Is "spiritual bypassing" introducing a false dilemma?

[wynn]

People become attracted to spirituality in the hope it will solve life’s problems and relieve pain and suffering, but it’s not quite that simple. A popular misconception is that spiritual practice will in and of itself resolve psychological issues. Best-selling books advocate that by ignoring our discomfort and focusing on the Light, or on what we wish to manifest, we can get everything we want. This idea of positive thinking, or the law of attraction, can divert us from our real issues.

You can’t make progress on the spiritual path if you’re ignoring your pain. Pain, in fact, is an indication of where you need to grow – by pretending we’re happy all the time, we miss the lessons our suffering and humanity are trying to teach us. As Alan Cohen says in Wisdom of The Heart, “If you desire to know where your spiritual work lies, look to your emotional pain.”

When we have unmet needs, they will clamor for our attention and divert us from what we want to be our path. Hence, we end up battling addictions, psychological issues, and not living our right life, rather than making the spiritual progress we hoped. Failing to discriminate between pseudo-spirituality and true inner transformation, we can get lost for years or life times.
http://catherineauman.com/blog/spir...n-your-stuff-can-stunt-your-spiritual-growth/

Are you pursuing a spiritual path? Have you found yourself disappointed or frustrated? Either with the people or the work? Are you ready to give up?

Here is what I think is happening. There has been a great deal of interest in pursuing mystical, esoteric, spiritual mysteries. People have been jumping on the band wagon spiritual pursuit, both traditional practices and "commercialized" versions of enlightenment. What I am suggesting is that one needs psychological healing in psychotherapy before spiritual work is effective.

What is a spiritual bypass then? It is when you are not recovered from your psychological wounding, and to heal you become involved in a spiritual pursuit. Thinking this is "THE" answer to everything that has been bothering you. The outcome often is feeling let down, one loses faith and trust.

The ability to trust, have faith and have discipline to practice true spiritual pursuits requires one to have a balanced psychological foundation. With out this you are bypassing work and jumping to spirit to find peace and balance. You have no foundation to support this work and it will collapse.

Here is one example of how this might happen. Early psychological wounding (first year of life) can result in an impaired ability to form healthy attachments. The wounding to early consciousness needs to be repaired in order to provide a balanced, solid foundation. Someone wounded in this way will attach to the people and practices of the tradition in a dysfunctional way. They might want to be controlled (taken care of), becoming dependent on, or becoming so disappointed by the humanness of their companions that they reject all.

Do yourself a favor. Heal yourself in the emotional and mental realms first. Do not try to climb the ladder to the divine until the lower rungs of your ladder have been repaired.

First make sure the basics in your life are handled. You have a secure home and way of maintaining your day to day living. Then heal your psyche. Seek a therapist or group to work through any wounds, patterns or beliefs that are destructive.Counseling can help you discern what is truly healthy for you. Now when you begin your spiritual journey you are prepared to respond to the wonderful fulfillment as well as the disappointments, and frustrations along the way.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Are-You-Experiencing-a-Spiritual-Bypass?&id=1945221

The thrust behind the concept of "spiritual bypass" and behind seeing it as something undesirable, is the conviction that in order to make spiritual progress, one first needs to be psychologically (and practically) healthy.

On the other hand, various religious and spiritual traditions teach that one can take up a religious/spiritual path no matter one's state.


Are those who seek to make people aware of "spiritual bypassing" and warn of its dangers, in fact introducing a false dilemma?

 

[NMSquirrel]

great question..

first i would like to point out that the assumption with those quotes are;

we can get everything we want

god is not a wish giver.

can divert us from our real issues.

that we know what the real issues are.

divert us from what we want to be our path

assumes we know what we want.

First make sure the basics in your life are handled. You have a secure home and way of maintaining your day to day living. Then heal your psyche. Seek a therapist or group to work through any wounds, patterns or beliefs that are destructive.Counseling can help you discern what is truly healthy for you.

a group/counseling can be in a church setting, not just any church, as i have emphasized the 'you' because most church's do not care about you, they will tell you what to do as opposed to helping 'you' determine what is healthy for you.

 

[Lori_7]

remember how i said that god is the one holding up the mirror? that's why he does. the holy spirit is called the counselor among other things.

people who try to bypass this introspection, examination, and healing and use spirituality as some kind of magic toy or genie in a bottle aren't doing themselves any favors. what good is the law of attraction if you don't know what you need? it's as dangerous as any other kind of quick fix or escapist behavior, and eventually it will all come crashing down, and they'll be right back where they started, with an even bigger mess, and more regret.

 

[wynn]

remember how i said that god is the one holding up the mirror? that's why he does. the holy spirit is called the counselor among other things.

people who try to bypass this introspection, examination, and healing and use spirituality as some kind of magic toy or genie in a bottle aren't doing themselves any favors. what good is the law of attraction if you don't know what you need? it's as dangerous as any other kind of quick fix or escapist behavior, and eventually it will all come crashing down, and they'll be right back where they started, with an even bigger mess, and more regret.

So you seem to be siding with the camp that seeks to make people aware of "spiritual bypassing" and warn of its dangers?

My question is, though, whether this camp is posing a false dilemma.

From what is described as "spiritual bypass", it is evident that it can occur only in two circumstances:
1. The spiritual path one is pursuing is deficient itself, and cannot provide every practitioner with what they need.
2. The practitioner is aspiring to a sufficient path, but is having a deficient practice (based on inappropriate understanding, inconsistent practice, lack of proper guidance from senior practitioners).

Much of the New Age stuff is highly suspicious of the first. Interestingly, it is also in the New Age movement that notions of "spiritual bypass", "religious/spiritual addiction" and "high-level denial" have emerged.

If the second, then one would be doing oneself a disservice by introducing psychology/psychotherapy with their notions of basic concepts (such as what is the self, what human action etc.) that are extraneous to the path.

Of course, it is often enough difficult to tell which circumstance applies in one's life as it is.

 

[Lori_7]

So you seem to be siding with the camp that seeks to make people aware of "spiritual bypassing" and warn of its dangers?

My question is, though, whether this camp is posing a false dilemma.

From what is described as "spiritual bypass", it is evident that it can occur only in two circumstances:
1. The spiritual path one is pursuing is deficient itself, and cannot provide every practitioner with what they need.
2. The practitioner is aspiring to a sufficient path, but is having a deficient practice (based on inappropriate understanding, inconsistent practice, lack of proper guidance from senior practitioners).

Much of the New Age stuff is highly suspicious of the first. Interestingly, it is also in the New Age movement that notions of "spiritual bypass", "religious/spiritual addiction" and "high-level denial" have emerged.

If the second, then one would be doing oneself a disservice by introducing psychology/psychotherapy with their notions of basic concepts (such as what is the self, what human action etc.) that are extraneous to the path.

Of course, it is often enough difficult to tell which circumstance applies in one's life as it is.

paths and practices vary, but imo the key to success is intent. there's a lot about old and new religious practices that are disingenuous imo. people need to get real.