Confessions of a Zen Narcissist: Struggles with the Illusion of Self

"Confessions of a Zen Narcissist" is the story of my experience with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD); however, it is more than a discussion of its genesis, manifestation, and transition from disorder to trait. NPD is merely an exaggerated manifestation of a component of other personality disorders and of the distress of most people. NPD centers on the illusion of a separate and permanent self. This illusion is common to all human beings and must be confronted in order to live a happy, comfortable, and peaceful life.The purpose of this book is to demythologize and explain a personality disorder that has seldom or never been viewed from the inside. More importantly, it is an attempt to make understandable the distinction between an awareness of self as a tool for living versus a misunderstanding of self as a separate and permanent reality that makes happy and productive living an impossibility. The following nine characteristics of NPD are discussed: 1) Grandiosity; 2) Fantasies of power and success; 3) Belief in being "special"; 4) Demand for admiration; 5) Sense of entitlement; 6) Exploitation of others; 7) Lack of empathy; 8) Envy of others or suspicion of envy from others; and 9) Arrogance. Daily examples of NPD are manifested in the media, and it is time to learn what it is all about.