Spiritual Bypassing

[Nikolai1]

 

I don't think the concept of spiritual bypassing is anything new, it's old wine in new bottles, but it is a good modern restatement of something that's always warned against but can get missed easily.

 

One thing I think is that some element of spiritual bypassing is pretty much inevitable.  This is why I don't like it when it is pathologised, or described as an error or a pitfall.

 

Spiritual bypassing is what happens when our old egoic worldview has been supplemented by the spiritual worldview, and the two are intermingling.  Just as night doesn't turn immediately into day, and there is a dawning phase in between  - spiritual bypassing is just the behaviour of somebody undergoing a major transition in their worldview.

 

I guess it's the job of the teacher to point out to the student that there is further to go...but this doesn't mean that it's a pitfall.  The spiritually bypassing person knows what they know, and the traits they show are the traits of acheivement.

[RigdzinTrinley]

An odd use of the word "faith" and not I think a Western one - a rather mangled piece.

 

if you don't know tibetan language nor tibetan buddhism then it is an odd use of the word I give you that...

 

the tibetan term yid ches - can mean both faith, and confidence depending on the context (basically if you translate it literally it means somnething like "to make up your mind")

 

now you have different levels of faith within the tibetan buddhist teachings, like rex posted up there (I will explain it a bit differently) and the first is blind faith - you see the guy on the throne in brocade, you get tickled in your slave-brain and feel like this is the right type of king-god-person I want to follow. And how they banged the drumms and cymblas when he entered.... fantastic

 

Why you want ot follow him or her?

 

come on, who cares for reason if you have blind faith - lets do it!!! lets practice tantra - wohooo lets go for a ride in the vajravehicle

 

...................... where that will end is pretty obvious I guess

 

and then there is confidence based on hearing the teachings a little, that is of course way better then the first type of faith, but it is still not the faith or confidence that come from the wisdom of certainty

 

certainty is born from extensive study, contemplation and meditation on the correct view of dharma - it is nothing external anymore, it is not because Rinpoche on the Throne said so, or because I read it in a book by this and that authority on this and that subject, it comes from checking the teachings in your own inner laboratory

 

through the wisdom of hearing, wisdom of contemplation and the wisdom of meditation

 

all that is contained within the tibetan word "yid ches"

 

ཡིད་ཆེས

 

I just want to add to the spiritual bypassing thread that for me a sure sign of spiritual bypassing is disconnecting from body awareness, if meditation leads into a strange head-space and the body is not "released" into space then something is wrong

 

for sure sometimes practice can make you feel a bit uneasy, mingyur rinpoche uses the example of washing dry shit - it will start stinking again, that can happen and does happen

 

but if the overall tendency is head not heart/body then something is wrong. In my own experience if I settle in the correct view, my body untangles itself and becomes relaxed open and spacious, as does my mind, breath becomes subtle and long ... colors and appearances more vivid and brilliant etc.

 

if I end up in a mind made, fabricated meditaiton I get all kinds of tense and disconnected from reality as it happens. Now some beings might think that this is the objective of meditation - but well that's just taking the wrong turn.

 

so for me in summary "is my body released into openess through my practice or not" (I am talking months and months of practice not immidiate result of sitting down for 20minutes)

 

also other signs of practicing correctly are more empathy to your fellow human beings, more understanding, love and compassion and more confidence (there it is again) - faith - devotion to the lineage and lineage masters.

 

and really getting a stronger and stronger feeling/impression that while it is empty it appears unceasingly as dependently originated phenomena

 

while appearing it is baseless emptiness

 

getting that view right and settling into it -> what happens is misconception, doubt, in short a lot of reification in the upper stories just melts into nowness-awareness, the whole thing gets clear and bright

[Jetsun]

One thing I think is that some element of spiritual bypassing is pretty much inevitable. This is why I don't like it when it is pathologised, or described as an error or a pitfall.

 

Spiritual bypassing is what happens when our old egoic worldview has been supplemented by the spiritual worldview, and the two are intermingling. Just as night doesn't turn immediately into day, and there is a dawning phase in between - spiritual bypassing is just the behaviour of somebody undergoing a major transition in their worldview.

 

I guess it's the job of the teacher to point out to the student that there is further to go...but this doesn't mean that it's a pitfall. The spiritually bypassing person knows what they know, and the traits they show are the traits of acheivement.

