Spiritual Bypassing | Using Spirituality as an Escape

[Vision]

It's very common for people to use spirituality as an excuse to avoid dealing with their life (unsatisfying job, no life purpose, etc) 

 

I think @Leo Gura should put "Spiritual bypassing" on his list of "Biggest traps of this work" 

 

Thoughts? 

 

[ivory]

@Vision It would be interesting to see what would happen if Leo did a video on spiritual bypassing. Maybe some would snap out of it, or maybe not. People caught up in bypassing believe they are so evolved that they're impervious to the most common trap in the game. I think part of the problem is that many misunderstand what spirituality really is and others just lack honesty. I suspect that most people will fall victim to spiritual bypassing at some point or another. It almost seems a rite of passage in the western world. That said, getting unstuck is a bitch. All those things you've been avoiding add up and marching through that mountain of shit ain't no fun.

[Atmagyani]

Ego has problem related to unsatisfying job, purpose etc.

Aim of Spirituality is to become Self Realized, blissful.

Once you become Self Realized the Ego dies i.e. no expectation, so no problems faced due to ego.

It is blessing if you have unsatisfied job, no purpose, no meaning as it makes you realize the limitation and suffering, if you are attached with ego.

[PurpleTree]

let's say somebody doesn't have the confidence and "centered-ness" to tackle things like job, career etc.

and she is suffering from some mental issues like for example depression/anxiety etc. so she turns to "spirituality" and feels that she's getting better and more centered etc., if she wouldn't suffer there wouldn't really be any incentive for her to get on that path, would that be considered spiritual bypassing?

[LfcCharlie4]

So true, Leo covered it partially in his Zen Devil video, and his LP course I'm sure expands on it a lot more. 

I think a lot of people on this forum look to build skyscrapers without having barely any foundations in place, and then wonder why it comes crashing down, or involves a lot more work! 

 

[Vision]

@ivory @Atmagyani

To even awaken, you need a healthy ego. 
 

@ivory

I think it would be one of his most important videos. He only goes deeper into spirituality and metaphysical topics, making people more prone to a “comfort bubble” of studying, or mental masturbation. 

 

7 hours ago, LfcCharlie4 said:

a lot of people on this forum look to build skyscrapers without having barely any foundations in place, and then wonder why it comes crashing down, or involves a lot more work! 

Exactly. The chances of a person awakening this way is like 1 in a 100 million. I wouldn’t count on that. People try to walk into a calculus class and try to solve calculus problems knowing only algebra. 

It’s best to solidify every stage in Spiral Dynamics, so you build a solid foundation for your skyscraper. 
 

7 hours ago, LfcCharlie4 said:

and his LP course I'm sure expands on it a lot more. 

 

Could you message me where? I’ve watched both FAQs but I can only recall him saying that going for a Life Purpose would move you further away from Enlightenment.

 

That was 5 years ago though, I’d assume that proposition is outdated now. 

Isn’t Life Purpose actually the best way to become Enlightened? 

[Atmagyani]

1 hour ago, Vision said:

@ivory @Atmagyani

To even awaken, you need a healthy ego. 
 

@ivory

I think it would be one of his most important videos. He only goes deeper into spirituality and metaphysical topics, making people more prone to a “comfort bubble” of studying, or mental masturbation. 

 

Exactly. The chances of a person awakening this way is like 1 in a 100 million. I wouldn’t count on that. People try to walk into a calculus class and try to solve calculus problems knowing only algebra. 

It’s best to solidify every stage in Spiral Dynamics, so you build a solid foundation for your skyscraper. 
 

Could you message me where? I’ve watched both FAQs but I can only recall him saying that going for a Life Purpose would move you further away from Enlightenment.

 

That was 5 years ago though, I’d assume that proposition is outdated now. 

Isn’t Life Purpose actually the best way to become Enlightened? 

You have to realize Ego cannot be healthy. 

[PurpleTree]

8 hours ago, PurpleTree said:

let's say somebody doesn't have the confidence and "centered-ness" to tackle things like job, career etc.

and she is suffering from some mental issues like for example depression/anxiety etc. so she turns to "spirituality" and feels that she's getting better and more centered etc., if she wouldn't suffer there wouldn't really be any incentive for her to get on that path, would that be considered spiritual bypassing?

?

[bobbyward]

@PurpleTree I wouldn't class that as bypassing, as it is life giving you no other option but to go down the spiritual path and wake up. That's what happened in my case.

If suffering or the unwanted didnt exist you wouldn't put in effort to change things. 

