The Wound that Connects: A Consideration of ‘Narcissism’ and the Creation of Soulful Space

Abstract

The last two chapters have emphasised the notion of freedom as a central dimension of spirituality. But a more embodied spirituality would ask for an inclusive perspective that could embrace both freedom and vulnerability. This chapter, therefore, tries to remedy the emphasis on freedom by reflecting on the nature of existential vulnerability. It revisits the theme of narcissism that was introduced in Chapter 9 in greater detail and articulates a more embodied understanding of the relationship between freedom and vulnerability. Two quotations may indicate this direction:

There is a crack, a crack in everything, it’s how the light gets in. (Cohen, 1992)

We know separation so well because we’ve tasted the union. The reed flute makes music because it has already experienced changing mud and rain and light into sugarcane. Longing becomes more poignant if in the distance you can’t tell whether your friend is going away or coming back. The pushing away pulls you in. (From a commentary on Rumi’s poetry, Rumi, 1997, p. 47)