I agree I think it is pretty much inevitable with everyone to some degree, it is the nature of the mind to try to dominate any new view and you always bring your existing bias and proclivities with you. Almost as soon as you have any kind of realisation or experience out of the ordinary the mind immediately starts working at assimilating it under its domain, which is a continual process which only becomes subtler the further you go along.

 

You do have extremes though of people who have pretty much completely spiritualised their ego, which is a very difficult place to shift people out of and egotism in the extreme, I consider a good proportion of the spiritual teachers out there to be in this state, usually characterised by a lack of genuine humility.

[Nikolai1]

 Almost as soon as you have any kind of realisation or experience out of the ordinary the mind immediately starts working at assimilating it under its domain,

Yes, but for me the true hallmarks of spiritual bypassing are its episodic nature.  The ego returns to the fore - episodically - and uses the insights of realisation to its own advantage. The next day we aren't buying into the egoic worldview and we avoid the accusation of spiritual bypassing.  This yo-yoing, I think, becomes less exagerrated over time - but this is a process I think we all go through.

 

 

You do have extremes though of people who have pretty much completely spiritualised their ego, which is a very difficult place to shift people out of and egotism in the extreme, I consider a good proportion of the spiritual teachers out there to be in this state, usually characterised by a lack of genuine humility.

There's lots of people in spiritual circles who aren't even remotely spiritual.  They are in it for the same reasons people get into anything: boredom, opportunity to meet people, a scenario to create a persona, projects and aims to busy themselves with as they sojourn through life and before they shuffle off this mortal coil.

 

If the scenario is nominally 'spiritual' then these people might get accused of spiritual materialism, or bypassing - but it's actually not.  It's just plain old materialsm and inauthenticity.  Go to your local church.  The psychology of the place is identical to the local bowls club, or the local atheist society.  It's just raising money typically, with surface level variations on the things they talk about.  Chogyam Rinpoche will have met many of these folk.

 

True spiritual bypassing is a difficult time, for sure, but it is the product of bravery and intelligence and consciousness.  No-one is pained more than this process more than the sufferer themselves.

Edited May 11, 2016 by Nikolai1

[rex]

One thing I think is that some element of spiritual bypassing is pretty much inevitable.  This is why I don't like it when it is pathologised, or described as an error or a pitfall.

 

Spiritual bypassing is what happens when our old egoic worldview has been supplemented by the spiritual worldview, and the two are intermingling.  Just as night doesn't turn immediately into day, and there is a dawning phase in between  - spiritual bypassing is just the behaviour of somebody undergoing a major transition in their worldview.

 

I guess it's the job of the teacher to point out to the student that there is further to go...but this doesn't mean that it's a pitfall.  The spiritually bypassing person knows what they know, and the traits they show are the traits of acheivement.

That's fair comment and a good observation - it may be more skillful to bide one's time and avoid certain issues until one is better equipped, through circumstance and/or personal development, to deal with them. One of my teachers advised to first water the seeds of joy before opening a personal Pandora's Box.

 

I think the idea of spiritual bypassing is to alert one to the possibility of using spirituality as an escapist coping mechanism. The litmus test is through relationship and interaction and the quality of one's responses and reactions.

 

Spiritual practice is difficult enough without facing condemnation from fellow practitioners - so heaven forbid that the idea of spiritual bypassing be used to invalidate vulnerable practitioners' efforts (which we all are at some stage or another). 

 

 

[Spotless]

From a rational materialist viewpoint faith is belief in something you know not to exist or maybe even a statement of hope about possible outcomes that you have no control over.

 

From a spiritual viewpoint it could indicate a dim conscious inkling or awareness of a reality that another part of the psyche is already fully aware - spiritual practice aims to sharpen the clarity of the picture.

 

As Trungpa Rinpoche's quote on faith kicked off a side debate on types of faith, here's an explanation of the different types of faith used to orientate practice in his tradition:

 

Vivid Faith, Eager Faith & Confident Faith

 

His writing style and use of the word faith instead of trust I think unnecesarily clouds the longer piece that you must click to see - but obviously it is popular and helpful for many. It is not uncommon for teachers to intermix energized Western words that play from our western heritage. In general it is less effective in clarifying new concepts as I think it is in this case since in a sense the word needs to be redefined and seen in its new form - for many our heritage intrinsically loves the use of this term and altering the term becomes just a melding of confusions.

