“To be, or not to be, that is the question” William Shakespeare’
The term spiritual bypassing has come to the forefront in conversations recently and for me it has been an interesting debate that I have had with myself. I came to the conclusion that there could be two possible angles here = spiritual bypassing and reality bypassing.
It is a fine line to know when I am resisting, avoiding, denying, blocking or sabotaging my progress in life or just going with the flow, in my lane and taking inspired action.
The word ‘spiritual’ can imply that someone who is not spiritually inclined and who does not incorporate spiritual practices into their life would therefore be exempt from this.
The word ‘bypassing’ means to avoid or circumvent. This can also be seen as any of the descriptions I gave above in order for me to not confront what I do not want to confront and resolve in my life.
I can use spiritual bypassing by diving into my spiritual practices and meditate or chant or visualise so that I am in my happy place inside. Add to this the terms that “the universe will take care of everything” and “its all ok as everything is love and light” and you have a sure recipe for consequences of the not-so-pleasant kind a little further on as I am not dealing with what is requiring attention.
If I wish to entertain reality bypassing, then I simply do not confront and face what is priority and needs to be done. I can pretend it is not really there and do more pleasurable things with my time. So what I am avoiding looking at and dealing with, ends up on an ever-lengthening to-do list (which never gets done) and I have the stress and chaos of increasing backlog and feeling that I am always catching up, falling behind and running out of time.
In both of these instances, I am not honouring who I am and am therefore not authentic and neither am I standing in my integrity. By facing the uncomfortable emotions, taking responsibility for my actions and non-actions, I can make amends for that which I turned away from.
The result? A sense of accomplishment, inner peace, joy, true relaxation and things being accomplished more easily in less time. I stand in and live from a place of authenticity and integrity as I am honouring myself and my precious life.
I prefer to be than not to be…ME!
Thank you for these insights, Sibylle. My new definition of spiritual bypassing, based on your reflections, is “Reality bypassing using spirituality as an excuse.”