Spiritual Bypassing

This is a concept I’ve grappled with for some time. The way I see it, we are in a dichotomous battle between spiritual evolution versus a fully embodied human experience. I realize these don’t have to be exclusive states of being.  However, in this world which operates in black & white, right & wrong, we typically gravitate to one while we judge the other. Gas lighting is fueled by the judgment of how one chooses to be spiritually evolved or not. 

There is a mindset I often witness which espouses the idea that we should choose to feel a higher vibration. If we think good thoughts, feel happy and focus only on the positive then that is the ‘right way’ to navigate turbulent times. Certain spiritual teachers wear a mask of righteous arrogance with their approach of escaping human emotion. This approach pushes away the reality that we are human beings with complex feelings. When we remove our humanity with the intention of saving ourselves we are disconnecting from ourselves therefore becoming dis-embodied. This is a pattern that is mirrored in so many addcitive tendencies. Avoid the pain, take away the suffering and give me a fix. It is hard to be human, this is not an easy journey and yet one that calls on us to be fully engaged in our process. When we have a relationship with our pain instead of avoiding it it can be processed and we find internal freedom. That is spiritual evolution.