But telling yourself the world doesnt exist or ignoring worldly problems instead of looking for genuine solutions I would class as bypassing. You need to take positive action to change things, spiritual practices is one way of doing it. 

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2020 by bobbyward

[VeganAwake]

16 hours ago, Vision said:

It's very common for people to use spirituality as an excuse to avoid dealing with their life (unsatisfying job, no life purpose, etc) 

 

I think @Leo Gura should put "Spiritual bypassing" on his list of "Biggest traps of this work" 

 

Thoughts? 

 

When it's recognized there just isn't a right or wrong path to begin with the idea of spiritual bypassing becomes irrelevant or non applicable.

There aren't correct and incorrect ways of doing it.... and it's way too free and radical for the mind to grasp.

 

 

 

[Emerald]

19 hours ago, Vision said:

It's very common for people to use spirituality as an excuse to avoid dealing with their life (unsatisfying job, no life purpose, etc) 

 

I think @Leo Gura should put "Spiritual bypassing" on his list of "Biggest traps of this work" 

 

Thoughts? 

 

Spiritual bypassing is definitely a sneaky trap. The way that I conceptualize of spirituality that helps with this is to think of it as though it's a tree.

The branches and the fruits are the spiritual stuff and the roots dug into the ground are the human stuff. 

So healthy spirituality is one that includes both transcendence and embodiment of the individual perspective. You want to stretch your roots deeper and deeper into the ground of your humanity and stretch your branches out further into the skies of your spirituality.

 

[Shin]

40 minutes ago, Emerald said:

Spiritual bypassing is definitely a sneaky trap. The way that I conceptualize of spirituality that helps with this is to think of it as though it's a tree.

The branches and the fruits are the spiritual stuff and the roots dug into the ground are the human stuff. 

So healthy spirituality is one that includes both transcendence and embodiment of the individual perspective. You want to stretch your roots deeper and deeper into the ground of your humanity and stretch your branches out further into the skies of your spirituality.

 

I wanted to write the same thing but your analogy is 100 times better ?

[Thestarguitarist14]

Why are you focusing on others spiritual bypassing when you should be focused on your own?  That is a rather big self deception.
 

One thing that I have learned is to focus on myself.  It does not matter what someone else is doing. 

[Vision]

 

 

13 hours ago, Vision said:

Could you message me where? I’ve watched both FAQs but I can only recall him saying that going for a Life Purpose would move you further away from Enlightenment.

@LfcCharlie4

 

@VeganAwake

Some people aren't even aware of the term "Spiritual bypassing", making a video on it would shed light.

 

@Emerald

What exactly do you mean by human stuff?

Financial stability, money, relationships, etc?

 

Do you have a YouTube channel? I think I've heard your name somewhere  

 

5 hours ago, Thestarguitarist14 said:

Why are you focusing on others spiritual bypassing when you should be focused on your own?  That is a rather big self deception.

 

This has nothing to do with me nor did I say that I haven't been a victim of it myself.  

It's just a suggestion as many people fall prey to this <3 

 

 

[nistake]

If you're interested in Adyashanti's take on spiritual bypassing, here it is:

From 50:00.

[Lyubov]

You need a real healthy ego to slowly let go of to really embody deep awakening. You’re just trying to give up something you never even perceived to possess if you’re doing ego deconstruction stuff when filled with mental issues.

[Emerald]

6 hours ago, Vision said:

 

@Emerald

What exactly do you mean by human stuff?

Financial stability, money, relationships, etc?

 

Do you have a YouTube channel? I think I've heard your name somewhere  

 

Yes, all of that would fall under the category of human stuff. But deeper than that, it's really about immersing yourself in the experience of your life as opposed to trying to simply transcend it. The spiritual and the human are opposites that are meant to complement one another instead of work against one another. So, it's important to reconcile the two.

And yes, I have a YouTube channel called The Diamond Net.

[Nahm]

@Vision

Post a video here which is not inherently spiritual bypassing. 

If you want. 

[Vision]

 

7 hours ago, Emerald said:

The spiritual and the human are opposites that are meant to complement one another instead of work against one another

Hence, non-duality  

 

I’m interested in how they complement each other. I can intuit that they do, but I can’t really come up with that many examples other than a deep spiritual awakening not being possible with denial of basic needs like money and relationships. 

What are examples of them complementing each other? @Emerald

 

6 hours ago, Nahm said:

@Vision

Post a video here which is not inherently spiritual bypassing. 

If you want. 

 

 

[Nahm]

@Vision

Why would somebody watch that?