Pairing the breath with compassion and love is called sending and taking (Tib. Tong-Len)

Summer course BPNB 2024

20240610_BPNB_Sending and Taking_Lama Tsony

Spiritual bypassing describes a tendency to use spiritual explanations to avoid complex psychological problems.

The term was first coined in the early 1980s by a transpersonal psychotherapist named John Welwood in his book Toward a Psychology of Awakening. According to Welwood, spiritual bypassing can be defined as a “tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to circumvent or avoid dealing with unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks.”

As a Buddhist therapist and teacher, Welwood began to notice that people (including himself) often used spirituality as a shield or a kind of defense mechanism. Rather than working through difficult emotions or confronting unresolved issues, people would simply dismiss them with spiritual explanations.

While this may be a way to protect oneself or promote harmony between people, it does not actually solve the problem. Instead, it simply obscures the problem, allowing it to fester without truly being resolved.

While spirituality can be a force that helps improve a person’s well-being, bypassing it to avoid complicated feelings or issues can ultimately stifle growth.

20241228 Dharma Roadside Dialogue #10 Spiritual Bypass

Resident Dharma Teacher at the Bodhipath Buddhist Center in Natural Bridge, VA

New tracks tagged #bodhi path natural bridge