Spiritual Bypassing - how to know?

[Yannik]

Hey guys, I'll quote a paragraph by Ken Wilber on spiritual bypassing here (I hope that is no copyright issue) because I am asking myself how one can figure out with certainty which one is true for oneself:

Of course I listen to my intuition in the moment it happens but what is making me ponder is that when I think about those instances below, there was never a time where I felt like it was spiritual bypassing and it always felt true to me.

Thank you in advance ?

Quote

A typical side effect—or sometimes a direct cause—of various types of interior splitting is “spiritual bypassing,” where ordinary, common, mundane problems are glorified by giving them a deeply spiritual meaning, which is supposed to show how evolved this person is (instead of how shadow swamped). Typical spiritual bypassing (which can happen at 1st- or 2nd- or 3rd-tier structures as well as higher states) can take many forms, such as interpreting an incapacity for deep emotional connection as being an example of a highly transcendental accomplishment—a spiritual “nonattachment”—instead of the broken “detachment” it really is. Or spending hours a day on spiritual practice when it is due not to a genuine push of healthy Eros (which it might be) but instead to a push of pathological Eros—that is, Phobos, a fear and running away from life, not its transcendence and inclusion. Or seeing an overly emotional “touchy-feely” connection with everybody as an example of loving Agape (which it might be), when it is actually a broken communion drive, a severe neediness, a meltdown, or fusion, with everybody, not their loving inclusion. Or a reliance on “feelings” and always “coming from the heart” and a concomitant exclusion of all “intellectual” elements as a drive toward nonconceptual awareness, gnosis, or prajna, which it might be, but it might also actually involve a “pre/trans fallacy,” a regression to pre-rational states and stages and immediate feelings because those are confused with trans-rational states and stages. Note that the prerational states are also narcissistic and egocentric, often a tip-off to what is actually going on. Is this person becoming more self-involved (prerational) or less self-involved (transrational)? Does he or she use the word “I” more or less? And given the anti-intellectualism that is rampant in spiritual circles, that is a very common spiritual-bypassing dysfunction. Or viewing a refusal to make any negative judgments about anybody or anything as being the practice of all-embracing Love, which it could be, but it also might be an extreme addiction to the Pluralistic green stage and its antimarginalizing and “no ranking” drives (itself a confusion between growth hierarchies and dominator hierarchies). Or seeing a desire to have multiple sexual partners as being a deep spiritual nonattachment and nongrasping to sexuality (which it—very rarely—might be), instead of recognizing it as sexual addiction and sexual profligacy and immediate impulse gratification. Or seeing a failure to achieve excellence in any attempted activity as being a complete transcendence of self-promotion (which it might be), instead of its being a lack of genuine effort to achieve—a laziness, a commitment inadequacy. Or viewing paying no attention to outcomes in any activity one undertakes as being a deep practice of karma yoga (where one performs actions without thought of results—which it might be), instead of its being a simple inability to finish anything one has ever started. Or interpreting the deep feelings of emptiness and aloneness one feels as being the practice of Emptiness (which it might be), instead of its being a fairly serious borderline condition that experiences all of life as a barren hollowness. Or seeing an avoidance of all aggression whatsoever as being the practice of nonreactive awareness (which it might be), instead of its being a deeply confused notion that aggression itself is antispiritual. (Aggression is derived from the French for “to move toward,” whereas hostility means “a deep-seated ill will toward something” and is reactive. Earlier I gave the example of a stag moving toward a salt lick, and finding a pile of bramble bushes blocking its way, its nostrils flare, it lowers its head and charges the pile, clearing a way. That is healthy, normal “aggression,” the natural and healthy purpose of which is to overcome obstacles and barriers—the stag isn’t “mad” at the bramble bush or angry and hostile toward it; this confusion of aggression and hostility is common in spiritual circles and simply blocks healthy attempts to remove obstacles.)

 

[Aakash]

@Yannik this is genius beyond a doubt. Send me this link if you can. I want to see the full extract. This is basically, both the unhealthy stages of non- dual being consciousness AND the unhealthy habits of stage coral non-dual consciousness. This is brilliant. This is exactly what I’m trying to stop the forum from bottle- necking from. 

In the simplest terms, this doesn’t apply to enlightened beings at all, what this is ... is basically my own insights of the habits non-dual beings gain in stage turquoise and coral WHEN they don’t get enlightened . AND when they decide to remain in their non-dual awareness unhealthily instead of MOVING UP the spiral even though, they themselves are consciousness. 

TAKE ME FOR EXAMPLE, I am the perfect example of this. I neither 

A) want to get enlightened 

B) want to move to stage teal completely because I’m done with stage coral 

Therefore I am boosting other people up and exhibiting these exact symptoms. HOWEVER I am not unaware of my own relativity, I understand my position. What ken Wilber is saying is this is all done unconsciously and is spiritual bypassing 

you will know because you are conscious that you are stuck between two worlds and are static. But it’s not the same as being static as an enlightened being as I have mentioned above. 

Its spiritual projection-Ing when someone doesn’t want to do the inner work. And then justifies its own reasoning as absolute without knowing it’s only  relative position.. 

Edited July 30, 2019 by Aakash

[Aeris]

Yep good stuff resonate.

Could you link share the content ?

[Yannik]

Thanks guys. Well it is from a book on Leo's booklist so I don't know if it is appropriate to share it here

[Aakash]

@Yannik ohh that’s cool, never mind then! Have a good day

[Petals]

I think that a very important indicator of whether one is spiritual bypassing or not is the presence of fear. I think that all bypassing/avoidance is based in fear. So for example, if there is a lack of genuine effort to achieve something you believe in, ask yourself - 'is this so because I am afraid of failure or have I already transcended the fear of failure?'. Probably in the early stages everything can turn into spiritual bypassing if one is not vigilant because one is far away from a stage where one has transcended fear.

I would recommend not attaching any morality to 'spiritual bypassing'. I don't know how it is with you but when I think of 'spiritual bypassing' there immediately comes in a feeling that it is 'bad'. Remind yourself that you are never 'out of bounds' so to speak and things are so arranged that 'spiritual bypassing' will lead to suffering and suffering will lead you back on track. So SB is not 'bad' but a natural part of the journey and a sign that there is still fear to dissolve.

[Yannik]

@Petals Thanks! I've never heard the word spiritual bypassing before since I am not a native English speaker but thanks for your suggestions! However, it's a great sign because I don't really experience any fear and the first time I worried about was when I read it in the book