Beware of "spiritual bypassing"

[shivatar]

Here is a link to an article by High Existence (opinionated but strongly rational/logical news source on esoteric subjects).

http://highexistence.com/spiritual-b...ged-my-growth/

"Spiritual bypassing, a term coined in the early 1980s by psychologist John Welwood, refers to the use of spiritual practices and beliefs to avoid dealing with uncomfortable feelings, unresolved wounds, and fundamental emotional and psychological needs. The concept was developed in the spirit of Chögyam Trungpa’s Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, which was one of the first attempts to name this spiritual distortion.

According to teacher and author Robert Augustus Masters, spiritual bypassing causes us to withdraw from ourselves and others, hiding behind a kind of spiritual veil of metaphysical beliefs and practices. He says it “not only distances us from our pain and difficult personal issues, but also from our own authentic spirituality, stranding us in a metaphysical limbo, a zone of exaggerated gentleness, niceness, and superficiality.”

Aspects of spiritual bypassing include

exaggerated detachment,
emotional numbing and repression,
overemphasis on the positive,
anger-phobia,
blind or overly tolerant compassion,
weak or too porous boundaries,
lopsided development (cognitive intelligence often being far ahead of emotional and moral intelligence),
debilitating judgment about one’s negativity or shadow side,
devaluation of the personal relative to the spiritual,
and delusions of having arrived at a higher level of being.

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Lotta truth in this article. I at first thought this article was written by a "hater", someone who perhaps was once spiritual but felt betrayed by it, someone with a bias to see the negative in the spiritual situation or those following a spiritual path.... now I see it does accurately describe a trend.

Since I saw spiritual bypassing in myself and in the world first then read the article it didn't do much for me, maybe it will be more helpful for you.

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Good luck.

[shivatar]

Oh, I'm a fan of stirring the spiritual pot. That's my bias.


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[[TRIGGER WARNING]]


lol

[naturesflow]

Originally Posted by shivatar

Here is a link to an article by High Existence (opinionated but strongly rational/logical news source on esoteric subjects).

http://highexistence.com/spiritual-b...ged-my-growth/

"Spiritual bypassing, a term coined in the early 1980s by psychologist John Welwood, refers to the use of spiritual practices and beliefs to avoid dealing with uncomfortable feelings, unresolved wounds, and fundamental emotional and psychological needs. The concept was developed in the spirit of Chögyam Trungpa’s Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, which was one of the first attempts to name this spiritual distortion.

Interesting term, it fits all the same. In my experience I reached a point of awareness where I couldn't avoid myself even if I tried too. I often wonder if fear of death and wanting to live created that in my awareness all the same? Meaning once you get to the darkest corners of your mind and fears, you will do anything to move beyond them. So if you make that choice, there is only one direction to move to, from the external at that point. "within and look at yourself more directly" I had so much spiritual distortion, I can laugh at myself now, see the absurd nature of myself. But walking through it, of course it was terrifying and crazy and provided a way out and in and out again looking at myself and life more directly, which was important for me building the whole awareness, I suppose you could say.

According to teacher and author Robert Augustus Masters, spiritual bypassing causes us to withdraw from ourselves and others, hiding behind a kind of spiritual veil of metaphysical beliefs and practices. He says it “not only distances us from our pain and difficult personal issues, but also from our own authentic spirituality, stranding us in a metaphysical limbo, a zone of exaggerated gentleness, niceness, and superficiality.”

Yes we love to hide from and behind things, regarding ourselves. It is a way to distance and detach from our deeper movements and creations in us. I think life itself when we don't get things, often triggers experiences to show us the reality of life and ourselves as life when we get in the way.

Aspects of spiritual bypassing include

exaggerated detachment,
emotional numbing and repression,
overemphasis on the positive,
anger-phobia,
blind or overly tolerant compassion,
weak or too porous boundaries,
lopsided development (cognitive intelligence often being far ahead of emotional and moral intelligence),
debilitating judgment about one’s negativity or shadow side,
devaluation of the personal relative to the spiritual,
and delusions of having arrived at a higher level of being.

Makes much sense to me.


----------------

Lotta truth in this article. I at first thought this article was written by a "hater", someone who perhaps was once spiritual but felt betrayed by it, someone with a bias to see the negative in the spiritual situation or those following a spiritual path.... now I see it does accurately describe a trend.

Since I saw spiritual bypassing in myself and in the world first then read the article it didn't do much for me, maybe it will be more helpful for you.

----

Good luck.

For me I suppose what you have posted here, shows me myself in the past and it fits much of my own hiding and deeper opening's in all those aspects that I had to face in myself..

I suppose you could call this "getting more real" about life and yourself.

[shivatar]

What was getting more real like to you?

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For me getting serious about my life meant quite a few things, mostly material things I had been rejecting while following spiritual things.

Simple things like creating a budget, getting a steady job, becoming more responsible for my own life, etc.

[naturesflow]

Originally Posted by shivatar

What was getting more real like to you?

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For me getting serious about my life meant quite a few things, mostly material things I had been rejecting while following spiritual things.

Simple things like creating a budget, getting a steady job, becoming more responsible for my own life, etc.

Yes I can relate. As much as being in the "higher realms" of learning for a time supported my deeper awareness and learning, coming back down from that to the nature of reality, had me look more directly at life as it is the second time around without distortion in place, more open and aware to know what was important in the nature of living this life more real with less fantasy at play from my own distortion and altered perception of reality..


Things like taking care of my physical self, personal responsibilities, awareness of life as it is around me, not detached and believing it to be something else. Seeing life more "real". As in being more real in terms of relating and living with other life.

In my altered "spiritual bypassing" I was avoiding looking at life more directly in lots of ways of living, so everything came into this view and awareness. Of course seeing myself more directly/truthfully supported this opening up.

[shivatar]

Balance between living in reality and being too pessimistic about the power of imagination is a difficult balance.


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So your experience led you to live in more harmony with other life forms? ( I assume you mean animals and plants)

[SecretDreams333]

interesting what sort of spiritual development does this psychologist have himself , does he know his past life's met his guides yet ? lol
no those those do not exist right haahaha

[shivatar]

Doesn't matter to me what his development is.

[SecretDreams333]

Originally Posted by shivatar

Doesn't matter to me what his development is.

lol yes you never even met him
sure all people are nice
but spiritual realities show the human soul in a different perspective
that makes a lot of other knowledge obsolete since they can be explained as
wrong conclusions drawn from lack of seeing all
just imagine the list of things that arise from past life actions
makes your statement a thing to say in a spiritual perspective this poster (you) knows nothing worth while , but yes sure you might be a nice person
well how is that for a review of your answer form some one who does know his past life's and all other stuff lol ΑΩ

Some I would say venture into spiritual practices in order to escape or blank out trauma or just to perhaps bring a little peace into their lives .

For some there is total dedication and devotional tendencies had to enquire and get to the heart of one's self .

In this instance it is as far a way as one could get in regards to escapism and such likes .


x dazzle x