Pathological narcissism

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jann

friends or family of a BK

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Pathological narcissism

Post17 Dec 2008

Are BKs suffering from pathological narcissism?
Someone with Narcissistic Personality disorder (NPD) has at least 5 of these symptoms:

    • has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
    • is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
    • believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
    • requires excessive admiration
    • has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
    • is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
    • lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
    • is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her
    • shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes
Here are some more signs of Narcissistic Personality Disorder to look out for:

    • Jealousy and possessiveness
    • Excessive need to feel special, adored, loved, appreciated, or admired
    • Rage attacks when you do not sufficiently meet his/her needs
    • Controlling behaviors (trying to control how you spend your time, who you talk to, how you dress, etc.)
    • Inflated self-esteem, or grandiosity (bragging, "fishing" for compliments)
    • Dramatic, insecure behaviors
    • Expecting you to take responsibility for making him/her feel better about him/herself
    • Blaming you for behaviors or feelings (i.e., "YOU made me do this," or "YOU made me feel this way.")
    • Not taking responsibility for angry behavior and justifying angry outbursts
    • An attitude that demonstrates "the world revolves around me" and "you need to cater to my ideas, opinions, thoughts, and feelings."
    • An unwillingness to reflect on his/her own behaviors
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ex-l

ex-BK

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Re: Pathological narcissism

Post19 Dec 2008

Well, along with mythomania (a compulsion to embroider the truth, engage in exaggeration or tell lies), I think you may have nailed it on the head about some or all of the leadership.

At this point we need a psychiatrist who is an expert in pathological behavior to step in and do an analysis of God Brahma, Lord of the Subjects (Prajapati Brahma) aka Lekhraj Kirpalani and the early closed community on Om Mandli whose psychoses we have all been living out ever since.

I read leading BK Dr Ray Bhatt, founder of the Janki Foundation, admit to delusions of grandeur whilst acting in a completely dishonest manner. I think a majority of the leadership acts alike. You can see the dysfunctional relationship between Janki and her worshippers. In my opinion, anyone with any sense of responsibility would stop supporting, never mind exploiting that. I wonder if she really believes she is one of the top 8 souls in the world!?!

As or "lack of empathy" ... who needs empathy when it is "their karma" to suffer!?! Following extracts from, here.
In time, the narcissist learns how to leverage his pathology, how to use it to his advantage, how to deploy it in order to maximize benefits and utilities - in other words, how to transform his curse into a blessing. Narcissists are obsessed by delusions of fantastic grandeur and superiority. As a result they are very competitive. They are strongly compelled - where others are merely motivated. They are driven, relentless, tireless, and ruthless.

They often make it to the top. But even when they do not - they strive and fight and learn and climb and create and think and devise and design and conspire. Faced with a challenge - they are likely to do better than non-narcissists.

Yet, we often find that narcissists abandon their efforts in mid-stream, give up, vanish, lose interest, devalue former pursuits, fail, or slump. Why is that? Narcissists are prone to self-defeating and self-destructive behaviors.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the diagnostic classification system used in the United States), as

    a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy.
The narcissist is described as turning inward for gratification rather than depending on others and as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power and prestige. Narcissistic personality disorder is closely linked to self-centeredness.

Lifetime prevalence is estimated at 1% in the general population and 2% to 16% in clinical populations. Causes listed as;

    • An oversensitive temperament at birth
    • Overindulgence and overvaluation by parents
    • Valued by parents as a means to regulate their own self-esteem
    • Excessive admiration that is never balanced with realistic feedback
    • Unpredictable or unreliable caregiving from parents
    • Severe emotional abuse in childhood
    • Being praised for perceived exceptional looks or talents by adults
    • Excessive praise for good behaviors or excessive criticism for poor behaviors in childhood
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alladin

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extreme selfishness

Post20 Dec 2008

Sounds appropriate! I have seen a lot of the characteristic described, amongst BK members, and ruthlessness is certainly a major infesting one.

As far as the lack of empathy, if you misuse the concept about "Law of Karma" each one has to sort himself out, intervening is out of question and teaching the man how to fish means doing proselytism of this Raja Yoga. According to the BK knowledge, the world is a Drama in which everything is predestined and each individual has a part. It is wrong to get involved in anyone's script other than ours, to the extreme of becoming indifferent and not caring about those around us.

In any case, career minded people and social climbers, have no time to look around at other fellow beings, unless it is done opportunistically!
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ex-l

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Narcissistic Abuse

Post19 Feb 2010

Years after leaving the BKWSU, I keep learning more about the nature of human psychology and the psyche. Indeed, I have learned FAR more out of the kids' book level Brahma Kumaris University than ever I did from it. I have to laugh at my young self for thinking that I really would learn all about the nature of the self at their so called Spiritual University, rather than be turned into a robot and used for their self promotion.

Taken from definitions of sociopathy and a discussion of mental illness within the BKWSU here, is mention of the psychological term, "Narcissism". Here is a list of links, taken at random, regarding Narcissistic Abuse. Also related is "narcissistic wounding".

Narcissism is a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, the need for admiration and a lack of empathy. The narcissist is described as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, and prestige. Narcissistic personality disorder is closely linked to self-centeredness.
Narcissism is categorized as a personality disorder by the mental health profession. It is referred to as NPD or Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Few are ever diagnosed because few go to therapy. Narcissism is not high self-esteem, but a condition where the typical narcissist suffers from

    Preoccupation with hiding real or perceived flaws
    Overestimation of importance, achievements, talents and skills
    Maladaptive attention seeking behavior
    Inability to empathize with others
    Anger and shame in response to criticism often resulting in rage.
The narcissist will often manipulate others to control them. Projection and blame are hallmarks of this manipulation. It is estimated that 85% of narcissists are males.

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