I was recently at Vroman’s Bookstore when I saw a book titled “Against Empathy” by Paul Bloom. I was taken by surprise so of course I picked it up and examined. The smaller print read “The Case for Rational Compassion.” I read through and resonated with a lot of the information.
A lot of spiritual people become overwhelmed by feeling others energies and taking them on as their own. We think that it’s an act of compassion to empathize and share someone’s pain but many times this drags your vibration down into a place you don’t really want to be. Per his message, I agree that a better alternative is to show compassion without sharing the feeling state. To be present but not absorb and be fooled by guilt and shame that you must share in someone’s pain.
It’s important to also have this mentality with yourself when going through pain. Observing it as a phenomena of energy transference and not identifying with yourself as a victim.