In the quest for spiritual growth and understanding, seekers are often driven by a deep yearning for enlightenment, peace, and a sense of unity with the cosmos. However, this noble journey is not without its pitfalls. Among these, two particularly subtle yet potentially harmful traps lie in wait: spiritual bypassing and spiritual one-upmanship. These phenomena, if not recognized and avoided, can derail genuine spiritual progress, leading instead to a shadowed path of self-deception and isolation from true personal development.
I think the challenge is understanding the word "spirituality" as something grounded in the personal growth process, in terms of everything you mentioned here (emotional factors, the need to work thru traumas etc).
Otherwise the "spiritual" gets projected outside the person as some external "thing," but that is the same error that often occurs with religion. Where the believer bypasses the hard work and feels righteous by identifying with some external authority .
This is a great piece, Felix. In terms of spiritual bypass, you've covered all the points well - and I think perhaps the comments around action are the most important and I don't see them spoken about nearly enough. I hear so often things along the lines of "oh the universe will give me what I need" or "it must not be time yet for this thing to manifest", which are only excuses if one isn't taking the time to do the footwork necessary - whether it be cultivating skills for practical or ritual magic, or the hard work of emotional & spiritual health and processing. One of my favourite quotes is "Faiths without works is dead", and it's up to each of us to figure out what work we need to do in order to assist in transformation.
I think the challenge is understanding the word "spirituality" as something grounded in the personal growth process, in terms of everything you mentioned here (emotional factors, the need to work thru traumas etc).
Otherwise the "spiritual" gets projected outside the person as some external "thing," but that is the same error that often occurs with religion. Where the believer bypasses the hard work and feels righteous by identifying with some external authority .
This is a great piece, Felix. In terms of spiritual bypass, you've covered all the points well - and I think perhaps the comments around action are the most important and I don't see them spoken about nearly enough. I hear so often things along the lines of "oh the universe will give me what I need" or "it must not be time yet for this thing to manifest", which are only excuses if one isn't taking the time to do the footwork necessary - whether it be cultivating skills for practical or ritual magic, or the hard work of emotional & spiritual health and processing. One of my favourite quotes is "Faiths without works is dead", and it's up to each of us to figure out what work we need to do in order to assist in transformation.
How do you help someone who shows symptoms of these? I almost think they wouldn't think anything is wrong with them...
But wow i wouldn't be able to stand person like that.