Robert Augustus Masters, PhD. Spiritual bypassing, a term first coined by psychologist John Welwood in 1984, is the use of spiritual practices and beliefs to avoid dealing with our painful feelings, unresolved wounds, and developmental needs.
It is much more common than we might think and, in fact, is so pervasive as to go largely unnoticed, except in its more obvious extremes. Part of the reason for this is that we tend not to have very much tolerance, both personally and collectively, for facing, entering, and working through our pain, strongly preferring pain-numbing “solutions,” regardless of how much suffering such “remedies” may catalyze. Because this preference has so deeply and thoroughly infiltrated our culture that it has become all but normalized, spiritual bypassing fits almost seamlessly into our collective habit of turning away from what is painful, as a kind of higher analgesic with seemingly minimal side effects.
Spiritual People Don't Say Fuck. It’s interesting.
Since I launched the site and pulled the curtain back on Open Source Spirituality, there’s been one response that I’ve received more than any other. From moms to metalheads to former-Mormons. The people are very different, but the message is always the same: Thank you for putting yourself out there. And for showing that it’s okay to be me. The funny thing is, the reaction usually comes before they’ve even had a chance to dig into the ideas. The Risky Music of Psychedelic Spirituality.
Don't worry.
The point of this article isn't to blast psychedelic spirituality. The only thing I hope to get across is that psychedelic spirituality is in fact a "thing. " To me it's like a musical genre a whole lot of people love. And I wish more people in the psychedelic spiritual community saw it this way. Spiritual Addiction by Adyashanti. Spiritual Addiction by Adyashanti A spiritual person can become addicted to spiritual highs and miss the experience of Truth.
Spiritual addiction occurs when something great happens and it feels as if you have received a hit of a great drug. As soon as you have it, you want more. There is no drug more potent than spiritual experience. The intellectual component of this addiction is the belief that if you just had enough of these experiences, you would feel great all the time. The Psychic Realm and Psychic Powers. Mariana Caplan, Ph.D.: 10 Spiritually Transmitted Diseases. It is a jungle out there, and it is no less true about spiritual life than any other aspect of life.
Do we really think that just because someone has been meditating for five years, or doing 10 years of yoga practice, that they will be any less neurotic than the next person? At best, perhaps they will be a little bit more aware of it. Beware of spiritual materialism. The Tibetan teacher, Chogyam Trungpa, warned of the trap of spiritual materialism.
He says we must be ever diligent to spot the ego’s use of the spiritual journey to further its own ends. If ego’s wants underlie our desire for spiritual connection, we may be using spiritual techniques to strengthen our egocentric sense of who we are. We may think it’s spiritual to yearn for divine connection. And yet, if the longing is to fill an emptiness inside, just how does this differ from the one who yearns for money or possessions to fill the inner void? The Allure of Narcissistic Spirituality Has Spirituality Become Another Ego Identity? Spirituality in the West has been severely distorted; being a marketplace of trinkets, self-help gurus, healers, a huge variety of spiritual practices, substances and so on.
Somehow this culture has taken something very pure and simple and turned it in to something commercial, something competitive and into that which it is not. Our western mind is moulded into wanting to attain something and some people on the spiritual path have spent their entire lives trying to attain, only to be as stuck and bound as they ever were. Spiritual Bypassing. Spirituality 2.0 (How to Set Yourself Free) - Teal Swan - 5 Potentially Hazardous New Age Myths. Via Blair Glaseron Jun 3, 2015 From the countless “spiritual” websites, Youtube videos and infographic memes that cross our social media channels daily, to the glowingly fit, Sutra-spouting vegan teacher at our local yoga studio, the abundance of uplifting and life-improving information available to us at this time is astounding.
Even Siri can provide bits and pieces of life advice when requested. However, spiritualisms, metaphysical truths and platitudes which are intended to uplift can also be used to shut us down in the name of higher consciousness. I’ll never forget coming face to face with the many ways I was using my spirituality as a defense.
Years ago, I walked out of a metaphysical lecture on a mind-blowing high until I discovered that my new and pricey business investment—a smartphone—was awash in a water-bottle failure at the bottom of my bag. “This is a test,” I thought, trying to remain tranquil by holding on to all I had just learned about quantum physics. 1. 2. 3. 4.