uncertain", it could be possible that when you are experiencing déjà vu, you are "vibrating in unison" with a parallel universe, explains Dr. Kaku

Perhaps our déjà vu experiences are a window into a parallel universe.

MIND and Indian Philosophy

The conception of the mind (also known as antaHkaraNam) varies in the

different systems of Indian philosophy, as stated below.

The nyAya-vaisheShika system considers the mind to be an eternal

substance, atomic in size. The prAbhAkara school of pUrva mImAmsA

holds the same view. The bhATTa school of pUrva mImAmsA maintains

that the mind is all-pervasive and is in eternal contact with the all-

pervasive Atman; that Atman and mind, in contact with each other,

function only within the sphere of the body with which they happen to be

associated; and the possibility of several cognitions arising at the same

time cannot be ruled out. The sAnkhyA and yoga systems consider the

mind to be of the size of the body.

According to advaita vedanta the mind is a subtle substance (dravya). It

is neither atomic nor infinite in size, but it is said to be of madhyama

pariNAma, medium size, which may be taken to mean that it pervades

the body of the particular jIva to which it belongs. The mind of each jIva

is different. It has a beginning, as is proved by such shruti statements

as, “It (Brahman) projected the mind” (br. up. 1.2.1). (VedAnta

paribhASha).

The mind, which is called ‘internal organ’ (antaHkaraNam), is produced

from the sattva part of all the five subtle elements together.

It is known by four different names according to the function. The four names are-

manas, buddhi, chittam and ahamkAra.

(Sometimes only two names,

manas and buddhi, are mentioned, as in Panchadashi.1.20, the other two being included in them). The function of cogitation is known as the manas or mind. When a determination is made, it is known as buddhi

or intellect. The function of storing experiences in memory is called chittam.

Egoism is ahamkAra.

The word ‘mind’ is also used to denote the

antaHkaraNam as a whole when these distinctions are not intended.

Chandogya upanishad, 6. 5. 1 says: “The food that is eaten becomes

divided into three parts. The grossest part becomes excreta. The medium

constituent becomes flesh. The subtlest part becomes mind(antaHkaraNam)”.

In his bhAshya on this mantra Shri Shankara says: “Getting transformed

into the mind-stuff, the subtlest part of the food nourishes the mind.

Since the mind is nourished by food, it is certainly made of matter. But it

is not considered to be eternal and partless as held by the vaisheShikas”.

There is difference of opinion among advaitins on the question whether

the mind is an indriya, organ, or not. VAchaspati Mishra, the author of

bhAmatI, considers the mind to be an indriya.

PrakAshAtma muni, the author of vivaraNa, takes the view that the mind is not an

indriya. The author of VedAnta paribhAShA also takes the same view. This difference

is reflected in the different theories held by these two on the question of

how Self-knowledge arises from the mahAvAkyAs like ‘tat tvam asi’, as

explained below.

According to one theory, known as the prasankhyAna theory, attributed

to MaNDana Mishra, the knowledge which arises from the mahAvAkya is

relational and mediate, like any other knowledge arising from a sentence.

Such a knowledge cannot apprehend brahman which is non-relational

and immediate (aparoksha). Meditation (prasankhyAna) gives rise to

another knowledge which is non-relational and immediate. It is this

knowledge that destroys nescience. In this view the mind plays an

important role in the production of Self-knowledge.

The view of Sureshvara is the opposite of the above. Knowledge of

brahman arises directly from the mahAvAkyas. Whether the knowledge

given by a sentence is mediate or immediate depends on whether the

subject-matter of the sentence is mediate or immediate. Since Brahman

is immediate, the sentence which gives knowledge about it does produce

immediate knowledge. The difference between the two theories is that,

while, according to Sureshvara, the knowledge of the Self arises from the

mahAvAkya itself, according to BhAmati the knowledge of the Self arises

from the mahAvAkya only with the help of the mind.

Following the view of MaNDana, VAchaspati Mishra holds that the

mind is the instrument for the attainment of Self-knowledge. Following

the other view stated above, PrakAshAtman, the author of VivaraNa says

that the mahAvAkya itself is the instrument, though the knowledge no

doubt arises in the mind.

The mahAvAkya gives rise to Self-knowledge by making the mind

take the ‘form’ of brahman. This is known as akhaNDAkAra vRitti. The

question arises-- since brahman has no form, what is meant by saying

that the mind takes the form of brahman? This is explained by SvAmi

VidyAraNya in Jivanmuktiviveka, chapter 3 by taking an example. (In the

first place, the word ‘AkAra’ in these contexts should be taken as

meaning ‘nature’. Otherwise the terms ‘the form of pleasure, pain’, etc.,

will also be illogical). A pot made of clay is full of the all-pervading space

as soon as it is made. Filling it afterwards with water, rice or any other

substance is due to human effort. Though the water, etc, in the pot can

be removed, the space inside can never be removed. It continues to be

there even if the mouth of the pot is hermetically sealed. In the same

manner, the mind, in the act of being born, comes into existence full of

the consciousness of the Self. It takes on, after its birth, due to the

influence of virtue and vice, the form of pots, cloths, colour, taste,

pleasure, pain, and other transformations, just like melted copper cast

into moulds. Of these, the transformations such as colour, taste and the

like, which are not-Self, can be removed from the mind, but the form of

the Self, which does not depend on any external cause, cannot be

removed at all. Thus, when all other ideas are removed from the mind,

the Self is realized without any impediment. It has been said-“One

should cause the mind which, by its very nature, is ever prone to assume

either of the two forms of the Self and the not-Self, to throw into the

background the perception of the not-Self, by taking on the form of the

Self alone”. And also—“The mind takes on the form of pleasure, pain and

the like, because of the influence of virtue and vice, whereas the form of

the mind, in its native aspect, is not conditioned by any extraneous

cause. To the mind devoid of all transformations is revealed the supreme

Bliss”. Thus, when the mind is emptied of all other thoughts Self-

knowledge arises.

