Empathy the golden tool for Self-actualization?

[Scholar]

I have heard a Spiritual Teacher talk about how empathy is actually a great spiritual tool as it let's you to live the life of other beings without actually living their lifes. It in a way allows us to experience that which we otherwise would need to experience ourselves.

 

The teacher was using the model of Souls who spiritually evolve throughout multiple incarnations. The experiences the Soul would have and therefore fulfill would lead to it's development. As it climbed up the hierarchy of Spiritual Needs it would come closer to Self-Realization. It was said that at some point a Soul evolves the ability for Empathy and then even Compassion. These abilities allow for the Soul to experience more Lifes within a single Life-form. The suffering and experiences of others would become a contribution to the evolution of ones own Soul and therefore leading to faster Self-Realization.

 

Would you guys say this model is accurate, aside from the particular way it was framed (within the Soul-Paradigm)? Is empathy actually a great tool that fascilitates Spiritual Evolution?

Is this why Higher Consciousness tends to lead to Higher Empathy and Compassion? Framing it in the Soul-Paradigm, one could say the Soul expands it boundaries to include more and more Being, which essentially is what Spiritual Evolution really is all about?

Ultimate Compassion would dissolve the Soul as it would mean complete boundlessness and all-encompassing experience, it would basically be the same thing as full Self-Realization.

[brugluiz]

I think spirituality is all about empathy, but, anyway, people will come with things like: "Oh, you're not your mind." or "Oh, you're not your emotions" and etc. Many of them are resisting having empathy for others because, when they feel what others are feeling, the may experience some of their own emotions that they suppresed.