The Point of Existence: Transformations of Narcissism in Self-Realization

The Point of Existence describes the underlying spiritual basis for the common understanding of narcissism, which is the experience of a disturbance in the inner sense of self and the resulting need for constant reflection from the outside. This vulnerability in the inner experience of identity arises out of a basic separation from the essential presence which is the source of a true sense of self.

The question of the nature of the self and its relation to Being or the Divine has long been explored by philosophers, mystics, and religious thinkers. Among those who have seriously entertained this question, there has developed a generally accepted set of answers, which of course cannot be conveyed in neat, easily comprehensible statements. In The Point of Existence, the exploration of the process of the realization of the self is informed by those traditional answers, and by the methods through which they are achieved. In addition, this book clarifies the relationship between the different approaches of these various traditions and the question of the nature of the self.

The question, “What is the self?” is also being asked by contemporary psychology.

In this book, Almaas focuses on the identity of the self, which is related to a particular aspect of the self which he calls the Essential Identity, and describes in detail how issues of narcissism are related to this identity. Understanding and integrating this aspect of the self (which in other work he has called the Essential Self) is a central factor in the capacity of human beings to come to a complete appreciation of their true nature and the nature of Being. In particular, this aspect allows one to recognize oneself as presence or Being, or even as emptiness, in deepening dimensions as the process of realization continues.