In mANdUkya kArika, III. 35 it is said:--

The mind loses itself in sleep, but does not lose itself when under

control. That very mind becomes the fearless brahman, possessed of the

light of consciousness all around.

In his bhAshya on mANDUkya kArika, III. 46 Sri Sankara says:--

When the mind becomes motionless, like a lamp in a windless place, it

does not appear in the form of any object imagined outside; when the

mind assumes such characteristics, then it becomes brahman; or in

other words, the mind then becomes identified with brahman.

In his bhAshya on gItA, 6.19, Shri Shankara says: A lamp does not

flicker when it is in a windless place. Such a lamp is compared to the

mind of a yogi whose mind is under control when he is engaged in

concentration on the Self.

From the above three quotations it is seen that the mind remains

dormant in deep sleep, but in concentration on the Self the mind

becomes identified with brahman.

The mind, being made of extremely subtle and transparent substance,

receives the reflection of the consciousness of the Self. Because of this, it

appears to be sentient, though it is really inert. All knowledge arises only

through an appropriate modification of the mind, corresponding to the

object of knowledge.

Panchadashi, 2.13 says that it is the mind that examines the merits and

defects of the objects perceived through the senses. The conclusion

which the mind comes to will depend on the proportion of the three

guNas in it at the time.

Mind is the cause of bondage, as well as of liberation.

AmRitabindu upanishad, mantra 2, says that the mind is, verily, the

cause of bondage as well as of liberation; engrossed in objects of sense, it

leads to bondage; free from attachment to objects, the same mind leads

to liberation.

bRihadAraNyaka upanishad, 1.5.3 says: “Desire, resolution, doubt, faith,

lack of faith, steadiness, unsteadiness, modesty, knowledge, fear—all

these are only (forms of) the mind. The meaning of this statement is that

all these arise in the mind. The mind takes an appropriate vRitti when

any of these arises. These are known by the witness-consciousness as

soon as they arise, without the help of the external sense-organs. They

are therefore called ‘sAkShi pratyakSha’ or perceived by the witness-

consciousness directly.

The mind is the cause of happiness and unhappiness.

A person is happy when other living beings or inanimate objects are

favorable to him, and unhappy when they are unfavorable. A thing or

person is considered favorable when that thing or person responds in

the way desired. If a son obeys his father, the father is happy; if he does

not, the father is unhappy. A person is happy with his car or any other

object as long as it functions well; if it does not, he is unhappy and

wants to get rid of it. It is thus clear that happiness and unhappiness are

only states of the mind, but are wrongly thought to be caused by external

objects. Happiness is the result of the mind becoming calm. The mind

becomes calm temporarily when a particular desire is fulfilled, and then

happiness is experienced. But soon another desire crops up and agitates

the mind, causing unhappiness. Thus it is clear that lasting happiness

cannot be attained by the fulfillment of desires. The br. up, says

“etasyaiva Anandasya anyAni bhUtAni mAtrAm upajIvanti”—All

creatures enjoy only a particle of this bliss (the Bliss that is the very

nature of brahman). We wrongly think that happiness comes from

external objects. All the happiness that we enjoy is only a reflection of

brahmAnanda in the mind when the mind is calm.

Detachment is the key to lasting happiness.

True and lasting happiness can result only if the mind is permanently

kept calm. This can be achieved only if desires, which are the cause of

mental agitation, are completely eliminated. We are therefore led to the

conclusion that total detachment towards all worldly pleasures (Vairagya)

is the only means for the attainment of true and lasting happiness,

which is brahmAnanda.

Vairagya is the most essential requisite for a person who wishes to

attain Self-knowledge, which alone will lead to eternal bliss. It is said in

vivekachUDAmaNi that one who attempts to attain Self-knowledge

without cultivating dispassion is like a person trying to cross a river on

the back of a crocodile, mistaking it for a floating log of wood. He is sure

to be eaten up by the crocodile midway.

The essential requisite for a spiritual aspirant is purity of mind. There

are six enemies of the spiritual aspirant and all these arise in the mind.

These are desire, anger, greed, infatuation, pride, and jealousy. Of these,

the first, desire, is the cause of all the other five. That is why so much

stress is laid on the rooting out of desire from the mind. 

The chandogya upanishad explains how the mind can be made pure.

ch. up. 7.26.2 says: AhArashuddhau sattvashuddhiH—---

“From purity of food follows purity of the internal organ (mind). From the

purification of the internal organ unfailing memory results. When

memory is attained, all the knots of the heart are cut asunder”.

Shri Shankara explains this passage thus in his bhAshya: By food is

meant all that is enjoyed through the senses. What is meant is that all

enjoyments should be free of all defects such as attachment, repulsion or

delusion. When all enjoyments are pure, the internal organ becomes

pure. From the purification of the internal organ there arises continuous

memory of the Infinite Self. Then follows the destruction of all the bonds

born of nescience which had become hardened by the vAsanas

accumulated over innumerable lives. Therefore one should ensure that

everything that one enjoys is pure.