 

In general this approach while incredibly popular, tends to be a poor way to break through the noise - however it is a heavily heart based piece and has a very fine vibration - a glow about it.

[Spotless]

Not to belabor the point but we can clear the way and clarify what we take the word "faith" to mean in a sort of clean academic review of our thoughts on the subject - but here in the USA the word comes with an assortment of lenses that when not reviewed upon and clarified as we are doing in many of these posts - but in just reading for the first time such as was posted early on here in this topic - the word has the patina of Trance pervading it - and rightfully so here in the context of the USA and the effect / lenses that it evokes.

 

The quote was taken out of a whole preface of related explanations and differentiations that the Author included in the book - so a review of the singular quote as it stood was that it was very poorly enunciated - particularly with respect to the American lenses evoked by the use of the word Faith - but in the context of the whole work - it is clear that he reinvents the word for us - though never quite eradicating the "trance" parallel in the background - very possibly because of his/her background.

Edited May 11, 2016 by Spotless

[de_paradise]

Whenever the opportunity comes up, I tend to reinvent the word "faith" for people as well.  This is only because I discovered it to be a useful way in to a higher, more connected state. But I have discovered that one needs no particular object to have faith in, only to put the state on like clothing. Once you understand that the object or set of beliefs is actually a throw away part of what faith is about, that it was all about your inner consciousness along, not all the exterior jazz, you can really start to work with faith. Faith evaporates the ego and connects you right into whatever scene you may have around you.

 

A state of faith may have some trance-like qualities, such as a sense of well-being, perhaps an outward confidence in movements due to a lack of conscious mind interference. Maybe it becomes less trance-like and more like an awakened state as one's own Understanding grows. 

[doc benway]

Whenever the opportunity comes up, I tend to reinvent the word "faith" for people as well.  This is only because I discovered it to be a useful way in to a higher, more connected state. But I have discovered that one needs no particular object to have faith in, only to put the state on like clothing. Once you understand that the object or set of beliefs is actually a throw away part of what faith is about, that it was all about your inner consciousness along, not all the exterior jazz, you can really start to work with faith. Faith evaporates the ego and connects you right into whatever scene you may have around you.

 

A state of faith may have some trance-like qualities, such as a sense of well-being, perhaps an outward confidence in movements due to a lack of conscious mind interference. Maybe it becomes less trance-like and more like an awakened state as one's own Understanding grows. 

 

Along these lines, I also "took back" the word faith after a very long time of viewing it with suspicion and disdain for all the reasons Spotless has elucidated.

 

I once read a description of the differences between faith and belief and it really made an impression and that has lingered. It may have been Watts or it may have been Osho (gag - sorry), but it struck a chord and I will paraphrase:

 

Belief is the blind acceptance of the explanations of others,

Faith is letting go of all beliefs and accepting that whatever remains is truth.

[Jeff]

...

 

Belief is the blind acceptance of the explanations of others,

Faith is letting go of all beliefs and accepting that whatever remains is truth.

 

Seems like basically the same to me. Both descriptions are basically "blind acceptance". Especially, since you are starting with a description of faith that was from others... Osho, Watts or someone...

[thelerner]

Faith is nice,

but I keep mine away

from places and ideas

that smell of fear. 

 

Too often fear is the bait for some form of control. 

[Spotless]

It is interesting as a side note:

 

If you are watching an audience (in the USA) or for that matter a few people and someone says the word "God" many people often leave their body.

If you say the word "faith" many people often leave their body or the vibration moves up into trance/hypnotic.

 

This is a Very energized word - and while we may have exercised considerable practice in becoming neutral to our reactionary impulses regarding the word - it still stands as an immediate impasse or rising wall in trying to communicate some of these very hard to hear elements we are trying to convey. 

 

I find it unskillful means to use certain words that are not by and of themselves bad or incorrect - but rather - some words create so much work-around that they are simply not worth it and the reasons for use are mostly nostalgic and/or often partly because of an inner resentment for a word having been co-opted.

[Spotless]

We respond in a thousand ways in every moment - in becoming engaged with someone or a group we respond visibly prior to engagement - we all have scanners of various types, a sense of smell and pressure that is far far finer than we might imagine and hearing levels that extend well beyond the best of microphones. 

