Spiritual bypass was an unknown term years ago as I stumbled along on my path of learning, personal growth and healing. I began to hear the phrase “the path of being fully human” in my mind. I had been exposed, as many others were in the late sixties, to spiritual philosophy and for a time felt that my very real human emotions were something to be “gotten over” or at least wiped clean or transcended.
As I became more and more immersed in learning about energy it began to slowly dawn on me that perhaps there was a broader view to be had. This view would honor both our human and spiritual natures and seek to integrate them. It made a lot more sense to me that we were to find the means to own all our parts and blend our human and spiritual capacities. They each contained challenges but they also held gifts.
It has been a long journey of understanding the various aspects involved. Working with the chakra system for me was of enormous help in understanding and engaging in the integration process.The chakras by their very nature require an honoring of all aspects of our Being. That being the case they naturally lend themselves to providing a path to healing and wholeness.
Years later the concept of forsaking our human nature and focusing solely on spiritual development (or of trying to solve human dilemmas through spiritual methods) was named spiritual bypass. This not only gave a name to some of the conflicts I and others encountered on our developmental journey, it also broadened and deepened the discussion bringing greater understanding and validation for the necessity of attending to and blending our spiritual and human natures.
Spiritual Bypass Defined
Spiritual bypassing is a phrase first used by psychologist John Weldwood to describe the practice of using spiritual principles and practices to avoid dealing with our evolving human development, unresolved issues, and painful feelings.
The advent of eastern spiritual theories and practices both broadened our perspective regarding our human and spiritual nature, as well as provided us with an abundance of new ways to avoid coming to grips with our complex natures. Of course this was not the intent of this more expansive worldview which in fact is an opportunity to integrate all facets of ourselves if used properly. The issue that created a bit of a speed bump actually is our very human desire to avoid pain and seek pleasure.
Our journey to real happiness, healing, peace and abundance however requires an honest integration of our human and spiritual natures. This requires healing our hurt places and releasing what is outdated or outworn in our lives. This can unburden us but it is not without its challenges and at times can require courage.
Spiritual Bypass leaves us with a fabricated spiritual life that lacks real inner nurturance. To become whole means the kind of healing that comes with honest appraisal, compassionate self- confrontation and the emergence of our authenticity where deep inner connectivity and freedom reside.
Next Post: Six Signs of Spiritual Bypass
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