Given the new gilded age we find ourselves in, I think it is appropriate to discuss narcissism a bit. There is much evidence to suggest that we live in the age of narcissism, as much navel gazing, tattooing, reality shows, soft-pornography as music videos, professional sports, political process, business ethics (or lack thereof), and so on demonstrate.The term narcissism is derived from Greek mythology. Narcissus, the myth tells us, is a very beautiful man whom many women wanted to be with, but he was too arrogant, hence ignoring their attention. One day, Echo, who is a nymph sees Narcissus and, naturally, falls in love with him. As expected, Narcissus rejects Echo in humiliating fashion, much like what goes on in reality TV. This act of cruelty angers the gods. They decide to punish the beautiful young man by condemning him to love only himself.
One day, Narcissus happens to see his own reflection in a pool of water and, naturally, falls in love with himself. He cannot stop looking at himself, not unlike the current governor of California, and dies right there near the pool. Afterwards, where he dies a new flower blooms, and the myth calls this flower “the narcissus.” Of course, the fact of the matter is that we all have a bit of narcissism about us, and if directed in the right channels and kept in check, it can be very helpful to build self-esteem and give us abilities to help others too. It is the narcissism that has morphed into all consuming self-absorption that creates problems for humanity. In a self-perpetuating form, reinforced by consumer mythology, narcissistic folks gain a misplaced sense of superiority about themselves, and we end up with things like Wall Street and Lobbyists…you get the picture!
Some folks maintain that phenomena like New Age Buddhism are narcissistic. What is important for us to note is that Buddhism misappropriated by those narcissistic individuals who wish to skip the suffering part of the path towards enlightenment and buy their way to it, is not the intended Buddhism—we can call it pseudo-Buddhism perhaps.Moreover, while narcissism is usually considered vis-à-vis individuals, it can also be a collective form. A narcissistic society can be a very dangerous society. A narcissistic group of followers of one kind or other religion can be destructive. The socio-political implications should always be part of a discourse of humanistic study.