 

Even the most subjugated human beings have far more sensing going on at a distance than is concievable - and more sensitive systems sense a densifying condition long before it occurs. One may enjoy such imminent conditions or wish to avoid them - many only know they are somewhat doomed in trying to control how they will react but that something is about to happen.

 

Our positions create energetic patterns in and around us. As pattern meets pattern resonance occurs and many battles have already begun - of course many partnerships are formed at this time as well - some of the partnerships are with the very same person or persons you are about to do battle with. You can also be split up within yourself. 

 

Racial and physical dominance is still rampant - male for female competition is completely overt if you have the eyes and ears to see and hear it and both sexes are present. 

 

The entire affair of men (inclusive -men and women) is unconscious - set in position and base proclivities - inertia (often set in already pulled back slingshots - with no particular aim in sight - just wanting to have a "reason" to be pulled.

 

Hyper links (they look like white cords) connect many from one chakra to another and some are animating others from a distance without any clue of what they are doing - though some females in particular have this down to a fine art - rarely knowing the mechanics but definitely in touch with the abilities.

 

Words are like a fire in a small room - they can be kept under control with relative ease - but it takes very few to bring a raging firestorm - Thanksgiving with relatives is often a very good example of this.

 

We are uneasy with not having something on the tip of our tongue and equally we have our energetic defenses ready - some of these defenses include diminishing our aura and hiding, extreme judgement and closure - to name two amongst trillions of responses.

 

We may feel particularly at ease with someone who has fewer positions than others - it is because they do not light-up in our space our positions (rigidified energy patterns) Some people are naturally somewhat positionless - and they come in all spectrums -- from somewhat dull to  very bright and engaged - it is more rare than the norm and they tend to be able to handle messiness with ease.

 

With words certain rigidified patterns are electrified - if they illicit a memoried pattern which was in trance - they will generally drift toward that state if not pop into it immediately - most people are nearly always in a trance state - in fact many people who really believe they "need to go to the gym" feel that way because it really helps them to get into their bodies and out of trance - it is a very real method of enlivening themselves.

 

Certain words particularly political evoke mind loops and the person or persons in the vicinity can and often do amp up and patterns hidden before now pop up everywhere and in seconds it can go from calm to chaos and resonation brings forth even more mind loops and soon a completely automated argument ensues in which nothing needs to be done but belch out the loops fully rehearsed, canned and bottled.

 

In so far as trying to convey spiritual ideas - awakening implications and so forth - creating new words within a teaching is often employed and for very good reason. It can seem contrived - but it can also be immensly useful. But one can also use everyday words and avoid land-mine words that are highly energized and culturally saturate us. It is also useful to take care in using words that include the assumption that "everyone knows what that means" - as an example the word Mind - it is a huge word as is Sub-Conscious or Evil.

 

Whole conversations move forward without anyone clarifying definitions with such words and pretty soon no one is speaking to anyone any longer - they are all having separate conversations each smiling at the other completely clueless that none of them are on the same page.

 

Some people are in the hobby of focusing on certain sensabilities, abilities such as  - heart based centering - philosophical acumen - upper integration - kundalini - retention. Judgement at this time is heightened - it is a full time hobby and they are on watch. They are often in a fairly stiff trance in their focus - looping along - honing their loops. These are becoming "things" for them - the possession of which is deemed mandatory and of which they are becoming masters of judgement in - they know the sign posts - the who is and the who isn't and the formulas for those indications.

 

Getting out of these entrapments is what this is all about - we are surrounded with capability - we are capability - it requires no action, no position (inertia). But we think/feel/"know" that everything is limited and somehow we must grab a hold of things and shove others aside - but we are those "things" and there are no "others".

Edited May 12, 2016 by Spotless

[doc benway]

Seems like basically the same to me. Both descriptions are basically "blind acceptance". Especially, since you are starting with a description of faith that was from others... Osho, Watts or someone...

 

It's very different for me.

It parallels the experience of thought and the extinguishing of thought during meditation.

[Old River]

It's very different for me.

It parallels the experience of thought and the extinguishing of thought during meditation.

 

Steve, this reminds me of a beautiful haiku by Issa:

 

     Simply trust:

Do not the petals flutter down

     Just like that?

 

The flowers and petals here have trust (i.e. "faith") in reality-- something we too often forget.  It's a seamless kind of faith rather than a belief system meant to prop it up (as if reality needed our seal of approval!).  That trust may be found in the non-grasping of meditation (faith) and not in theologizing or the construction of an ideological system to which one must assent.  Its an experiential faith rather than an external belief -- and hence one reason why meditation is vital.

