Cyndi Dale - The Spiritual Power of Empathy: Develop Your Intuitive Gifts for Compassionate Connection

Introduction

If pressed to define or describe empathy, most of us might describe it in a one-dimensional way as a seemingly straightforward matter of imagining what another person might be going through, typically imagining what they are feeling . But after decades of work as an intuitive counselor and years of researching and writing about subtle-energy medicine and the applications of our intuitive and spiritual gifts, I have discovered that when it comes to empathy, we have been laboring under a misapprehension.

Before setting our misconceptions straight, though, its important to point out that empathy has been the subject of inquiry and contemplation by a wide range of brilliant people, from psychologists and neurological experts to sages, saints, and healers. One of the contemporary authors and teachers who has contributed greatly to our understanding of empathy is Daniel Goleman, PhD, whose work I will discuss briefly in . By differentiating between cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, and what he refers to as empathic concern, Goleman has opened new doors of awareness into these innate capacities.

Still, despite the important insights that he and many thinkers have offered toward our understanding of empathy, too often it is seen as one capacity rather than a collection of gifts. Through my work I have come to know that empathy goes far beyond the fairly simplistic understanding most of us have of it. Empathy encompasses thoughts, perceptions, sensations, and almost every other sort of awareness we are blessed withincluding psychic giftsand it extends not only to other individuals but also to groups, animals, plants, and even objects in nature. In my view, when our empathic abilities are fully developed, they involve a multidimensional set of spiritual abilities operating powerfully at the level of the subtle body, which is a set of structures that run on subtle, or hard to recognize, energy. Our subtle energy anatomy is composed of energy channels (such as the meridians), energy bodies (including the chakras), and energy fields (such as the auric field). And when that power is engaged, we become capable of profound levels of connection and understanding.

Empathy is bandied about as if we know what it is, but it is really so much more than what can be defined in a dictionary entry or even in an entire psychology textbook; it includes but also transcends psychology. Of course, at the deepest level, we already do know the beauty of empathybeyond any and all descriptionsand this book will reacquaint you with your inborn empathic capacity in ways that just might transform the way you see and how you live.

Empathy and Our Psychic Gifts

The key to unleashing the power of empathy is to understand all the levels of empathy that are potentially available to you, including those considered psychic or esoteric. Many esoteric professionals use the term clairempathy , meaning clear feeling, referring to a stand-alone psychic skill that allows you to experience the thoughts, emotions, and symptoms of others. But the way I see and experience it, empathy is more multidimensional than the term implies; empathy involves a whole set of subtle-energy or psychic abilities, as well as more commonly recognized skills such as the ability to simply be present and listen. So I choose not to use the word clairempathy. For me, empathy as an umbrella term is more meaningful because it encompasses the full spectrum of the empathic experience, both subtle and worldly. As with other words that have great meaning to us, such as love or caring , it represents many levels of a rich, heartfelt experience. In the case of empathy, the experience is one of connection.

We all love to connect. More importantly, we need to connect. Infants lacking bonding often fail to thrive; the elderly locked into their isolated apartments become lonely and depressed. There are behaviors and attitudes that can enable connection and care or inhibit and prevent the same. A subtle or inaudible thought about someone can create a pathway of compassion if it is caring, for it will be felt by the other. But hold a judgment in your mind, such as that person looks weird, and immediately they will register this subtle attitude and shut down. The sum of all ways we increase connectivity through these often silent exchanges could be called empathy.