Yang sanpaku refers to the narcissist’s predatory stare. This is what you will see in narcissists, psychopaths, and sociopaths—the ones who smile to your face but are calculating your destruction behind the scenes. Yang sanpaku is when you can clearly see the white of the eye above the iris; this means the iris looks like it’s sitting low in the eye socket, with a lot of visible white space around it. It looks unnatural, unbalanced, and menacing. This is the predator’s stare, the gaze of someone who studies you while pretending to connect with you. They do not blink much, do not soften their gaze, and their pupils do not dilate when you talk about something emotional. There is no mirroring, no natural warmth—just scanning, as if they are mentally breaking you down into pieces, looking for an entry point to infiltrate and dominate you. This is the stare of people like Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, and Jeffrey Dahmer. Look at their mug shots and interviews; you will see the same thing: the cold, dead, psychopathic gaze with that white space above the iris. That is yang sanpaku.
The shocking part is that this is also common in many narcissists, especially the covert ones—the spiritual ones, the “I am just brutally honest” types. Look at their eyes during moments of rage or when they are emotionally detached; you will often see that upward sanpaku stare. It is more than a coincidence; it’s the energy of predation leaking through their eyes. Their body knows, their soul knows, and it shows all the time.
Now let me tell you how they behave. People with yang sanpaku often:
- Exhibit a need to dominate conversations with a blank, unreadable gaze.
- Feel no remorse after hurting someone and maintain eye contact without emotional presence.
- Are hyper-calculated, making you feel dissected, not seen.
- Get angry when you avoid eye contact because eye contact is how they tether you emotionally.
This is why victims of narcissistic abuse often say, “It was the way they looked at me. I can’t explain it; it gave me chills.” It’s not your paranoia; it’s physiology. Their eyes were never soft; their stare was a weapon they wielded against you.
Yin Sanpaku: The Survivor’s Gaze
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