Edited May 12, 2016 by Old River

[doc benway]

Steve, this reminds me of a beautiful haiku by Issa:

 

     Simply trust:

Do not the petals flutter down

     Just like that?

 

The flowers and petals here have trust (i.e. "faith") in reality-- something we too often forget.  It's a seamless kind of faith rather than a belief system meant to prop it up (as if reality needed our seal of approval!).  That trust may be found in the non-grasping of meditation (faith) and not in theologizing or the construction of an ideological system to which one must assent.  Its an experiential faith rather than an external belief -- and hence one reason why meditation is vital.

 

That really is beautiful (the haiku and your comments both) and much more eloquently points in the same direction.

It's certainly best for each of us to use the language we resonate with, whether it's ours or something from someone else that inspires us. What counts is whether that language supports us in skillful practice and developing our view. Otherwise, they're of little value and can potentially be a distraction. For me there is nothing absolutely right or wrong about verbal labels, it's really more about how I relate to them.

[liminal_luke]

Here´s some writing I did awhile back relalting to faith and some relationship challenges I was going through at the time...

 

The Appalling Perfection of Everyday Life

 

Here's a scary thought: what if everything is exactly the way it's supposed to be?  I've always felt a little flabbergasted by the whole concept of faith.  It just seems like a not-so-elaborate ruse perpetrated by mega-church con artists to dupe gullible Gladis and her merry minions into voting against gay marriage, and polluting the earth--all  in Jesus's name.  If faith means not questioning the judgement of malevolent ministers bent on world domination, I'll have no part of it.

 

As loathe as I am to let go of my antipathy towards the pro-faith crowd and big religion generally, I'm beginning to grok faith in a new way.  For me now, faith is the willingness to believe everything is OK.  Even when it doesn't seem ok at all, which is to say, almost always.  I'm trusting that the divine wanker in the sky somehow knows what he's doing no matter how dismal my personal circumstance.

 

Like Chief Joseph, I've had it with all the fighting. My power in this life is in direct proportion to my acceptance of powerlessness.  I surrender to the appalling perfection of everyday life, wrap myself in a sublime peace some call grace, and stand proud and defenseless in the face of a mystery I neither can, nor want to, understand.

 

Jose, please forgive me.  You are your own person, and your path belongs to you alone.  It's your life  to live.   Sometimes I feel angry when you hurt.  I don't respect your right to destroy yourself, don't see the rightness of your pain.  But it's ok now.  Be free.  You don't have to heal for me, sweet Jose; if you heal, do it for yourself.  Joy comes bounding in the moment  we so profoundly respect the boundaries between us that, no longer needed, they disappear.  May our separateness and togetherness intertwine like the fused branches of two trees in the primordial forest.

 

Faith means knowing it's ok that you feel this bad. You get to feel as bad as you need or want to to get through whatever you're getting through.  I can't stop the hurting, but I can take your hand while you go through it.  I can continue to be me until you remember how to be you.

 

I want to choose you lover. Even when you lock yourself away from me  I want to choose you.  Even when, jacked up on hair-trigger despair, you hate us both, I want to choose you. Especially then.  I want to choose you when it matters most. 

Edited May 12, 2016 by liminal_luke

[doc benway]

WoW

 

Thank you for sharing that Liminal - very touching and humbling.

_/\_

[CloudHands]

Here's a scary thought: what if everything is exactly the way it's supposed to be?  I've always felt a little flabbergasted by the whole concept of faith.  It just seems like a not-so-elaborate ruse perpetrated by mega-church con artists to dupe gullible Gladis and her merry minions into voting against gay marriage, and polluting the earth--all  in Jesus's name.  If faith means not questioning the judgement of malevolent ministers bent on world domination, I'll have no part of it.

 

As loathe as I am to let go of my antipathy towards the pro-faith crowd and big religion generally, I'm beginning to grok faith in a new way.  For me now, faith is the willingness to believe everything is OK.  Even when it doesn't seem ok at all, which is to say, almost always.  I'm trusting that the divine wanker in the sky somehow knows what he's doing no matter how dismal my personal circumstance.

 

Heaven and Earth, Man in-between.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[Bindi]

[Stosh]

Thanks for introducing Rohit, I am enjoying his vids.